Page 10

which the US was not a party. Also
included is a Country Index and a
Subject Index.
Atomic Energy for Military Pur-
poses; the official report on the de-
velopment of the atomic bomb under
the auspices of the United States
Government, .1940-1945, by H. D.
Smyth (Princeton, Princeton Univer-
sity Press, 1946, 308 pages). An ex-
tremely lucid yet technical de-
scription of the development of the
atomic bomb. It includes the "basic
scientific knowledge on which the
several developments were based"'
and the administrative history of the
Atomic Bomb Project.
Charter of the United Nations;
report to the President on the results
of the San Francisco Conference, by
the chairman of the United States
delegation, the Secretary of State,
issued by US Department of State
(Washington, US Government Print-
ing Office, 1945, 266 pages). This is
the story behind the development and
adoption of the U. N. Charter. Each
article of the Charter is explained,
and an appendix gives the text of the
final document, compared with the
Dumbarton Oaks proposals on oppos-
ing pages.
A Report on the International
Control of Atomic Energy, issued by
US Department of State, Committee
on Atomic Energy (Washington, US
Government Printing Office, 1946,
61 pages). A report by a board of
expert consultants, who made their
recommendations after a thorough
study of the problem. Their purpose
was not to develop a final plan for
international control, but to prepare
"a foundation on which to build."
Voices of History (New York,
1942-1945, 4 vols). "The purpose of
this annual is to bring into one con-
venient volume the significant state
papers and the important speeches of
the chief statesmen and officials of
the world. Every speech is reprinted
exactly.as given in the source. Where
possible the source is official." This
work is arranged chronologically, and
gives an excellent sweeping view of
significant world events for the
period covered.
The Time for Dedision, by S. Welles
(New York, Harper, 1944, 431 pages).
(Continued on page 24)
WEEKLY INFORMATION BULLETIN
Mich Sentence is Confirmed
THE Deputy Military Governor con-
firmed the sentence of Erhard
Milch to life imprisonment by Mili-
tary Tribunal II at Nuremberg. Milch,
age 55, was field marshal of the Luft-
waffe, 1940-45, also undersecretary
of state and head of the Reich Air
Ministry and inspector general of the
Luftwaffe.
Milch as indicted on 14 November
1945 of committing war crimes in-
volving the use of slave labor and
misuse of prisoners of war and with
responsibility for medical experi-
ments conducted on human beings.
He was found guilty by Military Tri-
bunal II of crimes involving the use
of slave labor and the misuse of pri-
soners of war but he was acquitted on
charges involving medical experi-
ments.
Following his conviction of 16-17
April, a petition was filed on his be-
half by his attorney, Dr. Friedrich
Bergold, to the Military Governor
asking that the sentence be quashed
as illegal under Articles 60, 63 and 64
of the Geneva Convention of 1929 on
treatment of prisoners of war, or in
the alternative, that the sentence be
reduced because certain findings of
the Tribunal were not supported by
the evidence. The Deputy Military
Governor took action on this petition
pursuant to authority delegated to
him by the Military Governor in Re-
gulation No. 1 under MG Ordinance
No. 7. The Deputy Military Gover-
nor's action denied the petition and
confirmed the sentence of the Tri-
bunal in all respects.
At the time that he forwarded his
petition to the Military Governor, Dr.
Bergold also forwarded two other
petitions on behalf of Milch, one ad-
dressed to the President of the Swiss
Confederation, and the other to the
Supreme Court of the United States.
These two petitions were forwarded
by the Military Governor to the
War Department in Washington with
appropriate recommendations as to
disposition. In both of these petitions,
Milch contends his conviction was
illegal under the Geneva Convention
of 1929.
The Director of the Legal Division,
OMGUS, stated that in his opinion
10
this contention had been resolved
against Milch by the decision of the
US Supreme Court in the case of
"In re Yamashita," decided in February,
1946. That case involved the Com-
manding General of the Fourteenth
Army Group of the Imperial Japanese
Army in the Philippine Islands who
had been convicted and sentenced to
death by a Military Commission for
having failed in his duty as an Army
Commander to control the operations
of his troops, thereby permitting them
to commit specific atrocities against
the civilian population and prisoners
of war.
THE Supreme Court held that the
Articles of the Geneva Convention
in question related only to substantive
offenses which prisoners of war com-
mit during their imprisonment and
not to offenses which they have com-
mitted prior to their imprisonment.
The Legal Division Director pointed
out that Milch, likewise, was con-
victed of crimes committed by him
before he became a prisoner of war.
Milch is the first of the major war
criminals to have been convicted by
the Military Tribunals established at
Nuremberg in order to implement
Control Council Law No. 10, which
was enacted by the Control Council
for the purpose of bringing to justice
the major German war leaders who
were not tried by the International
Military Tribunal. There are at pre-
sent four US Military Tribunals con-
ducting trials at Nuremberg, and it is
anticipated that two more Tribunals
will shortly begin to function. It is
contemplated that more than 200
major war leaders will be brought to
trial before these Military Tribunals
at Nuremberg, before the present pro-
gram is completed.
Alcohol Tax Changed
Control Council Law No. 54 amend-i
ed Control Council Law No. 27 by
exempting  "alcohol  contained  in'
schnaps issued to miners as rations"
from an alcohol tax provided in the
earlier law. Otherwise, the tax law it
unchanged.
23 JUNE 19D17