The Germans Must Pay

Bearded, 51-year-old Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Nikolai donned his pall this week to attend the first meetings of a Soviet Government committee to investigate atrocities and evaluate the material damage caused by Axis armies in occupied Russia. Other members of the committee:

Soviet Trade Union Chief Nikolai Shvernik (chairman), Communist Party Secretary (and No. 2 Bolshevik) Andrei Zhdanov, Writer Alexei Tolstoy,* Aviatrix Valentina Grizodubova. It was the first time in 25 years that a high church official had found himself in such company.

Russia expects Germany and her satellites to rebuild devastated areas in Russia. The new committee will hear the testimony of war correspondents, escaped prisoners and civilian residents of areas recaptured by the Red Army, then prepare the staggering bill to be presented to Germany after the war. Where possible the personal guilt of German army officers and civilian administrators will be fixed, so that criminals can be punished.

Among other testimonies, the commission will hear that of Sergei Dorochenkov, partisan leader in the Rzhev district, from which the Germans were driven recently. Said he to a British newsman: "Pogoreloe had a population of 3,400. 1,980 died of hunger or disease behind the Nazi front. Of 540 houses, 57 are still partly standing. Of 56 schools, only the walls of three are left standing. There were 20 libraries; not one single book is left."

Testified Vassili Ivanovich Vikhorov: "My father, my mother, my sister, my daughter, aunt and uncle all died of hunger. ... I ate dead horsemeat. I chewed the raw leg of a horse I found in a field. It made me ill. Sometimes I ate the bark of trees. The Nazis did not give us anything."

When asked what should be done with the Nazis after victory, a Pogoreloe villager said thoughtfully: "They should be brought back here and made to work. There will be a lot of work to do."

* For news of his sister, see p. 74.

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