Judgment:
[Page 144]
VI. Incorrect Judgment with Regard to the General Staff and
the OKW.
The verdict incorrectly rejects the accusation of criminal
activity directed against the General Staff and the OKW.
The rejection of the accusation of criminal activity of the
General Staff and of the OKW contradicts both the actual
situation and the evidence submitted in the course of the
Trial.
[Page 145]
It has been established beyond doubt that the Leadership
Corps of the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany, together with the
SS Party machine, represented the most important agency in
preparing and realizing the Nazi aggressive and man-hating
program. This was constantly and forcefully reiterated by
the Hitlerites themselves in their official bulletins meant
for the officer personnel of the armed forces. In the Nazi
Party bulletin called "Politics and the Officer in the III
Reich" it is quite clearly stated that the Nazi regime is
founded on
"two pillars: the Party and the Armed Forces. Both are
forms of expression of the same philosophy of life ..the
tasks before the Party and the Armed Forces are in an
organic relationship to each other and each bears the same
responsibility ..both these agencies depend on each other's
successor failure." (PS-4060, US-928)
This organic inter-relationship between the Nazi Party and
the SS on the one hand and the Nazi Armed Forces on the
other hand, was particularly evident among the upper circles
of military hierarchy which the Indictment groups together
under the concept of criminal organisationthat is, among the
members of the General Staff and the OKW.
The very selection of members of the Supreme Command of the
Army in Nazi Germany was based on the criteria of their
loyalty to the regime and their readiness not to pursue
aggressive militaristic policies but also to fulfill such
special directives as related to treatment meted out to
prisoners of war and to the civilian populations of occupied
territories.
The leaders of the German Armed Forces were not merely
officers who reached certain levels of the military
hierarchy. They represented, first of all, a closely-knit
group which was entrusted with the most secret plans of the
Nazi leadership. Evidence submitted to the Tribunal has
fully confirmed the contention that the military leaders of
Germany justified this trust completely and that they were
the convinced followers and ardent executors of Hitler's
plans.
It is not accidental that at the head of the Air Force stood
the "second man" of the Nazi Reich, namely Goering; that the
Commander-in-Chief of the Navy was Doenitz, subsequently
designated by Hitler to be the latter's successor; that the
command of the Ground Forces was concentrated in the hands
of Keitel who signed the major part of the decrees
concerning the execution of the prisoners of war and of the
civilians in occupied territories.
Thus the comparisons made with the organisation of the
supreme commands in Allied countries cannot be considered
valid. In a democratic country, not one self-respecting
military expert would agree to prepare plans for mass
reprisals and merciless killings of prisoners of war side by
side with plans of a purely military and strategic
character.
Meanwhile it is precisely such matters that occupied the
supreme command of the General Staff and of the OKW in Nazi
Germany. The commission by them of the heaviest Crimes
against Peace, of the War Crimes, and of the Crimes against
humanity is not denied but is particularly emphasised in the
verdict of the Tribunal. And yet the commission of these
crimes has not brought the logical conclusion.
The verdict states:
And subsequently:
[Page 146]
to have been within their general knowledge, they
say they disobeyed. The truth is they actively
participated in all these crimes, or sat silent
and acquiescent, witnessing the commission of
crimes on a scale larger and more shocking than
the world ever had the misfortune to know. This
must be said."
All these assertions in the verdict are correct and are
based on numerous and reliable depositions. It remains only
incomprehensible why "these hundred or so higher officers"
who have caused the world and their own country so much
suffering should not be acknowledged a criminal
organisation.
The verdict advances the following reasons for the decision,
reasons quite contradictory to the facts:
(a) That the crimes were committed by representatives of the
General Staff and of the OKW as private individuals and not
as members of a criminal conspiracy.
(b) That the General Staff and the OKW were merely weapons
in the hands of the conspirators and interpreters or
executors of the conspirators' will.
Numerous evidence disputes such conclusions.
I. The leading representatives of the General Staff and of
the OKW, along with a small circle of the higher Hitlerite
officials, were called upon by the conspirators to
participate in the development and the realization of the
plans of aggression, not as passive functionaries, but as
active participants in the conspiracy against peace and
humanity.
Without their advice and active cooperation, Hitler could
not have solved these problems.
In the majority of cases their opinion was decisive. It is
impossible to imagine how the aggressive plans of Hitler's
Germany could have been realised had it not been for the
full support given him by the leading staff members of the
armed forces.
Least of all did Hitler conceal his criminal plans and
motivations from the leaders of the High Command.
For instance, while preparing for the attack on Poland, as
early as 29th May, 1939, at a conference with the high
military commanders of the new Reich Chancellery, he stated:
Long before the seizure of Czechoslovakia, in a directive of
30th May, 1938, Hitler, addressing the representatives of
the High Command, cynically stated:
Prior to the invasion of Yugoslavia, in a directive dated
27th March, 1941, addressing the representatives of the High
Command, Hitler wrote:
[Page 147]
While preparing for the invasion of the U.S.S.R., Hitler
invited the representatives of the General Staff and the OKW
to help him work out the related plans and directives not at
all as simply the military experts.
In the instructions to apply propaganda in the region
"Barbarossa" issued by the OKW in June, 1941, it is pointed
out that:
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Nizkor
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2012
This site is intended for educational purposes to teach about the Holocaust and
to combat hatred.
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As part of these educational purposes, Nizkor may
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and hate speech in all of its forms and manifestations.
Dissenting Soviet
Opinion:
General Staff
(Part 1 of 2)
"They have been a disgrace to the honorable
profession of arms. Without their military
guidance the aggressive ambitions of Hitler and
his fellow Nazis would have been academic and
sterile.."
"Many of these men have made a mockery of the
soldier's oath of obedience to military orders.
When it suits their defense they say they had to
obey; when confronted with Hitler's brutal crimes,
which are shown
"For us the matter consists of the expansion of
'Lebensraum' to the East. Thus the question of
sparing Poland cannot be considered, and, instead,
we have to consider the decision to attack Poland
at the first opportunity." (L-79)
"From the military and political point of view,
the most favorable time is a lightning attack on
the basis of some incident, by which Germany will
have been strongly provoked and which will morally
justify the military measures to at least part of
the world opinion" (PS-388).
"Even if Yugoslavia declares its loyalty, it must
be considered an enemy and must, therefore, be
smashed as soon as possible" (PS-1746).
"For the time we should not have propaganda
directed at the dismemberment of the Soviet Union"
(U.S.S.R.-477).
The
original plaintext version of this file is available via
ftp.