Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-03-21.01
Last-Modified: 1998/06/03
                              
                              
                                                    [Page 1]
                                                            
                      TWENTY-FIRST DAY
                 MONDAY, 17TH DECEMBER, 1945

THE PRESIDENT (Lord Justice Sir Geoffrey Lawrence): I have
four announcements to make on behalf of the Tribunal. I will
read those announcements now and they will be posted upon
the board in the Information Centre in German as soon as
possible.

The first announcement is this: The attention of the
Tribunal has been drawn to publications in the Press of what
appear to have been interviews with some of the defendants
in this case, given through the agency of their counsel. The
Tribunal considers it necessary to state with the greatest
emphasis that this is a procedure which cannot and will not
be countenanced. Therefore, counsel are warned that they
should observe the highest professional standards in such
matters and should not use the opportunity afforded to them
of conferring freely with their clients to act in any way as
intermediaries between the defendants and the Press, and
they must exercise the greatest professional discretion in
making any statement on their own behalf.

The Tribunal recognises that in a trial of this kind, where
the public interest is world-wide, it is in the highest
degree important that all those who take part in the trial
in any capacity whatever should be aware of their
responsibility to see that nothing is done to detract from
the proper conduct of the proceedings.

The Press of the world is rendering a very great service in
giving publicity to the proceedings of the Tribunal, and the
Tribunal feels that it may properly ask for the co-operation
of all concerned to avoid anything which conflicts with the
impartial administration of justice.

The second announcement that I have to make is this: The
Tribunal understands that the counsel appointed under
Article 9 of the Charter are in doubt whether they have been
appointed to represent the groups and organisations charged
in the Indictment as criminal, or to represent individual
applicants who have applied to be heard under the said
article.

The Tribunal directs that counsel represent the groups and
organisations charged, and not the applicants. As the
Tribunal has already directed, counsel will be entitled to
call as witnesses representative applicants and may also
call other persons whose attendance may be ordered by the
Tribunal. Application to call any witness must be made in
the ordinary way. The evidence of such witnesses and the
arguments of counsel must be confined to the question of the
criminal nature of the group or organisation. Counsel will
not be entitled to call evidence or to discuss any question
as to the individual responsibility of particular
applicants, except in so far as this may bear upon the
criminal character of the organisations. Counsel will be
permitted, as far as possible, to communicate with
applicants in order to decide what witnesses they wish to
apply to call.

                                                    [Page 2]

The third announcement is this:

The Chief Prosecutor for the United States has requested the
Tribunal to make a change in its formal order which provided
that only such portions of documents which are read in Court
would be admitted as evidence. In order to meet the needs,
so far as possible, of the members of the Tribunal, of the
prosecution, and of counsel for the defendants, to have
before them all the evidence in the case, the Tribunal,
having carefully considered the request, makes the following
order:

     All documents may be filed in Court. The Tribunal shall
     only admit in evidence, however:
     
     1. Documents or portions of documents which are read in
     Court;
     
     2. Documents or portions of documents which are cited
     in Court, on the condition that they have been
     translated into the respective languages of the members
     of the Tribunal for their use; and that sufficient
     numbers in German are filed in the Information Centre
     for the use of defence counsel.

This does not apply to the documents of which the Court will
take judicial notice, in accordance with Article 21 of the
Charter, and the prosecution and the defendants will be at
liberty to read those documents, or to refer to them without
reading them.

Trial briefs and document books may be furnished to the
Tribunal if sufficient copies thereof are, at the same time,
filed for defence counsel in the Information Centre. As far
as possible, these should be furnished in advance of their
introduction in Court. In order to permit the Interpretation
and Translation Division to make translations in time, it is
suggested that all documents be submitted to the Division at
least five days before they are to be offered in evidence.

This is the fourth announcement: The Tribunal has passed
upon a number of applications for witnesses. Some of these
have been granted, subject to their evidence being relevant.
Some have been declined, and in some cases orders have been
made that the witness be alerted; that is to say, that if he
can be located, he be advised to hold himself in readiness
to come here as a witness if the application is granted.

It is the desire of the Tribunal to secure for the
defendants those witnesses who are material and relevant to
their defence. To prevent the unnecessary prolonging of the
trial, however, it is clear that the witnesses whose
testimony is irrelevant or merely cumulative should not be
summoned. At the conclusion of the prosecution's testimony,
the Tribunal shall hear from defendants' counsel as to which
of the witnesses granted or alerted they think necessary to
bring here to testify. At that time, the Tribunal may hear
from them further as to any witnesses that have been
declined, if, in view of the case, it then appears to the
Tribunal that the testimony of such witnesses is material
and not cumulative.

Counsel appearing for any defendant may question any other
defendant as to any relevant matter, and may interrogate him
as a witness for that purpose. If the other defendant takes
the stand in his own behalf, the right shall be exercised at
the conclusion of his testimony.

Examination of witnesses called by other defendants: The
same person has been requested as a witness by a number of
defendants in some cases. It is only necessary that such
witness be called to the stand once. He may then be
interrogated by counsel for any defendant as to any material
matter.

That is all.

                                                    [Page 3]

I call on Counsel for the United States.

CAPTAIN HARRIS: May it please the Tribunal, we are resuming
the presentation of evidence of the conspirators' plans for
Germanisation and spoliation.

The next general subject upon which we propose to introduce
evidence is the conspirators' plans for the spoliation and
Germanisation of the Soviet Union.

As Mr. Alderman has shown, the invasion of the Soviet Union
was the culmination of plans meticulously laid by the
conspirators. We wish now to introduce evidence upon the
conspirators' plans for the exploitation and Germanisation
of the Soviet Union after their anticipated conquest. The
Chief Prosecutor for the Soviet Union will demonstrate what
the execution of these plans meant in terms of human
suffering and misery. We submit that the few exhibits which
we propose to offer at this time will show the following:--

     1. The conspirators planned to remove to Germany all
     foodstuffs and raw materials from the South and
     southeast of the Soviet Union over and above the needs
     of the Nazi invading forces and the absolute minimum
     necessary to supply the bare needs of the people in
     these particular regions, who produced the materials
     which were to be removed to Germany. This region had
     previously supplied the northern area of the Soviet
     Union, which the conspirators called the forest zone.
     The latter zone embraced some of the leading industrial
     areas of the Soviet Union, including Moscow and
     Leningrad.
     
     2. They deliberately and systematically planned to
     starve millions of Russians. Starvation was to be
     accomplished by the following means:
     
          a. As indicated under point 1, products from the
          South and southeast of the Soviet Union, which
          ordinarily were sent to the industrial regions of
          the north, were to be forcibly diverted to
          Germany. Moreover, all livestock in the industrial
          regions was to be seized for use by the Wehrmacht
          and the German civilian population. The necessary
          consequence was that the population of the
          northern regions would be reduced to starvation.
          
          b. They established the following order of
          priority in which food produced by the Russians
          would be allocated:
     
          First, the combat troops.
          Second, the remainder of troops in enemy
          territory.
          Third, troops stationed in Germany.
          Fourth, the German civilian population, and
          Lastly, the population of the occupied countries.

Thus even Russians in the food surplus area of the Ukraine,
who were not essential to the production of material for the
German war machine, were to be systematically starved.

     3. They planned the permanent destruction of all
     industry in the northern area of the Soviet Union in
     order that the remnants of the Russian population would
     be completely dependent upon Germany for their consumer
     goods.
     
     4. They planned to incorporate a part of Galicia and
     all of the Baltic countries into Germany, and to
     convert the Crimea, an area North of the Crimea, the
     Volga territory, and the district around Baku into
     German colonies.

I now turn to the specific items of proof.

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