According to the usage in the village the people celebrate all day long on the 15th, and also part of the following day, namely all day long, the whole night and the following day also. On the 16th of August when the stars were fading away I heard a great noise coming from the direction towards the village. I said a large noise, which was, I believed, occasioned by vehicles. I was sleeping outside of my home about 30 or 40 meters from the house in a small shack I had. At the beginning I thought it was a noise made by planes. However, later on as the noise approached the place where I was, and by the time those vehicles reached a distance of 100 to 150 meters from my home, I realized they were vehicles, because naturally it is logical the noise increases the moment the engine is shut off. Immediately I ran up to the house. I knocked at the door and I told my wife that we should meet, in case anything should happen, in a designated spot outside the village. I left the shack just as I was, with my pajamas on and with my shoes.
Q Where did you go?
A I went to the spot where the small river of Arachtos ends in the Amvritikos Bay. Arachtos is spelled A-r-a-c-h-t-o-s, and Amvritikos is spelled A-m-v-r-i-t-i-k-o-s.
Q In which direction is that from the town of Kommeno?
A It is southwest of Kommeno.
Q What time was this?
A It was approximately 5:30. It was a time when you could just about begin to see human beings walking around.
Q After you left your house in which direction did you go?
A I told you before that I went into a southwest direction namely towards the spot toward the River Arachtos ends up in the Amvritikos Bay.
AAnd what did you see as you went?
A I was the distance of between 50 and 100 meters from my home when I heard two shots. I heard one shot that came from the direction of the sea, tho bay, and the second shot came from tho direction of the river.
Q. Did you see anything?
A. At the same time I saw a rocket explode in the sky, which was colored green.
Q. Did you see anything else?
A. And I also heard several shots being fired. Shots came from all around the village, from all directions around the village and also machine gun shots, the quite dry hoise of machine guns. On my right hand side at approximately 150 feet from where I was standing, in the direction of the river, on a small hill, I saw the German soldier firing away with this machine gun without interruption.
INTERPRETER ANAGNOSTOPOULOS: May I ask one of the Greek men here if machine gun is the word for Polivolo ? I may be a heavier weapon. Do I have the right to ask?
MR. DENNEY: Certainly. If they know.
INTERPRETER ANAGNOSTOPOULOS: That is right. It is correct, so it was machine gun.
Q. Was there anything between you and the German soldier firing this machine gun?
A. Yes, indeed there was. Of course, I purposely chose a road which would make me somewhat invisible from the others. There were small woods in between and also high underbrush. I will correct that, -- the woods contained small trees.
Q. Will you continue with your account?
A. Until I reached the river the shots became more and more numerous. One could gain the impression that a severe battle was going on. You could hear the noises of hand grenades being thrown. I know the noise, and you could hear automatic weapons, and you could also hear the small Brengun like weapons, tommy-guns. I arrived at the mouth of the river. And it was naturally chance that I found a small fisherman's boat there.
Q. And then what did you do?
A. I also met a fellow citizen of mine also a teacher whose name was Oliokotsis. With the help of this small boat we crossed, the river and gained the other side of the river, and from the bank of the river we could observe the drama of Kommeno. The distance between the point where we were standing on the other side of the river bank, to Kommeno, was approximately five hundred meters. From there we could observe the flames shoot up into the sky. First there were a few flames and then they kept increasing and engulfed the entire village. I could even see my house go up in flames, because my house was situated a little bit higher than the rest of the village. At that spot where we were standing more and more people came, those who had been lucky enough to get to the other side of the bank.
Q. How many people in all finally arrived at the other side of the river?
A. There were 208 men or people on the other side of the river, men, women and children.
Q. How many people lived in Kommeno?
A. There were 620 people in Kommeno?
Q. All right. Please continue.
A. These 208 people managed to cross the river by coming across the river 15 people in a boat or 20 people in the boat, slowly and slowly.
Q. Did the time come when you re-crossed the river to the east?
A. I didn't quite finish my testimony as yet, Mr. Denney.
Q. Just answer the questions.
A. I said that the people were crossing the river and it must have been around noon at the time they crossed. I don't remember the exact hour, because I left my watch in the house when I left.
Q. Did a time come when you returned to Kommeno, when you recrossed the river?
A. Yes, there was such a time
Q. When was that?
A. It was the morning of 17 August 1943, the following day.
Q. What time in the morning?
A. It was a little while after the sun went down.
Q. Just a moment, what time in the morning did you return to Kommeno on the 17th? Approximately.
A. It was between 6:00 and 6:30, -- to 6:45, in the morning.
Q. I assume that the sun is rising then instead of setting?
A. I believe it was a mistake on my part, Mr. Denney. The sun was rising.
Q. What did you see?
A. When we were about ready to return to the village we heard two more vehicles coming, and out of fear we returned to the bank where we were at first.
Q. Did you recross the river?
A. Yes, we returned in the afternoon. It was between 3:00 and 3:30.
Q. Back to the side of the river opposite from the side on which Kommeno is situated?
A. Yes, indeed. We returned towards Kommeno.
Court V, Case VII. Anagnostopoulos)
Q: Now, let's clear this up. You recrossed the river for the first time on the morning of the 17th, sometime around sunrise. Is that right?
A: Yes, that is correct. The first time we crossed the moment the sun was rising or a little bit before or after.
Q: And you went up to the village?
A: Yes, that is correct.
Q: And you heard the noise of trucks?
A: Yes, that is correct.
Q: Witness, if you will please listen to the question and not start to talk until the questions have been put to you, I am sure that we will get along much faster.
A: Very well, Mr. Denney. I will try to.
Q: Now, you went back to the edge of the river?
A: Yes, that is correct.
Q: And at that time did you recross the river to the west bank?
A: Yes, that is correct.
Q: All right, now. When did you again cross the river from the west bank to the East bank?
A : At 3:30 in the afternoon, the same day.
Q: At 5:30 in the afternoon you went back to the side of the river on which Kommeno is situated?
A: Yes, indeed.
Q: And then what did you do?
A: We were going to the village to see what the destruction was and who were the victims.
Q: Who was with you?
A: I was together with my wife, with my teacher friend whoso name was Voliokotsos. I was also together with one of the priests of the village because we had to have them, whose Court V, Case VII.
Anagnostopoulos) name was Serafin Stassinos.
Present were also my uncle who was also a priest -- a cousin of mine. My uncle was not a priest -- his name was Dionisos Pappas -- and Manthos Pappas was also present.
Q: And where did you go?
A: Of course, first of all I went to my house which is logical.
Q: What did you see?
A: My house was nothing but ruins, all burned ruins. Approximately 20 meters from my home I saw 26 bodies of the Malio family and their guests who had been invited there for a wedding.
Q: Did you walk around the rest of the village?
A: Yes, indeed. We went down the road and we arrived in front of the house of Koliokotsos.
Q: What did you see there?
A: When we got there we saw the house had been entirely burned down and in front of the house, in front of the ruins, we saw 8 bodies and also two children from between 7 to 8 months of age.
This is characteristic, what I have to say now. One of the children was laying on the ground just like all the others and his mouth was stuffed with cotton. There were no other wounds showing and there were only burning wounds around his mouth.
The other 7 had been wounded by bullets and killed.
Q: Had the whole village been burned?
A: Yes, 300 houses had been burned. Only 7 did not catch fire because I believe they kept doors and windows closed.
Q: What else did you see as you went around the village?
A: He went down the road and we finally arrived at the small square of the village in front of the community president's Court V, Case VII.
Anagnostopoulos) house.
The man's name was Lambro Zorvos; and in his home's courtyard we saw the dead bodies of his family and on the table we saw opened cans and disorder, which cans were absolutely unknown to us and which could not be seen around the area where we were.
Q: What did the cans contain?
A: They were all empty. In this case there were also a few bottles -- wine bottles, I should think.
Q: Was there any evidence as to what the cans had contained?
A: I believe there was meat and cheese in those cans.
Q: Was there anything on the outside of the cans?
A: Yes. There was some sort of a writing on top. It wasn't Greek. I couldn't tell you what because I don't know any other language.
Q: What else did you see?
A: On the lefthand side, between 50 and 60 meters from where I was standing, I saw Leonidas Tsimboukis' wife. This woman was pregnant and I saw her lying on the ground with her stomach torn open and the unborn child looking half way out.
Q: Please continue.
A: The entire village had burned down and every house did not only have one drama but several dramas occurred in every home. There is not one single house where they didn't report tie loss of between 2 and 10 dead.
Q: How many people were killed in Kommeno?
A: I would like to add something before I answer your last question. Would it be all right, your Honors?
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Proceed.
A: The priest, Lambros Stamatis, was going in the direction towards the church rather early. He left the Court V, Case VII.
Anagnostopoulos) wedding ceremony which was going on in Mallos' home rather early.
When we arrived at the village we found him lying at the steps of his church in front of the door. His body had been torn to pieces by 4 to 5 bullets and the cross he was holding in his hands also had 2 bullets -- and the Book of the Gospels. The Book of the Gospels is still in the church and it is being kept there as a historical souvenir, if you want to put it that way -- as a religious shrine also.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Mr. Denny, at this point we will adjourn until one-thirty.
(A recess was taken until 1350 hours).
AFTERNOON SESSION (The hearing reconvened at 1330 hours, 18 August 1947)
THE MARSHAL: Persons in the courtroom will please find their seats.
The Tribunal is again in session.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: You may proceed, Mr. Denney.
STEPHANOS PAPPAS - Resumed DIRECT EXAMINATION (Continued) BY MR. DENNEY: Thank you Your Honor.
Q So we can have the geographical situation of Kommeno, how far is it from Arta?
A It is 10 kilometers south of Arta.
Q And Kommeno and Arta are north of what body of water?
A It is north of the Ambakitos Gulf or Bay.
Q And the river lies generally to the west of Kommeno?
A The river is west of Kommeno.
Q And how many people were there -- how many inhabitants did the town of Kommeno have?
A It had 620 inhabitants.
Q And how many of these were killed?
A 317 of them were killed.
Q Can you break those figures down into some rough approximation of sexes and ages?
A Yes, I could. We had 145 men and 172 women, and included in those figures there were 97 children. The ages ranged from 6 months to 15 years of age.
Q So there were 317 people killed on the 16th of August of both sexes and of these 317, 97 were children between the ages of 6 months and 15 years?
A Yes. Those figures are absolutely correct. We made detailed statistics which we sent to the May or Arta; at approximately one month after the incident we sent the testimonies down to General Zervas' headquarters who then transmitted it to the headquarters of the middle east.
Q Is there anything that you haven't told the Tribunal with reference to what you saw in Kommeno in the days following the 16th of August which you would like to tell?
A Yes, indeed. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw the house of Dimitro Komtogeni. I saw him; he was dead. So was his wife, his four daughters and his son-in-law. Near there I also saw the house of the teacher Antonios Komtogeni. His whole family had been exterminated. He had been killed, his wife had been killed and his two children and their female servant.
I went to my sister's house and I found her lying near the entrance together with her husband, both of them burned to death. I saw those things myself with my own eyes.
Q How many of your relatives were lost on the 16 of August, 1943 in Kommeno?
A My mother-in-law was killed; her name was Maria Apostolou; furthermore, my sister-in-law, Athoula Panakoulia; furthermore, my brother-in-law, Jerassimos Panakoulia; furthermore, my mother's sister, Helene Paraskevi; also ly of my first cousins were killed.
A I received information from Evangelia Kontogiani who was wounded, -- that Vasilios Skouravelis, -- that she escaped to this man's house, Skouravelis house, and she stated that German soldiers had come into her home and exterminated her whole family, and besides, one more woman who was in the house, who was also killed by the Germans with a bullet. They fired a bullet into her head because they were in a hurry to leave the house, and that was before they raped her.
MR. DENNEY: I have no further questions.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY DR. SAUTER (For the defendant Lanz):
Q Witness, may I again ask you on what day Kommeno was destroyed? What day was it?
A That was on the 16th of August, 1943.
Q 16th of August 1943; Witness, is it known to you who was in charge of the Military Command in Epiros?
A I received information; I was informed by Judge Mexi, who was the Judge from Arta, and who spoke German quite well, - very well as a matter of fact, - and who also worked at the German Headquarters there, that the detachment which had destroyed Kommeno was led by a man whose name was Koviak.
Q I asked you a different question, Mr. Witness. I asked you whether it is known to you on that day - which is the 16th of August, 1943 - who was in charge of the military command in Epiros? What general, whether it was an Italian or a German who was the Military Commander of the Epiros. I would like to ask you to answer this question.
A The same person, namely Judge Mexi, informed me, that the man in charge of the 1st Division in Jannina was Von Stettner.
And that all of those units were part of the 22nd Army Corps. I do not know anything else outside of this.
Q Witness, when did this Judge tell you that, that in Epiros this First Mountain Division existed at all?
Was it on the 16th of 17th of August, or was it later -- and if later, when?
A It was much later when I was informed about it.
Q Witness, did you find out who, on the 16th or 17th of August, was in charge of the high command in Jannina? Just a moment, I would like to add the following; whether the witness knows that the commanding officer of the whole of Epiros was in Jannina, that is a commanding general -- whether that is known to him; that was at the time of the 16th or 17th of August?
MR. DENNEY: If your Honors please -
PRESIDING JUSTICE BURKE: Just a moment. Have the question transmitted and then probably if it is competent, have it repeated in installments.
Just a moment please. Your objection, Mr. Denney.
MR. DENNEY: If Your Honors please, I think he put two questions together. I have no objection to asking him, but I do not think it fair to ask the witness two or three questions at once. We do not know what he is applying to then.
PRESIDING JUSTICE BURKE: Is the witness able to answer the question as framed?
AAll I know is what I have stated so far.
BY DR. SAUTER:
Q Witness, if you were in charge of the high school, then I take it for granted that you must have been informed whether at that time the ruler of Epiros was a German or an Italian. I should like to ask you to give us some information on this subject.
A I said that as the man in charge of that College, I had left Arta toward the end of 1942, and I lived in a small shack near Kommeno where I had no contact whatsoever with Arta.
Q Did you not find out later that in Jannina there was a German General called Lanz took over the higher command?
A I heard that much later, but I do not know when he took over the command.
Q Do you know from your own experience what troops on the 16th or 17th of August, 1943, were in Jannina at that time? Were they mainly German troops, or were they Italian Troops in Arta? Mainly Germans or Italians?
Q In Arta we had a small guard unit of Italians, within Arta - that is, inside of Arta we didn't have any Germans.
DR. SAUTER: No Germans, your Honor. I have no further questions to the witness for the mere reason that it becomes evident from the documents of the prosecution that General Lanz only arrived on the 9th of September, 1943, at Jannina.
PRESIDING JUSTICE BURKE: Very well.
Is there any further cross-examination.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY DR. WEISGERBER (For the Defendant Speidel):Q Witness, you told us that on the 12th of August, 1943, 5 partisans were in Kommeno?
A Yes, that is correct.
Q That is correct, is it?
A Yes.
Q Did you know these peoples?
A I didn't know them. I did not approach them, nor did I know what their mission was.
Q Where does your knowledge come from that these people were partisans at all?
A They were wearing uniforms and they had weapons.
Q What kind of uniforms were they?
A They wore those uniforms which the British would parachute down to the fighting forces in the mountains.
Q How do you know that the British flew parachuted uniforms for them into the mountains?
A That became known all over Greece.
Q Now such groups of partisans -- did they come to Kommeno often?
A They were the first and the last ones that ever came there.
Q On the 12th of August, did you actually know that these were people who wore the uniforms which were flown by British airplanes into the mountains?
A May I ask you to say that again?
Q You knew on the 12th of August, when you saw these five people with uniforms - in uniforms -- that these uniforms were delivered by the British in the mountains, by British airplanes?
A I did not know for certain, but I imagine that those uniforms originated from there.
Q Do you know anything about the fact that in the neighborhood of Kommeno, and Arta, there were partisans quite frequently.
MR. DENNEY: May we have the question in English?
Q Is it known to you that in the neighborhood of Kommeno and Arta, there were partisans quite frequently, who appeared in groups?
A No, no guerillas ever dame there because that was out in the fields and you would hardly find any guerillas in the field.
Q These five people whom you saw, on the 5th of August, in Kommeno, were they all, or partly, members of the actual community of Kommeno ?
A No, they were strangers to all of us. They were just transients.
I would like to correct my last answer. Kommeno was in a plain rather than in a field.
Q Did you see, or did you hear from other inhabitants of Kommeno for what purpose these five partisans had come to Kommeno?
A No, I could not tell the reason, and I did not hear about the reason.
Q On the 16th of 17th of August, in the immediate vicinity of Kommeno were there other villages destroyed as well?
A Not that I know of.
Q What was the distance between you and the soldiers who, according to you, shot at Kommeno?
AAll I said was that I saw one German soldier standing at the mouth of the river that I was walking toward, and he was blazing away with his machine gun. He was the approximate distance of 200 meters from where I was.
Q At this distance, could you readily distinguish it; could you really see whether he was a German soldier, or whether he was an Italian, or whether perhaps he was of some other troops?
A Yes, I could very easily see. The steel helmets as worn by the Italians and their uniforms, were entirely different from that of the Germans.
Q Was there only one soldier which you have seen?
A I only saw one German soldier, but according to absolutely reliable information, all of them were Germans.
Q What is this reliable information? Where does it come from?
A There were approximately 60 villagers who were in the village while this massacre was going on. They watched them kill the people. They were also seen by the inhabitants of four villages which lie on the road between Arta and Kommeno. They saw them with their vehicles; they were Germans.
Yes, and even more than that, they stooped at the village of Loutrotopo, which is only one kilometer apart from Kommeno, and they ate oranges, and they had some water in that village, and no doubt was left that they were Germans.
Q Can you describe to us the German uniform and the Italian uniform?
A I couldn't exactly give you a very detailed description of their uniforms, but in any case I could tell you their steel helmets are different, and the entire way they carry themselves is so different that you can tell right away between the two; and also the color of their uniforms.
Q In that time that you spent in Kommeno from 1942, that is to the 16th of August, 1943. were there ever any German soldiers in Kommeno?
A On one or two occasions in Kommeno they asked for meat, or they wanted to have water for their horses, but in any case I did not go close to the vehicles because I was afraid.
Q When was that?
A I don't remember the exact date.
Q Witness, you told us that you sent a report to General Zervas.
A I said that I sent an affidavit of what I had seen of the destruction.
Q Did you bring General Zervas this description and the statistics of which you spoke yourself?
A No, somebody else - an officer who lived in Kommeno whose name was Karas took it to him.
He was from Kommeno but he lived in Xenochori.
Q: This officer then was in contact with General Zervas?
A: No, he wasn't in contact with hip. He only went in order to report this crime which had been committed in Kommeno.
Q: But if he was to submit a report to a certain authority to a certain person he must have known where this person was.
A: He probably received information or solicited information on his way out and he finally got that information I imagine.
Q: It is, therefore, your opinion that this officer submitted information to General Zervas?
A: Yes, of course. Impersonally wrote that affidavit.
Q: When you wrote this affidavit did you know then where General Zervas was?
A: No, as I said before I didn't know.
Q: How many times did you talk to this officer?
A: Perhaps once or twice.
Q: Witness, I must come back to this one soldier whom you saw at a distance of approximately 200 meters at the river. What was it exactly that made you recognize beyond doubt that he was a German soldier?
A: I said before that the entire appearance pointed to the fact that it was a German soldier. I had seen a German soldier before. And it was also his uniform and the style in which he kept himself.
Q: In that case tell the Tribunal what this uniform looked like.
A: Do you really think that I stopped and looked at the German soldier carefully in order to remember all the details. I fled as fast as I could. In any case I did see his uniform and it left a living picture in my eyes which I shall never forget again, but still I couldn't go on describing it.
Had I stopped I wouldn't have had the pleasure of being here today.
Q: Was this soldier standing or was he lying on the ground?
A: He was a little bit bent, that is all. And I stress the "just a little bit."
Q: And you said that he was shooting with a machine gun.
A: Yes, with a machine gun. That is correct. He wasn't aiming at anything in particular -- not at any persons -he was just firing away and aiming more or less at the exits of the village so that nobody could leave the village. With all of the machine guns, all of them did the same thing.
Q: Would you show the Tribunal how he was holding this machine gun?
A: At the time I felt so bad about it that I couldn't snow you anything right now. I couldn't show you how he was holding it.
Q: But you told us that you got quite a good picture of this soldier -- that you remembered it very well.
A: Well, not exactly. I said that the first sight I gained of this soldier left the living impression on me that it was a German soldier.
Q: Can you remember exactly whether this soldier was wearing a steel helmet or just a cap?
A: He was just wearing a cap -- rather a cap.
Q: Where did he have his steel helmet then?
A: I don't remember. All I saw was what he wore on his head. I don't know where he had his steel helmet.
Q: But you told us that you recognized the man as a German on his steel helmet because it was a German's because the Italian steel helmets were different from the Germans'; therefore, you must have seen this steel helmet somewhere.
A: What I meant to say was -- I meant to say a cap with a small visor in front.
Q: Did not the Italian soldiers have such caps as well?
A: The first impression I gained was that the soldier was a German. I didn't stop and look at him exactly.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: I understood the Witness to say that one method of distinguishing was the fact that he knew the difference between the German and the Italian helmet.
Am I in error about that?
WITNESS: I did not mean steel helmet. I meant cap at the time.
BY DR. WEISGERSER:
Q: You said, Witness, that you saw the soldier shoot.
A: Yes, of course, I saw it. The whole thing was very fast. I saw how he was firing away with his machine guns.
Of course, that I saw.
Q: Then, certainly you can tell us whether he was holding the machine gun like this (Demonstrating as a bundle in the arms) of whether the machine gun was resting on the ground.
A: I was so scared that I didn't stop and look exactly how he was holding that machine gun. The only thing I remember was that he had a machine gun and that he was blasting away with it.
Q: And when you had seen the soldier you immediately turned around and ran. Is that so?
A: Yes, that's correct. Of course, the soldier did not see me because he was on a small hill and I was right below.