|
Ruling of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union Communist Party
of 5 March 1940 on the execution of Polish war prisoners in Katin
USSR PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OFINTERNAL AFFAIRS
" " March 1940 No. 794/B MOSCOW
CC ACP (b) to Comrade STALIN
P13N144op TOPSECRET of March 5, 1940
......Taking into consideration the fact that all of them are hardened
enemies of the Soviet authorities with little expectation for their
reform, the NKVD USSR considers as essential to:
I. Recommend the NKVD USSR to:
1.) The matter of the 14,700~.ons who found themselves in the camps
for prisoners of war: former Polish officers, clerks, landlords,
policemen , intelligence agents, military police, immigrant settlers,
and prison guards,
2.) as well as the matter of the 11,000 persons arrested and kept
in prisons of the western districts of Ukraine and Byelorussia:
members of various c-r (counter-revolutionary) organizations engaged
in spying and sabotage, former landlords, manufacturers, former
Polish officers, clerks and refugees - examine according to the
extraordinary order and apply towards them the punishment of highest
order shooting.
II. The matter is to be looked at without summoning the arrested
and without the presentation of evidence. The decision to terminate
the investigation is to be carried out in the following manner:
a) towards persons finding themselves in P.O.W camps - according
to the information conveyed by the Governing Body for the Affairs
of Prisoners of War of the NKVD of the USSR,
b) towards persons arrested - according to the information conveyed
by the NKVD of the USSR and the NKVD of the BSSR.
III. The examination of these matters and their resolution is to
be delegated to the team of three comrades consisting of Merkulov,
Kabulow and Bashtakov (chief of the First S[etsdepartment of the
NKVD of the USSR).
THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR FOR INTNERNAL AFFAIRS of the Union of SSR
L. Beria
The
note of the Chief of NKWD L.Beria to J.Stalin (March 1940)
Facsimile
of the note signed by Stalin, Voroshilov, Molotov and Mikoian
Facsimile
of the decision
|
|
Peter Semerdjiev: The Things I Know About the People's Tribunal
in 1944-1945
...When we remind of the events related to the so-called
people's tribunal, one could not miss the killings done on the orders
of the politburo of the party 's central committee. Pursuant to
these, terrorist actions were committed by the party committees
directed against acting and reserve officers. There are many things
said and written about the people's tribunal but these orders to
kidnap and kill officers from garrison towns of the country have
been diligently avoided. These officers were arrested before the
people's tribunal even started work. This happened not because they
were deprived of the party committees' attention or were not subject
to detention. While dealing with detaining and investigating the
defendants under the general accusation to be tried by the people's
tribunal, an instructor from the central committee arrived in Sliven
to bring me a special recommendation, not subject to written confirmation.
The turned to be an acquaintance, Nikola Petrov. In a private conversation,
he informed me that, pursuant to a politburo decision, in every
garrison, some 2-3-4 officers should be earmarked, regardless of
their status as acting or reserve. They should be kidnapped and
murdered without any preliminary investigation. As first secretary
of the party committee I had to personally organize the implementation
of this decision in the Sliven garrison. I could only share this
entrusted mission with a limited number of responsible party members
whom I had to recruit to help me. Together we had to earmark the
victims as well as the persons commissioned for the kidnapping and
killing.
Peter
Semerdjiev: The Things I Know About the People's Tribunal in 1944-1945
Translation from Bulgarian by Dr. Neli Hadjiyska
and Dr. Valentin Hadjiyski
|
