Ukase 43 was the 19 April 1943 ''

ukase In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader ( patriarch) that had the force of law. " Edict" and "decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concep ...

'' (decree) of the Supreme Soviet of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Its full title was "On measures for the punishment of German-Fascist criminals who are guilty of killing or maltreating Soviet civilians and Red Army prisoners-of-war and for the punishment of spies and traitors to their fatherland among Soviet citizens and their helpers". The law was directed at the German, Romanian, Hungarian, and Finnish personnel guilty of war crimes, as well as Soviet citizens who collaborated with the enemy. Under the law, Soviet tribunals prosecuted members of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

, SS, SD,

Order Police The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...

, and the Nazi civilian administration in the formerly occupied territories. The decree was issued on the same date as the Soviet authorities broke off relations with the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

in the aftermath of the discovery of the site of the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

. Ukase 43 can thus be viewed as part of the Soviet response to the diplomatic crisis, aimed at drawing the attention of the world public to the crimes of Germany and its allies.

References

* 1943 in the Soviet Union Soviet decrees {{USSR-stub

See also

References