The Imperially Instituted and Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry

First edition in English, n. d. (ca 1916); 10 3/4 x 8; pp. [2], 3-24; stapled, beige self-wraps; illustrated with one plate of photographs (both recto and verso); a few minor spots of foxing; small cuts around staples; in very good condition. Also included is a laid-in accompanying notice to the press (single leaf, text to recto only) and a loose leaf with facsimile letters.A bit of a publication mystery, the report appeared to have been released, and consequently excised, from a later, much-larger one with the name: "Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry Appointed by Command of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia." Appointed by Emperor Nicholas I, with Senator Aleksei Krivtsov presiding over it, the commission was tasked with investigating the lives of Russian soldiers in captivity during WWI and the atrocities, perpetrated by the Germans and Austro-Hungarians, in violation of the Geneva Convention of 1906, and with certifying and releasing their findings. This specific report dealt with Russian POW in Germany and was assembled from first-person accounts. The notice to the press, by Aleksei Krivtsov, appealed to the press to give publicity to the fact that two letters had been found among the possessions of dead German soldiers, which stated, in part: "We do not know where to put prisoners. Henceforth every Russian surrendering as a prisoner of war will be turned out in front of the line of our fortified positions to be shot." The press was encouraged to translate the letters and distribute them to "every country in the world." Not in OCLC, not in the trade (as of May 2021).…