MILCH: I know about this from the British interrogation camp in which I was kept, where the whole case was posted up on the wall.
MR. ROBERTS: We will come to that in a moment. Do you know that of those 80, 50 were shot?
MILCH: Yes.
MR. ROBERTS: In various parts of Germany and the occupied countries from Danzig to Saarbrücken; you have heard of that?
MILCH: I heard that about 50 were shot, but did not know where.
MR. ROBERTS: Have you heard that quite unusually the bodies were never seen again, but that urns said to contain their ashes were brought back to the camp; you heard of that?
MILCH: I heard of it in the camp where I was kept, from Mr. Anthony Eden’s speech in the House of Commons.
MR. ROBERTS: You heard that although these officers were reported by your Government as having been shot while offering resistance or trying to escape, yet not one was wounded, and all 50 were shot dead.
MILCH: At first I heard only the official report in Germany, that these officers had been shot while resisting or trying to escape. We did not believe this version, and there was a lot of discussion about this without precise knowledge. We were afraid that these men might have been murdered.
MR. ROBERTS: You were afraid that murder had been committed. It does appear likely, does it not?
MILCH: We got that impression, as the various details we heard could not be pieced together.
MR. ROBERTS: It is quite clear that if that was murder, the order for that murder would have to come from a high level, is it not?
MILCH: Certainly. I heard further details about this from the Inspector General for Prisoners of War, General Westhoff, while both of us were in captivity in England.
MR. ROBERTS: Now, I want to ask you, first of all, about the Prisoner-of-War Organization. Was the Prisoner-of-War Organization a department of the OKW?
MILCH: In my opinion, yes.
MR. ROBERTS: Which was called KGW, Kriegsgefangenenwesen?
MILCH: I cannot say anything about its organization, because I do not know. I only knew that there was a chief of the Kriegsgefangenenwesen with the OKW.
MR. ROBERTS: And was the chief of the Kriegsgefangenenwesen at that time Major General Von Graevenitz?
MILCH: Von Graevenitz, yes.
MR. ROBERTS: This was an air force camp? Stalag Luft III was an air force camp?
MILCH: Yes. So it was called, but I understand that all prisoners were under the OKW. That is what I thought. I cannot, however, state this definitely because I did not know much about that organization.
MR. ROBERTS: Was the directorate for supervising the air force camps, or the inspectorate, rather, called Inspectorate Number 17?
MILCH: There was an inspectorate, which as its name indicated had to deal with supervision. What it had to do and what were its tasks, I cannot say. Whether it was just for interrogation, I do not know.
MR. ROBERTS: Was the head of that Major General Grosch?
MILCH: I cannot say, it is possible, I know the name but not whether he held that post.
MR. ROBERTS: And the second in command, Colonel Waelde?
MILCH: Not known to me.
MR. ROBERTS: You were Number 2 in the Air Force at the Air Ministry in March 1944, were you not?
MILCH: There were several Number 2 people at that time. I held the same rank as the chief of the general staff, the chief of the personnel office, and the chief of technical armament, who were independent of me and on the same level. As to seniority, I ranked as second officer in the Air Force.
MR. ROBERTS: Was there a conference in Berlin on the morning of Saturday, the 25th of March, about this escape?
MILCH: I cannot remember.
MR. ROBERTS: Did not Göring speak to you about that conference?
MILCH: I have no recollection.
MR. ROBERTS: Did Göring never tell you that there was a conference between Hitler, Himmler, himself, and Keitel on that Saturday morning?
MILCH: No. I do not know anything about that. I do not remember.
MR. ROBERTS: At which the order for the murder of these recaptured prisoners of war was given?
MILCH: I cannot remember. According to what I heard later, the circumstances were entirely different. I had information about this from the previously mentioned General Westhoff and also from General Bodenschatz.
MR. ROBERTS: General Westhoff we are going to see here as a witness. He has made a statement about the matter saying . . .
MILCH: I beg your pardon. I could not hear you just now. The German is coming through very faintly. I can hear you, but not the German transmission.
MR. ROBERTS: General Westhoff . . .
MILCH: Yes.
MR. ROBERTS: . . . has made a statement . . .
MILCH: Yes.
MR. ROBERTS: . . . and we are going to see him as a witness.
MILCH: Yes.
MR. ROBERTS: So perhaps I had better not put his statement to you, because he is going to give evidence. Perhaps that would be fairer from the point of view of the Defense. But are you suggesting that action against these officers, if they were murdered—to use your words—having escaped from an air force camp, that action could have been taken without the knowledge of Göring?
MILCH: I consider it quite possible in view of the great confusion existing in the highest circles at that time.
MR. ROBERTS: High confusion in March 1944?
MILCH: All through there was terrible confusion.
MR. ROBERTS: But it is quite clear . . .
MILCH: Hitler interfered in all matters, and himself gave orders over the heads of the chiefs of the Wehrmacht.
MR. ROBERTS: But did you never discuss this matter with Göring at all?
MILCH: No. I cannot remember ever speaking to Göring about this question.
MR. ROBERTS: Do you not think this is a matter which reflects shame on the Armed Forces of Germany?
MILCH: Yes; that is a great shame.
MR. ROBERTS: Yet Göring never spoke to you about it at all? Did you ever speak to Keitel?
MILCH: I could not say. During that time I hardly ever saw Göring.
MR. ROBERTS: Did you ever speak to Keitel about it?
MILCH: No, never. I saw even less of Keitel than of Göring.
MR. ROBERTS: Was there not a General Foster or Foerster at the Air Ministry?
MILCH: Yes, there was.
MR. ROBERTS: General Foerster?
MILCH: Yes.
MR. ROBERTS: Was he director of operations?
MILCH: No. He was chief of the Luftwehr. As such he had to deal with replacements of personnel and he worked with the departments concerned, with the General Staff, and also the Reich Marshal. During the war he was also in charge of civil aviation, and in that capacity he worked together with me, but during the war it was a very small job . . .
MR. ROBERTS: I was going to ask you, did he ever mention this shooting to you?
MILCH: I have been asked that before, but try as I may I cannot remember. It is possible that in the course of conversation he may have told me