Poland:
"Entire families were liquidated"
First report of three judges from the military court at Prague, Hans
Boetticher, Georg Hurtig, and Horst Reger. The report dated 29 September
1939 describes their work in the province of Posen between 18 and 28
September:
"Witness depositions were not limited to ethnic Germans but also
extended to Polish persons. Polish soldiers, especially the infantry,
were much involved in the murders. In the majority of case the victims
were first arrested under some pretext... most often following German
air attacks. The following are the most common grounds for the arrests,
when grounds were at all given: alleged possession of weapons, ammunition,
and secret transmitters; giving light signals to German planes; espionage;
and giving shelter to spies. But in many case it sufficed for the arrest
if the victim affirmatively answered the question whether he was German
and of the Lutheran faith. From the entire province of Posen the ethnic
Germans, who had evidently been arrested according to a special list,
were driven toward Kutno. During the march continuous abuses were committed
by the military escort... primarily against those who because of weakness
or advanced age or disease could not walk fast enough.
"In addition to the victims of these deportations there were killings
of ethnic Germans in other parts of the province, especially in the
eastern and southern districts, where some extraordinarily brutal murders
were committed. Entire families were liquidated. The men were not always
merely shot but frequently slaughtered with all sorts of tools before
the eyes of their relatives, who had also been advised of their impending
death. Many of the corpses were discovered with severe mutilations.
At Tarlova near Kolo, Polish soldiers hunted down with machine guns
a large number of Germans. Witnesses reported finding some 130 corpses
strewn about on the field like hares after the hunt.
"In three cases it could be established that the Polish Army did
not treat members of the Luftwaffe who had jumped out of their stricken
planes as prisoners of war but shot them instead. Only some of the witnesses
have been interrogated thus far, because many who had particularly gruesome
experiences are still psychically so shaken that taking depositions
did not appear advisable."
(Alfred M. de Zayas, The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945,
University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London. 1989. p. 133-34)
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