740.00116 EW/7–3045

No. 1017
Proposal by the Soviet Delegation1

[Translation2]

Concerning the Trial of the Important War Criminals

1.
The Conference has found it necessary to organize in the very near future an International Tribunal for the trial of the important war criminals whose crimes are not connected with a definite geographical location and who, in accordance with the Moscow Declaration of November 1, 1943, are not to be sent to the countries in which their crimes were committed, to be tried according to the laws of these countries.
2.
The Conference has decided that the International Tribunal, first of all, must try the following leaders of the predatory Hitlerite band: Goering, Hess, Ribbentrop, Papen, Ley, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Frick, Hans Frank, Streicher, Krupp and Schacht.3
3.
The leaders of the three Allied Governments declare that, in accordance with the Moscow Declaration of November 1, 1944 [1943], they will take all measures at their disposal in order to ensure the surrender into the hands of justice of the war criminals who are hiding in neutral countries. In case of a refusal by any of those countries to surrender war criminals who hide on its territory, the three Allied Governments will consult among themselves concerning the measures which should be taken in order to ensure the carrying out of their inflexible decision.
  1. This document is undated, but is apparently the paper submitted by Molotov at the Tenth Meeting of the Foreign Ministers, July 30 (see ante, p. 494). Byrnes commented at that meeting that the list of war criminals named in the document differed from the list in a paper which Molotov had handed him earlier the same day. Cf. document No. 1016.
  2. Prepared after the Conference by the Division of Language Services, Department of State.
  3. The Russian original has at this point the following manuscript interpolation in English: “& Doenitz”. This name and those of Papen, Frank, and Schacht (i. e., the names not included in document No. 1016) are underscored in pencil.