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to a critical observer that such sharp logic is subject to false conclusions. Any organized resistance headed by a national government came to an end when the German Armed Forces were utterly defeated and the whole of the German territory occupied by the Allies. The four principal victorious powers, which form this Tri... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 11,700 | 12,200 |
whose behavior the obligation was based and who one day must answer for it, is regarded as the same legal body. Though the German State, at the moment, is not in position to act according to international law through its own organs, it has not vanished from the sphere of the international legal order. Thus, in view of ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 12,150 | 12,650 |
broke out. The effects of this catastrophe, which this legal code could not prevent, cannot yet be perceived today. To prevent its recurrence in the future is the high aim of humanity, which forms the basis of the London Agreement of 8 August 1945. That this could not yet be achieved is shown with alarming certainty by... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 12,600 | 13,100 |
defendants sitting on this bench participated in the events which have affected the entire world by their consequences and' which have brought such indescribable misery upon it' and not least upon the German people. In this Trial the Prosecution once stated through one of their qualified spokesmen that it was their tas... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 13,050 | 13,550 |
have been examined and presented by Professor Dr. Jahrreiss. With regard to the sphere of the soldier I should like to make some fundamental statements. There have been repeated references here to the concepts of soldierly conduct, obedience, loyalty, performance of duty, and patriotism. It is my belief that all men re... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 13,500 | 14,000 |
what is considered to be the highest form of patriotism: When someone risks his life for his country under the utmost danger. However, according to the Hague Rules of Land Warfare such resistance movement is forbidden. We have here a clear example of the contrast between ethical and legal evaluation. This proves that t... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 13,950 | 14,450 |
happened and for what forms the subject of this Indictment. I can only try to give an analysis. The misery, the misfortune that has fallen on the entire human race is so great that words do not suffice to express it. The German people, especially after having learned the catastrophe that has befallen the nations in the... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 14,400 | 14,900 |
concept of freedom. No concept has been so misused as the concept of freedom, and yet every political system proclaims freedom as the greatest of all blessings. By that, I by no means wish to say that the concept of freedom as proclaimed by National Socialism was the right solution. What I do wish to say, however, is t... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 14,850 | 15,350 |
did when the Kaiser, Ebert, and Von Hindenburg were Germany's representatives. Like all tendencies, all forms of expression of feeling, the feeling of patriotism and of a soldierly attitude bears in itself a tendency to become more radical and thereby to degenerate, if external circumstances create an actual basis for ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 15,300 | 15,800 |
future of our people to find the way back again to the rest of the world. The task of this Tribunal is not to search for the political, economic, and metaphysical reasons for this second World War and not even to examine the course of events in its entirety, but rather only to determine whether and what part these defe... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 15,750 | 16,250 |
not come back to the Tribunal? You knew perfectly well that I had expressed my opinion on behalf of the Tribunal; and if there was anything to complain about, you had full access to the Tribunal from February until today. It seems to me that it is a frivolous complaint to come now. DR. NELTE: I hope, Mr. President, tha... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 16,200 | 16,700 |
Charter. I intended to show with respect to a number of these documents the conditional value of such reports as evidence. But I shall limit myself to a few fundamental arguments in this connection, trusting that you, Your Honors, in examining this kind of evidence will take my statements into consideration. These nume... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 16,650 | 17,150 |
"High Commander (Oberkommandierender) of the Wehrmacht," which is called "OKW" instead of "OKH." It is not always possible to decide to what extent it is a question of an erroneous conception on the part of the Prosecution or whether it comes from a translation which is not in accordance with the meaning. In order to e... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 17,100 | 17,600 |
period after 1938 and secondly, that at the beginning of the Indictment, Keitel is described as Chief of Army Command. According to the evidence submitted by the Prosecution, Keitel was also held responsible 612 8 July 46 for the period after 1933, although the American, British, and French Prosecutions seem to have dr... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 17,550 | 18,050 |
the conspiracy, and I will treat only these individual points which require treatment because of their special importance concerning the personal participation of the Defendant Keitel. The disproportion between the import of past events and the defendant's fate as an individual is so great that the Defendant Keitel, ev... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 18,000 | 18,500 |
One can only hint briefly here as to what forces are at work which shape fate, that is to say, what forces cannot be considered as originating in the conscious will of the individual defendants: The sense of national unity, historic events, opinions which are rooted in tradition and environment. Therefore, I will have ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 18,450 | 18,950 |
Socialist program in itself, according to its wording and meaning, could be realized only by using force; (b) that the Defendant Keitel recomputed, or should have recognized this; (c) that recognizing this he, together with the others, especially the codefendants, planned and prepared aggressive wars. As regards these ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 18,900 | 19,400 |
of the Armed Forces and without hesitation placed themselves behind the Government led by Hitler when it proclaimed the fight against the Treaty of Versailles, especially against its military political clauses. An agreement going beyond these aims, or possibly a union with a political object in view, did not exist. The... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 19,350 | 19,850 |
Hitler himself because Keitel spoke with him late in January 1938 for the first time. The speeches which Hitler made before that time, just as those of the other Party leaders, were unambiguously aimed at preserving peace. Looking back, one might call it propagandistic camouflage of opposite intentions. If that were th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 19,800 | 20,300 |
is the fateful period, a period of development and conversion. The forces of the hitherto existing order are struggling against the new which have not yet taken definite shape. Everything is in fermentation. The aims remain obscure. They are camouflaged by the adoption of existing nationalistic tendencies. By clever pr... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 20,250 | 20,750 |
indisputably many things in common also. On the two decisive foreign-political questions of today, the questions of disarmament and reparations, uniform opinions prevail among the German people. The demand for equal rights and equal security is shared by the entire German people. Every German Government will have to up... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 20,700 | 21,200 |
A. C. Temperley, (Publishers Collins, 1938) The Whispering Gallery of Europe, for which the British Foreign Secretary of the second World War, Mr. Anthony Eden, wrote a very friendly, concurring preface. THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Nelte, wouldn't it be possible for you to pass over the reading of these passages which come from... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 21,150 | 21,650 |
to me that the most important period, when Germany turned away from the road of peace, will be found to be the period of co-operation between 1929 and 1930... Would a less hesitating policy as regards the Cancellation of the debts, economic reconstruction, and concessions in the treaties have prevented Hitlerism and al... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 21,600 | 22,100 |
rearmament unavoidable... (Page 222) "The Germans actually repeated their successful tactics in circumventing treaties, the very tactics they had used id Napoleon's time. And yet, one wonders what other honor-loving nation in the same circumstances would not also have done its utmost to Circumvent a treaty which had be... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 22,050 | 22,550 |
been planned and carried out by any one man, that it constituted a joint plot for the purpose of aggressive war. Now, where is the decisive criterion: in military armament or in other preparations for war from which the conclusion may be drawn that these measures have an aggressive character, that is to say, that they ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 22,500 | 23,000 |
charged by the Prosecution-military-political rearmament as dealt with under the heading of the Reich Defense Council? I shall now skip Pages 43 to 46, since they contain the historical development of the organizational principles, and I beg the Tribunal, if it can make use of this information, to consider it in reachi... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 22,950 | 23,450 |
was the declared organizer of the entire German economy for its mobilization in case of war and its prospective leader during a war. His duties in peacetime were preparatory only: 1. Statistical co-ordination of' the individual industrial and economic branches, including the armament authorities connected with the OKW,... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 23,400 | 23,900 |
time. When Germany proclaimed her equal rights as regards defense -that is, military sovereignty-she did not possess the necessary resources for a material rearmament, as they had been taken away in the execution and recognition of the disarmament plan. It has been confirmed here during the Trial by various sources tha... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 23,850 | 24,350 |
according to the Defendant Keitel's opinion, that a "war armament" with mobilization of the industrial capacity- and its conversion to war economy did not begin until early in October 1939. It further proves that the statements of the defendants who were examined here, as far as they were connected with this rearmament... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 24,300 | 24,800 |
the Reich, its unprotected borders and the way East Prussia was cut off, this figure was absolutely inadequate for creating a feeling of internal security and the possibility of defense in the face of an attack from the outside world-an elementary right for any country and nation. This state of inadequacy, which had be... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 24,750 | 25,250 |
satisfying as far as possible the wishes of the Reichswehr Minister, and it continued in the same way after 30 January 1933. The scope and content of the tasks remained the same. When, on 4 April 1933, a Reich Defense Council was established by a resolution of Hitler's new Reich Government, the committee was retained a... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 25,200 | 25,700 |
Keitel participated before being transferred to serve with the troops. The first session after his transfer to the Reich 629 8 July 46 War Ministry was held on 6 September 1935. It is put down as the 11th session of the Reich Defense Committee. Although in the examination of Keitel's responsibility one has to exclude t... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 25,650 | 26,150 |
the well-known event of freeing the River Rhine for traffic, a 630 8 July 48 question which was designated as the technical liberation of the Rhine River. This came up in Goering's testimony. They pointed out Document Number EC - 05, the minutes of the Committee for Reich Defense, session of 26 June 1934, in which ther... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 26,100 | 26,600 |
though at the time of its occurrence this was not realized by the participants. That they must be blamed for not realizing it is easy to say now, in retrospect. At thee time everybody who was not an inveterate skeptic or pessimist had to base his judgment on the development of things in general and on the strength of t... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 26,550 | 27,050 |
was formulated, by which the High Command of the Armed Forces was established as an Army Staff directly subordinate to the command of the Fuehrer. The Fuehrer did not want any independent office in this function, inserted between himself and the commanders-in-chief of the Armed Forces branches. In consequence, General ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 27,000 | 27,500 |
designated it the High Command of the Armed Forces. This "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht" was therefore nothing more-and, I may add, no less-than the military chancellery of the Fuehrer and Supreme Commander. Such chancelleries already existed as Reich Chancellery, Presidential Chancellery, and Party Chancellery. The Defen... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 27,450 | 27,950 |
positions as head of State, Reich Chancellor, Party Leader, and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, it was not always possible to obtain his personal signature, unless it concerned fundamental matters of unusual significance. It must be noted that in all cases Hitler's personal decision or approval had to be obtaine... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 27,900 | 28,400 |
informed defense counsel Dr. Nelte that all the documents of our delegation were open for him to see and that he would be able to verify that we had no other documents than those which we had published. On the other hand, the requests which we forwarded to Paris to have complementary documents which might have been for... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 28,350 | 28,850 |
that a Field Marshal is a military commander. However, as we have seen, the Defendant Keitel had no command authority whatsoever. Field Marshal Von Blomberg, whose testimony has been submitted to the Tribunal by the Prosecution, defines the position of the Defendant Keitel as Chef do Bureau. This definition is material... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 28,800 | 29,300 |
add, in order to judge correctly the significance of his position. It is difficult to realize the special relationship between the leadership of the Armed Forces and the political sector because the functions of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, of Reich War Minister and of head of State were from 4 February 1938 ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 29,250 | 29,750 |
like every other political system, is not absolutely good or bad, but that everything depends on the manner and methods used in applying it. Keitel has a military background and favors the Leadership Principle for the field he knows. According to this principle the responsibility lies completely with the one who has au... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 29,700 | 30,200 |
considered matters essential and fundamental and submitted them. But the evidence showed that when in doubt about matters, after conscientious examination, Keitel was inclined to present them rather than to make his own decision about them. The sources from which Hitler obtained his news, through Himmler, Bormann or so... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 30,150 | 30,650 |
Reich minister "without portfolio." He was not a minister, nor a member of the Reich Government. State Secretary Stuckart in a document submitted to the Prosecution has listed all members of the Reichsregierung. Keitel is not among them; he is mentioned in this document only as the holder of one of the highest offices.... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 30,600 | 31,100 |
1; that is to say, that he was not a minister. He was neither chief of a Government department, nor a Reich minister without portfolio, nor a state minister having the functions of a Reich minister, nor an official who was entitled to attend Cabinet sessions. In the hearing of evidence it was proved that despite the Fu... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 31,050 | 31,550 |
pages up to 77 and submit them to you. In any case, it appears to me to be an important part of the explanation regarding the interpretation of the word "OKW," and the fact that this is not identical with Keitel is particularly important. May I do that? [The President nodded his assent.] In that case, then, I shall con... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 31,500 | 32,000 |
Hitler, and his assistants, his staff. The Fuehrer Decree of 4 February 1938 bearing the heading: "Decree concerning the Command of the Armed Forces" resulted, through the unfortunate and vague nature of its wording, in an interpretation that the "Chief OKW" mentioned therein was the chief in the sense of director, of ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 31,950 | 32,450 |
In order to see clearly what part Keitel really played, and what share he had in what happened, I now wish-after investigating his legal competencies-to examine what actual influence he had upon the development and carrying-out of the measures, the effects of which constitute the subject of this Trial. From everyday ex... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 32,400 | 32,900 |
and a general judgment on Keitel's answers. The counterevidence is concerned with proving the objective incorrectness of facts based upon information obtained-from certain individuals and further, with establishing proof of the unreliability of the information. I call to mind the words which the Defendant Keitel said u... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 32,850 | 33,350 |
the Armed Forces Operations Staff at the Fuehrer's headquarters. Here also they were separated. Keitel did not sit in Hitler's anteroom, but rather in other buildings or barracks. He came from time to time with General Jodl to the conference on the situation, in which, besides Hitler, some 15 or 20 officers of all thre... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 33,300 | 33,800 |
of insane persons, all of which Keitel withheld from Hitler. The same is alleged about the reports of General Thomas, Chief of the War Economy Office, the purpose of which was to inform Hitler about the war potential of the enemy and make him listen to reason. Concerning Admiral Canaris' reports, it must be said that a... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 33,750 | 34,250 |
that the information submitted by Keitel about alleged violations of neutrality by the Dutch and Belgians was false. The Counterintelligence Office was to prepare Reports incriminating the Dutch and Belgians. Admiral Canaris at that time refused to sign these reports. I request that this be verified. He told Keitel rep... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 34,200 | 34,700 |
phrase in the mouth of a man who had no contact whatsoever with Keitel. They are refuted by the statements of Reich Marshal Goering, Admiral Doenitz, and Admiral Raeder. Jodl has defined this statement as merely a figure of speech. Insofar as the witness speaks of his tremendous influence on the OKW, it must appear que... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 34,650 | 35,150 |
connection it is necessary to refer to the fact, not submitted by Keitel but testified to by Jodl without Keitel's consent, that the latter supported and helped Canaris' family after his arrest. I only refer to this to refute the perhaps most serious personal reproach, according to which Keitel did not behave decently ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 35,100 | 35,600 |
activity, but also that no office should ever be informed of the proceedings in another office. It was only a logical consequence that Hitler strictly prohibited any discussion of political questions by officers, and that the Defendant Keitel, while carrying out this prohibition which he himself approved, charged his o... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 35,550 | 36,050 |
not in favor of their own aim. Every move and every word was weighed and critically judged. As every conspirator hopes for the success of his revolutionary activities he has to gather evidence for the coming reckoning. This is, of course, a task for a future police minister and home secretary. From an impartial estimat... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 36,000 | 36,500 |
statements by the witness Gisevius before this Tribunal, I must refer to the book submitted by the witness as evidence: To the Bitter End. This book is also a "statement" of the witness Gisevius. To err is human, but when in the year 1945, after the collapse of Germany, a book appears in which facts and occurrences are... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 36,450 | 36,950 |
in connection with the examination of the witness Gisevius. We have often heard during the progress of this Trial about dauntless, brave men and women, who fought for their country, and have suffered and died for it. They were our enemies. But no one who tries to judge these things impartially would deny them acknowled... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 36,900 | 37,400 |
Trial, had served their country in unselfish sacrifice, then perhaps we and the whole world would have been spared much distress and suffering. Admiral Doenitz, who knew Admiral Canaris, the source of information, well, said: "During the time that he was in the Navy, Admiral Canaris was an officer in whom little trust ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 37,350 | 37,850 |
the 654 8 July 46 clear light of day. His position was of great importance for the entire conduct of the war. It is clear that such people must have to the highest degree the confidence of both the political and military leaders. One can judge by the amount of confidence which somebody! enjoys whether he is trustworthy... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 37,800 | 38,300 |
enemy of the Gestapo, he worked, certainly not out of conviction, closely and on an astonishingly friendly basis with Himmler and Heydrich. There existed a certain competition; Himmler also had a central intelligence office, which at first concentrated on the domestic sphere, although later, step by step, it expanded a... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 38,250 | 38,750 |
might serve in his defense. His declaration, which precedes and is attached to Document 2353-PS, is either untrue, in which case it cannot be presented as evidence by the Prosecution, or it is true, thereby raising the question of the credibility of this immediate witness as a source of information for Dr. Gisevius. On... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 38,700 | 39,200 |
1 to 9 (Pages 2 to 4) it follows that the endeavor of General Thomas was to extend the scope of his office to that of a General Staff on Economics within the OKW, a plan which Thomas had been pursuing for years already, in opposition to Keitel and Jodl; he is the man, an opportunist and a double-dealer, who claims to h... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 39,150 | 39,650 |
telegraph from General Nebe to proceed to Berlin immediately, to be entrusted with a confidential order. Arriving in Berlin on the evening of that day, I reported to General Nebe at his office, Wendischer Markt 5-7. I gave him a condensed report on the position of the matter at that time. He then showed me a teletype o... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 39,600 | 40,100 |
and important decisions of Hitler. Justice can be done to the actual importance of this activity if one says that it was tremendous, because physically and spiritually it went beyond human strength; because it placed the defendant perpetually in a dilemma between his military point of view and the unbending will of Hit... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 40,050 | 40,550 |
Austrian question. He did not participate in any of the conversations, especially with Schuschnigg or Dr. Schmidt, as is shown by the evidence. He realized, however, that his presence, together with that of Generals Von Reichenau and Sperrle, was to have some significance for the conversations with Schuschnigg; for as ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 40,500 | 41,000 |
increased extent, his coming into some kind of contact with all the ministries and highest offices, and dealing with them as the representative of the OKW, that is to say, of Hitler. That did not make Keitel a politician, that is to say, a man who took part in an advisory capacity in the determination of the Government... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 40,950 | 41,450 |
depicted, did not make known to the generals, when they appeared in the Fuehrer's headquarters for discussions, what his own attitude was, which was also at variance, the impression was bound to arise that Field Marshal Keitel completely agreed with Hitler and did not support the scruples of the Armed Forces' branches.... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol17): One Hundred and Seventy-Third Day | 41,400 | 41,570 |
Avalon Home Document Collections Ancient 4000bce - 399 Medieval 400 - 1399 15 th Century 1400 - 1499 16 th Century 1500 - 1599 17 th Century 1600 - 1699 18 th Century 1700 - 1799 19 th Century 1800 - 1899 20 th Century 1900 - 1999 21 st Century 2000 - Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 18 Previous Day Volume 18 Menu Ne... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 0 | 500 |
of the admirals and generals were in principle of the same point of view, that it is impossible in military spheres to criticize before subordinates the decision of a superior as expressed in an order, even if one has misgivings about the order. One may say that every principle, every basic rule must be interpreted and... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 450 | 950 |
including the first World War, he had become convinced that this principle of obedience is the strongest pillar upon which the Armed Forces, and thereby the security of the country, rests. Deeply imbued with the importance of his profession, he had served the Kaiser, Ebert, and Von Hindenburg in accordance with this pr... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 900 | 1,400 |
here to the fact that, as an officer of long standing, Keitel's conscience pricked him nevertheless; and that he repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, raised objections and suggested alternatives to the orders drafted. During his cross-examination by the representative of the American Prosecution, the Defendant Keitel has op... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 1,350 | 1,850 |
investigation. Keitel does not deny 4 9 July 46 that he bears a heavy moral responsibility. He realizes that no one who played even the smallest part in this terrible drama can feel himself devoid of the moral guilt in which he was entangled. If I nevertheless emphasize the legal point of view, I am doing so because Ju... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 1,800 | 2,300 |
imagination, we take our refuge in metaphysical powers. I ask you not to consider the pointing to such metaphysical forces as an attempt to evade responsibility. We are all still under the impression of the attempt by a single man to lead the world from its course. I should not care to be misunderstood: The "demoniacal... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 2,250 | 2,750 |
the world. As a convinced enemy of parliamentary democracy, and obsessed with the conviction that this was the true ideology, he was devoid of tolerance and the spirit of compromise. This produced an egocentric ideology which recognized as right only his own ideas and his own decisions. It led to the "Fuehrer State," i... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 2,700 | 3,200 |
modify this for the circle to which the Defendant Keitel belonged. To say that the defendants belonging to the military branch acted on account of or under pressure, does not accurately represent the real circumstances. It is correct to say that soldiers do not act voluntarily, that is, of their own free will. They mus... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 3,150 | 3,650 |
was always motivated by his function as a soldier and by some general or particular order issued by Hitler. The existence of a conspiracy seems to me incompatible with the theory of a soldier's functions and with Keitel's position as head of the OKW, and cannot logically be derived therefrom. In all cases in which the ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 3,600 | 4,100 |
of the Army; (2) Economics: The Four Year Plan; (3) Ideological: The SS Organizations. These three factors were outside the competency of the OKW, which was not empowered to issue orders affecting them. It is true, nevertheless, that as a result of Hitler's practically anarchic methods, by which he himself retained ent... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 4,050 | 4,550 |
area ... German Fascist intruders committed bestial crimes in huge numbers against the peaceful populations and prisoners of war on direct orders of the rapacious Hitler Government and the command of the Armed Forces, thus violating the rules of warfare established by international law...." The argumentation leading up... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 4,500 | 5,000 |
which was submitted does not reveal this, because it does not 10 9 July 46 make any mention of such a letter. Inasmuch as the entire economic administration and the exploitation of the Eastern Territories had been transferred to the Four Year Plan, OKW had no relevant office problem. This becomes evident from the Green... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 4,950 | 5,450 |
been presented in order to incriminate Keitel, while in actual feet they furnish proof that the accusations against Keitel and the OKW Staff are not based on any reasoning in these very weighty Prosecution charges. From the large number of documents concerning this I would refer to the following: Document USSR-4 has be... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 5,400 | 5,900 |
the Armed Forces, destroyed and looted the Soviet cities occupied by them ...." To this it must be stated: (1) The contents of this document do not show one single concrete "directive" issued by the OKW or Keitel. (2) The OKW had no authority to give orders, and therefore could not issue directives. (3) Therefore the f... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 5,850 | 6,350 |
against Poland as well as later in the West, extended on the basis of experiences in Poland, expert personnel trained in military economy were detached from the Armed Forces Economic Office in the form of small staffs and units to the Army Groups and Army High Commands as expert advisers and assistants in all military ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 6,300 | 6,800 |
production. No military agency could order the removal to Germany, because it had no right at all to dispose of "booty" of this sort. Only the three highest Reich authorities mentioned could effect such a removal on the basis of a general authority by the Fuehrer or a special order by him to the Commander-in-Chief of t... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 6,750 | 7,250 |
and intended to supersede the former organization was created for Russia on the basis of experiences in the West by Reich Marshal Goering by virtue of a general delegation of authority by the Fuehrer. The chief of the Economic Armament Office together with State Secretary Körner drew up this organization for Reich Mar... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 7,200 | 7,700 |
commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The accusation concerns in particular the execution of French civilians without a trial. In this connection the cases of Oradour and Tulle received special emphasis. They are recorded in a report made by the French Government-Document F-236. The French Prosecution s... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 7,650 | 8,150 |
F. H. Qu., 5 March 1945; Secret. "WFST./ Qu. 2 (I) No. 01487145 g. "Subject: Alleged Killing of French Nationals without Trial. ''German Armistice Commission; Group Wa/Ib No. 5/45 g. "1) German Armistice Commission; 2) Commander-in-Chief West. "Received: 17 March 1945. ``In August 1944 the French delegation of the Germ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 8,100 | 8,600 |
render any assistance possible, and particularly to take all steps for expediting matters within its own sphere of action. The fact that Pz. AOKl6 (6th Armored Army Command) no longer forms part of the forces of the Commander-in-Chief West is no reason to hold up the necessary investigations in order to clarify and ref... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 8,550 | 9,050 |
the question of treatment of hostages is controversial. The taking of hostages is almost generally admitted. Doubtless, although taking hostages is assumed to be admissible under international law, that has as yet no bearing on their treatment. The treatment, even more than the seizure, of hostages must be subject on t... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 9,000 | 9,500 |
regulations (H. Dv. 2g) before the war, especially before the campaign in the West. The Documents 1585PS; submitted by the Prosecution itself (discussions of the hostage question with the Luftwaffe), and 877-PS (operation orders of the Army for "Case Yellow" and the attack in the West, dated 29 October 1939) reveal tha... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 9,450 | 9,950 |
order designed to combat the resistance movement in the eastern and southeastern war theaters, and therefore is related to the basic principles of the so-called ideological war against the Soviet Union, which has been already dealt with at another place, and condemned. When the communication of 16 September 1941 was ad... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 9,900 | 10,400 |
the Englishman, Spaight, and the Frenchmen, Sorel and Fumek, consider this permissible in the extremes of emergency, and therefore not contrary to international law." During the whole course of this Trial, no order made such a deep impression on the mind of the public as did the Night and Fog Decree. This was an order ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 10,350 | 10,850 |
draft which we have before us in the well-known decree of 7 December 1941. The staff of experts and the Defendant Keitel had succeeded in establishing the competency of the Reich Administration of Justice for the persons removed to Germany (see last paragraph of directives of 7 December 1941). Keitel had guaranteed thi... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 10,800 | 11,300 |
ascertaining whether the evidence was adequate. In Germany the persons concerned were to be handed over to the Reich Administration of Justice. The correctness of the Defendant Keitel's assumption in this respect is borne out by the fact that Canaris, in view of his attitude with which the Tribunal is familiar, would n... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 11,250 | 11,750 |
powers in Police affairs and that these Higher SS and Police leaders received their orders from the Reichsfuehrer SS. The Reichsfuehrer SS and the Higher SS and Police leaders were never authorized by the OKW to apply this decree, which was intended as a police executive measure to be used only by the Armed Forces. The... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 11,700 | 12,200 |
directives issued in connection with it, was a grave omission. An investigation should have been initiated at once in order to find and punish those responsible for this abuse. Insofar as the Tribunal should regard Hitler's military staff as guilty, the Defendant Keitel accepts responsibility within the scope of his ge... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 12,150 | 12,650 |
and solution as conceived by Sauckel. These documents give expression to the relationships and contacts of the GBA with many offices. These relationships and contacts vary in their nature. The jurisdiction and the official channels in the sphere of tasks of the GBA are clear: He is the spokesman for the Four Year Plan ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 12,600 | 13,100 |
the Reich Commissioner who had to assist Sauckel. (b) In the territories under military commanders (France, Belgium and the Balkans) it was the Quartermaster General of the Army. (c) In Italy, in the highest instance, it was the Ambassador, Hahn. This is obvious from the decree of 27 March 1942. Before Sauckel became a... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 13,050 | 13,550 |
which penally cannot be considered as determinative, does not constitute guilt for the reason that all conception of the events occurring during the further course of developments was lacking. (2) If the Fuehrer's decree of March 1992 provides the legal origin of the Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 13,500 | 14,000 |
took part in a conference, without, however, stating his point of view on the problem of labor procurement; and that he was to be informed of the Fuehrer decree so that the military commanders might be informed. This confirms what the Defendant Keitel stated in the passages which I have not read as to how he came to be... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 13,950 | 14,450 |
the Commander-in-Chief West, Von Rundstedt, who in the meantime had become the Chief of the Military Commanders in France and Belgium. It states that "by order of the Fuehrer the demands of the GBA and of Speer are to be fulfilled"; further, that in the event of evacuation of the battle area measures must be taken to s... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol18): One Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Day | 14,400 | 14,900 |
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