Judgment: Murder & Ill-Treatment of Civilian Population
Kenneth McVay OBC
Last-Modified: 1997/09/13
Judgment
of the
International Military Tribunal
For The
Trial of German Major War Criminals
London
His Majesty's Stationery Office
1951
[Page 48]
MURDER AND ILL-TREATMENT OF CIVILIAN POPULATION
Article 6 (b) of the Charter provides that "ill-treatment
..of civilian population of or in occupied territory..
killing of hostages ..wanton destruction of cities, towns,
or villages" shall be a war crime. In the main, these
provisions are merely declaratory of the existing laws of
war as expressed by the Hague Convention, Article 46, which
stated:
"Family honor and rights, the lives of persons and
private property, as well as religious convictions
and practice must be respected."
The territories occupied by Germany were administered in
violation of the laws of war. The evidence is quite
overwhelming of a systematic rule of violence, brutality,
and terror. On 7th December, 1941 Hitler issued the
directive since known as the "Nacht und Nebel Erlass" (Night
and
[Page 49]
Fog Decree), under which persons who committed offenses
against the Reich or the German forces in occupied
territories, except where the death sentence was certain,
were to be taken secretly to Germany and handed over to the
SIPO and SD for trial for punishment in Germany. This decree
was signed by the defendant Keitel. After these civilians
arrived in Germany, no word of them was permitted to reach
the country from which they came, or their relatives; even
in cases when they died awaiting trial the families were not
informed, the purpose being to create anxiety in the minds
of the family of the arrested person. Hitler's purpose in
issuing this decree was stated by the defendant Keitel in a
covering letter, dated 12th December, 1941, to be as
follows:
"Efficient and enduring intimidation can only be
achieved either by capital punishment or by
measures by which the relatives of the criminal
and the population do not know the fate of the
criminal. This aim is achieved when the criminal
is transferred to Germany."
Even persons who were only suspected of opposing any of the
policies of the German occupation authorities were arrested,
and on arrest were interrogated by the Gestapo and the SD in
the most shameful manner. On 12th June, 1942 the Chief of
the SIPO and SD published, through Mueller, the Gestapo
Chief, an order authorising the use of "third degree"
methods of interrogation, where preliminary investigation
had indicated that the person could give information on
important matters, such as subversive activities, though not
for the purpose of extorting confessions of the prisoner's
own crimes. This order provided:
"... Third degree may, under this supposition,
only be employed against Communists, Marxists,
Jehovah's Witnesses, saboteurs, terrorists,
members of resistance movements, parachute agents,
anti-social elements, Polish or Soviet Russian
loafers or tramps; in all other cases my
permission must first be obtained .... Third
degree can, according to circumstances, consist
amongst other methods of very simple diet (bread
and water), hard bunk, dark cell, deprivation of
sleep, exhaustive drilling, also in flogging (for
more than twenty strokes a doctor must be
consulted)."
The brutal suppression of all opposition to the German
occupation was not confined to severe measures against
suspected members of resistance movements themselves, but
was also extended to their families. On 19th July, 1944 the
Commander of the SIPO and SD in the district of Radom, in
Poland, published an order, transmitted through the Higher
SS and Police Leaders, to the effect that in all cases of
assassination or attempted assassination of Germans, or
where saboteurs had destroyed vital installations, not only
the guilty person, but also all his or her male relatives
should be shot and female relatives over 16 years of age put
into a concentration camp.
In the summer of 1944 the Einsatz Commando of the SIPO and
SD at Luxembourg caused persons to be confined at
Sachsenhausen concentration camp because they were relatives
of deserters, and were therefore "expected to endanger the
interest of the German Reich if allowed to go free."
The practice of keeping hostages to prevent and to punish
any form of
civil disorder was resorted to by the Germans; an order
issued by the
defendant Keitel on the 16th September, 1941, spoke in terms
of fifty or a hundred lives from the occupied areas of the
Soviet Union for one German life taken. The order stated
that "it should be remembered that a human life in unsettled
countries frequently counts for nothing, and a deterrent
effect can be obtained only by unusual severity." The exact
number of persons killed as a result
[Page 50]
of this policy is not known, but large numbers were killed
in France and the other occupied territories in the West,
while in the East the slaughter was on an even more
extensive scale. In addition to the killing of hostages,
entire towns were destroyed in some cases; such massacres as
those of Oradour-sur-Glane in France and Lidice in
Czechoslovakia, both of which were described to the Tribunal
in detail, are examples of the organized use of terror by
the occupying forces to beat down and destroy all opposition
to their rule.
One of the most notorious means of terrorizing the people in
occupied territories was the use of concentration camps.
They were first established in Germany at the moment of the
seizure of power by the Nazi Government. Their original
purpose was to imprison without trial all those persons who
were opposed to the Government, or who were in any way
obnoxious to German authority. With the aid of a secret
police force, this practice was widely extended, and in
course of time concentration camps became places of
organized and systematic murder, where millions of people
were destroyed.
In the administration of the occupied territories the
concentration camps were used to destroy all opposition
groups. The persons arrested by the Gestapo were as a rule
sent to concentration camps. They were conveyed to the camps
in many cases without any care whatever being taken for
them, and great numbers died on the way. Those who arrived
at the camp were subject to systematic cruelty. They were
given hard physical labor, inadequate food, clothes and
shelter, and were subject at all times to the rigors of a
soulless regime, and the private whims of individual guards.
In the report of the war crimes Branch of the Judge
Advocate's Section of the Third US Army, under date the 21st
June, 1945, the conditions at the Flossenburg concentration
camp were investigated, and one passage may be quoted:
"Flossenburg concentration camp can best be
described as a factory dealing in death. Although
this camp had in view the primary object of
putting to work the mass slave labor, another of
its primary objects was the elimination of human
lives by the methods employed in handling the
prisoners. Hunger and starvation rations, sadism,
inadequate clothing, medical neglect, disease,
beatings, hangings, freezing, forced suicides,
shooting, etc. all played a major role in
obtaining their object. Prisoners were murdered at
random; spite killings against Jews were common,
injections of poison and shooting in the neck were
everyday occurrences; epidemics of typhus and
spotted fever were permitted to run rampant as a
means of eliminating prisoners; life in this camp
meant nothing. Killing became a common thing, so
common that a quick death was welcomed by the
unfortunate ones."
A certain number of the concentration camps were equipped
with gas chambers for the wholesale destruction of the
inmates, and with furnaces for the burning of the bodies.
Some of them were in fact used for the extermination of Jews
as part of the "final solution" of the Jewish problem. Most
of the non-Jewish inmates were used for labor, although the
conditions under which they worked made labor and death
almost synonymous terms. Those inmates who became ill and
were unable to work were either destroyed in the gas
chambers or sent to special infirmaries, where they were
given entirely inadequate medical treatment, worse food if
possible than the working inmates, and left to die.
The murder and ill-treatment of civilian populations reached
its height in the treatment of the citizens of the Soviet
Union and Poland. Some four weeks before the invasion of
Russia began, special task forces of the SIPO
[Page 51]
and SD, called Einsatz Groups, were formed on the orders of
Himmler for the purpose of following the German Armies into
Russia, combating partisans and members of Resistance
Groups, and exterminating the Jews and communist leaders and
other sections of the population. In the beginning, four
such Einsatz Groups were formed, one operating in the Baltic
States, one towards Moscow, one towards Kiev, and one
operating in the south of Russia. Ohlendorf, former Chief of
Amt III of the RSHA, who led the fourth group, stated in his
affidavit:
"When the German army invaded Russia, I was leader
of Einsatzgruppe D, in the southern sector, and in
the course of the year during which I was leader
of the Einsatzgruppe D it liquidated approximately
90,000 men, women, and children. The majority of
those liquidated were Jews, but there were also
among them some communist functionaries."
In an order issued by the defendant Keitel on the 23rd July,
1941, and drafted by
the defendant Jodl, it was stated that:
"In view of the vast size of the occupied areas in
the East, the forces available for establishing
security in these areas will be sufficient only if
all resistance is punished, not by legal
prosecution of the guilty, but by the spreading of
such terror by the Armed Forces as is alone
appropriate to eradicate every inclination to
resist among the population .... Commanders must
find the means of keeping order by applying
suitable Draconian measures."
The evidence has shown that this order was ruthlessly
carried out in the territory of the Soviet Union and in
Poland. A significant illustration of the measures actually
applied occurs in the document which was sent in 1943 to the
defendant Rosenberg by the Reich Commissar for Eastern
Territories, who wrote:
"It should be possible to avoid atrocities and to
bury those who have been liquidated. To lock men,
women, and children into barns and set fire to
them does not appear to be a suitable method of
combating bands, even if it is desired to
exterminate the population. This method is not
worthy of the German cause, and hurts our
reputation severely."
The Tribunal has before it an affidavit of one Hermann
Graebe, dated 10th November, 1945, describing the immense
mass murders which he witnessed. He was the manager and
engineer in charge of the branch of the Solingen firm of
Josef Jung in Spolbunow, Ukraine, from September,1941, to
January, 1944. He first of all described the attack upon the
Jewish ghetto at Rowno:
".. Then the electric floodlights which had been
erected all around the ghetto were switched on. SS
and militia details of four to six members entered
or at least tried to enter the houses. Where the
doors and windows were closed, and the inhabitants
did not open upon the knocking, the SS men and
militia broke the windows, forced the doors with
beams and crowbars, and entered the dwelling. The
owners were driven on to the street just as they
were, regardless of whether they were dressed or
whether they had been in bed.. Car after car was
filled. Over it hung the screaming of women and
children, the cracking of whips and rifle shots."
Graebe then described how a mass execution at Dubno, which
he witnessed
on the 5th October, 1942, was carried out:
[Page 52]
".. Now we heard shots in quick succession from
behind one of the earth mounds. The people who had
got off the trucks, men, women, and children of
all ages, had to undress upon the orders of an SS
man, who carried a riding or dog whip .... Without
screaming or crying, these people undressed, stood
around by families, kissed each other, said
farewells, and waited for the command of another
SS man, who stood near the excavation, also with a
whip in his hand. .... At that moment the SS man
at the excavation called something to his comrade.
The latter counted off about 20 persons, and
instructed them to walk behind the earth mound.
....I walked around the mound and stood in front
of a tremendous grave; closely pressed together,
the people were lying on top of each other so that
only their heads were visible. The excavation was
already two-thirds full; I estimated that it
contained about a thousand people.. Now already
the next group approached, descended into the
excavation, lined themselves up against the
previous victims and were shot."
The foregoing crimes against the civilian population are
sufficiently appalling, and yet the evidence shows that at
any rate in the East, the mass murders and cruelties were
not committed solely for the purpose of stamping out
opposition or resistance to the German occupying forces. In
Poland and the Soviet Union these crimes were part of a plan
to get rid of whole native populations by expulsion and
annihilation, in order that their territory could be used
for colonization by Germans. Hitler had written in Mein
Kampf on these lines, and the plan was clearly stated by
Himmler in July, 1942, when he wrote:
"It is not our task to Germanize the East in the
old sense, that is to teach the people there the
German language and the German law, but to see to
it that only people of purely Germanic blood live
in the East."
In August, 1942, the policy for the Eastern Territories as
laid down by Bormann was summarized by a subordinate of
Rosenberg as follows:
"The Slavs are to work for us. In so far as we do
not need them, they may die. Therefore, compulsory
vaccination and Germanic health services are
superfluous. The fertility of the Slavs is
undesirable."
It was Himmler again who stated in October, 1943:
"What happens to a Russian, a Czech, does not
interest me in the slightest. What the nations can
offer in the way of good blood of our type, we
will take. If necessary, by kidnapping their
children and raising them here with us. Whether
nations live in prosperity or starve to death
interests me only in so far as we need them as
slaves for our Kultur, otherwise it is of no
interest to me."
In Poland the intelligentsia had been marked down for
extermination as early as September, 1939, and in May, 1940
the defendant Frank wrote in his diary of "taking advantage
of the focusing of world interest on the Western Front, by
wholesale liquidation of thousands of Poles, first leading
representatives of the Polish intelligentsia." Earlier,
Frank had been directed to reduce the "entire Polish economy
to an absolute minimum necessary for bare existence. The
Poles shall be the slaves of the Greater German World
Empire." In January, 1940, he recorded in his diary that
"cheap. labor must be removed from the General Government by
hundreds of thousands.
[Page 53]
This will hamper the native biological propagation." So
successfully did the Germans carry out this policy in Poland
that by the end of the war one third of the population had
been killed, and the whole of the country devastated.
It was the same story in the occupied area of the Soviet
Union. At the time of the launching of the German attack in
June, 1941, Rosenberg told his collaborators:
"The object of feeding the German People stands
this year without a doubt at the top of the list
of Germany's claims on the East, and there the
southern territories and the northern Caucasus
will have to serve as a balance for the feeding of
the German People .... A very extensive evacuation
will be necessary, without any doubt, and it is
sure that the future will hold very hard years in
store for the Russians."
Three or four weeks later Hitler discussed with Rosenberg,
Goering, Keitel, and others his plan for the exploitation of
the Soviet population and territory, which included among
other things the evacuation of the inhabitants of the Crimea
and its settlement by Germans.
A somewhat similar fate was planned for Czechoslovakia by
the defendant
von Neurath, in August, 1940; the intelligentsia were to be
"expelled", but
the rest of the population was to be Germanized rather than
expelled or
exterminated, since there was a shortage of Germans to
replace them.
In the West the population of Alsace were the victims of a
German "expulsion action." Between July and December, 1940,
105,000 Alsatians were either deported from their homes or
prevented from returning to them. A captured German report
dated the 7th August, 1942, with regard to Alsace states
that:
"The problem of race will be given first
consideration, and this in such a manner that
persons of racial value will be deported to
Germany proper, and racially inferior persons to
France."
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn for ten minutes.
(A recess was taken)
THE PRESIDENT: I now ask General Nikitchenko to continue the
reading of the judgment.
GENERAL NIKITCHENKO: Article 49 of the Hague Convention
provides that an occupying Power may levy a contribution of
money from the occupied territory to pay for the needs of
the army of occupation, and for the administration of the
territory in question. Article 52 of the Hague Convention
provides that an occupying Power may make requisitions in
kind only for the needs of the army of occupation, and that
these requisitions shall be in proportion to the resources
of the country. These articles, together with Article 48,
dealing with the expenditure of money collected in taxes,
and Articles 53, 55, and 56, dealing with public property,
make it clear that under the rules of war, the economy of an
occupied country can only be required to bear the expense of
the occupation, and these should not be greater than the
economy of the country can reasonably expected to bear.
Article 56 reads as follows:
"The property of municipalities, of religious,
charitable, educational, artistic, and scientific
institutions, although belonging to the State, is
to be accorded the same standing as private
property. All pre-meditated seizure, destruction,
or damage of such institutions, historical
monuments, works of art and science, is prohibited
and should be prosecuted."
[Page 54]
The evidence in this case has established, however, that the
territories occupied by Germany were exploited for the
German war effort in the most ruthless way, without
consideration of the local economy, and in consequence of a
deliberate design and policy. There was in truth a
systematic "plunder of public or private property", which
was criminal under Article 6 (b) of the Charter. The German
occupation policy was clearly stated in a speech made by the
defendant Goering on the 6th August, 1942, to the various
German authorities in charge of occupied territories:
"God knows, you are not sent out there to work for
the welfare of the people in your charge, but to
get the utmost out of them, so that the German
People can live. That is what I expect of your
exertions. This everlasting concern about foreign
people must cease now, once and for all. I have
here before me reports on what you are expected to
deliver. It is nothing at all, when I consider
your territories. It makes no difference to me in
this connection if you say that your people will
starve."
The methods employed to exploit the resources of the
occupied territories to the full varied from country to
country. In some of the occupied countries in the East and
the West, this exploitation was carried out within the
framework of the existing economic structure. The local
industries were put under German supervision, and the
distribution of war materials was rigidly controlled. The
industries thought to be of value to the German war effort
were compelled to continue, and most of the rest were closed
down altogether. Raw materials and the finished products
alike were confiscated for the needs of the German industry.
As early as 19th October, 1939, the defendant Goering had
issued a directive giving detailed instructions for the
administration of the occupied territories; it provided:
"The task for the economic treatment of the
various administrative regions is different,
depending on whether the country is involved which
will be incorporated politically into the German
Reich, or whether we will deal with the Government-
General, which in all probability will not be made
a part of Germany. In the first mentioned
territories, the.. safeguarding of all their
productive facilities and supplies must be aimed
at, as well as a complete incorporation into the
Greater German economic system, at the earliest
possible time. On the other hand, there must be
removed from the territories of the Government-
General all raw materials scrap materials,
machines, etc., which are of use for the German
war economy. Enterprises which are not absolutely
necessary for the meager maintenance of the naked
existence of the population must be transferred to
Germany, unless such transfer would require an
unreasonably long period of time, and would make
it more practicable to exploit those enterprises
by giving them German orders, to be executed at
their present location."
As a consequence of this order, agricultural products, raw
materials needed by German factories, machine tools,
transportation equipment, other finished products, and even
foreign securities and holdings of foreign exchange were all
requisitioned and sent to Germany. These resources were
requisitioned in a manner out of all proportion to the
economic resources of those countries, and resulted in
famine, inflation, and an active black market. At first the
German occupation authorities attempted to suppress the
black market, because it was a channel of distribution
keeping local products out of German hands. When attempts at
suppression failed, a German purchasing agency was organized
to make purchases for Germany on the black market, thus
carrying out the
[Page 55]
assurance made by the defendant Goering that it was
"necessary that all should know that if there is to be
famine anywhere, it shall in no case be in Germany."
In many of the occupied countries of the East and the West,
the authorities maintained the pretense of paying for all
the property which they seized. This elaborate pretense of
payment merely disguised the fact that the goods sent to
Germany from these occupied countries were paid for by the
occupied countries themselves, either by the device of
excessive occupation costs or by forced loans in return for
a credit balance on a "clearing account" which was an
account merely in name.
In most of the occupied countries of the East even this
pretense of legality was not maintained; economic
exploitation became deliberate plunder. This policy was
first put into effect in the administration of the
Government General in Poland. The main exploitation of the
raw materials in the East was centered on agricultural
products and very large amounts of food were shipped from
the Government General to Germany.
The evidence of the widespread starvation among the Polish
people in the Government General indicates the ruthlessness
and the severity with which the policy of exploitation was
carried out.
The occupation of the territories of the U.S.S.R. was
characterized by premeditated and systematic looting. Before
the attack on the U.S.S.R. an economic staff -- Oldenburg -
- was organized to ensure the most efficient exploitation of
Soviet territories. The German Armies were to be fed out of
Soviet territory, even if "many millions of people will be
starved to death." An OKW directive issued before the attack
said:
"To obtain the greatest possible quantity of food
and crude oil for Germany -- that is the main
economic purpose of the campaign."
Similarly, a declaration by the defendant Rosenberg of the
20th June, 1941, had advocated the use of the produce from
Southern Russia and of the Northern Caucasus to feed the
German People, saying:
"We see absolutely no reason for any obligation on
our part to feed also the Russian People with the
products of that surplus territory. We know that
this is a harsh necessity, bare of any feelings."
When the Soviet territory was occupied, this policy was put
into effect; there was a large scale confiscation of
agricultural supplies, with complete disregard of the needs
of the inhabitants of the occupied territory.
In addition to the seizure of raw materials and manufactured
articles, a wholesale seizure was made of art treasures,
furniture, textiles, and similar articles in all the invaded
countries.
The defendant Rosenberg was designated by Hitler on the 29th
January, 1940, Head of the Center for National Socialist
Ideological and Educational Research, and thereafter the
organisation known as the "Einsatzstab Rosenberg" conducted
its operations on a very great scale. Originally designed
for the establishment of a research library, it developed
into a project for the seizure of cultural treasures. On the
1st March, 1942, Hitler issued a further decree, authorising
Rosenberg to search libraries, lodges, and cultural
establishments, to seize material from these establishments,
as well as cultural treasures owned by Jews. Similar
directions were given where the ownership could not be
clearly established. The decree directed the co-operation of
the Wehrmacht High Command, and indicated that Rosenberg's
activities in the West were to be conducted in his capacity
as Reichsleiter, and in the East in his capacity as
Reichsminister. Thereafter, Rosenberg's activities were
extended to the occupied countries. The report of Robert
Scholz, Chief of the special staff for Pictorial Art stated:
[Page 56]
"During the period from March, 1941 to July, 1944,
the special staff for Pictorial Art brought into
the Reich 29 large shipments including 137 freight
cars with 4,174 cases of art works."
The report of Scholz refers to 25 portfolios of pictures of
the most valuable works of the art collection seized in the
West, which portfolios were presented to the Fuehrer. Thirty-
nine volumes, prepared by the Einsatzstab, contained
photographs of paintings, textiles furniture, candelabra,
and numerous other objects of art, and illustrated the value
and magnitude of the collection which had been made. In many
of the occupied countries private collections were robbed,
libraries were plundered, and private houses were pillaged.
Museums, palaces, and libraries in the occupied territories
of the U.S.S.R. were systematically looted. Rosenberg's
Einsatzstab, Ribbentrop's special "Battalion", the
Reichscommissars and representatives of the Military Command
seized objects of cultural and historical value belonging to
the People of the Soviet Union, which were sent to Germany.
Thus the Reichscommissar of the Ukraine removed paintings
and objects of art from Kiev and Kharkov and sent them to
East Prussia. Rare volumes and objects of art from the
palaces of Peterhof, Tsarskoye Selo, and Pavlovsk were
shipped to Germany. In his letter to Rosenberg of 3rd
October, 1941, Reichscommissar Kube stated that the value of
the objects of art taken from Byelorussia ran into millions
of rubles. The scale of this plundering can also be seen in
the letter sent from Rosenberg s department to von Milde-
Schreden in which it is stated that during the month of
October, 1943 alone, about 40 box-cars loaded with objects
of cultural value were transported to the Reich.
With regard to the suggestion that the purpose of the
seizure of art treasures was protective and meant for their
preservation, it is necessary to say a few words. On 1st
December, 1939 Himmler, as the Reich Commissioner for the
"strengthening of Germanism", issued a decree to the
regional officers of the secret police in the annexed
eastern territories, and to the commanders of the security
service in Radom, Warsaw, and Lublin. This decree contained
administrative directions for carrying out the art seizure
program, and in Clause 1 it is stated:
"To strengthen Germanism in the defense of the
Reich, all articles mentioned in Section 2 of this
decree are hereby confiscated .... They are
confiscated for the benefit of the German Reich,
and are at the disposal of the Reich Commissioner
for the strengthening of Germanism."
The intention to enrich Germany by the seizures, rather than
to protect the seized objects, is indicated in an undated
report by Dr. Hans Posse, director of the Dresden State
Picture Gallery:
"I was able to gain some knowledge on the public
and private collections, as well as clerical
property, in Cracow and Warsaw. It is true that we
cannot hope too much to enrich ourselves from the
acquisition of great art works of paintings and
sculptures, with the exception of the Veit-Stoss
altar, and the plates of Hans von Kulnback in the
Church of Maria in Cracow .... and several other
works from the National Museum in Warsaw."
--
The Nizkor Project-----------------------http://www.nizkor.org
Ken McVay, Director.ICQ 7015822. http://www.nizkor.org/~kmcvay
Don't miss the Second International Symposium on Hate on the
InterNet, Toronto, March 21-23, 1999. Info: l...@bnaibrith.ca
lcs Mixmaster Remailer
From their own writings we have this information to give us an overall
definition:
"The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a
break, through all the centuries, from the Pharisees. Their leading
ideas and methods found expression in a literature of enormous extent,
of which a very great deal is still in existence. The Talmud is the
largest and most important single member of that literature, and round
it are gathered a number of Midrashim, partly legal (Halachic) and
partly works of edification (Haggadic)." The Universal Jewish
Encyclopedia (1943 edition, page 474]
[NOTE: The words in parenthesis are as they appeared in the text; they
are not my additions.]
".... any decision regarding the Jewish religion must be based on the
TALMUD as the final resume...." "The JEWS - Their History, Culture,
and Religion", Vol. 4, p. 1332, Jewish Publication Society of America
"The TALMUD is to this day the circulating heart's blood of the Jewish
religion. Whatever laws, customs or ceremonies we observe- whether we
are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or merely spasmodic
sentimentalists-we follow the TALMUD. It is our common law."
THE TALMUD; HEART'S BLOOD of the JEWISH FAITH
by Herman Wouk which also ran serially in the (11/17/59)
New York Herald Tribune
We can safely reason that The Talmud was written by the Pharisees and
that today's Judaism is Talmudic in scope.
Let us now examine what famous people in the Bible said of the
Pharisees (Talmud authors) and to their faces.
Matthew 3:1,7-10 (English-RSV)
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of
Judea....
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees coming for
baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee
from the wrath to come?
8 Bear fruit that befits repentance,
9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our
father'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up
children to Abraham.
10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree
therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into
the fire.
Matthew 5:20 (English-RSV)
[Jesus said] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of
the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The following tells who has been cursed with the "unforgivable sin"
Matthew 12:22-37 (English-RSV)
22 Then a blind and dumb demoniac was brought to him [Jesus], and he
healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw.
23 And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of
David?"
24 But when the Pharisees heard it they said, "It is only by
Be-el'zebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons."
25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided
against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against
itself will stand;
26 and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how
then will his kingdom stand?
27 And if I cast out demons by Be-el'zebul, by whom do your sons cast
them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods,
unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his
house.
30 He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather
with me scatters.
31Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men,
but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
32 And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven;
but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven,
either in this age or in the age to come.
33 "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree
bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34 You brood of vipers! how can you speak good, when you are evil? For
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the
evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for
every careless word they utter;
37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will
be condemned."
Mark 3:28-30 (English-RSV)
28 [Jesus said] "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the
sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;
29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has
forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" --
30 for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
{Special note: The only unforgivable sin is what is declared above.
According to the above only one group has done this. They were not
Nazis either. Hitler and everyone of his adherents stands a better
chance on Judgment Day than Pharisees if we accept what was said
above. Just something to think about! There are no ifs, ands, or buts.
I would rather be labeled by the Pahrisees of today an anti-Semite
than be labeled by God as an anti-Christ!}
Notice whose Children Jesus said the Pharisees were:
John 8:44-49 (English-RSV)
44 [Jesus said] You are of your father the devil, and your will is to
do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar
and the father of lies.
45 But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
46 Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you
not believe me?
47 He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not
hear them is that you are not of God."
48 The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a
Samaritan and have a demon?" {Remember the two preceding scriptural
accounts on the "unforgivable sin"- go review.}
49 Jesus answered, "I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and you
dishonor me.
On Pharisees and their traditions and teachings:
Mark 7:1-19 (English-RSV)
1 Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the
scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,
2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is,
unwashed.
3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash
their hands, observing the tradition of the elders;
4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless
they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they
observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.)
5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples
not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands
defiled?"
6 And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as
it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of
men.'
8 You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of
men."
9 And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the
commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition!
10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who
speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die';
11 but you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, What you
would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God) --
12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or
mother,
13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you
hand on. And many such things you do."
14 And he called the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me,
all of you, and understand:
15 there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile
him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him."
16 _
17 And when he had entered the house, and left the people, his
disciples asked him about the parable.
18 And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do
you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile
him,
19 since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?"
(Thus he declared all foods clean.)
Matthew 23:6,7,8,13,15,24,25,27,33-35 (English-RSV)
6 [Jesus said].....and they love the place of honor at feasts and the
best seats in the synagogues,
7 and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men.
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and
you are all brethren.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you
shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter
yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea
and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte,
you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the
outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of
extortion and rapacity.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like
whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they
are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being
sentenced to hell?
34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of
whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your
synagogues and persecute from town to town,
35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from
the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechari'ah the son of
Barachi'ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
Notice what Jeus said in verse 34 about scourging or whipping in the
synagogues. Here is Biblical proof that 1st Century Jewish Talmudic
Pharises tortured newly eastablished Christians. All verifiable- look
in your Bibles!
Persecution and torture:
Matthew 23:34 (English-RSV)
[Jesus warned] Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and
scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will
scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town....
The fulfillment:
Acts 5:27-30,40,41 (English-RSV)
27 And when they had brought them [Apostles], they set them before the
council. And the high priest questioned them,
28 saying, "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet
here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to
bring this man's blood upon us."
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than
men.
30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him
on a tree.
40 ... they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged
them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
Acts 8:1-3 (English-RSV)
1 And Saul was consenting to his death. And on that day a great
persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all
scattered throughout the region of Judea and Sama'ria, except the
apostles.
2 Devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he
dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Acts 9:1,2 (English-RSV)
1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples
of the Lord, went to the high priest
2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if
he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them
bound to Jerusalem.
Saul later became the Apostle Paul after being "converted" on the road
to Damascus and here is his confession of what he did to Christians:
Acts 22:1,2,4,5-8,19,20 (English-RSV)
1[Apostle Paul speaks]"Brethren and fathers, hear the defense which I
now make before you."
2 And when they heard that he addressed them in the Hebrew language,
they were the more quiet. And he said:
4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison
both men and women,
5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders bear me witness.
From them I received letters to the brethren, and I journeyed to
Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to
Jerusalem to be punished.
6 "As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great
light from heaven suddenly shone about me.
7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?'
8 And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus
of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.' ......
19 And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I
imprisoned and beat those who believed in thee. [YLT version: and I
said, Lord, they -- they know that I was imprisoning and was scourging
in every synagogue those believing on thee]
20 And when the blood of Stephen thy witness was shed, I also was
standing by and approving, and keeping the garments of those who
killed him.' ....
More of Apostle Paul confessing and repenting from his wickedness:
Acts 26:9-11 (English-RSV)
9 "I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing
the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And I did so in Jerusalem; I not only shut up many of the saints in
prison, by authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to
death I cast my vote against them.
11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make
them blaspheme; and in raging fury against them, I persecuted them
even to foreign cities.
{The Apostle Paul was really some sort of a vicious "Nazi" wasn't he
when he existed as a Pharisee named Saul? He did all of this
persecution in the name of Judaism! Proof below.}
Galatians 1:1,13,14 (English-RSV)
1 Paul an apostle--not from men nor through man, but through Jesus
Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead--
13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted
the church of God violently and tried to destroy it;
14 and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my
people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
Acts 26:1,4,5 (English-RSV)
1 Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself."
Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
4 "My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my
own nation and at Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.
5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify,
that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as
a Pharisee.
Here is what the Universal Encyclopedia (1905 ed) says of the
relations of the First Century Christians and Pharisees: "In the
passages referring to the Christian period, "minim" usually indicates
Judeo-Christians.... During the first century of Christianity the
Rabbis lived on friendly terms with the minim.... These friendly
feelings, however, gradually gave way to violent hatred, as the minim
separated themselves from all connection with Jews and propagated
writings which the Rabbis considered more dangerous to the unity of
Judaism than those of the pagans. 'The writings of the minim,' says
Rabbi Tarfon, 'deserve to be burned, even though the holy name of God
occurs therein'... It was forbidden to partake meat, bread, and wine
with the min. Scrolls of the Law, tefillin, and mezuzot written by a
min were burned (Git. 45b ; Yer, Shab. 14b ; Ab, Zarah 40b...) ... The
relatives of a min were not permitted to observe the laws of mourning
after his death, but they were required to assume festive garments and
rejoice (Sem. ii. 10; Yoreh De'ah, 345).... an Israelite who found
anything belonging to a min was forbidden to return it to him (see
Hoshen Mishpat, 266, 2)." Univ Jew Encyc (1905) page 595
{The claim made above: "During the first century of Christianity the
Rabbis lived on friendly terms with the minim." is out of agreement
with what the Bible said.}
We can only conclude with what was written before our time:
[From a previous post]
The Apostle now says of the enemies of Christ: "Who is the liar if it
is not the one that denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the
antichrist..." 1 John 2:22 Note that there are many antichrists not
just one that is taught by the Pharisees allies: "...just as you have
heard that antichrist is coming, even now there have come to be many
antichrists..." 1 John 2:19
Many of the "Churches of Polluted Christendom" teach that "only one
antichrist will come at a certain hour in the future" but this is not
true and it blows a smoke screen to defend all the antichrists in
operation today. If you falsely teach that antichrist is not here yet;
then you are only covering for those that deny Jesus and his
teachings. Much of Christendom has already received its thirty
pieces of silver from the Pharisees and has therefore made
itself a Judas or betrayer too!
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For further information:
Looking at what the first century Pharisees did to Christians and
knowing what they did during the Bolshevik Revolution only make you
wonder why they are still seeking damages from the decendents of
Nazis. The Pharisees were first in everything so why should they keep
hand wringing and wailing for what was done to them as they had done
to others?
http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/d2presid.html
http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/guest/radical/ES-BOLSH.HTM#4
http://www.idbsu.edu/surveyrc/Staff/jaynes/marxism/bios/trotsky.htm
Date: Thu, Nov 30, 1995 5:32 PM EDT
By Philippa Fletcher
MOSCOW (Reuter) - A Russian presidential commission said
Monday that 200,000 clergy were systematically murdered under
Soviet rule in a horrific cycle of crucifixions, scalpings and
``bestial tortures.''
Commission chairman Alexander Yakovlev, presenting the
report at a news conference, seemed unconcerned that it might
deter electors from voting communist or nationalist in
parliamentary elections on Dec. 17.
``If it has an influence, I will be very satisfied,'' he
said.
The report by the Commission for the Rehabilitation of the
Victims of Political Repression also found that another 500,000
religious figures suffered persecution in the decades after
Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks seized power.
``Documents relate how clergymen, monks, nuns were crucified
on royal gates and shot in the basements of the Cheka (secret
police), scalped, strangled, drowned and submitted to other
bestial tortures,'' he said.
Yakovlev said some of the material, from archives of the
former ruling politburo and security services, had not been
previously published and that uncovering it was traumatic.
``I was especially shocked by accounts of priests turned
into columns of ice in winter... But that's not all, there were
crucifixions ... It was total cruelty.''
He said hundreds of people were shot for not giving up
church property, and only a fraction of the proceeds were spent
on the poor as the authorities had promised.
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