July 18, 1943 - The Krasnodar trial
The first public war crimes trial took place in the liberated territories of the Soviet Union, in July 1943, in Krasnodar. The defendants were not German criminals, but eleven local Soviet collaborators, who were members of the SS "Einsatzkommando 10" responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Among other crimes, the SS unit had killed 7,000 Soviet people (mostly Jews) in vans with poison gas in Krasnodar. The defendants were represented by well-known Soviet lawyers and hundreds of spectators attended the trial, including correspondents of the Soviet and international press (including Aleksei Tolstoi). Eight of the defendants were sentenced to death by hanging, three to long prison terms.The verdict was met with applause from those present, and the Pravda newspaper commented: “This is the verdict of the Soviet people, the verdict of honest people.”The Soviet authorities, who used the trial for a massive campaign of propaganda, they even made a short documentary about the public trial and execution, which was attended by over 30,000 people. neither. This documentary film was shown (at least for a short time) to Soviet audiences in Moscow cinemas in 1943. There is no doubt that the trial and the propaganda campaign aimed at discouraging further collaborative activity.
The Krasnodar trial was followed in the postwar years by thousands of further trials of local collaborators, which lasted until the 1980s. And it seems reasonable that the Krasnodar trial — as one of the few public trials — could have served as a model for subsequent trials of collaborators in the Soviet Union.
The Krasnodar trial was followed in the postwar years by thousands of further trials of local collaborators, which lasted until the 1980s. And it seems reasonable that the Krasnodar trial — as one of the few public trials — could have served as a model for subsequent trials of collaborators in the Soviet Union.
The Soviet documentary about the Krasnodar trial - English subtitles.