"Minsk Nuremberg" — details of "Case No. 1946" and the trial of 18 fascists revealed

On January 29, 1946, in Minsk, a military tribunal found 18 German-Fascist criminals guilty of heinous crimes against the population of the BSSR during the Great Patriotic War. Fourteen of them were sentenced to death by hanging, and the remaining four to exile for hard labor.

"The verdict is final and not subject to appeal" — these words were met with applause by those present in the hall.

On February 1, 1946, the Belarus Telegraph Agency announced that on January 30, 1946, at 2:30 PM, the verdict of the Minsk Military District Military Tribunal regarding the German-Fascist criminals sentenced to death by hanging for their monstrous atrocities in the BSSR was carried out at the Minsk hippodrome.

More than 100,000 workers present at the hippodrome greeted the execution of the verdict with unanimous approval.

SS Ober-Leutnant Karl Max Langut, awaiting the tribunal’s verdict, told a fellow prisoner: "If I am shot, it will be an easy death. The gallows are terrible. I will ask that I be shot instead of hanging, because hanging is somehow unpleasant for a German officer."

Langut was the deputy commander of Camp No. 131 in Bobruisk, where in winter 1941, 30,000 prisoners of war died from hunger, disease, and executions. The camp also held about 600 children aged 10 to 15. About 250 children died from disease. The fate of the others, who were taken to the German rear, remains unknown.

Many Nazi criminals faced responsibility for their crimes on Belarusian soil, answering for their deeds at the scene of the crimes.

The Minsk Nuremberg could be called, without any exaggeration, the trial of fascists that took place 80 years ago in the House of Officers. Oleg Matveyev, a military historian and expert at the National Center for Historical Memory under the President of Russia, stated that almost all defendants were Germans (there were no collaborators, unlike previous wartime trials), ranging from generals to privates, from crime organizers to performers.

"The Minsk process of 1946 played a dual role. On one hand, it was an act of justice aimed at establishing guilt, condemning, and punishing those responsible for heinous crimes. On the other hand, the Minsk trial had great socio-political significance. The Belarusian people, who suffered and endured the horrors of German occupation, expected that the criminals would be punished," said Igor Moroz, director of the NPC for Law and Order Enforcement.

According to Elena Malysheva, head of the National Center for Historical Memory under the President of Russia and a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, the Minsk trial was based on a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, adopted on April 19, 1943. This decree was the first normative act establishing that Nazi actions against civilians constituted crimes.

The fact that not only SS officers but also lower Wehrmacht soldiers faced trial distinguished the process for its sincerity. The prosecution relied on live evidence. Eighteen individuals appeared before the military tribunal. The process was open and public in a legal sense. Defendants had defenders, witnesses were called, and hearings were covered by mass media. Public access was organized by invitation, with delegations from occupied areas and witnesses brought in.

"These criminals looked into the eyes of mothers who lost their children, and children who lost their parents. The emotional intensity from this, I am sure, initially set a moral tone. It was impossible to behave differently with witnesses present, in the territory where these crimes were committed," Malysheva said.

In January 1946, crowds gathered at the Minsk Red Army House — among them were representatives of creative and scientific intelligentsia, military personnel, civilians, city and rural residents. For two weeks, in a packed hall and designated boxes, journalists from Belarusian publications, TASS correspondents, and press from China, America, and England recorded every word.

Elena Malysheva:

"Undoubtedly, the collected evidence was of great importance. All evidence presented during the open trials — eyewitness testimonies gathered immediately after the events — were very emotional."

Today, the original documents are stored in the Russian FSB archive. This vast collection is titled "Case No. 1946."

Why did Minsk, 80 years ago, become a local equivalent of Nuremberg? The evidence of crimes, many of which were presented for the first time and had no statute of limitations, were shown in the documentary "Minsk Trial. Case No. 1946."