National Socialist German Worker's Party Circular letter No. 141/41.
Fuehrer's H. Q. 5 Nov 41.
Subject: Burial of Bodies of Soviet Russian Prisoners of War by the Municipalities.
The Reich Minister of the Interior has addressed the following express-letter in this matter to the Reichs Town Governors and Presidents, which is attached as an enclosure. Please note.
Heil Hitler!
(S) M. Bormann.
1 enclosure F.d.R:
Signed: DIEPGARDT [?|
Distribution:
Reichsleiter '
Gauleiter
Kreisleiter
Copy of a copy.
REICHS MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR EXPRESS LETTER
IV e 10366HI 3991.
To the Reichs Town Governors in the Reich Districts (County Governors).
The Government Presidents and Vice Presidents.
President of the Police in Berlin.
The Mayor of the Reich Capital, BERLIN.
Not suitable for publication (not even in extract by the press). Subject: Burial of Bodies of Soviet Prisoners of War by Municipalities.
Wherever the Army Service Departments request the burial of Soviet Russian Prisoners of War it is the duty of the Municipalities to carry out burials immediately after death certificates
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have been signed by a doctor. It is left to the Municipalities either to make use of already existing grave yards or other suitable places.
The choice of a burial ground outside an existing grave-yard is subject to approval by the Health Department concerned and must be in keeping with the law and all applicable regulations, particularly health regulations, (as outlined by the circular decree of the Reichs and Prussian Minister of the Interior, etc. 18 Jan 37—V a I 31/37 (RMBliV.S.113), and by the resolutions of the Scientific Deputation for the Medical matters of 1 Nov 1890, regarding projects for the establishment and enlarging of burial grounds, and by the order regarding places for burial, (viz Gutt, The Public Health Service, volume I, second edition, page 239). Preparations will be started immediately to conform with these regulations. To establish death, medical officers of the army are to be called in whenever they can be reached. To save costs, Service Departments of the army will generally be contacted regarding transport of corpses (furnishing of vehicles) whenever possible. No coffins will be indented for the transfer and burial. The body will be completely enveloped with strong paper (if possible, oil - tar - asphalte paper) or other suitable material. Transfer and burial is to be carried out unobtrusively. If a number of corpses have to be disposed of the burial will be carried out in a communal grave. In this case, the bodies will be buried side by side (but not on top of each other) and in accordance with the local custom regarding depth of graves. Where a grave yard is the place of burial a distant part will be chosen. No burial ceremony or decorations of graves will be allowed. Where new graves are dug, the customary distance from existing graves will be observed. If the deceased Soviet prisoner of war suffered from a contagious disease, transfer and burial will be carried out in agreement with the local health department concerned. Rooms in which corpses were stored (railway sheds, mortuaries), and vehicles used for the transport of corpses are to be disinfected each time. Persons who have been ordered to lay out, transport and bury corpses must be instructed on the necessary hygienic measures—particularly disinfection after contact with corpses. Costs will be kept as low as possible. They will be collected quarterly by the Municipality from the Army Command Administration in whose district the Municipality is situated. Accounts will be enclosed. Furthermore, whenever a demand is submitted, it will be stated when and through which military service department the corpse was handed over to the Municipal author-
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ities. I request immediate information of the service departments concerned. Spare copies attached.
F.d.R.d.A. * '
Signed: LEITL [?] '
Cover letter and instructions to city authorities for the burial of Soviet POWs, with the burials to be conducted cheaply, unobtrusively, and without ceremony or markers
Authors
Martin Bormann (Chief, Party Chancellery, deputy to Hess, then Hitler)
Martin Bormann
German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery (1900-1945)
- Born: 1900-07-17 1900-06-17 (Halberstadt)
- Died: 1945-05-02 (Berlin)
- Country of citizenship: German Empire; Nazi Germany; Weimar Republic
- Occupation: farmer; military personnel; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Member of: Schutzstaffel
- Participant in: Aryanization; International Military Tribunal (role: defendant; since: 1945-11-19)
- Military rank: Obergruppenführer; soldier
Wilhelm Frick (Minister of the Interior; chief of Nazi delegation, Reichstag; admin. Plenipotentiary)
Wilhelm Frick
German Nazi official (1877-1946)
- Born: 1877-03-12 (Alsenz)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: diplomat; lawyer; politician
- Member of political party: German Völkisch Freedom Party; National Socialist Freedom Movement; Nazi Party
- Member of: AGV München; Thule Society
- Participant in: Aryanization; Beer Hall Putsch; International Military Tribunal (role: defendant)
- Position held: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (period: 1943-08-24 through 1945-05-04; replaces: Konstantin von Neurath); Reichsminister des Innern (period: 1933-01-30 through 1943-08-20; replaced by: Heinrich Himmler; replaces: Franz Bracht); member of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany; member of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
Date: 05 November 1941
Literal Title: Reference: Burial of Bodies of Soviet Russian Prisoners of War by the Municipalities
Defendants: Martin Bormann, Wilhelm Frick
Total Pages: 2
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: D-163
Citation: IMT (page 2810)
HLSL Item No.: 453130
Notes:Bormann distributed the instructions issued by Frick.
Document Summary
D-163: Instructions by Bormann dated 5 Nov 41, reference burial of Russian P.O.W.