
                    **********************************
                          PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE 
                    RECORDS INFORMATION Leaflet No: 85
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                   WAR CRIMES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR:
                  DOCUMENTS IN THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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This leaflet gives a brief account of those records in the Public Record
Office which relate to war crimes and criminals (both alleged and proved)
during the Second World War. The procedures adopted for the investigation
of war crimes and the trial of war criminals in Europe are dealt with in
the first sections of the leaflet; there follows a section on records
relating to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Finally, the
investigation of war crimes and the trials of war criminals conducted by
the British in the Far East are discussed.


UNITED NATIONS WAR CRIMES COMMISSION

In the early 1940s the Allied governments began seriously to address the
issue of war crimes and their investigation. At a meeting of
representatives of seventeen of the Allied nations in October 1943, the
United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) was established. Its purpose
was to collect, record and investigate evidence of war crimes and their
perpetrators, to liaise with national governments to this end, and, at a
later stage, to advise governments on the legal procedures to be adopted
in bringing suspects to trial. It was the responsibility of the national
governments concerned to act upon the evidence supplied to them by the
Commission. The first official meeting of the UNWCC was held in January
1944, and the organisation continued to be active until 1948. The Soviet
Union declined to participate.

The records of the UNWCC, its sub-commissions and committees, are housed
in the United Nations Archives in New York. Documentation on all aspects
of the UNWCC's work occurs in the General Correspondence of the Foreign
Office, mainly in that of the Political Departments (FO 371). Relevant
files are listed in the Index to General Correspondence of the Foreign
Office, 1920-1951, under the general heading of 'War Criminals'. Minutes
of UNWCC meetings, bulletins, circulars and general correspondence occur
in the papers of the War Crimes Branch of the Treasury Solicitor's
Department (TS 26/66-109)*.  UNWCC minutes for the period June 1944 to
August 1945 may also be found in WO 219/3585, together with progress
reports and other associated documents. Correspondence with Allied National
Offices, to whom information on suspects was forwarded, is in TS 26/110-
123*.

The UNWCC issued lists of war crimes suspects, which were circulated to
Allied governments and which contain brief details of the crime(s) alleged
or proved to have been committed by the persons listed. Copies of these
lists will be found in TS 26/876-891*, and in FO 371.

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* Records of the Treasury Solicitor may be seen only at PRO, Chancery Lane

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CENTRAL REGISTRY OF WAR CRIMINALS AND SECURITY SUSPECTS

To assist the UNWCC and Allied governments in tracing ex-enemy nationals
suspected of committing war crimes or atrocities in Europe, a Central
Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects (CROWCASS) was set up by
the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in the spring of 1945.
The object of CROWCASS was to provide a pool of information on persons in
Allied detention and those wanted on war crimes charges, on which national
governments could draw and to which they were encouraged to contribute.
CROWCASS published lists of detainees and wanted persons, similar in format
to those produced by the UNWCC.

Documentation on the initial functions and organisation of CROWCASS will
be found in FO 945/343 (Control Office for Germany and Austria General
Department). Miscellaneous correspondence and papers concerning the
creation, control and organisation of the Central Registry exist in WO
309/1425-1427; related papers are in WO 32/12200. Further material of an
administrative nature will be found in FO 1032/787 and 2206, and in WO
311/618-622.  Documentation on the financing of CROWCASS is among records
of the Control Office for Germany and Austria's Finance Division (FO
944/733 and 965).

For other references to CROWCASS material, the Index to General
Correspondence of the Foreign Office should be consulted. There are
references to several lists of wanted persons issued by CROWCASS in the
1945 volume under the general heading 'War Criminals'.  Such lists will
also be found in WO 311/60 and WO 309/1703-1706.


THE INVESTIGATION OF WAR CRIMES IN EUROPE

In the immediate post-war period, responsibility for collecting evidence
of war crimes rested with a variety of units attached to the Headquarters
of the Allied Forces in Europe. In Germany, several investigation teams
operated with the 21 Army Group (later British Army of the Rhine). In
Austria, investigations were conducted by the British Military Police and,
subsequently, by a War Crimes Section of the Judge Advocate General's
Branch, British Troops in Austria. Several War Crimes Investigation Teams
were active in Norway; they were responsible to the HQ Allied Land Forces
Norway.

It was not long before the administrative machinery for investigating war
crimes perpetrated in enemy and enemy-occupied Europe was consolidated and
simplified. In Germany, the various units operating with HQ British Army
of the Rhine were merged to form the War Crimes Group (North West Europe).
In Austria, a War Crimes Group (South East Europe) was created in 1947 to
deal with investigations both in Austria and in Italy.

Case Files of the War Crimes Group (NWE) are in WO 309, and cover both
individual cases and general procedural policy. A few Quarterly Historical
Reports of the Group and of its War Crimes Investigation Unit will be found
in WO 267/600-602. Case Files of the War Crimes Group (SEE) are in WO 310.
Most of these files concern investigations in Austria and Italy, although
a few deal with Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia. Related documentation
occurs among the Headquarters and Regional Files of the Allied Commission
for Austria (FO 1020). Files of the War Crimes Investigation Branch, HQ
Allied Land Forces Norway are in WO 331.

Overall responsibility for war crimes policy and related legal procedures
lay with the Military Department of the Judge Advocate General's Office
(renamed after 1948 the Directorate of Army Legal Services). The war crimes
files of this body, dealing with the investigation and prosecution of war
criminals for offences committed in all military theatres of World War Two,
are in WO 311. Card indexes relating to files in this record class have
been preserved in WO 353. Card indexes of persons passed to or wanted by
various allied authorities constitute the class WO 355. Readers should
consult the introductory notes to these classes in the class lists.

Diverse material on war crimes policy in Europe, including numerous
individual cases, occurs among the Military Headquarters Papers, Allied
Force Headquarters, in WO 204. Policy papers, mainly concerning crimes
committed by or against Italians, are to be found in WO 204/2189-2193. 
Documentation on the investigation of war crimes in South East Europe is
in WO 204/2194-2200.

Reports of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) courts
of enquiry into alleged atrocities committed against Allied prisoners of
war by the German Armed Forces have the references WO 219/5045-5054.  These
files are subject to a 75 year closure period.

A sample of lists of charges prepared against Germans and Italians in
connection with war crimes investigations occurs among the War Crimes
Papers of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, in TS 26/176-802*.

For further documentation on war crimes investigations, readers are advised
to search other classes of records. Among the records of the War Office and
Foreign Office, the following should be noted:

      WO 32:      War Office Registered Papers, General Series. The
                  subject code 94(A) relates to War Criminals: General

      WO 208:     Directorate of Military Intelligence

      FO 371:     General Correspondence of the Foreign Office
                  (Political). Refer to the Index to the General
                  Correspondence of the Foreign Office, 1920-1951

      FO 1060:    Control Commission for Germany (BE) Legal Division.


WAR CRIMES TRIALS IN EUROPE

There was considerable variation in the procedures adopted by the Allies
for trying those accused of war crimes in Europe and the Far East. In
Europe, most cases were dealt with by Allied military courts, although in
Germany itself the occupying authorities set up a number of different
courts to try alleged war criminals.

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* Records of the Treasury Solicitor may be seen only at PRO Chancery Lane

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Records of proceedings in British military courts, involving both members
of enemy armed forces and civilians charged with committing war crimes
against British and Allied nationals, are to be found among the War Crimes
Papers of the Judge Advocate General's Office (WO 235). Records of European
trials in this class are arranged as follows:

      WO 235/1-594:     Trial proceedings, exhibits, extracted papers etc

      WO 235/595-602:   Canadian Military Court proceedings, war crimes
                        trials at Aurich

      WO 235/603-812:   Deputy Judge Advocate General files and pending
                        files

There is a nominal index at the beginning of the class list.

The International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg (see below) declared
many organisations of the National Socialist period in Germany to be
criminal. These included the SS, the SA and the Party leadership corps.
Under the provisions of Military Government Ordinance No 69 of 31 December
1946, former members of such organisations were liable to trial before
German tribunals and various other courts set up by the occupying powers.
This major operation was code-named 'Old Lace'.

The most comprehensive accumulation of papers on 'Old Lace' is to be found
among the records of the Control Commission for Germany's Legal Division
(FO 1060/1195-1230).  Further papers are in FO 1060/139-142, 1023, 1038 and
1078-1086. The legal background and technical procedures of the operation
are documented in FO 945/356. Reports on 'Old Lace' trials, including the
first trial at Recklinghausen in June 1947, occur in FO 937/150, in FO
1005/1810-1814, and in FO 1032/2205.  These files also contain progress
reports and other miscellaneous papers.

Between 1945 and 1949, the British and US governments undertook to try a
number of senior German military figures on war crimes charges. The British
trial of Erich von Manstein, which took place in Hamburg in 1949, is
extensively documented. A record of proceedings and documents in evidence
may be found under the reference FO 1060/1288-1358.  Other Manstein trial
documents have the references WO 235/589 and 590-594. Correspondence and
papers concerning Manstein, Brauchitsch, Rundstedt and Strauss, all of whom
were in British custody after the war, are contained in FO 1032/1948 and
2215, and in PREM 8/1112.

Daily transcripts of proceedings and other documents relating to the trial
in Venice of Albert Kesselring are held by the Imperial War Museum
(formerly PRO reference FO 647; the same class also contains records of the
Falkenhausen and Roechling trials). Correspondence and other papers on
Kesselring, mostly concerning his imprisonment, are in FO 1005/1900 and FO
1060/493-501.  Churchill's reaction to the sentence imposed on Kesselring
is documented in PREM 8/707.

Apart from the Four-Power IMT, Nuremberg was also the venue for a
succession of United States military tribunals. Among the various cases
heard before these tribunals were the German High Command Case, the
'Ministries Case' (von Weizsaecker et al) and the 'Industrialists Cases'
(Krupp, Flick and I G Farben). Microfilmed records of proceedings and
related documentation are housed in the National Archives, Washington DC.
Excerpts from these proceedings have been published as Trials of War
Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law
No 10 (15 vols, Washington DC: GPO, 1949-50). The Imperial War Museum
currently holds transcripts of proceedings etc of the twelve trials
(formerly PRO reference FO 646).

Some documentation concerning the US military tribunals is contained in the
records of the Control Commission for Germany (BE) Legal Division. Papers
relating to the German High Command trial are in FO 1060/1377, and include
summaries of charges, evidence, and the legal background to the trial.
Transcripts of documents in evidence at the trial of Weizsaecker and
Neurath are in FO 1060/1359-1371; miscellaneous correspondence concerning
Neurath's imprisonment in Spandau occurs in FO 1060/517 and 518. Reports
of the British observer at the trials of Friedrich Flick and Alfried Krupp
are to be found among the records of the Control Office for Germany and
Austria's Legal Division (FO 937/124 and 143). Correspondence on the
bringing to trial of Krupp and associates is in PREM 8/391.

Other documentation on war crimes trials is to be found in the General
Correspondence of the Foreign Office (Political), in FO 371. Information
on the composition, terms of reference and other details of Allied Courts
in Germany can be gleaned from documents contained in the records of the
Control Commission for Germany (BE) Legal Division (FO 1060) and the
Control Office for Germany and Austria's Legal and General Division
(respectively FO 937 and FO 945).

Documentation on the prosecution of war criminals occurs also in the
Military Headquarters Papers, Allied Force Headquarters, in WO 204/11112-
11132 and 11315-11330.


INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL, NUREMBERG

The IMT Nuremberg was set up on the basis of the London Agreement of 8
August 1945, by which the Allied Powers undertook to prosecute and punish
the major war criminals of the European Axis. The IMT tried the leaders of
the German government, National Socialist Party and Armed Forces, and
others whose actions were deemed to transcend any specific geographical
location. This proceeded separately from, but in tandem with, the war
crimes investigations and trials outlined in previous sections of this
leaflet.

The trial records of the IMT have been transferred to the Imperial War
Museum (formerly PRO reference FO 645). These consist of daily transcripts
of proceedings, exhibits, judgements, briefs etc. Transcripts of
proceedings and documents in evidence have been published as Trial of the
Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (42 vols,
Nuremberg: IMT, 1947-49).   Transcript minutes of proceedings can be found
in the General Correspondence of the Foreign Office (Political) for 1946,
in FO 371/57435-57517.  There is no detailed index to these records.

Miscellaneous correspondence and papers relating to the IMT Nuremberg are
in FO 1019. This class includes correspondence of the British War Crimes
Executive (BWCE: the British prosecution team led by Sir David Maxwell-
Fyfe) and of the Court Contact Committee, together with applications for
witnesses, documents submitted on behalf of defendants, and correspondence
from the public. Further correspondence of the BWCE on various aspects of
the trial is among the records of the Control Commission for Germany (BE)
Political Division, in FO 1049/425-428, together with other correspondence
on the progress of the trial.  Similar documentation will be found in FO
945/332, 345 and 346; FO 1032/2203, 2209, 2445 and 2446; and in FO 1060/95
and 1378-1389.

For Foreign Office correspondence on the Nuremberg trial readers should
consult the Index to General Correspondence of the Foreign Office, 1920-
1951.  Documents are listed under the heading 'War Crimes: German
(Nuremberg Trials); most of those that survive will be found in FO 371.

The Nuremberg Trial is documented also in records of the Prime Minister's
Office and of the Cabinet Office. Readers should consult the class lists
and (in the case of Cabinet records) the subject indexes for the following:

      PREM 4:     Prime Minister's Office, Confidential Papers, Pre-1946
                  policy discussions on the setting up of a Four-Power
                  Tribunal in PREM 4/100/10, 12 and 13

      PREM 8:     Correspondence and Papers, 1945-1951

      CAB 65 )    Cabinet Office, War Cabinet Minutes and Memoranda,
      CAB 66 )    1939-1945

      CAB 128 )   Cabinet Minutes and Memoranda from 1945
      CAB 129 )

Minutes of the first meeting of the ad-hoc Committee on Appeals Against
Sentences at the Nuremberg Trial of War Criminals are in CAB 130/13.


WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION AND TRIALS IN THE FAR EAST

The majority of Japanese who were brought to trial on war crimes charges,
and who did not appear before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in
Tokyo (see below), were tried by military commissions of the 8 US Army at
Yokohama. Responsibility for the investigation and bringing to trial of
persons accused of crimes against British nationals devolved upon General
Headquarters, Allied Land Forces South East Asia (ALFSEA) .

The main accumulation of files concerning ALFSEA's investigations into war
crimes is to be found in WO 325. Files of the Judge Advocate General's
Military Department are in WO 311; material on South East Asia occurs in
particular in WO 311/538-565. Card indexes and record cards concerning
investigations and trials in South East Asia form the classes WO 356 and
WO 357. Readers are advised to consult the introductory notes to these
records in the class lists.

Files on policy and numerous individual cases are scattered throughout the
Military Headquarters Papers, Far East, in WO 203. The principal references
are: WO 203/2080, 4571, 4926, 4927, 5592-5596, 6086 and 6087.  Quarterly
Historical Reports of Far East Land Forces investigation teams, 1946-47,
are in WO 268/102-104. Documentation on crimes committed against Allied
prisoners of war is scattered throughout the records of the War Office's
Directorate of Military Intelligence (WO 208).

Transcripts of proceedings in British Military Courts in the Far East are
among the War Crimes Papers of the Judge Advocate General's Office in WO
235/813-1117. Samples of charge sheets filed against individuals accused
of war crimes, including charges brought by Australia, may be found in TS
26/803-847*.

Transcript records of the IMT in Tokyo are currently deposited at the
Imperial War Museum (formerly PRO reference FO 648). This set is
incomplete, but the full series is available in Tokyo and Washington. See
The Tokyo War Crimes Trials. The Complete Transcripts of the Proceedings
of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, ed R J Pritchard
and SM Zaide (22 vols, New York: Garland, 1981). Foreign Office
correspondence on the setting up of the IMT Tokyo is in FO 371/57422-57429.

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* Records of the Treasury Solicitor may be seen only at PRO Chancery Lane

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These and other files on war crimes trials and investigations are listed
in the Index to General Correspondence of the Foreign Office, 1920-1951,
under the headings 'War Criminals' and 'War Criminals: Japanese'.


IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM

Readers wishing to consult war crimes trial records held by the Imperial
War Museum, as described in this leaflet, should enquire at the following
address:

                  Department of Documents
                  Imperial War Museum
                  Lambeth Road
                  London
                  SE1 6HZ


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