Krasnodar Trial

The Krasnodar Trial was a war crimes trial held in front of a Soviet military tribunal in July 1943 in Krasnodar, Soviet Union. Defendants included Soviet collaborators with the German military, police, and SS forces responsible for implementing the occupational policies during the German–Soviet War of 1941–45.

Krasnodar Trial
CourtSoviet military tribunal
Krasnodar, Soviet Union
IndictmentWar crimes
DecidedJuly 1943

Proceedings

Units of the German Wehrmacht occupied Krasnodar between August 12, 1942, and February 12, 1943. German forces, including the Einsatzgruppen (mobile death squads), killed thousands of Jews, Communists, and others. Shooting, hanging, burning, and gas vans were used.[1]

The tribunal heard the case against 11 defendants, all Soviet collaborators with the German military, police, and SS forces, who were accused in participating in the murder of 7,000 people. Richard Ruoff, commander of the German 17th Army; Kurt Christmann, head of the local Gestapo; and 13 other SS officials were charged in absentia. The prosecutors emphasized the collective responsibility of the Nazi regime for the crimes, not just the local commanders. The Soviet press gave wide publicity to the trials. Foreign observers considered the trial to be "stage-managed", but did not doubts the severity and extent of the crimes themselves. Eight defendants were sentenced to death and publicly hanged; three were sentenced to prison terms.[2]

References
  1. Lichtblau, Eric (2014): The Nazis Next Door: How America Became A Safe Haven For Hitler's Men, pp. 47−48.
  2. Arieh J. Kochavi: Prelude to Nuremberg: Allied War Crimes Policy and the Question of Punishment, pp. 64−65
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