War Office: Judge Advocate General's Office, Military Deputy's Department: War Crimes,...

This series comprises card indexes relating to war crimes committed in Europe during the Second World War.

The series consists of the main name indexes to perpetrators, or alleged perpetrators, of war crimes, and to witnesses (pieces 1-52). There are also two small complementary (and possibly duplicating) indexes of accused persons (pieces 53-55) and witnesses (pieces 56-57). The indexes are believed to have been compiled from c1942 to 1948. At present the whole series is retained by the Ministry of Defence under s3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958.

The cards in the main index are predominantly of perpetrators or suspected perpetrators, but a small proportion are filed as witnesses (top right corner marked in green). The index includes nicknames, with appropriate cross references. The cards in the two small indexes may duplicate names in the main index and give more or less information.

The main index cards have spaces for and may include the following data: name of perpetrator or suspected perpetrator; name/s of victim/s; name/s of witness/es; scene of incident; last known location or home address of perpetrator. They also have spaces for the following references:

• 1) CROWCASS: Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects;
• 2) UNWCC: United Nations War Crimes Commission;
• 3) JAG - Legal Section C numbers in the 15228 Series in WO 309 (HQ BAOR - War Crimes Group NWE: case files);
• 4) A - The number which follows the Series 37711 prefix in WO 309. (On the cards the number may be shown with its 37711 prefix, or with the prefix contracted to e.g. 11/1234, or without the prefix up to 2750.)

The purpose of other references which may appear on other parts of the cards has not been established.

With regard to the complementary indexes in pieces 53-57, the relevance of the variety of CASE No/JAG UNIT references has only been established in certain cases. References prefixed 'Legal' (e.g. Legal:C2999) are to the Legal Section, WCG (NWE) 15228 Series files, mentioned previously under main index references (3). Where FIS appears (e.g. FIS:C573), this relates to a file of the Field Investigation Section, War Crimes Group (NWE) in WO 309

It is probable that a systematic survey of all types of references employed in these indexes, and an exercise to compare them with the various elements which appear as former references in the several war crimes series would enable other links to be established with certainty.

All the records in this series were opened in 1997 but required conservation work to avoid the alphabetical order being disturbed.

For some counterparts to cards in this series see WO 355

For related files (details above) see WO 309

No body of records of the Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects is known to have survived. The records of the United Nations War Crimes Commission are in the custody of the United Nations Organisation, to which applications for access to them may be made.

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