Protocols of interrogation of prisoners of war. Interrogation of a Red Army prisoner of war. Question: Commander of the division

28.11.2020

20 Panzer Division
Division command post, 04/22/1942
Dept. Ic
Prisoners of war interrogation records
1) Lieutenant:
captured on April 20, 1942
The prisoner served in the trophy department of the 113th rifle division, with him four more officers.
Each of the officers had a work command under his command (the so-called regimental trophy command -
approx.per.) numbering 18 people, of which each regiment was assigned under one command.
The commanders of these teams were subordinate to the engineer of the division. Moreover, each commander
was responsible for a certain field of activity, for example, collecting trophy vehicles,
teaching aids, etc.
According to him, a lot of German vehicles were collected, however, their restoration
was associated with great difficulties due to the lack of spare parts and at the same time German cars
were very broken.
The challenge during the encirclement.
The trophy team was involved in collecting food and ammunition delivered
planes to the Dmitrovka airfield. Big planes were dropping their cargo, U-2 biplanes were landing,
unloaded and took the wounded.
Despite the severity of the injury, in the first place, the wounded commissars and
officers. Local residents were often used as partisans to protect the populated
points. They, however, did a good job with the task assigned to them as long as it was about
protecting their home village. In other places, they did not cope with the task and did not have any
interest in wrestling.
2) 1 lieutenant:
taken prisoner on 21.04. near Bulyaevo (?). Belyaevo.
Serves in the sapper battalion of the 160th rifle division.
Recently, he and 8 servicemen of his battalion were in Fedotkovo, being
used as infantry forces on the line of defense of the division. Earlier, the battalion suffered
large losses as a result of air strikes. The initial number was 150 people. Equipment:
shovels and 6 axes.
3) 1 lieutenant:
taken prisoner on 21.04. in the Dolshenki area.
The prisoner of war was the chief of the combat supply of the 895th artillery regiment. The regiment had 2 divisions of 2
76 mm cannon and one 126 mm howitzer in each regiment. Lately there has been a big shortage
ammunition, 30 pieces were delivered to the regiment by air only once. howitzer shells and 90
shells for guns.
Food: the contentment is poor and in the last period of the encirclement it consisted only of
rusks and horse meat.
4) 1 senior lieutenant of the reserve:
genus. in 1905 in the Golaya Dolina Donetsk region. Ran on 21.4. in
dolshenki area.
Chief of the transport company attached to the main medical center of the army and having the task
deliver the wounded on 6 horses with sleighs to the Dmitrovka airfield. The company got into the environment cauldron with
18 horses. The transportation of the wounded was also carried out in extreme cold on horse-drawn sleighs. Wounded
were put in bags lined with cotton wool. They were airlifted from the Dmitrovka airfield, according to
prisoner, 400 - 500 people, about which he only heard, because he is from mid-February to the present
time was sick. Due to the artillery attacks, the landing of aircraft at the airfield was difficult. Export
the wounded was carried out without paying attention to the military rank. First taken out
seriously wounded. Many of the wounded died of hunger. Contentment as elsewhere in the cauldron of the environment
consisted of rusks and horse meat. Insect powder was named, which is poured into linen and such
laundry keeps lice-free for up to 10 days, during processing, the laundry should lie in powder for 2 days.
5) Technical quartermaster:
Anson, from Latvia, 34 years old, recently lived in Begomla
(Belarus)
Task: food supply of 321 sapper battalion, which was subordinate to 33 army.
The battalion numbered 200 people. and his armament consisted mainly of shovels and
garnet.
Ethnic composition: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians aged 30 - 35 years.
Before the encirclement, the food norms in the battalion were per 1 person. per day: 900 g of bread, 140 g
sugar, 100 g of vodka and tobacco. These norms have been introduced in the army since December.
Morale: Most of the rank and file are optimistic about the overall
military situation. This is primarily due to the winter successes of the Soviets. Ultimately believe
however, that the German army is better than the Russian. German leaflet propaganda is treated with
trust, but false messages are confusing. So, in one German
the propaganda leaflet indicated that Efremov had escaped by plane. IN
in reality, he was still in place. This approach, according to the prisoner, harms the German
propaganda.
Efremov, according to the prisoner, 1 day before the capture of Zholobovo, where until that time was the headquarters of 33
the army probably broke through to the south.

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL POW corporal of the 2nd squad, 2nd platoon, 4th machine gun company of the Norwegian Volunteer Legion battalion Entvedt Kiel. The survey was carried out on 16 April 1942 Born in 1919 in Brevik (Norway). Norwegian by nationality, single, has a father, mother, brother 20 years old, who is also in this battalion, in the 2nd company. He served in the police in Norway. Voluntarily joined the army, the volunteer "Norwegian Legion", for which his parents receive 184 kroons a month. A prisoner of war himself at the front received 66 marks a month.

He is a member of the "National Norwegian Party" (Quisling's party), his brother is also. Circumstances of capture: On the night of 16.442, three enemy groups tried to reconnoitre the forward edge of the location of our units. The enemy met with artillery and rifle-machine-gun fire fell into our minefield, resulting in a series of explosions. A group of Red Army men sent for a counterattack under the command of junior lieutenant Solovikhin captured two wounded and delivered them to the location of their units.

During the interrogation, the prisoner gave the following testimony: He joined the army voluntarily in Norway, in July 1941, in the "Norwegian Legion". In the same month, one battalion of the Norwegian Legion, in the amount of 1000 men, was sent from Norway to Hamburg by steamer. From Hamburg he was transferred to Stettin, from where 800 people. were airlifted to Krasnogvardeisk, and the remaining 200 people to the Eastern Front traveled by truck through Riga and Krasnogvardeisk. Both groups were joined together in Krasnoe Selo, where they all arrived 5-6 weeks ago. Five weeks ago, the entire battalion arrived in the area of \u200b\u200bGo Hill. in. Konstantinovka, from where all 1000 people were transferred to Uritsk 8-10 days ago. All other parts of the Norwegian Legion were in Norway. The regiment, which includes the Norwegian legion, was formed a little more than a month ago from different parts, with 3-4 thousand soldiers.
The prisoner does not know the numbers of the regiment and the numbers of the division to which this regiment belongs. The battalion commander is a Norwegian, Major Kvist. The regiment commander is a German (does not know his surname) The division commander is a German, General Yelkin. A 1000-man battalion of the Norwegian Legion, consisting of policemen aged 18 to 50, is part of this regiment. In addition, there are Germans and 200 men in the regiment. Latvians.

The Norwegian battalion is defending in Uritsk, with the leading edge to the east. env. Uritska; the left flank of the battalion - sowing. env. Uritsk; right flank - Art. Ligovo. South of the Norwegian battalion, a battalion of German infantry is defending, where its right flank, the prisoner does not know, on the left is defending (along the northwestern outskirts of Uritsk and further along the coast of the Gulf of Finland) a unit of Latvians. All of the above units are part of one infantry regiment. The location of the mouths of the Norwegian Legion. In the center of Uritsk there is the 1st company; On the left is the 2nd company; On the right is the 3rd company. The battalion's machine-gun company is distributed among these three companies. According to the prisoner's testimony, at present there are up to 2 thousand enemy soldiers in Uritsk, of which 1 thousand are Norwegians and the rest of the thousand are Germans, mainly artillerymen. The regiment's headquarters and command post are presumably located in Konstantinovka. According to the prisoner, there was talk among the soldiers that a battalion of military police was stationed in the Tolmachevo area. The prisoner testified that before the arrival of the Norwegian battalion in Uritsk, the German Leibstandard regiment, numbering up to 2 thousand people, was located there, which consists of selected soldiers from Hitler's personal units. This regiment was in Uritsk only 14 days, from where it arrived, the prisoner does not know. Ten days ago, the Leibstandard regiment left Uritsk, according to the prisoner's assumption, to rest. This regiment was replaced in Uritsk by a newly formed regiment, which also includes a battalion of the Norwegian Legion. When asked why they, the Norwegians, wear SS uniforms, the latter replied that they arrived at the front as reinforcements for SS units, and therefore wear this uniform.

Organization and armament of the Norwegian Legion. Rifle companies have 150 soldiers each. The 4th machine-gun company has 150 hours. The platoons of the machine-gun company have 36 people each. The company has 30-40 people who are specially involved in economic issues. In addition, there is a control cell. The 4th company is armed with: in the squad (13 people) - 2 rifles, 2 SMG-34 heavy machine guns, 2 assault rifles and 4 machine guns. In companies (3 platoons) - 12 rifles, 3 heavy mortars with a caliber of 7.3-10 cm., 12 heavy machine guns. A heavy machine gun is served by 7 soldiers, a mortar is served by 8-10 people. The artillery assigned to the battalion is located 300-400 m in depth. Has field howitzers, regimental cannons and mortars. The regiment has a company of anti-tank guns (12 guns) with a caliber of 37 mm. There are no chemical shells in the battalion. Each company has a special chemical. teams of 6 people, whose task is to overcome possible chemical. means used by the enemy. At night, units set up outposts, from each platoon of the 4th company for the night, 2 heavy machine guns, 5 light machine guns and 4 assault rifles are posted to the outpost. As a guard, one shooter with a rifle is posted for each machine gun. The posted security has two flare launchers. Watchdogs are posted during the day, but in smaller numbers. Guards are in the trenches. Soldiers stand at their posts for 1.5 to 3 hours. The prisoner testified about the losses of the battalion: over the past 4 weeks, 22 people were killed in the battalion, 60-70 people were wounded. 4-5 people were killed in the 4th company. and 10-12 people were wounded. These losses were mainly caused by art. fire. Over the past few days, our snipers have killed 5-6 people. In Uritsk during the last days 7 soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded. About the tasks of the units located in the Uritsk, Konstantinovka area, the prisoner showed the following: a reconnaissance task. detachment, operating on the night of 04.16.42, was to blow up our bunkers, take part of our positions and capture prisoners. Reconnaissance worked in the amount of 24 people. (Norwegians) under the command of the Norwegian, Captain Berg. The Germans supported the reconnaissance only with fire, while only the Norwegians were supposed to break into the trenches. The mission of the Norwegian battalion in this sector of the front is defense. The attack on Leningrad by the Germans is planned, but, in the opinion of the prisoner, not from Uritsk, since there are no signs of this. In particular, it was imperceptible that tanks were concentrated in Uritsk. In addition, there are currently few troops in Uritsk, only 2 thousand. people, of which 1,000 are Norwegians (who have neither carts nor cars), and the remaining thousand are German soldiers, mainly artillerymen, who have been in Uritsk for a long time. The task of the German troops, according to the prisoner, is to encircle Leningrad from all sides, in order to completely surround the city and cut it off in the same way from any connections with other regions. According to the prisoner, there are enough German troops in this sector of the front to defend and defend their positions, but not enough to launch an offensive. He thinks that most of the German troops are now heading south, to the Kerch region, to areas where there is oil and where summer begins much earlier. The positions of the Germans in the Uritska area are equally well fortified everywhere, but the weakest spots in the defensive fortifications, in his opinion, are the fortifications along the coast. These areas are less fortified because the Germans understand that it is difficult for the Russians to attack from the coast, from the water side.
On the organization of intelligence. The prisoner showed the following: special intelligence. there are no units in the Norwegian battalion. Each time, separate groups armed with light weapons and hand grenades are sent into reconnaissance, with specific tasks assigned to them. The prisoner knows nothing about the organization of intelligence. The prisoner showed the following about the presence of Germans in the Norwegian battalion: Among the Norwegians in the battalion there are German "advisers". Each company has one such "adviser". Most of these "advisers" are in the rank of lieutenant. In the 4th company, such an "adviser" is the German Lieutenant Scheid. In addition, the battalion has a German supply headquarters, which consists of 10 people.

Political and moral state and general information. According to the prisoner, the discipline in the army is good. He does not know any cases of desertion among the Norwegians, among the Germans as well. However, he knows about two cases of German desertion that took place in Riga. The food in the army, according to the prisoner, is good, at least better than what they received in Norway. Soldiers receive their entire daily ration at the front once a day, in the evening, at 5 o'clock. This food is brought to the front line to the soldiers from the kitchen by special peddlers. Every soldier has breakfast, lunch and dinner when he wants. For a day, the soldier receives about 500 grams. bread, a small piece of butter, the same small piece of cheese or instead of his sausage, 1 liter of soup. For every day and a half, soldiers receive vodka, half a bottle for 7 people. There are no epidemic diseases in the battalion, but at present the battalion has up to 80 people. sick (influenza, colds). Each company has two orderlies.
According to the prisoner, all the soldiers are now very pleased that spring has come and the terrible Russian winter has ended.

Soldiers Think this summer will be the last summer of war, but older soldiers are less optimistic about this. The Germans tell the Norwegians that they will win the war. Therefore, the Norwegians believe that in this regard, Norway will be freed from the Germans. The prisoner himself believes that the war will not end so soon, and that the Germans will move the front line further and further to the East. According to the prisoner, German and Norwegian soldiers, being on the Eastern Front, fulfill their obligations. The Norwegians are fighting at the front not for Germany, but for Norway. When asked why they, the Norwegians, are not fighting against Germany, which occupied the whole of Norway, on the territory of Norway itself, the prisoner replied: firstly, the Norwegians have already tried to fight the Germans once, and within 1-2 months Norway was defeated; secondly, the Norwegians do not have weapons for this. Now the Norwegians are defending Norway from foreign countries trying to seize part of Norwegian territory. According to the prisoner, Norway currently observes neutrality, but its policies are predetermined by the great states on which it depends and which it should be equal to. A year ago, the Germans occupied Norway. The Norwegians do not want to remain under the thumb of the Germans, and therefore went to fight in Russia to prove to them that they, the Norwegians, know how to fight. Convinced of this, after the victory, the Germans will liberate Norway. So the regiment commander, a German, spoke about it to the Norwegians. According to the prisoner, the Norwegians are fighting against Russia also because they are afraid of Russia, which in case of victory could take Norway. If Germany wins the war, they will leave Norway. The prisoner believes that Germany was the first to start the war. However, both Germany and Russia are to blame for the imposition of war, since both countries were pulling large military units to the borders. To a very strong degree, America and England are also involved and are to blame for the outbreak of the war. War is very beneficial to the imperialists of these countries, who, thanks to it, receive very large profits and are therefore extremely interested in the war. The majority of the Norwegian population currently sympathizes with the Soviet Union and is on its side. The population has a very bad attitude towards the volunteers who are sent to the Eastern Front to fight against the Soviet Union. For example, a prisoner cited the following fact in this regard: when the Norwegian volunteers, going to the Eastern Front, crossed one bridge in Norway, the population threw stones at them. The population of Norway, according to the prisoner, lives well, but many fishermen living on the coast are in a very difficult situation. Parents wrote to the prisoner from Norway that lately it has become bad with food, since England blocked the entire Norwegian coast. On the relationship between German and Norwegian soldiers, the prisoner showed the following: the Germans do not trust the Norwegians, and the Norwegians pay them the same. In addition, the Germans, and in particular the German "advisers", try to emphasize that they occupy a dominant position in relation to the Norwegians.

Additional indications. During an additional survey, the prisoner showed: When passing through Krasnogvardeisk and Krasnoe Selo, the prisoner did not observe the concentration of large military units, he saw only separate groups of soldiers, 3-5 people each. Newly created Norwegian military units undergo military training in Norway, in the barracks. During training, they use German weapons. The instructors are Germans and Norwegians. The training period is 3-4 months, after which the soldiers are sent to the Norwegian army or to the front. Military training for volunteers lasts 6 months. At the command post of the company commander there is only telephone communication, no radio. The battalion headquarters has two radio devices, which are carried in knapsacks behind the back. There is no radio communication between the company and the battalion. Assessing the actions of our intelligence. groups, the prisoner said: he is surprised by the fact that the active actions of our reconnaissance are not supported by fire, even when they approach the enemy positions. He said the same about the actions of our intelligence conducted in combat. At present, in the dugouts and trenches where the battalion soldiers are located, there is a lot of water, which reaches more than the waist. The water has to be constantly pumped out. However, there were no cases of leaving firing positions due to the presence of water.

Regarding the presence of the civilian population in the settlements captured by the Germans, the prisoner testified: In Uritsk, he saw only 3-4 of the civilian population; in Konstantinovka there is a civilian population, the Germans are forcing this population to chop wood, help in kitchens and clear roads. All civilians in Konstantinovka are obliged to wear a narrow white armband on the right sleeve, on which “Konstantinovka” is written in black letters. The prisoner does not know whether the population is being given any documents or passports. In the area of \u200b\u200bKonstantinovka, a prisoner read a Russian leaflet, which contained an appeal to German women and mothers so that their sons end the senseless war and stop shedding their blood in the Russian fields. The prisoner himself did not see the partisans, but from other soldiers he heard about cases when in Krasnoe Selo, Russian women, under the pretext of showing the whereabouts of the partisans, called German soldiers into the forest and killed them there. The survey was carried out by: Head of RO STARMA 42, Lieutenant Colonel Lysenko. Translated by: Technician-quartermaster 2nd rank Mikhailov. Correct: Chief of the 1st department. OO NKVD 42 Army senior political instructor Zhutyaev. Archive of the FSB St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, 151, fol. 147-150, (typewritten copy). Cited from the publication "Blockade Diaries and Documents" (Series "Archive of the Big House"). - SPb .: European House, 2004 ISBN 5-8015-0169-X p. 471-478.

Being in the order of Art. 92 and 95 of the Criminal Code warned about responsibility for giving false testimony and for refusing to testify (signature of the interrogated)

(NIKULIN)

In essence, he showed:

Until August 28, 1941, I served in the Red Army, was a Red Army soldier in the 224th regiment, but I don’t remember which division. August 28, 1941 in the mountains. In Tallinn, our entire regiment was captured by the Germans, since we did not have time to evacuate through the sea and were taken prisoner at the pier in the mountains. Tallinn, where we were waiting to board the steamer. Immediately after the capture, I was sent to the mountains. Mitavu [Jelgava] of the Latvian SSR, where quarantine took place for a month and, among other prisoners, was engaged in the construction of barracks, but a month later, that is, on September 28, 1941, from the mountains. Mitava, I, like other prisoners, was sent to work for the owner as a worker. I got to the owner - the Latvian URMAN Peter, who lived and had two estates in the [...] volost of Zos, the Jakobstad [Jekabpils] district. I worked with this master of the prisoners alone in agricultural work from September 28, 1941 to June 21, 1943. I had to work very hard from dawn until dark, the owner was rude in handling, and fed from hand to mouth. He did not beat me, but he treated me rudely, scolded me and made me work almost without rest. In June 1943 the owner of URMAN received a summons from the police from the volost, according to which he sent me to the volost police. When I arrived there, there were already 10 people in the police. other prisoners of war. Of this police, all of us, that is, 10 people, were sent to the POW camp. Kohtla-Järve of the Estonian SSR, which is 60 km from the mountains. Narva. I was in this camp until September 11, 1944. Thus, I was in the camp for one year and two months. This camp contained up to 3 thousand people. prisoners of war. We lived in barracks, which were overcrowded, and were kept in terrible unsanitary conditions, there was dirt, dampness, and bugs seized us. Every day we were driven to work on the construction of an oil shale distillation factory in the area of \u200b\u200blocalities. Kohtla-Järve. We worked up to 15 hours a day and started work at 4 in the morning every day. During work, we were not given anything to eat. They were fed only twice a day, that is, in the morning before work and in the evening after work. The bread norm was 300 grams per day and soup was given twice, also according to the norm, and it was extremely liquid, just water, in which, as a rule, some greens were cooked, and in the summer they just cooked grass. We were supervised at work by the Germans, I cannot name them. They stood over us with a stick in their hands, and as soon as he pulled himself away from work to straighten his back, you get hit with a stick. They also beat me with rubber whips. I personally and myself got hit very often, and once I was beaten by a German with a rubber whip because I accidentally ended up at work not in my brigade. From the terribly difficult conditions in the camp, poor nutrition and beating of people, the prisoners were systematically ill, and most of them from exhaustion, but if you do get sick, they were not released from work until the person completely lay down and could not move. So every day, tortured prisoners of war, on average, 20 people left the camp. I do not know of cases when people died in the camp, but it was done in such a way that there they were tortured to a grave condition, and those tortured to their death were sent somewhere. What happened to these people later, I do not know. Due to such difficult conditions, I decided to run away from the camp by all means. On August 16, when they were driving us to work, I tried to escape, but a guard (I do not know his last name) shot me in the chest with a rifle shot. Due to this injury, I was initially sent to the hospital at the camp, and on September 11, p. together with other patients in the number of 41 people. I was sent from the infirmary. When they were sent, we thought that we were being taken somewhere to a hospital, but it turned out that they had brought us to the mountains. Tallinn and put in prison No. 1. My condition was still very grave, I could not move myself, honey. no help was provided. It was in this state that I was sent to prison. There were 75 people in the cell I was in. I sat in it from 01.09.44 to 09.25.44, when, upon arrival in the mountains. Tallinn of the Red Army, I was sent to the hospital, where I am still undergoing treatment. The regime in the prison was terrible, we were almost not fed, there were days when they gave absolutely nothing to eat, and on other days they gave out 200 grams of bread, once soup, and it was just water in which a few grains of oats or other cereals. When I was in the cell, every day a number of those arrested were beaten by warders for all sorts of trifles. The guards appeared with sticks in their hands and beat the arrested with them.

Every day the arrested were lined up in the cell for verification. Once, being sick (wounded), I could not quickly get up in line for a check, then the warden hit me on the back with a stick. Honey. they didn’t help us, and there were several wounded in the cell. We were left to fend for ourselves. I know that the last days before the retreat of the Germans from Tallinn from prison, the arrested were sent somewhere, but I cannot say where. No one was sent from our cell, but when arrested persons from other cells passed along the corridor, they looked into our cell through the peephole and told us: "Soon it will be your turn." So we waited from minute to minute that we should be sent somewhere, but this did not happen, and our cell remained completely, and when the prison authorities left, the arrested persons themselves opened the cell, and those who could move for health reasons left, and where, I can not say.

There were 13 of us left in the cell of seriously ill patients, all of us were sent to the hospital with the arrival of the Red Army.

Question: Can you name the prison staff and their names?

Answer: I cannot give the names of the prison workers, I don’t know.

Question: What can you add to the testimony given by you?

Answer: I have nothing more to show. The protocol was written down from my words correctly and I read it.

(NIKULIN)

Interrogated: [...]

GA RF. F. 7021. Op. 9.D. 97. L. 32–34.

Script. Typescript.

vzapoe 2016-06-30 22:50:03

Soldiers Think this summer will be the last summer of war, but older soldiers are less optimistic about this. The Germans tell the Norwegians that they will win the war. Therefore, the Norwegians believe that in this regard, Norway will be freed from the Germans. The prisoner himself believes that the war will not end so soon, and that the Germans will move the front line further and further to the East. According to the prisoner, German and Norwegian soldiers, being on the Eastern Front, fulfill their obligations. The Norwegians are fighting at the front not for Germany, but for Norway. When asked why they, the Norwegians, are not fighting against Germany, which occupied the whole of Norway, on the territory of Norway itself, the prisoner replied: firstly, the Norwegians have already tried to fight the Germans once, and within 1-2 months Norway was defeated; secondly, the Norwegians do not have weapons for this. Now the Norwegians are defending Norway from foreign countries trying to seize part of Norwegian territory. According to the prisoner, Norway currently observes neutrality, but its policies are predetermined by the great states on which it depends and which it should be equal to. [b] A year ago, the Germans occupied Norway. The Norwegians do not want to remain under the thumb of the Germans, and therefore went to fight in Russia to prove to them that they, the Norwegians, know how to fight. Convinced of this, after the victory, the Germans will liberate Norway. So the regiment commander, a German, spoke about it to the Norwegians. According to the prisoner, the Norwegians are fighting against Russia also because they are afraid of Russia, which in case of victory could take Norway. If Germany wins the war, they will leave Norway. The prisoner believes that Germany was the first to start the war. However, both Germany and Russia are to blame for the imposition of war, since both countries were pulling large military units to the borders. To a very strong degree, America and England are also involved and are to blame for the outbreak of the war. War is very beneficial to the imperialists of these countries, who, thanks to it, receive very large profits and are therefore extremely interested in the war. The majority of the Norwegian population currently sympathizes with the Soviet Union and is on its side. The population has a very bad attitude towards the volunteers who are sent to the Eastern Front to fight against the Soviet Union. For example, a prisoner cited the following fact in this regard: when the Norwegian volunteers, going to the Eastern Front, crossed one bridge in Norway, the population threw stones at them. The population of Norway, according to the prisoner, lives well, but many fishermen living on the coast are in a very difficult situation. Parents wrote to the prisoner from Norway that lately it has become bad with food, since England blocked the entire Norwegian coast. On the relationship between German and Norwegian soldiers, the prisoner showed the following: the Germans do not trust the Norwegians, and the Norwegians pay them the same. In addition, the Germans, and in particular the German "advisers", try to emphasize that they occupy a dominant position in relation to the Norwegians.

Original taken from arctus to the Protocol of interrogation of the traitor-general Vlasov

On May 25, 1945, a month before the Victory Parade, the Counterintelligence Directorate "Death to Spies" - SMERSH - began the protocol interrogations of the captured traitor general Andrei Vlasov. The investigation ended in July 1946. And on July 31, a fast trial took place. 12 people undergoing the investigation - A.A. Vlasov and his closest henchmen were sentenced to death. The sentence was promptly carried out.

In modern times, the times of spitting on the history of the Soviet Union, there were even petitions (for example, from the movement "For Faith and Fatherland") about the rehabilitation of Vlasov and his accomplices. Based on the results of consideration of the protest in the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation on June 22, 2001, it was determined: the indicated persons were convicted reasonably and the punishment corresponds to the gravity of the offense. In this regard, the petition for the rehabilitation of Vlasov and the Vlasovites is not subject to satisfaction.
But attempts, if not legal, then actual rehabilitation, are gaining momentum. On March 1, 2016, in St. Petersburg, a nefarious attempt was made to justify Vlasovism and collaborationism in general - as a "form of social protest." Kirill Alexandrov defended his doctoral dissertation "Generals and officers of the armed formations of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia in 1943-1946."

But we have on hand an extensive "Vlasov dossier".

In July 2015, a presentation of a unique edition took place: the three books "General Vlasov: a history of betrayal"... A large group of highly professional specialists, researchers under the auspices of the leading federal archives, political encyclopedia, collected and compiled a unique "Vlasov dossier", providing it with a perfect scientific and reference apparatus. Almost three thousand pages contain 700 documents from 14 Russian and foreign archives, tracing the entire history of Vlasov's betrayal - from the German captivity near Lyuban to the last day in the cells of SMERSH.

Executive editor of the collection, head of the Federal Archival Agency Andrey Artizov admitted: when they started to work on the collection of documents, they intended to present it as streamlined, not strictly evaluative, but delved into the content and realized: we must be precise - "General Vlasov: the story of betrayal." The researchers also consider their work to be a response to those critics from abroad who accused Russian archivists of the fact that, having published a huge work on the Ukrainian nationalist organizations of the OUN and UPA, they "did not dare" to raise the archives on the ROA. The three-book "Vlasov dossier" is not only defiantly bold, but also scrupulously accurate, objective and leaves no room for political exercise.

To give an idea to the readers about the collection of documents, let's take only one of 700 - the protocol of the first interrogation of Vlasov by the investigator of SMERSH.
***

A. A. Vlasov,Born in 1901, native of the Gorky region, Russian, from middle peasants, with secondary education, former member of the CPSU (b) since 1930, in the Red Army since 1920, ex. Commander of the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front, Lieutenant General.

QUESTION: You betrayed your Motherland and, on the instructions of the German intelligence agencies, fought against Soviet power. Under what circumstances did you establish a criminal relationship with the Germans?

ANSWER: Commanding the troops of the 2nd Shock Army and finding myself in the area of \u200b\u200bLyuban surrounded by German troops, I betrayed my Motherland.

This was a consequence of the fact that, starting in 1937, I was hostile to the policy of the Soviet government, believing that the conquests of the Russian people during the Civil War were nullified by the Bolsheviks. (Hereinafter, each sheet of the document is certified by A.A. Vlasov.)

I perceived the failures of the Red Army during the war with Germany as a result of the inept leadership of the country and was convinced of the defeat of the Soviet Union.

I was convinced that the interests of the Russian people were brought by Stalin and the Soviet government to please the Anglo-American capitalists.

While being surrounded by the enemy, my anti-Soviet sentiments intensified even more and, not wanting to fight for the interests of others, I on July 13, 1942, taking advantage of the arrival of the Germans in the village where I was, surrendered to them voluntarily.

QUESTION: Who of the representatives of the German command interrogated you?

ANSWER: On July 14, 1942, the Germans took me by car to the station. Siverskaya to the headquarters of the German army group "North", where I was interrogated by a colonel of the German General Staff, whose name I do not know.

The colonel who interrogated me asked about the plans of the Red Army High Command. I replied that for a long time I had been surrounded by German troops, and therefore I did not know anything about the plans of the Soviet command. At the same time, I informed the Germans about the tasks that Supreme Commander-in-Chief Stalin had set for the 2nd Shock Army.

I was also asked questions: did I meet with Stalin and what I know about his personal life. I said that I had met Stalin twice in the Kremlin in February 1942 and in March 1942, I know nothing about his personal life.

In addition, a German colonel suggested that I give a description of Zhukov. I said that Zhukov is a strong-willed and energetic commander, but sometimes he is rude.

When asked if Zhukov could become the second Tukhachevsky, I replied that it is unlikely, since he is devoted to Stalin.

Then I was asked how Shaposhnikov, a former officer of the tsarist army, survived and was not arrested in 1938, and whether he could become the head of the Russian government after the fall of Soviet power. I said that Shaposhnikov, in my opinion, is also loyal to the Soviet government, but since I do not know him personally, I cannot answer the question of whether he will be able to head the future government.

I was asked what I know about Tymoshenko's anti-Soviet sentiments, to which I replied that although I served with Tymoshenko, I did not notice any anti-Soviet manifestations on his part.

I was also interested in how militarily literate Voroshilov and Budyonny are. He referred to the fact that both of them are heroes of the civil war, 25 years in the army, graduated from the Military Academy and therefore must be experienced military leaders.

In the same place, at st. Siverskaya, I was introduced to the commander of the German army group "North" Colonel-General Lindemann, with whom I was photographed, and then sent to the city of Lettsev, and from there to Vinnitsa, where at that time the headquarters of the high command of the German army was located, and placed in a camp prisoners of war.

QUESTION: Why were you placed in this particular camp, how did it differ from other camps?

ANSWER: The Vinnitsa camp was under the jurisdiction of the intelligence department of the German army, and therefore only those prisoners of war who were of interest to the high command were kept in it.

At first, I and the prisoners of war were in the camp, Colonel Boyarsky (hereinafter, the spelling "Boersky" is used) - the former commander of the 41st division of the Southwestern Front, Major Sakharov - the former commander of the Red Army regiment and some kind of engineer, and then other prisoners of war began to arrive, and by the end of July there were about 100 of them.

In the Vinnitsa camp, the Germans were working to decompose the prisoners of war and recruit them to serve in the German army.

The first to turn to me was Major Sakharov, who, already in the service of the Germans, suggested that I take a military unit from the Red Army prisoners of war under his command and begin a struggle against Soviet power.

Later, Colonel Boyarsky and I were summoned by representatives of the intelligence department at the headquarters of the high command of the German army, Colonel Ronne, and the propaganda department of the high command, Captain Strickfeldt, who said that a large number of volunteers from Soviet prisoners of war were already fighting on the side of the Germans and we should also take part in the fight against Red Army.

I expressed to Ronne and Strickfeldt the idea that for the Russians who want to fight against the Soviet regime, it is necessary to give some kind of political justification for their actions so that they do not seem like mercenaries of Germany. Ronne replied that the Germans agreed to create a government out of the Russians, to which power would pass after the defeat of the Soviet troops. I told Ronna that I would think about his proposal and give an answer later.

After this conversation, on August 10, 1942, an adviser to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hilger, a former adviser to the German embassy in Moscow, fluent in Russian, arrived at the camp.He summoned me to his place and asked if I agreed to participate in the Russian government created by the Germans and what in this regard, I have suggestions.

Having expressed to Hilger the idea that we must wait for the end of the war, I nevertheless began to discuss with him which territories of the Soviet Union should be transferred to Germany. Hilger said that Ukraine and the Soviet Baltic would have to become part of Germany.

Then Captain Shtrickfeldt summoned me again and said that the Germans had managed to form several military units from Russian prisoners of war, and recommended that I agree to take command of these troops. Since this was consistent with my anti-Soviet beliefs, I told Strickfeldt that I agreed to accept the German proposal.

QUESTION: So you have embarked on the path of armed struggle against Soviet power?

ANSWER: Yes, at the suggestion of Shtrikfeldt, I wrote an anti-Soviet leaflet, in which I indicated that Russia had lost the war because of the inept leadership of the Soviet government, which was incapable of leading the country, and called on the Russian people to overthrow this government.

In October 1942 the Germans invited me to leave for Berlin.

QUESTION: For what?

ANSWER: In order to be able to meet with the generals of the Red Army who were in captivity and use them for anti-Soviet work, which I once asked Hilger for.

In Berlin, I was placed in a camp at the propaganda department of the German armed forces. In the same camp were generals Malyshkin, the former chief of staff of the 19th Army, and Blagoveshchensky, the former head of the air defense school of the People's Commissariat of the Navy in Libau, as well as a former employee of the Izvestia newspaper editorial office Zykov.

I told them about my intention to start a struggle against Bolshevism, to create a Russian national government and to start forming a volunteer army to wage an armed struggle against Soviet power.

Malyshkin, Blagoveshchensky and Zykov supported me and expressed their readiness to take part in the struggle against Soviet power, and Zykov said that he was already conducting anti-Soviet work, collaborating in the newspaper Zarya, published by the Germans for Soviet prisoners of war.

In December 1942, Shtrikfeldt arranged a meeting for me in the propaganda department with Lieutenant General Ponedelin - formerly. commander of the 12th Army.

In conversation with Ponedelin the latter flatly refused my offer to take part in the work on the creation of a Russian volunteer army, saying that the Germans only promise to form Russian units, but in fact they only need a name that they could use for propaganda purposes.

Then I had a meeting with the major general Snegov - former commander of the 8th corps of the Red Army, who also did not agree to take part in the work I was doing, motivating his refusal with fear for the fate of his relatives living in the Soviet Union.

After that, Shtrikfeldt took me to one of the POW camps, located near Berlin, where I met with Lieutenant General Lukin- the former commander of the 19th Army, whose leg was amputated after being wounded and his right arm did not function.

In the presence of the Germans, Lukin spoke out hostile to the Soviet government, however, after I explained to him the purpose of my visit, he told me in private that he did not believe in the Germans, would not serve with them, and did not accept my offer.

Having failed in conversations with Ponedelin, Snegov and Lukin, I never again turned to any of the Red Army prisoners of war.

QUESTION: However, did you continue to deal with the issue of the formation of the so-called "Russian Liberation Army" from among Soviet prisoners of war?

ANSWER: The formation of volunteer units from among the Russian prisoners of war was carried out by the German headquarters of the volunteer troops, headed by the German generals Helmig and Kestring.

In December 1942, I posed to Shtrikfeldt the question of transferring all formed Russian units under my command and uniting them into the army.

Shtrikfeldt replied that the transfer of all the work on the formation of the Russian units to me was delayed due to the absence of a Russian political center. The Ukrainians / Belarusians, Caucasians, as Shtrikfeldt said, have their own leading political organizations in Germany and, in this regard, have got the opportunity to form their own national units, and therefore, if I want to succeed in my endeavor, I must first create some kind of Russian political center.

Realizing the seriousness of the arguments put forward by Shtrikfeldt, I discussed this issue with Malyshkin and Zykov, and with the participation of Shtrikfeldt we issued a document on our behalf in which we announced the creation of the Russian Committee.

QUESTION: Who became a member of the Russian Committee, created by you at the direction of the Germans?

ANSWER: The committee included: me, Malyshkin, Zykov and Zhilenkov - former. Secretary of the Rostokinsky District Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in Moscow, and then Brigadier Commissioner, member of the Military Council of the 32nd Army. Zhilenkov was the political leader of a German-formed brigade commanded by Colonel Boyarsky.

Malyshkin and I drew up a draft appeal of the Russian Committee, which altered several times at the direction of Strickfeldt, and when he was ready, I, as chairman, and Malyshkin, as secretary, signed him.

In this appealto the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army and the entire Russian people it was indicated that the Russian Committee sets itself the task of overthrowing Stalin, destroying Bolshevism, create a Russian government and conclude an honorable peace with Germany.

This appeal was reproduced by the Germans in the printing house and distributed among prisoners of war and at the front.

QUESTION: You are being presented with an appeal Russian Committeedated December 27, 1942. Are you talking about this document?

ANSWER: Yes, we are talking about this document.

QUESTION: Why was it stated in the appeal you wrote that the place of stay Russian Committeeis Smolensk while you were in Berlin?

ANSWER: Due to the fact that Russian Committee took over the functions of the government of Russia, Malyshkin and I considered it politically unprofitable to indicate that the committee was located on German territory.

QUESTION: You fought against the Soviet government and the Red Army on the instructions of the German intelligence agencies and the German military command. Show what kind of practical anti-Soviet activities you carried out on behalf of the so-called Russian Committee?

ANSWER: Soon after the creation of the Russian Committee was announced, I, accompanied by representatives of the German command, went to the volunteer units formed by the Germans to strengthen anti-Soviet work among Russian prisoners of war and to popularize the Russian Committee.

First of all, I attended courses in Dabendorf to train propagandists for work among prisoners of war.

The head of the courses was General Blagoveshchensky, whom I managed to get this position through Shtrikfeldt. The teachers at the courses were Russian prisoners of war who were released from the camps in this connection. Among them was Major General Trukhin, the former head of the operations department of the headquarters of the Baltic Military District, who later became the head of these courses and also pretended to be a member of the Russian Committee.

The courses in Dabendorf trained about 4 thousand prisoners of war, who were subsequently sent by propagandists to prisoner of war camps and Russian military units formed by the Germans, where they conducted anti-Soviet activities.

While in Dabendorf, on March 16, 1943, I published an open letter in the newspaper Zarya entitled “ Why I took the path of fighting Bolshevism", In which he slandered the leaders of the Soviet state and argued the need to fight the Soviet power.

QUESTION: The investigation presents you with a printed copy of this document. Is it about him?

ANSWER: Yes, I am talking about this document.

After visiting Dabendorf, I, accompanied by a representative of the propaganda department of the German army, Lieutenant Colonel Shushut and Captain Peterson, left for Smolensk, where I got acquainted with the activities of propaganda battalions and a volunteer detachment created by the Germans from Soviet prisoners of war.

There, in Smolensk, at the initiative of the city government, I was arranged a meeting with representatives of the local intelligentsia. I made a report on the creation of the Russian Committee and the negotiations that are being conducted with the German command on the formation of Russian armed forces to fight against Soviet power.

In the same 1943, I visited Pskov, where I examined a battalion of volunteer troops and was at the reception of the commander of the German troops operating near Leningrad, Field Marshal Bush, who asked me to tell at a meeting of German officers about the goals and objectives of the Russian Committee.

Speaking at this meeting, i declared that the Russian Committee was waging an active struggle against Soviet power and that the Germans would not be able to destroy the Bolsheviks without the help of the Russians. Field Marshal Bush clearly did not like my speech.

Returning to Berlin, I stopped in Riga and made an anti-Soviet report to the Russian intelligentsia of the city, and also conducted a conversation with Metropolitan Sergius, who lived in Riga.

QUESTION: What caused the need for this meeting and what did you talk with Sergius about?

ANSWER: The meeting with Metropolitan Sergius was organized for me by a German officer who was in charge of propaganda in Riga, with the aim of establishing contact with the Russian Orthodox Church and using the clergy for a joint struggle against Soviet power.

Sergius, agreeing with me about the need to intensify the struggle against Soviet power, said that he intends to create the Most Holy Synod in the regions occupied by the Germans. At the same time, Sergiy said that only priests who left the Soviet Union know the situation of the population and will be able to find a common language with them, while the emigrant priests have become detached from Soviet reality and do not enjoy authority among the population.

I recommended Sergius not to rush to create the Synod, but first to unite the clergy to fight against Bolshevism and to find out the attitude of the population towards the Church. Since Sergius argued that the majority of the population has a craving for the church, I told him that he and I should meet again on this issue and talk in detail.

After returning from my trip, I had a meeting in Letzen with the commander of the volunteer units, Lieutenant General Helmig.

Helmig invited me to stay at his headquarters and help him lead the formed Russian units. I refused this proposal, telling Helmig that as long as the Russian prisoners of war were in service in the German units, they would not fight the Bolsheviks properly.

I asked Helmig to hand over all the work on creating Russian units to me in order to form several divisions from them, subordinating them to the Russian Committee.

Without reaching an agreement with Helmig, I returned to Berlin and learned from Strickfeldt that Field Marshal Busch had learned about my performance. Himmler.

Himmler at one of the narrow meetings of the highest commanders of the German army, he said that the propaganda department of the German armed forces was busy with some prisoner of war general and allowed him to speak before the officers with such statements that undermine the Germans' confidence that they alone could defeat the Soviet Union ...

Himmler proposed to stop such propaganda and use only those prisoners of war who declare their consent to serve in the German army.

After this speech Himmler I was not active for some period and until 1944 I did not leave Berlin anywhere.

At about the same time, Malyshkin, who traveled to France for propaganda purposes, was arrested after his speech in Paris.

QUESTION: What was Malyshkin arrested for?

ANSWER: Speaking at a meeting of white emigrants in Paris, Malyshkin, trying to prove the need to unite all Russian formations under the leadership of our committee, expressed a negative attitude towards the activities of the Cossack administration created by the Germans. Immediately after the speech, Malyshkin was arrested and, accompanied by a German officer, was taken to Berlin.

QUESTION: Why Malyshkin's speech caused such a reaction from the Germans?

ANSWER: In July 1943, General of the White Army Krasnov concluded an agreement with Field Marshal Keitel and Rosenberg that the Cossacks pledged to fight on the side of the German army against the Soviet troops, for which the German government would provide them with Cossack lands in the east and places to settle in other European countries.

By the end of 1943, the Germans, having evicted local residents from the regions of Northern Italy, organized Cossack settlements there.

Malyshkin's speech was contrary to the policy of the German government, which led to his arrest. At my request, Malyshkin was soon released from custody by the Germans.

I resumed my more active anti-Soviet activity in July 1944.

QUESTION: In connection with what?

ANSWER: I must say that in the first period of the war against the Soviet Union, the Germans ignored any cooperation with anti-Soviet elements from among the Russians.

The Germans believed that the German military machine was so strong that it would be able to defeat the Soviet armies and establish its dominance in Russia without any help.

The declaration of the creation of the Russian Committee and the involvement of me as the leader of this anti-Soviet political center was made by the Germans mainly for the purpose of propaganda that the allegedly Russian people, together with the Germans, are fighting Bolshevism.

At that time, Germany recognized the plans for the dismemberment of the Soviet Union developed by Hitler's Minister Rosenberg.

In this regard, Rosenberg created various anti-Soviet organizations: Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian, Azeri, Turkestan and others, headed by "national committees" that formed National Legions from among Soviet prisoners of war to fight the Red Army.

Rosenberg appointed "presidents" and leaders of the "governments" being prepared at that time in Ukraine, Belarus, Turkestan, Azerbaijan, etc.

After the Red Army dealt a series of serious blows to the German troops, the Germans saw that the policy of dismembering the Soviet Union had failed.

Back in 1943, among some of the generals and officers of the German army, with whom I had occasion to talk, there were talks about dissatisfaction with the policy of the Hitler government.

So, while in 1943 in Smolensk, I met with the commander of the rear area, Field Marshal Kühler, who told me that, in his opinion, the sacrifices made by the German army in the East were increased by Rosenberg's wrong policy.

At the same time, Strickfeldt told me that an employee of the General Staff of the German Armed Forces, Major General Gehlen, once told him that the government's policy only complicates the situation, increasing the number of Germany's enemies.

In June 1943, in a conversation with the German writers Dwinger, Brehm and Vienna's Gauleiter von Schirach, the latter expressed their opinion to me that Germany should build its policy in the East in cooperation with the Russians who are fighting against Soviet power.

Obviously, taking into account these sentiments and the difficult situation of the Germans at the front, which had created by mid-1944, the Hitler government decided to involve Russian anti-Soviet formations in an active struggle under the leadership of the Germans against the Bolsheviks, concentrating all this work in the hands Himmler.

On July 20, 1944, a representative of the propaganda department of the German armed forces in the East, Captain Grotte, came to me, who suggested that I urgently go with him to an appointment with Himmler, but in connection with the attempt on Hitler's life that took place on that day, the meeting with Himmler was postponed and took place only on September 18, 1944.

QUESTION: Where did you meet with Himmler?

ANSWER: At the headquarters of the High Command of the German Armed Forces, in the forest, near the town of Rastenburg (East Prussia).

QUESTION: Who was present at your meeting with Himmler?

ANSWER: On the train with me to meet with Himmler rode: Shtrickfeldt, SS representative - Obersturmbannführer Kroeger and SS propaganda regiment commander Colonel Dalken.

At the reception Himmler We were met by Obergruppenführer Berger, who announced that Strickfeldt would not be present at the reception.

QUESTION: What did you talk about with Himmler?

ANSWER: Himmler I was told that the propaganda department of the German armed forces could not organize Russian prisoners of war to fight against the Bolsheviks, in connection with which he would personally supervise this work.

All Russian affairs, as Himmler said, will be handled by his deputy Berger, and he appoints Kroger as his representative to me.

For a successful struggle against Soviet power, Himmler proposed to unite all the White Guard, nationalist and other anti-Soviet organizations existing on the territory occupied by the Germans and inside Germany and to create a political center to guide their activities, giving me the freedom to choose whether to call this center a government or a committee.

Accepting Himmler's proposal,i asked him to allow me to create a committee called Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia and to form an army of 10 divisions from among the prisoners of war for use in the fight against the Red Army.

Himmler agreed with the creation of a committee and allowed to form 5 divisions from prisoners of war, promised to provide them with weapons.

At the same time, Himmler instructed me to develop Committee manifesto and submit it for approval.

In a further conversation, Himmler inquired in detail about the events in the Soviet Union in 1937. He asked whether there was a military conspiracy in reality, whether he had supporters. Wanting to show that inside the Soviet Union there are opponents of the government who are fighting against Soviet power, I replied to Himmler that there really was a conspiracy. In fact, I always believed that there was no conspiracy, and the NKVD authorities dealt with innocent people.

Himmler asked me if I was familiar with Tukhachevskyand whether he knew other participants in the military conspiracy. I replied that at that time I was still a small man, held a small position and had no connections with Tukhachevsky and other conspirators.

Himmler asked if there were people left in the Soviet Union who at the present time the German government could count on and who could organize a coup in Russia. I said my opinion that such people, of course, should be in Russia, but they are not known to me.

Then Himmler asked how I think it could Shaposhnikov organize a coup as one of the officers of the old army and occupying a prominent position in the USSR. I did not answer this question, referring to the fact that I was not closely acquainted with Shaposhnikov and only introduced myself to him in 1942 as chief of the General Staff.

After that, Himmler asked how I knew Stalin, Beria, Kaganovich and Zhdanov. Himmler was especially interested in Stalin's personal life, asked where Stalin lived, who the family was, and whether there were Jews in Stalin's family and close circle.

I slandered Stalin, but I could not tell Himmler any details about Stalin's personal life, since in reality I did not know anything.

Regarding Beria, Kaganovich and Zhdanov, I also could not say anything to Himmler, because I knew nothing about them.

At the same time, Himmler asked the question of who could be Stalin's successor. In response to my statement that it was difficult to suppose, Himmler expressed his opinion that Zhukov would obviously be Stalin's successor on military issues, and Zhdanov on civil matters. I said that Zhukov was my boss in the past, I know him as a strong-willed and energetic, but rude person.

Before letting me go, Himmler asked if I could cope with such a responsible task as uniting anti-Soviet organizations of all nationalities. I assured Himmler that I would cope with this task, since during my 2 years in Germany I had acquired the necessary contacts among White emigres and nationalists, and also that I would present him with a draft manifesto in the coming days.

QUESTION: Who participated in the drafting of the manifesto, written at the suggestion of Himmler?

ANSWER: The draft manifesto, which we developed at the suggestion of Himmler, was composed by myself, Malyshkin, Trukhin, Zhilenkov and Major General Zakutny, who worked in the department of Goebbels, the former chief of staff of the 21st Rifle Corps of the Red Army.

The manifesto in an anti-Soviet spirit outlined the situation in the Soviet Union, slandered the leaders of the Soviet state, who allegedly led the country to war with their wrong policies, and now the peoples of Russia are shedding blood for the imperialists of England and the USA. The necessity of combating Bolshevism was proved and it was reported about the creation of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia for this purpose.

The manifesto declared that the committee was created to free the peoples of Russia from the Bolshevik system, conclude peace with Germany and create a Russian state without the Bolsheviks.

After that, the draft manifesto was transmitted through Kroeger to Himmler, who made a number of amendments to it and approved it.

The manifesto was signed by 37 members and 12 candidates for members of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia.

QUESTION: The investigation has at its disposal a printed manifesto of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, dated November 14, 1944. Did you sign this document?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: The manifesto states that some members of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia did not put their signatures on this document due to the fact that they are in the USSR. What are the names of these persons?

ANSWER: This entry at the end of the manifesto was invented by Zhilenkov in order to create the appearance that representatives of the committee also operate on the territory of the USSR.

I told Zhilenkov that the Germans can demand from us that we give the names of these committee members, Zhilenkov replied that we will get out of this situation very easily, we will name several commanders known to us in the USSR and say that they are supposedly our supporters.

QUESTION: But you yourself, in your public speeches, claimed that you have accomplices among the generals and officers of the Red Army?

ANSWER: I have no accomplices in the Red Army. In some of my speeches, I did say that I allegedly had criminal connections with persons on the territory of the USSR who were fighting against Soviet power, but in fact I did not have them and spoke about this only in order to raise them in my eyes. Germans have their authority.

I must show that at the beginning of 1944 two unfamiliar SD officers who spoke Russian came to see me in Dabendorf.

One of those who came said that they allegedly managed to get in touch with Shaposhnikov, who, at the suggestion of the Germans, undertakes to organize a coup within the USSR. These people asked me what I would like to convey to Shaposhnikov and if I would like to contact someone else in the Soviet Union, they could help me with this. I asked how the Germans managed to get in touch with Shaposhnikov, but these persons hesitated and could not say anything intelligible. I realized that this was a provocation on the part of the Germans, made with the aim of checking if I had any connections on the territory of the USSR, and therefore avoided talking with them.

QUESTION: Name the persons who were part of the structure you created at the direction of the Germans Liberation Committee.

ANSWER: The number of the committee was about 60 members and candidates.
In addition to me, Malyshkin, Zhilenkov, Trukhin and Zakutny, the committee included:
Colonel Boyarsky - former commander of the 41st Infantry Division of the Red Army;
Colonel Bunyachenko, former commander of the 389th Infantry Division of the Red Army;
Colonel Meandrov - Former Chief of the Operations Division of the 6th Army Headquarters;
Professor of Medicine Bogatyrchuk, who fled with the Germans from Ukraine;
Muzychenko, a former Soviet journalist who fled the USSR with the Germans;
Lieutenant General of the Tsarist Army Abramov - one of the leaders of the White Guard organization Russian General Military Union;
White emigrant Kazantsev - a leading member of the White Guard organization of the National Labor Union of a New Generation;
General of the White Army Balabin - the head of the White Cossacks;
Professor Rudnev is a White emigrant.

QUESTION: You will be further questioned about other members of the committee, and now show who appointed and recruited the members of the committee?

ANSWER: After receiving instructions from Himmler on the creation of the Liberation Committee, I conferred with Trukhin, Zhilenkov, Zakutny and Malyshkin, asking them to select candidates for committee members. Trukhin was supposed to select candidates from among the military, Zhilenkov - from among former political workers of the Red Army, Zakutny - from among civilians. Malyshkin and I dealt with the White emigration.

Two days later, we gathered again and jointly considered the submitted candidates.

The list of committee members was sent through Kroeger to Himmler, who approved it with some amendments.

The first meeting of the committee took place on November 14, 1944 in Prague, which, in addition to the members of the committee, was attended by the head of the protectorate of the Czech Republic and Moravia Frick, Obergruppenführer Lawrence and representatives from the Czech government created by the Germans.

The meeting was opened by Professor Rudnev as the oldest member of the committee, who proposed to elect me as chairman.

After the approval of the manifesto we worked out, the presidium of the committee was elected, consisting of me, Malyshkin, Zhilenkov, Trukhin, Zakutny and the white emigrants Rudnev and Balabin.

I was elected chairman of the committee, Malyshkin - secretary.

According to the interim regulation approved by the Germans, civilians were led by the chairman of the committee jointly with the Presidium, and the military - by the Chairman alone, as commander-in-chief.

In addition, the committee created directorates: military - the leader Trukhin, propaganda - the leader Zhilenkov, civil - the leader Zakutny, financial - the leader Professor Andreyev, who fled with the Germans from the USSR; national aid, collecting donations for the needs of the committee - the head of the white emigrant Alekseev.

QUESTION: You have shown that Himmler instructed you to unite all White Guard and nationalist organizations to fight against Soviet power.What have you done in this direction?
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