The Red Cross
had definitively refused to send forensic scientists to Katyn and the Nazis
were scrambling to find appropriate individuals who would be qualified and
hopefully would not subvert their plan in agreeing to serve on the
International Medical Commission. In
truth, Leonardo
Conti (1900 Lugano-1945 Nuremberg), Head of the Reich Health Services (Reichsgesundheitsführer),
Secretary of State for Health Affairs in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, head
of the Nazi League of German Physicians or his subordinates were sending
telegrams to various cities seeking either forensic specialists who were Polish
or other nationals. The
actual formation of the commission was delegated to Dr. Wilhelm Zietz, as a
representative of Reichsgesundheitsführer Conti and in cooperation with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
To
be precise, the science of forensic medicine was just developing and the
foremost specialists in the world were located in Europe.
Two of
the (currently) best known members of the IMC fact is that both Dr.
Naville and Dr. Miloslavich
(Miloslavić) volunteered to serve on the International Medical Commission,
while most of the other members were appointed; and Dr. Helge
Tramsen
discussed this issue in his testimony to the Madden Committee:
The very first invitation
had come to my chief, Professor Sand, and he was a very old man…So he pointed
me out because at that time, I was a military doctor… And may I add there that
I had official orders from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as
the Admiralty, to join the commission.
On the
one hand, it could not be said of the remaining members that they sought out
this journey to Katyn; conversely, the Germans did make an effort. Dr. Tramsen noted (as did other
members of the IMC, that:
(…) I took part in the
commission of my own free will and have never been under any stress [sic]
during those days by the Germans, the Danish government or any other authority…
Yes. I had the absolutely free allowance [sic] to move about, take pictures
with my own camera (It
should be noted that generally when a group arrived at Katyn, their cameras
were taken from them.), and was assisted by the Germans in any way
during my scientific examinations and autopsies of the bodies (Tramsen
also noted that by 1943, he had been a member of the Danish underground for
about half a year).
The
members arrived at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, where they overnighted prior to
their departure for Smolensk. The
Commission consisted of fifteen individuals; there was no one present from
among the Allies, as the Germans were in a state of war with them, there was
one German (Dr. Zietz) and the remainder came
from the occupied countries or the few neutral nations.
Almost
every one of the IMC members was a respected specialist in forensic medicine,
generally a professor or docent. The
only exceptions were Dr. Costedoat, whom Dr. Tramsen, in his
testimony, described as a psychologist (Dr. Tramsen discussed the French
doctor: He was only as the Germans say,
a, “Völkischer Beobachter.” Questioned by Rep. Machrowicz, he explained: That is a German joke because, “Völkischer
Beobachter” is the name of an official Nazi paper and means public observer), as well as Professor Dr.
Speleers.
In
a detailed reading of the Testimony we learn how much evidence was given to the
Committee by individual witnesses. Dr.
Tramsen brought a number of photographs on which not only Tramsen but
individual graves are visible, but also the officer’s diaries, ‘ID books’, Polish
currency, and ever a handwritten poem.
These materials were photographed and are included in the Hearings.
Almost each one of the forensic specialists confirmed that he had taken an
officer’s skull from the site – each of these acts being completely foreign to
the contemporary follower of CSI.
©Krystyna Piórkowska
