- pending

Jagala killers at large
(How many in Canada?)

By MARK FRANK

Pacific Tribune Correspondent |

MOSCOW — How many
more Alexander Laaks are
there in Canada — given a

clean bill of health and grant-
ed citizenship papers by Ot-
tawa?

Laak’s suicide in no may
winds up this notorious case
or any other under investiga-

tion.

Lest anyone ‘think ‘this an
idle statement a court trial is
with Laak’s — chief
deputy in the dock.

Specifically mentioned here
as close associates of the
“little Esthonian immigrant”
who was living so respectably
in Winnipeg are the following
killers now being sought: Stu-
bender, Porka, Yuxanson,
Vilkess, Arro, Virnurm, Krikk

Ottoker, Shtamberg, Eigi,
Myalk, Klaus, Kask and
Aaman,

These are some of the men
who had a hand in the Jagala
death camp work near Tallin,
where over 3,000 anti-fascists
of Czechoslovakia, Germany,
Poland and -other  copntries
met cruel deaths during the
years 1942-43.

This is no ‘‘war of nerves”
against honest decent Esthon-
jans living in Canada, as
claimed by the cold-war press.
Many of these people for one
reason or another — the
search for jobs, the effects of
the war, or just plain confus-
ion — quit their native land.

But among these people,

upright
churchgoers, are killers —war
criminals. The search for
them, their detention and trial
is a matter not only of serving
justice, but of protecting the
human race from a repetition
of their foul deeds.

Alexander lLaak’s case is
not closed with his reported
death, about which the Soviet
“authorities want clear proof
from Canadian officials.

Two. of his fellow murder-
ers are still alive. One is now
in custody. He is Ralf Gerrets,
Laak’s chief deputy, who has
provided Soviet investigators
with damning evidence of the
Jagala camp killings.

The ringleader of the trio
was: Ain Ervin Mere, current-
ly residing in Leicester, Eng-
land, an ex-officer of the pre-
revolutionary Esthonian army
and chief of the Esthonian
“SD” fascist security police
during the nazi occupation.

Leading the work of emigre
fascists abroad, .he has repeat-
edly been elected a member of
the board of the ‘Union of
British Esthonians.”

Soviet authorities want this
man extradited by the British
government so that he may
face trial as a war criminal
along with Gerrets.

Ralf Gerrets’ testimony,
photographs of the killings
and captured documents imp-
licated Laak to the hilt.

Gerrets testified he was re-
cruited by Laak. He was told
of the plan to set up the death

;masquerading as

has opened before the world

no less justifiably point to

KHRUSHCHEV, in speech to

Two Cones to Choose From

—BAZHENOV in Pravda
“Every thinking person will stop to ponder what after
all does scientific progress bring to people, what. does the
great 20th century bring them? Some justifiably say: that it

sibilities for creating an abundance of material values and
for comprehensiv ely. satisfying man’s requirements.

fact that the achievements of science and technology may be
used not for ‘the se noble aims but in the first turn for the
production of monstrous means of destruction.’ — N. S.

new horizons, boundless pos-

Others
the enormous danger of the

UN General Assembly.

camp at Jagala. It would be
of a temporary type. Both of
them went to Riga for some
“practical demonstrations” of
the killing business. Their in-
structor was SS-man Krause.
But let Gerrets tell the story.

They arrived in Riga, and
saw men, women and child-
ren being loaded into buses
headed for the execution site.

“We also boarded a bus,”
Gerrets testifies. ‘We travell-
ed about five or six kilomet-
res ‘The vehicles stopped in a
clearing. Children and women
were ordered out of the buses
and told to undress. They
were told that they were to
be taken to a bathhouse. Then
they were taken to a pit,
where already lay corpses.

“The prisoners were order-
ed to lie down on the bodies
face downward and_ then
members of the ‘SD’ opened
fire on them with pistols and
tommy-guns. I myself saw
how the chief of the Riga
Ghetto, Krause, personally
shot people, how Laak asked
Krause for his automatic and
shot about 30 to 40 people. Al-
together on this occasion
about 700 people were killed.
Laak and myself spent some
four hours there.”

On one occasion Laak per-
sonnally shot 25 Gypsies to
death. Then Gerrets ‘also re-
called how in the fall of 1942
Laak killed over 20 ¢hitdren:

“The children were freezing.
They clasped each other“They
were between five ant six
years old. They were takén ‘to-
wards the grave. They “didn’t
want to go, crying andbegg-
ing ... I took them By the
hands and took them into the
pit. Laak jumped behinétheir
back and shot them. Then
they were buried. Laak said
it was best that the children
were killed — they cried so
secs ¢ eee eg ad

In September 1943 the Ja-
gala death camp was--closed
down. Laak was given the
| title of Obersturmfuehrer and
|his faithful assistant ~Gerrets
joan a senior cgputy of
the “SD”.

Later Laak was nares to
the post of chief of the Jain
central prison.

Laak was last seen-by his
;eolleagues in September of
/1944 at the Tallin-Balti rail-|
| Way station. He was peapanihe|
|to flee Esthonia. Gerrets who}
|mistakenly believed the Jag-
|ala murders would=remain a
|closed secret, stayed behind.
| He was recently. detained fol-
| lowing discovery of traces of
| the crimes.

Laak in the meantime made
| his way to Canada and Win-
|nipeg, and like others of his |

Mass of bloody corpses in the common pit in which tht
were killed and buried. This is but one of several phot}

available to the Pacific Tribune from the trial of Al@
ander Laak and his accomplices. Most of the photos sho!
ing the brutal mistreatment of women and children in ¥
Jagala prison before execution cannot be printed i

newspaper.

ee

LL soldiers in
German states should be
demobilized by 1964, all for-
eign troops sent home, and the
whole of ‘Germany should be
neutralized. This was the sen-
sational proposal made to the
United Nations on Sept. 9, by
the government of the Ger-
man Democratic Republic.
The proposal was made in
a government memorandum
addressed to the United Na-
tions General Assembly. A
GDR spokesman stood ready
to address the General Assem-
bly on the proposal if invited.
The new GDR plan, which
would make it much easier to
solve other outstanding Eur-
opean problems, forsees the
disarmament of Germany in
three stages, as follows:

STAGE I (1960-61)

The’ two German = states
would formally abjure the use
of force against each other or
against. other countries; they
would agree on an arms stop;
and they would renounce at-
omic, biological and chemical
weapons,

The final step of Stage I
would be the conclusion of a
peace treaty with both Ger-
man states, and the conversion
of West Berlin into demilitar-
ized Free City.

STAGE II (1962)

Both German states would
make a staged reduction in
their armed forces and arma-
ment, and conscription would

kind was engaged in sending
letters to Esthonia telling of
his good fortune abroad.

He felt safe and secure un-
der the benevolent eye of the
Canadian government, the im-
migration authorities and the
RCMP, to whom he ran for ad-
vice when he learned that the

»| Kalevi-Liiva killings had be-

come known and that the Es-
thonian authorities were seek-
ing him,

October 21, 1960—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—

Make All

Germany Neutral

the two ,

‘dation of all armed for® i

be abolished. (Conscripl!
only exists in West Germall
All foreign troops would
withdrawn from both Ger?
states, and all foreign b®
liquidated.

STAGE III (1963-64)

All German armed force
both German states should!)
dissolved, and all weapons %|
troyed; defence ministers, !
ficers’ schools, etc. would
liquidated. West Get
should leave NATO, and ! ;
GDR should leave the Wal
Pact. This would mean
complete military neutral iis)
tion of Germany. j

The memorandum’ st@!
that the large financial me
made available by the pl
for total disarmament vi
be used for housing, bee
social services, and for a
economically under- on
countries.

The three-stage plan
German disarmament §
be supervised by a com" |
sion composed on a_ basi® if
party by the parliamen® :
the two German states, "4
forced by trade unionists if
members of womens’
youth organizations. ii!

It was emphasized in Berl
that the total disarm@%y
could be implemented “a
out any change in the ¢@? of
ist social system in We5 ote
many, or the socialist 5%
in the GDR. Fl

The fact that the whdl
Germany was neutraliZe® i
der guarantees from the jot
powers or the-United N2! of
would do much to eas? “ot!
sion in Europe, and it‘ vi
prevent Germany been? il
once again the starting
for a world war. i

At the same time the

fo}
il

Germany, German or for
would make it much e@ «sich
take steps towards the ¥
tion of the country. $]:

pas?