Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

COL. STOREY: I am sure they are; yes, Sir. I don’t know about the individual case, but the instructions are that the documents will have two photostats, each one in German, plus the English translation, for counsel, and that is what has been delivered, plus the trial address, if Your Honor pleases. We handed that to him in advance—what the attorney will read over the microphone.

THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, I thought the Tribunal ordered, after consulting the prosecutors as to the feasibility of the scheme, that sufficient translators should be supplied to the defendants’ counsel so that such documents as trial briefs, if in the English language, might be translated to defendants’ counsel. You will remember it was suggested that at least four translators, I think, should be supplied to the defendants’ counsel.

COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal will recall, I think this is what was finally determined; that document books and briefs could be submitted in English and the photostatic copies submitted to defendants’ counsel and that if they wanted additional copies of the German, then they should request them and they would be furnished. I think that is what the final order was.

THE PRESIDENT: There was, at any rate, a suggestion that translators should be ordered to translate such documents as trial briefs.

COL. STOREY: That is correct; yes, Sir, and whenever counsel wanted more copies, then they would request them and they would be available for them. The translators or translations or photostats would be available if they requested them.

Were there any other questions, Your Honor?

THE PRESIDENT: Do you mean that translators have not been supplied to defendants’ counsel?

COL. STOREY: If Your Honor pleases, as I understand, the defendants’ Information Center is now under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, and my information is—I would like to check it—that when they want extra copies all they have to do is ask for them and they may obtain them and sufficient translators are available to provide the extra copies if they want them. That is my information. I have not checked it in the last few days, but sufficient copies in English are furnished for all the counsel; and these briefs and document books are furnished to them in advance. In this case I am told that the document book and the briefs were furnished.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

DR. FRITZ SAUTER (Counsel for Defendants Funk and Von Schirach): Your Honor, you may be assured that we Defense Counsel do not like to take up the time of the Tribunal for such discussions which we ourselves would rather avoid. But the question just raised by a colleague of mine is really very unpleasant for us Defense Counsel and makes our work extremely difficult for us.

You see, it does not help us if agreements are made or regulations are issued and in actual practice it is entirely different.

Last night, for example, we received a big volume of documents all of which were in English. Now, in the evening in the prison we are supposed to spend hours discussing with our clients the results of the proceedings, a task which has now been rendered still more difficult by the installation of wire screens in the consultation room. In addition we are also required to talk over whole volumes of documents written in English, and that is practically impossible. Time and again these documents are not received until the evening before the day of the proceedings; and it is not possible, even for one who knows English well, to make the necessary preparation.

The same thing is true of the individual trial briefs; and I do not know whether the actual trial briefs, such as we receive for each defendant, have also been submitted to the Tribunal.

THE PRESIDENT: Nearly every document which has been referred to in this branch of the case, which has been presented by Mr. Albrecht and by Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, are documents which have been referred to previously in the Trial and which must have been before the defendants’ counsel for many days—for weeks—and therefore there can be no lack of familiarity with those documents. The documents which have been referred to, which are fresh documents, are very few indeed and the passages in them which are now being put in evidence are all read over the microphone and, therefore, are heard by defendants’ counsel in German and can be studied by German counsel tomorrow morning in the transcript of the shorthand notes; and I do not see, therefore, what hardship is being imposed upon German counsel by the method which is being adopted.

You see, the Counsel for the Prosecution, out of courtesy to Counsel for the Defense, have been giving them their trial briefs in English beforehand. But there is no strict obligation to do that; and insofar as the actual evidence is concerned, all of which is contained in documents, as I have already pointed out to you, the vast majority of those documents have already been put in many days ago and have been in the hands of German counsel ever since, in the German language—and also the documents which are now put in.

DR. SAUTER: No, this is not true, Your Honor. This is the complaint which we of the Defense Counsel, because we dislike to approach the Tribunal with such complaints, have been discussing among ourselves—the complaint that we do not receive German documents. You may be assured, Mr. President, that if things were as you believe, none of us would complain but we would all be very grateful; but in reality it is different.

THE PRESIDENT: But Dr. Sauter, surely when you have a reference to a German document, that German document is available to you in the Information Center; and as these documents have been put in evidence, some of them as long ago as the 20th of November or shortly thereafter, surely there must have been adequate time for defendants’ counsel to study them.

DR. SAUTER: Suppose, for instance, I receive this morning a volume on Funk. I know, for instance, when Funk’s case comes on—perhaps tomorrow. It is quite impossible for me to study this volume of English documents upon my return from the prison at 10 o’clock in the evening. That simply overtaxes the physical strength of a Defense Counsel. I could go through it if it were in German, but even so, it is impossible for me after finishing my visit to the prison at 9 or 10 o’clock in the evening to go through such a volume. We absolutely cannot do it.

THE PRESIDENT: You see, Dr. Sauter, it is not as though you had to cross-examine witnesses immediately after the evidence is given. The documents are put in and it is not for you then to get up and argue upon the interpretation of those documents. You have, I regret to say, a considerable time before you will have to get up and call your own evidence and ultimately to argue upon the documents which are now being put in. Therefore, it is not a question of hours, it is a question of days and weeks before you will have to deal with these documents which are now being put in. And I really do not see that there is any hardship upon defendants’ counsel in the system which is being adopted.

And you will not forget that the rule, which, in a sense, penalizes the Prosecution, is that every document which is put in evidence and every part of the document which is put in evidence, has to be read in open court, in order that it should be translated over the earphones and then shall get into the shorthand notes. I am told that the shorthand notes are not available in German the next morning but are available only some days afterwards. But they are ultimately available in German. And therefore every defendant’s counsel must have a complete copy of the shorthand notes, at any rate up to the recess; and that contains all the evidence given against the defendants, and it contains it in German.

DR. SAUTER: Yes, Mr. President, what we are most anxious to have done and what we have been asking for many weeks is that the documents, or at least those parts of the document which come into question, should be given to us in German translation. It is very difficult for us, even if we know English, to translate the documents in the time which is at our disposal. It is practically impossible for any of us to do this. It is for this reason that we regret that our wish to get the documents in German is not being taken into consideration. We are conscious of the difficulties and we are very grateful for any assistance given. We assure you we are very sorry to have to make such requests, but the conditions are really very difficult for us. The last word I wish to say is that the conditions are really very difficult for us.

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Sauter, I am most anxious and the other members of the Tribunal are most anxious that every reasonable facility should be afforded to the defendants and their counsel. But, as I have pointed out to you, it is not necessary for you, for any of you, at the present moment, to get up and argue upon these documents which are now being put in. By the time that you have to get up and argue upon the documents which are now being put in, you will have had ample time in which to consider them in German.

DR. SAUTER: Thank you, Sir.

HERR GEORG BOEHM (Counsel for the SA): I have repeatedly asked to receive copies of everything presented in English. The accusation against the SA was presented on the 19th or 18th of December, and at the same time a document book was presented. Today I received a few photostats, but I have not received the greater part of the photostats or other pertinent translations. This shows that we do not receive the German translations immediately after the presentation. Nor are we ever able to read the transcript of the proceedings on the next day or on the day after that. The minutes of the session. . .

THE PRESIDENT: We are not dealing with the SA or the organizations at the present moment. If you have any motion to make, you will kindly make it in writing, and we will now proceed with the part of the Trial with which we are dealing.

HERR BOEHM: Mr. President, will you permit me one more remark? The minutes of December 17 and 18, 1945 I have received today.

THE PRESIDENT: Do you mean the transcript of it?

HERR BOEHM: I received today the German transcript for the 18th and 19th of December 1945. You see, it is not a fact that we receive the transcript the day after or a few days after the session. I received it weeks later, after I asked for it repeatedly. I have asked the appropriate offices repeatedly to give me a copy of the document book in German, and I have still not received it.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we will inquire into that. One moment.

[_There was a pause in the proceedings while the Judges conferred._]

THE PRESIDENT: Will the last counsel who was speaking stand up?

I am told that the reason for the delay in the case you have mentioned was that there had been an error in the paging and therefore the transcripts of those shorthand notes had to be recopied. I understand that the delay ordinarily is not anything like so long as that delay.

HERR BOEHM: But I hardly believe that in the case of the translation of the document book the delay is due to those reasons. But even if the delay in this particular case should be justified, it means that week after week I am hampered in my defense. I do not know the day before what is going to be presented, and I do not know until weeks afterwards what has been presented. I am therefore not in a position to study the evidence from the standpoint of a Defense Counsel. I do not even know what is contained in the document book. I am thus obviously handicapped in my defense in every way. The Prosecution keeps saying that it will furnish the documents on time. This is apparently not the case.

THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps you will kindly make your complaint in writing and give the particulars of it. Do you understand that?

HERR BOEHM: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

MR. ROBERTS: May it please the Tribunal, it is my duty to present the evidence against Keitel and also against the Defendant Jodl and I would ask the Tribunal for permission, if it is thought right, that those two cases should be presented together in the interest of saving time, a matter which I know we all have at heart.

The story with regard to Keitel and Jodl runs on parallel lines. For the years in question they marched down the same road together. Most of the documents affect them both, and in those circumstances, I submit, it might result in a substantial saving of time if I were permitted to present the cases against both of them together.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

MR. ROBERTS: Then I shall proceed, if I may, on that basis.

My Lords, may I say that I fully recognize that the activities of both these defendants have been referred to in detail many times and quite recently by Colonel Telford Taylor, and my earnest desire is to avoid repetition as far as I possibly can. And may I say I welcome any suggestions, as I travel the road, which the Tribunal have to make, to make my presentation still shorter.

There is a substantial document book, Document Book Number 7, which is a joint document book dealing with both the defendants. Practically all the documents in that book have already been referred to. They nearly all, of course, have a German origin. I propose to read passages from only nine new documents and those nine documents, I think, are shown in Your Lordship’s bundle and in the bundles of your colleagues.

May I commence by referring, as shortly as may be, to the part of the Indictment which deals with the two defendants. That will be found on Page 33 (Volume I, Page 77) of the English translation. It begins with “Keitel” in the middle of the page, and it says, “The Defendant Keitel between 1938 and 1945” was the holder of various offices. I only want to point out there that although the commencing date is 1938 the Prosecution rely on certain activities of the Defendant Keitel before 1938, and we submit that we are entitled so to do because of the general words appearing on Page 28 of the Indictment (Volume I, Page 68) at the head of the appendix:

“The statements hereinafter set forth following the name of each
individual defendant constitute matters upon which the
Prosecution will rely _inter alia_ as establishing the
individual responsibility. . . .”

And then the Tribunal will see:

“. . . Keitel used the foregoing positions, his personal
influence, and his intimate connection with the Führer in such a
manner that: He promoted the military preparations for war set
forth in Count One. . . .”

If I may read it shortly—he participated in the planning and preparation for wars of aggression and in violation of treaties, he executed the plans for wars of aggression and wars in violation of treaties, and he authorized and participated in War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.

Then, “The Defendant Jodl between 1932 and 1945 was” the holder of various positions. He “used the foregoing positions, his personal influence, and his close connection with the Führer in such a manner”—and this is not to be found in the text relating to Keitel—“that: He promoted the accession to power of the Nazi conspirators and the consolidation of their control over Germany. . . .”

May I say, My Lords, here, that I know of no evidence at the moment to support that allegation that he promoted the Nazi rise to power before 1933. There is plenty of evidence that he was a devoted, almost a fanatical admirer of the Führer, but that, I apprehend, would not be enough.

And then it is alleged against Jodl that he promoted the preparations for war, that he participated in the planning and preparation of the war, and that he authorized and participated in War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.

My Lords, with regard to the position of the Defendant Keitel, it is well-known that in February of 1938 he became Chief of the OKW, Supreme Commander of all the Armed Forces, and that Jodl became Chief of the Operations Staff; and that is copiously proved in the shorthand notes and in the documents. Perhaps I ought to refer to his position in 1935, at the time when the reoccupation of the Rhineland was first envisaged. Keitel was head of the Wehrmachtsamt in the Reich War Ministry, and that is proved by a Document 3019-PS, which is to be found in _Das Archiv_; and I ask the Court to take judicial notice of that. It is not in the bundle.

Jodl’s positions have been proved by his own statement, Document 2865-PS, which is also Exhibit USA-16; and in 1935 he held the rank of lieutenant colonel, Chief of the Operations Department of the Landesverteidigung.

May I just refer to the pre-1938 period—that is, the pre-OKW period—to two documents, one of which is new. The first document I desire to mention without reading is EC-177. I do not want to read it. It is Exhibit USA-390. My Lords, those are the minutes, shortly after the Nazi rise to power, of the working committee of the Delegates for Reich Defense. The date is the 22d of May 1933. Keitel presided at that meeting. The minutes have been read. There is a long discussion as to the preliminary steps for putting Germany on a war footing. Keitel regarded the task as most urgent, as so little had been done in previous years; and perhaps the Tribunal will remember the most striking passage where Keitel impressed the need for secrecy: Documents must not be lost; oral statements can be denied at Geneva.

And I submit, if I may be allowed to make this short comment, it is interesting to see in those very early days of 1933 that the heads of the Armed Forces of Germany contemplated using lying as a weapon.

My Lord, the next document I desire to refer to is a new one, and it is EC-405, Exhibit GB-160. I desire to refer to this shortly because, in my submission, it fixes Jodl with knowledge of, and complicity in, the plan to reoccupy the Rhineland country, contrary to the Versailles Treaty. The Tribunal will see that these are the minutes of the working committee of the Reich Defense Council, dated the 26th of June 1935.

The Court will see that, a quarter of the way down the page, Subparagraph F, Lieutenant Colonel Jodl gives a dissertation on mobilization preparation; and it is only the fourth and fifth paragraphs on that same page, the last paragraph but one from the bottom, that I desire to read:

“The demilitarized zone requires special treatment. In his
speech of the 21st of May and other utterances, the Führer has
stated that the stipulations of the Versailles Treaty and the
Locarno Pact regarding the demilitarized zone are being
observed. To the _aide-mémoire_ of the French _chargé
d’affaires_ on recruiting offices in the demilitarized zone, the
Reich Government has replied that neither civilian recruiting
authorities nor other offices in the demilitarized zone have
been entrusted with mobilization tasks, such as the raising,
equipping, and arming of any kind of formations for the event of
war or in preparation therefor.

“Since political complications abroad must be avoided at
present”—I stress the “at present”—“under all circumstances,
only those preparatory measures that are urgently necessary may
be carried out. The existence of such preparations or the
intention of making such preparations must be kept in strictest
secrecy in the zone itself as well as in the rest of the Reich.”

My Lord, I need not read more. I submit that fixes Jodl clearly with knowledge of the forthcoming breach of Versailles.

My Lord, the day before the Rhineland was reoccupied on the 7th of March 1936, the Defendant Keitel issued the directive which has been read before, Document C-194, Exhibit USA-55, ordering an air reconnaissance and certain U-boat movements in case any other nation attempted to interfere with that reoccupation.

My Lords, I pass now to the 4th of February 1938, when the OKW was formed. My Lords, shortly after its formation there was issued a handbook, which is a new exhibit, from which I want to read short passages. The number of the exhibit is L-211. It is Document GB-161. Now, this is dated 19 April 1938; “top secret; Direction of War as a Problem of Organization.” I read only from the appendix which is entitled, “What is the War of the Future?”; and if the Court will kindly turn over to the second page, I am going to read, 12 lines from the bottom of the page, the line beginning “Surprise”:

“Surprise as the requisite for quick initial success will often
require hostilities to begin before mobilization has been
completed or the armies are fully in position.

“A declaration of war is no longer necessarily the first step at
the start of a war.

“According to whether the application of the rules of warfare
create greater advantages or disadvantages for the warring
nations, will the latter consider themselves at war or not at
war with the neutral states.”

It may, of course, be said that those were only theoretical words and they might apply to any other nation which might be minded to make war on Germany. The Court can use its judicial notice of the conditions of things in Europe in 1938 and ask itself whether Germany had any potential aggressor against her.

But, My Lord, I emphasize that passage because I submit it so clearly envisages exactly the way in which Germany did make war in 1939 and in the subsequent years.

My Lord, I now start to tread the road which has been trodden so many times and which will be trodden so many times again, the road from 1938 to 1941: the final act of aggression. My Lord, I believe that I can treat this, so far as Keitel and Jodl are concerned, in a very few sentences, because I submit that the documents which are already in, which have been read and reread into the record, demonstrate quite clearly that Keitel, as would only be expected, he being Chief of the Supreme Command of all the Armed Forces, and Jodl, as only would be expected also, he being Chief of the Operations Staff, were vitally and intimately concerned with every single act of aggression which took place successively against the various victims of Nazi aggression.

My Lord, Your Lordship has in front of you the document book and perhaps the trial brief in which those documents are set out under the heading. If I might take first the aggression against Austria, Your Lordship will remember, in Jodl’s diary on the 12th of February 1938, how Keitel, who was something more than a mere soldier, put heavy pressure upon Schuschnigg—that is Document 1780-PS, Jodl’s diary—how on the following day Keitel writes to Hitler—Document 1775-PS, Exhibit USA-75—suggesting the shamming of military action and the spreading of false but quite credible news.

Then the actual operation orders for “Operation Otto,” Exhibits USA-74, 75, and 77, all of the 11th of March 1938, are OKW orders for which Keitel is responsible.

THE PRESIDENT: What are the numbers of them?

MR. ROBERTS: My Lord, Documents C-102, C-103, and C-182. One of them is actually signed or initialed by Keitel, and two are initialed by Jodl. Those are the operation orders for the advance into Austria, the injunction, if the Tribunal remembers, to treat Czech soldiers as hostile and to treat the Italians as friends.

My Lord, that is the first milestone on the road, the occupation of Austria. My Lord, the second is, is it not. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Well, perhaps if you are going to pass on to another, we had better adjourn now until 2 o’clock.

[_The Tribunal recessed until 1400 hours._]

_Afternoon Session_

MR. ROBERTS: May it please the Tribunal, I had got to the commencement of the alleged aggression against Czechoslovakia; and the Tribunal will remember that the leading exhibit on that matter is the file 388-PS, Exhibit Number USA-26, the “Fall Grün” file. My Lords, that file, in my submission, contains copious evidence against both Keitel and Jodl, showing that they were taking the natural part of the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces and the head of the Operations Staff.

May I remind the Tribunal of Item 2. I do not want to read any of these. I might just refer to the notes of a meeting on the 21st of April 1938. The important thing to notice is that Keitel and the Führer met alone, showing the intimate connection between Keitel and the Führer. And it was at that meeting that preliminary plans were discussed, including the possibility of an incident, namely, the murder of the German Ambassador at Prague.

Item 5 in that file, dated the 20th of May 1938, shows the plans for the political and the military campaign against Czechoslovakia, issued by Keitel.

Item 11, dated the 30th of May 1938, is the directive signed by Keitel for the invasion of Czechoslovakia, with the date given as the 1st of October 1938.

There are many items which are initialed by Jodl—Item 14 and Item 17, to mention only two.

Perhaps, for the purpose of the note, I should mention the others: Items 24, 36, and 37.

There is the directive, Items 31 and 32, dated the 27th of September 1938, signed by Keitel, enclosing orders for secret mobilization.

Jodl’s diary, Document 1780-PS, contains many references to the forthcoming aggression, particularly the 13th of May and the 8th of September; and there is a very revealing entry on the 11th of September in Jodl’s diary, 1780-PS, in which he says. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Will you give us the date?

MR. ROBERTS: I beg Your Lordship’s pardon; 11th of September 1938.

“In the afternoon conference with Secretary of State Hahnke,
from the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, on the
imminent common tasks. The joint preparations for refutation of
our own violations of international law and the exploitation of
its violations by the enemy were considered particularly
important.”

I emphasize those words, “our own violations of international law.”

My Lords, as a result of that conference the Document C-2, which was referred to by my learned leader, Sir David, was prepared, which the Tribunal will remember has in parallel columns the possible breach of international law and the excuse which is then going to be given for it. It was referred to so recently that I need not refer to it again.

My Lords, I respectfully submit on that branch of the case that there is an overwhelming case that Keitel and Jodl played an important, indeed a vital part, in the aggression against Czechoslovakia which led up to the Pact of Munich.

My Lords, after the Pact of Munich was signed, as has been pointed out many times, the Nazi conspirators at once set about preparations for annexing the remainder of Czechoslovakia.

My Lords, at this point Jodl disappears from the scene for a time, because he goes to do some regimental soldiering as artillery general in Austria—artillery general of the 44th Division—and so it cannot be said that there is any evidence against him from the Munich Pact until the 23rd of August 1939, when he is recalled on the eve of the Polish invasion to take up his duties once more as chief of the operational staff of OKW.

So far as Keitel is concerned, on the 21st of October 1938, less than a month after the Munich Pact, he countersigned Hitler’s order to liquidate the rest of Czechoslovakia and to occupy Memel—Document C-136, Exhibit Number USA-104.

On the 24th of November 1938, Document C-137, Exhibit Number GB-33, Keitel issues a memorandum about the surprise occupation of Danzig.

On the 17th of December 1938, Document C-138, Exhibit Number USA-105, he signs an order to the lower formations: “Prepare for the liquidation of the rest of Czechoslovakia.” Those preparations were made.

On the 15th of March 1939 Keitel, who—I again repeat—was more than a mere soldier, was present at the midnight conference between the Führer and Hacha, President of Czechoslovakia, when, under a threat of bombing Prague, Hacha surrendered the rest of his country to the Germans. I refrain from referring to the contents of the minutes, which have been read many times already.

My Lords, so that milestone is past. And again I submit, in all that aggression it is clear that Keitel was playing a vital part as Hitler’s right-hand man, commanding all the armed forces under him.

I now pass to the Polish aggression. Keitel was present at the meeting at the chancellery on the 23rd of May 1939, Document L-79, Exhibit Number USA-27, when it was said—just a few words so familiar: Danzig was not the subject of the dispute; Poland was to be attacked at the first suitable opportunity; Dutch and Belgian air bases must be occupied; declarations of neutrality were to be ignored.

The directive for “Fall Weiss”, the invasion of Poland, is Document C-120(a), Exhibit GB-41. The date is the 3rd of April 1939. The Tribunal will remember the plans were to be submitted to OKW by the 1st of May, and the forces were to be ready for invasion by the 1st of September. And that directive is signed by Keitel.

Document C-126, Exhibit GB-45, is a follow-up of that previous directive. It is dated the 22d of June 1939. The need for camouflage is emphasized; and it is stated, “Do not disquiet the population.” That is signed by Keitel.

On the 17th of August 1939, Document 795-PS, Exhibit GB-54, Keitel has a conference with Admiral Canaris about the supplying of Polish uniforms to Heydrich; and it will be noticed in the last paragraph of the note that Admiral Canaris is against the war, and Keitel argues in favor of it. And Keitel made the prophecy that Great Britain would not enter the war.

I submit that Keitel’s vital part, again, in the preparation for the aggression against Poland is clearly established beyond possibility of dispute.

Jodl, as I have said to the Tribunal, was recalled on the 23rd of August, as seen in his diary entry, Document 1780-PS, where he says that he is recalled to take charge of the Operations Staff. He says:

“Received order from armed forces high command to proceed to
Berlin and take over position of Chief of Armed Forces Executive
Office.”—And then—“1100 hours to 1330 hours—discussion with
Chief of Armed Forces High Command. X-Day has been announced for
the 26th of August. Y-Time has been announced for 0430 hours.”

And I submit that the Tribunal can infer the importance of Jodl to this conspiracy from the fact that on the eve of the war he is recalled to Berlin to take his place at the head of the operational staff of the Supreme Command.

So Poland was invaded, and before I pass to the next aggression may I just point out that, according to the evidence of General Lahousen, if the Tribunal accepts it on this point, Keitel and Jodl were in the field with Hitler on the 10th of September 1939. That is in the shorthand notes, Pages 617 and 618 (Volume II, Pages 447 and 448). I don’t suppose there will be any dispute that the head of the High Command and the Chief of his Operational Staff were in the field.

My Lord, I pass now to Norway and Denmark. So far as both are concerned we see from Document C-64, Exhibit GB-86, that on the 12th of December 1939 Keitel and Jodl were both present at Hitler’s conference with Raeder when the invasion of Norway was discussed; and Keitel’s direct responsibility to those operations is shown in my submission by Document C-63, Exhibit GB-87, in which Keitel says that the operations against Norway will be “under my direct and personal guidance.” And he sets up a planning staff of OKW for the carrying out of those operations.

Jodl’s knowledge and complicity, in my submission, are clearly shown also from the entries in his own diary—Document 1809-PS. That is the second part of his diary. And the Tribunal will remember the entry of the 13th of March 1940, in which he records that the Führer was still looking for an excuse for the “Weser” operations. That is the 13th of March, My Lord, 1809-PS:

“The Führer does not give the order yet for Weser. He is still
looking for an excuse.”

And then, on the 14th of March, “Führer has not yet decided what reason to give for Weser Exercise,” which, in my submission, if I may be allowed to make a short comment, shows up in a lurid light the code of honor of the military leaders of Germany—still looking for an excuse.

My Lord, then, as we know, Norway was attacked unawares; and then subsequently lying excuses were given.

My Lord, the invasion of the Low Countries and Luxembourg equally, in my submission, is clearly shown by the documents to have been controlled and directed by Keitel with Jodl’s assistance. The Tribunal already have a note of the conference in May of the lands to be occupied—Document L-79. Document C-62, Exhibit GB-106, is a directive, signed “Hitler,” on the 9th of October 1939 and another directive, signed “Keitel,” on the 15th of October. C-62 comprises two documents, the 9th of October and 15th of October—two directives, one signed “Hitler” and one signed “Keitel”—both giving orders for the occupation of Holland and Belgium.

My Lord, Document C-10, Exhibit GB-108, dated the 8th of November, is Keitel’s operation orders for the 7th Parachute Division to make an airborne landing in the middle of Holland.

Document 440-PS, Exhibit GB-107, dated the 20th of November 1939, signed “Keitel,” is a further directive for the invasion of Holland and Belgium.

Document C-72, Exhibit GB-109, 7th of November 1939, the 10th of May 1940, 18 letters—11 signed by Keitel, 7 signed by Jodl: “The Führer is postponing A-Day because of the weather.”

My Lord, Jodl’s diary is also eloquent on that subject. That is Document 1809-PS. Several entries—perhaps I need not refer to them again—relating to these forthcoming operations, culminating with the one on the 8th of May, which perhaps the Tribunal will remember, when Jodl says, “Alarming information from Holland,” and he expresses righteous indignation that the wicked Dutchmen should erect roadblocks and make mobilization preparations.

My Lord, and so those three neutral countries were invaded, and I submit there is copious and overwhelming evidence that these men were in charge of the military organizations which made those invasions possible.

My Lord, I pass now to the planning for the aggression against Greece and Yugoslavia. Document PS-1541, Exhibit GB-117, dated 13th of December 1940, Hitler’s order for “Marita,” the operation against Greece, signed by Hitler, and a copy to Keitel, namely, OKW.

Document 448-PS, Exhibit GB-118, 11th of January 1941: Keitel initialed a Hitler order for the Greek operation.

Document C-134, Exhibit GB-119, 20th of January 1941: Both Keitel and Jodl are present at the conference with Hitler, Mussolini, and others when the operations against Greece and Yugoslavia are discussed.

Document C-59, Exhibit GB-121, 19th of February 1941: The dates of the operations against Marita are filled in by Keitel.

Document 1746-PS, Exhibit GB-120, 27th of March 1941: A conference with Hitler, Keitel, and Jodl present; the decision to attack and destroy Yugoslavia is announced, and the Führer said: “I am determined to destroy Yugoslavia. I shall use unmerciful harshness to frighten other neutrals”—and these two soldiers were present when that was said.

My Lord, I submit that on that the complicity of these two men for that aggression is amply proved.

My Lord, I pass to Barbarossa—Document 446-PS, Exhibit USA-131, dated 18th of December 1940—Hitler’s order for the Barbarossa operation, initialed by Keitel and Jodl. Hitler says, the Tribunal will remember, that he intends to overthrow Russia in a single rapid campaign.

Document 872-PS, Exhibit USA-134, 3rd of February 1941: A discussion with Hitler, Keitel, and Jodl re: Barbarossa and “Sonnenblume”—North African suggestions. Hitler said, “When Barbarossa commences, the world will hold its breath and make no comments.”

Then, Document 447-PS, Exhibit USA-135, dated 13th of March 1941: That is an operation order signed by Keitel re: the administration of the areas which were to be occupied; showing again that Keitel was more than a mere soldier; this is civil administration.

Document C-39, Exhibit USA-138, 6th of June 1941: Timetable for Barbarossa, signed by Keitel, and Jodl gets a sixth copy.

Document C-78, Exhibit USA-139, 9th of June 1941, is Hitler’s order to Keitel and Jodl to attend the pre-Barbarossa conference on the 14th of June 1941, 8 days before the operation.

My Lord, on those facts and documents on the position of these two defendants, again I respectfully submit their participation in this aggression is overwhelmingly proved.

My Lord, the last aggression is with regard to the provoked persuasion of Japan to commit an aggression against the United States of America. My Lord, there are two key documents; and both Keitel and Jodl are implicated by both of them. My Lord, the first is Document C-75, Exhibit USA-151, dated 5th of March 1941. It is an OKW order signed by Keitel, copy to Jodl. “Japan must be induced to take positive action as soon as possible” is a quotation from it.

Document C-152, Exhibit GB-122, 18th of March 1941: The meeting between Hitler, Raeder, Keitel, and Jodl—Japan to seize Singapore. That is the relevant extract on that.

My Lord, on those acts of aggression and those preparations for aggression, I submit that the case against these two men is overwhelming. It is clear, in my submission, that there could be no defense open to them except that they were obeying the orders of a superior. That defense is not open to them under this Charter. No doubt all these wicked schemes germinated in the wicked brain of Hitler, but he could not carry them out alone. He wanted men nearly as wicked and nearly as unscrupulous as himself.

My Lord, I now pass very rapidly to the question of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. My Lord, it has already been proved that Keitel signed the “Nacht und Nebel” decrees, committing persons to incarceration in Germany where all trace of them was lost. That is Document L-90, Exhibit USA-503.

There is one fresh document that I desire to put in. Colonel Telford Taylor put in Document C-50, Keitel’s order as to ruthless action in the Barbarossa campaign. There is one complementary document to that, Document C-51, which is Exhibit GB-162, Keitel’s order dated the 27th of July 1941:

“In accordance with the regulations concerning classified
material the following offices will destroy all copies of the
Führer’s decree of 13 May 1941”—that is C-50, the Barbarossa
decree—“in the communication mentioned above:

“a) All offices up to the rank of ‘general commands’
inclusive;”—My Lord, that means that corps commanders and
downwards should destroy copies—“b) group commands of the
armored troops”—that again means offices of the armed corps
below the rank of corps commanders should destroy the
copies—“c) army commands and offices of equal rank, if there is
an inevitable danger that they might fall into the hands of
unauthorized persons.”

That is to say that even higher generals, if the war approaches closely to them, should destroy these documents rather than risking any chance of their being captured.

“The validity of the decree is not affected by the destruction
of the copies. In accordance with Paragraph III, it remains the
personal responsibility of the commanding officers to see to it
that the offices and legal advisers are instructed in time and
that only these sentences are confirmed which correspond to the
political intentions of the Supreme Command.”

That was with regard to German soldiers not being tried by court-martial for offenses against Soviet troops: “This order will be destroyed together with the copies of the Führer’s decree.”

My Lord, I submit that the anxiety on the part of the OKW, presided over by Keitel, to destroy that—I suggest an illegal order; a barbarous order—is significant.

My Lord, I desire now to put in another document which is almost the last document in the bundle, UK-20. Your Lordship will find it flagged at the end of the bundle. It is from the Führer’s headquarters, 26th of May 1943. It says:

“Re: Treatment of supporters of De Gaulle who fight for the
Russians.

“French airmen serving in the Soviet forces have been shot down
on the Eastern Front for the first time. The Führer has ordered
that employment of French troops in the Soviet forces is to be
counteracted by the strongest means.

“It is therefore ordered:

“1) Supporters of De Gaulle who are taken prisoner on the
Eastern Front will be handed over to the French Government for
proceedings in accordance with OKW order. . . .”

And then I read Paragraph 3:

“Detailed investigations are to be made in appropriate cases
against relatives of Frenchmen who fight for the Russians, if
these relatives are resident in the occupied area of France. If
the investigation reveals that relatives have given assistance
to facilitate escape from France, then severe measures are to be
taken.”

My Lord, I offer that as Exhibit GB-163.

My Lord, there is a document which I feel I should put in, which is the next document in the bundle. It is Document UK-57, Exhibit GB-164. This is the last document, I think, in the bundle. My Lord, it is from the Ausland Abwehr—I believe it is from the intelligence foreign department. It is to the OKW and it is signed the 4th of January 1944. My Lord, the heading is “Re: Counteraction to Kharkov ‘trial.’” Paragraph 2 is all that I read:

“The documents concerning ‘commandos’ have been asked for and
thoroughly investigated by the Reich Security Main Office. In
five cases members of the British Armed Forces were arrested as
participants. Thereupon they were shot in compliance with the
order from the Führer. It would be possible to attribute to them
breaches of international law and to have them posthumously
sentenced to death by a Tribunal. Up to the present no breaches
of international law could be proved against commando
participants.”

My Lord, I read no more, and I submit that that is clearly an admission of murder, not warfare at all.

My Lord, Keitel’s comments are to be found in the top left-hand corner of that document:

“We want documents on the basis of which we can institute
similar proceedings. They are reprisals which have no connection
with battle actions. Legal justifications are superfluous.”

THE PRESIDENT: Is that not at the top signed by Keitel?

MR. ROBERTS: It is typewritten in the office copy which is the original.

THE PRESIDENT: There is no actual signature?

MR. ROBERTS: No.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): How does it connect with Keitel then?

MR. ROBERTS: “Vermerk Chef OKW”—that is “note of the Chief of OKW.”

Now, that is the first minute. My Lord, the second minute is on the same subject, and it is dated the 6th of January 1944; and there is a large red Keitel “K” initialed on the top of this letter, showing that he got it. My Lord, the first paragraph deals with two officers who were then at Eichstätt Camp in Bavaria. My Lord, there is no importance in that paragraph, because those two officers are still alive.

The second paragraph:

“Attempted attacks on the battleship _Tirpitz_.

“At the end of October ’42 a British commando that had come to
Norway in a cutter had orders to carry out an attack on the
battleship _Tirpitz_ in Drontheim Fjord by means of a two-man
torpedo. The action failed since both torpedoes which were
attached to the cutter were lost in the stormy sea. From the
crew consisting of six Englishmen and four Norwegians, a party
of three Englishmen and two Norwegians were challenged on the
Swedish border. However, only the British seaman Robert Paul
Evans, born 14 January ’22 at London, could be arrested . . .
the others escaped into Sweden.

“Evans had a pistol pouch in his possession such as are used to
carry weapons under the armpit and also a knuckle-duster.
Violence, representing a breach of international law, could not
be proved. He has made extensive statements about the operation.
In accordance with the Führer’s order he was shot on 19 January
’43.”

Again I submit, that is murder. Violence representing a breach of international law could not be proved.

My Lord, then the third paragraph:

“Blowing up of the Glomfjord power station.

“On 16 September ’42, 10 Englishmen and two Norwegians landed on
the Norwegian coast dressed in the uniform of the British
Mountain Rifle Regiment, heavily armed and equipped with
explosives of every description. After negotiating difficult
mountain country they blew up important installations in the
power station Glomfjord on 21 September ’42. The German sentry
was shot dead on that occasion. Norwegian workmen were
threatened that they would be chloroformed should they resist.
For this purpose the Englishmen were equipped with morphia
syringes. Several of the participants have been arrested while
the others escaped into Sweden.

“Those arrested are: Captain Graeme Black, born 9 May ’11 in
Dresden; Captain Joseph Houghton, born 13 June ’11 at
Bromborough; Sergeant-major Miller Smith, born 2 November ’15 at
Middlesborough; Corporal William Chudley, born 10 May ’22 at
Exeter; Rifleman Reginald Makeham, born 28 January ’14 at
Ipswich; Rifleman Cyril Abram, born 20 August ’22 in London;
Rifleman Eric Curtis, born 24 October ’21 in London. They were
shot on 30 October ’42.”

Again there is no suggestion that there was any breach of international law. They were British seamen and they were in uniform.

Then Paragraph 4:

“The sabotage attack against German ships off Bordeaux.

“On 12 December ’42, a number of German ships off Bordeaux were
seriously damaged by explosives below water-level. The adhesive
mines had been fixed by five English sabotage gangs working from
canoes. Of the 10 participants the following were arrested after
a few days. . . .”

Then there followed six names, six British names—one an Irishman; a lieutenant, a petty officer, a sergeant, and three marines.

“A seventh soldier named Moffett was found drowned; the
remainder apparently escaped into Spain.

“The participants proceeded in pairs from a submarine in canoes
upstream into the mouth of the River Gironde. They were wearing
olive grey special uniforms. After effecting the explosions they
sank the boats, and attempted to escape into Spain in civilian
clothes, with the assistance of the French civilian population.
No special criminal actions during the flight have been
discovered. All the arrested, in accordance with orders, were
shot on 23 March 1943.”

Keitel initialed that document. That document, read by my learned leader Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe not so long ago, is Document Number 735-PS, quoting Keitel as saying, “I am against legal procedure. It does not work out.”

THE PRESIDENT: Would you read the Page 5 which follows that?

MR. ROBERTS: If it will please the Tribunal, that is what I shall do. Page 5:

“The Führer’s headquarters, 9 January 1944. The Chief of OKW has
handed the Deputy Chief”—that ought to be WFSt, that is
Jodl—“the enclosed letter with the following account:

“It is of no importance to establish documentary proof of
breaches of international law. What is important, however, is
the collection of material suitable for a propaganda
presentation of a display trial. A display trial as such is
therefore not meant actually to take place but merely to be a
propaganda presentation of cases of breaches of international
law by enemy soldiers, who will be mentioned by name and who
have already either been punished with death or are awaiting the
death penalty. The Chief of the OKW asks the Chief of the
Foreign Department to bring with him pertinent documents for his
next visit to the Führer’s headquarters.”

As the Tribunal heard from my learned friend, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, when he read Document 735-PS earlier today, Keitel said, “I am against legal procedure. It does not work out.”

One can agree with Keitel after having read that record of what, in my submission, is cold-blooded murder of brave men, brave soldiers and sailors who were fighting for their country; and although this Trial has a record of the death of brave men, of the murder of brave men, there are few cases which are more poignant than those shown in the documents to which I have just referred.

I have finished my presentation of the case against Keitel and against Jodl. So far as Jodl’s part in the War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity is concerned, he figures much less than Keitel. Of course, he had no power of giving orders or directives, but we see that he at any rate signed and circulated an infamous order of the Führer saying that commandos ought to be shot and are not to be treated as prisoners of war at all.

In my submission the evidence against these two men is overwhelming and their conviction is demanded by the civilized world.

Your Lordships, Mr. Walter W. Brudno of the American Delegation will present the case against Alfred Rosenberg.

MR. WALTER W. BRUDNO (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): May it please the Tribunal, in connection with the case against the Defendant Rosenberg, I wish to offer the document book designated as United States Exhibit EE. This book contains the English translation of all the documents which I will offer into evidence, as well as the English translation of those documents previously offered to which I will refer. The documents are arranged by series in the order of C, L, R, PS, and EC, and they are arranged numerically within each series.

Your Honors will note that on the first four pages of the document book there appears a descriptive list of documents. This list is a tabulation of all the documents directly implicating Rosenberg, including those previously offered, and those which I will offer into evidence. Those previously offered are keyed to the transcript page of the Record, and to their exhibit numbers. The list is included in the document books. The list is included in the document books made available to the Defense. This list will gather together in one place all references to the Defendant Rosenberg which are in the Record up to this point. In order to avoid repetition, I will not refer to a great many of the documents previously introduced.

The Indictment at Page 29 (Volume I, Page 70) charges the Defendant Rosenberg under all four Counts of the Indictment. In the presentation which follows, I will show that as charged in Count One, Section IV, Subparagraph D, Rosenberg played a particularly prominent role in developing and promoting the doctrinal techniques of the conspiracy, in developing and promoting beliefs and practices incompatible with Christian teaching, in subverting the influence of the churches over the German people, in pursuing the program of relentless persecution of the Jews, and in reshaping the educational system in order to make the German people amenable to the will of the conspirators and to prepare the people psychologically for waging an aggressive war.

I will also show that Rosenberg played an important role in preparing Germany for the waging of aggressive war through the direction of foreign trade, as charged in Count One, Subparagraph E, of the Indictment, and that his activities in the field of foreign policy contributed materially toward the preparation for the aggression charged in Subparagraph F in the Indictment and the Crimes against Peace, as charged in Count Two.

Finally I will show that Rosenberg participated in the planning and direction of the War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, as specified in Paragraph G of Count One of the Indictment. Particularly, he participated in the planning and direction of the spoliation of art treasures in the western countries and in the numerous crimes committed in that part of the eastern countries formerly occupied by the U.S.S.R.

The political career of the Defendant Rosenberg embraced the entire history of National Socialism and permeated nearly every phase of the conspiracy with which we are concerned. In order to obtain a full conception of his influence upon and participation in the conspiracy, it is necessary to review briefly his political history, and to consider each of his political activities in their relation to the thread of the conspiracy which stretches from the inception of the Party in 1919 to the defeat of Germany in 1945.