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Prisoners of War and War Crimes in WW2 We will conduct research into The National Archives holdings on crimes committed by Germans and Japanese, (and others), during WW2. WO 344 This newly released series, (Dec 2004), comprises questionnaire-style reports of interrogation of Allied forces evaders, escapees and liberated prisoners of war; compiled by MI9, a branch of the directorate. Information includes acts of bravery by the prisoners, civilians who had helped prisoners, movements of prisoners, and casualties among other prisoners. Information about behaviour of enemy captors which could constitute illegal acts was recorded on a separate sheet usually, and not kept with the main report, but passed to the Allied authorities investigating alleged war crimes. We will also search war crimes case files, among the records of the Judge Advocate General. The National Archives describe their holdings on War Crimes as follows:- 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 crimes 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. 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 , WO 309/1426 , WO 309/1427 ; 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 , WO 311/618 , WO 311/619 , WO 311/620 , WO 311/621 , WO 311/622. 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 , WO 309/1704 , WO 309/1705 , WO 309/1706 . 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 , WO 267/601 , WO 267/602. 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 , WO 204/2190 , WO 204/2191 , WO 204/2192 , WO 204/2193 . 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 Kindest regards Bob Contact us by email R W O'HARA 15 Ruskin Avenue Kew, Richmond TW9 4DR England Return to Home Page
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