KILL the German!
by Ilya Ehrenburg
Before Stalingard
the Germans captured a wounded Russian—Junior Sergeant Petrov, a
Guardsman. They tried to make him talk. "You'll answer us!" they
yelled. But Petrov remained silent. A German officer cut off his ear
with his dagger, but still the Red Army man remained silent. The the
Germans cut off his nose. But they did not make him speak. He shook
his head slowly, his head streaming with blood.
Volkhov Wouldn't
Talk
In the Tver forests
there used to live an old Russian peasant, Ivan Mikhailovich Volkhov
by name. He was 66. The Germans captured him and started to question
him. Volkhov remained silent. The Germans beat him, hacked him with
knives, but the old man would not speak a word. Then they shot him.
There used to be a
school in Zheleznitsa village. The Germans arrived. They seized
Nadya Stolyarova, a pupil in Class I. She was only nine years old.
They did not "interrogate" her. They only beat her up, and then
murdered her with a rifle-butt.
In Semyonovschina
village the Germans threw four young children into a well. Their
mother cried, but the Germans told her "We don't need the well.
We've enough water without it."
In Shchelkanovo
village the Germans tied a 90-year old peasant woman, Smirnova, to
the saddle and whipped the horse on, so that she was battered to
death. In the village of Sklyayevo the Germans caught a 17-year old
girl, raped her, disfigured her, cut off her breasts and slashed
open her stomach.
Such are the
chronicle of every day. The record of these crimes fills volume on
volume. They are perpetrated not by individual scoundrels, but by
the German Army. They are part of the official plans of German
strategists, and are encouraged by the Nazi authorities. They are
planned in Berlin. The whole of Germany is answerable for these
crimes.
"If even a single
shot is fired in a town or village the place must be razed to the
ground, and the greatest possible number of citizens captured and
shot. This must be the invariable rule."
"If we desire to
secure peace it is necessary to act radically, to follow up the war
against armies by the complete extermination of the hostile peoples.
After the final defeat on the battlefield, it is necessary to start
warring against women and children. When the physical strength of
the people has been completely exhausted, the vanquished race will
disappear for good."
"Congenital
Cannibals"
These lines were
penned 43 years ago, in 1899, by General Weidergeher. Von Kleist,
Von Bock and Guderian had worthy predecessors. There is no need for
the Germans to blame Hitler for everything—for half a century they
have been learning how to cut off ears and fling children into
wells.
They are cannibals
by conviction. The destruction of women, the devastation of peaceful
villages, the murder of infants in arms are for them military
science and State wisdom.
Fighter! Guardsman
Petrov, smothered in blood, was your comrade, your friend, your
brother. Fighter! You are the judge and you are the executioner.
Before you stands a German—before you stands one of those who
tortured Petrov. Do not delay. Kill the German.
Fighter! The body of
the old woman Smirnova, trampled by the horse's hooves, is the body
of your mother! Quitely she lived out her years. In toil and sorrow
she reared her sons and grandsons. On a cool autumn day she liked to
sit on the bench and gossip with her neighbours. She gave birth to
you, fighter! Avenge her!
Fighter! The Russian
girl whom they raped and killed used to sing merrily every morning,
before the Germans came. She had grey eyes and golden hair. She had
loved ones.
She may have been
your beloved. Her honour has been violated, her young life has
burned out like a match in the wind. She was tortured, she was
murdered! Fighter! Her violators stand before you. The unprotected
girl was helpless before them. But you have a rifle and
hand-grenades. Make them pay!
The Murder of Nadya
Nadya Stolyarova was
a schoolgirl with ink stained fingers. She was a good, merry child.
She was murdered. Even a turtle-dove becomes ferocious when its
young are killed. Even a deer defends its young. Fighter! Avenge
your daughter!
In 1899 the Germans
decided to destroy the peoples. In 1914 they started to rehearse.
They tested the first gallows, they tested the skill of the
incendiaries. They destroyed millions, but that was not enough for
them. They found a worthy leader, Hitler, and they attacked us. They
did not attack the army, but the people, the villages, the women,
young and old, the babes in arms.
Fighter! Close your
eyes. Guardsman Petrov, half-dead, stands before you, shakes his
head. He did not waver. Neither did old man Volkhov. Neither has
Russia wavered—she remains silent, waiting. She awaits judgment.
The German
criminals, too, await judgment. Fighter! You are the bearer of the
judgment of the people! Do not retreat! Advance and bring judgment!
THE GERMANS CAME TO
MURDER US. THEY MUST AND WILL NOT ESCAPE—NOT ONE OF THEM. KILL THE
GERMAN FOR HIS DEEDS! KILL HIM QUICKLY!
Soviet Wars News Weekly, October 1, 1942, p.6.
