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