DR. SAUTER: My final offer in this connection is the next document, which is Document No. 97 in Volume III - Document No. 97 on page 64, offered as Exhibit No. 22. I have to withdraw that. It is Document 141 in Volume IV, on page 68, and this is offered as Exhibit 22. It is an affidavit by one Bruno Willers. He states that in the war he was the 1st General Staff Officer of the Army Group Southern Greece during September 1943 and then he says, under oath. "After Italy capitulated in September 1943, the Army Group Southern Greece was given an order by the Army Group E, according to which members of the Italian Armed Forces, who were hiding amongst the population in civilian clothes, were to be picked up and killed by shooting. Shortly afterwards this order was revoked and changed to read that those Italians were to be arrested and to be treated as prisoners of war." This again has been duly sworn to and properly certified.
BY DR. SAUTER:
Q General Lanz, to continue with your examination, let us talk again about the situation which you found when you took over your assignment in Epirus. You said before that apart from securing the coast you had to watch over the safeguarding of the country against the bands. What can you tell us, quite generally, about the bands?
A When I arrived in Epirus, the bands were very active and lively in that part. Of course I had to spend a little time to make myself familiar with the military chaos, if I can put it that way, because the fight against the bands became known to me for the first time in Greece in that manner. While I was in Russia I fought, as I explained before, at the front; I am inclined to say there I fought a regular war - you had a distinct enemy front opposite you - whereas in band warfare you never have any front, in that sense. Band warfare is everywhere and nowhere, so to speak. I therefore needed a certain amount of time to become informed about what went on. Such informations as we got from the Italians were naturally given without interest, because from the Italian point of view the war was over and their only interest was to go home as soon as possible, which I can understand entirely.
Q What groups of bands existed in your area, witness?
A What we found out was that there were in my area, two groups of partisans - a smaller one, a nationalist group of bands, led by General Zervas; they called themselves Edes - and then a larger one, a Communist group of bands. I believe their leader was called Aris or something like that.
Q And where were these groups found in your area? Can you tell us briefly where they were?
A On the little sketch which I handed to the Tribunal, I put red and blue spots, and this, roughly speaking, shows there they were. The Tribunal will see an area marked in blue, on the whole West and Southwest of Joannina, right down to the Gulf of Arta. When I arrived, this was approximately the area where the partisans of General Zervas were standing. Now in the three circles marked in red, about there we had the Communist bands. This again is very, very rough, of course, in order to give some sort of a conception.
Q Now, General, lest this map be misunderstood, it might be a good idea for you to say and give your comments whether you wanted to show that the bits marked in red were entirely Communist-held, so that, in other words, these areas were not under German rule. Or how are we to understand them?
A What one should understand here is this: The partisan forces were divided up in a number of small groups and they would fluctuate, as I would like to put it, over this area. They roamed about here and there; on one occasion you would find a large group in one corner and then on another occasion you would find them somewhere else. It all depended on what intentions the partisans had concerning an operation; for after all the partisans did not intend to behave like contemporaries, they had a military assignment, and it is on these operational intentions that their grouping depended.
In these areas which I have marked red or blue, there were, originally, Italians, and after that, German troops. Let me put it this way: To put it slightly different, for the layman, they were stationed in a number of small villages which we could talk about as sort of garrisons. Partly these villages were situated in bandit areas and at suitable moments the partisans would attack these villages. We shall discuss these things when we touch upon this problem.
Q Witness, as far as you could gather, roughly how strong were these partisan groups which were in the area under your command.
A When I arrived in Epirus, in September of 1943, I estimated the partisans under Zervas at about 4,000 to 6,000 - but that is a very rough estimate only.
Q What about the Communists?
A The Communists were much stronger. I should estimate that they amounted to about twice or three times that strength. To give you a figure, this included perhaps 10,000 to 12,000 men.
Q And now, what did you observe in your own area and what did you hear from your units about how these partisans fought? Please confine your reply only to the area under your commend.
A Well, you could not describe their method of fighting in one word. It was typical guerrilla warfare which was led. The symptoms of this type of warfare were surprise raids of all types and acts of sabotage...
Q In the area under your command, according to your observations and the reports you had, did the partisans observe the usual rules and customs of warfare?
A That depended; it varied. As for the Zervas partisans they made efforts, to put it quite generally, to observe soldierly forms, but all sorts of unpleasant events occurred all the same. I can give yon the details of this later on, but by and large, the Zervas people did try to observe military forms -- as I would like to put it.
In the case of the Communist bands you could not say that. These people conducted their battles as they saw fit, just as it occurred to them from day to day.
Q Did the partisans in your area, according to your observations, have responsible leadership about them?
A Well, the Zervas partisans were subject to General Zervas, of course, and so far as I could make any observations at all in these things, I am bound to assume that General Zervas, at least, made attempts to keep the troops under his command. Of course, I cannot give you too concrete details because my information is not too detailed there.
You are never quite sure what the enemy is up to. I couldn't call him and ask him all about it.
Q What about the Communist partisans?
A Well, the Communist partisans, you could discern a number of groups, who quite obviously fought independently of one another. That, of course, was necessitated by the geographical position. There have been groups that fought more under their own steam.
Q Were there in your area, partisan units who wore uniforms?
AA distinction must be made between the Zervas people and the other bands. In the case of the Zervas partisans, there were units who wore uniforms. They were obviously those units who fought under General Zervas' own eyes, so to speak, because it is quite a natural thing to gather your best troops around yourself, and that is what happened in that case as well. There were units, no doubt, under Zervas who wore uniforms and who fought in the vicinity of General Zervas.
After all a Greek witness showed us pictures of units in uniform, hut there were also other units in the Zervas group who did not wear uniforms, because they did not have them. These people fought in civilian clothes or semi-civilian clothes; perhaps the coat would be part of a uniform. This is an entirely natural thing, of course.
Q What about the other bands?
A Well, as for the Communist bands, I never contacted any units who wore uniforms. I cannot recall any such event, but I remember a number of reports from Communist areas, because we dealt mostly with the Communist partisans where it said time and again that the partisans were fighting in civilian clothes. They wore some sort of riding breeches and riding boots, and civilian coats, or they wore farmers' clothes.
In any case, no definitely uniformed units existed in that section in the case of the Communist bands.
Q Was it frequently reported to you at that time that on many occasions the bands wore German uniforms, and that German soldiers, who had been killed in battle were usually stripped of their clothes, and were found naked?
A The latter is true. The ones killed in battle, and even the wounded were deprived of their uniforms because the partisans needed the uniforms, they wore them themselves thereupon. That is quite true.
Q Witness, in your area, according to the observations you made, and reports you received, did the partisan units wear uniform insignia, and from what distance was it possible, as far as yon could find out, to identify such insignia if and when they were worn.
A Definite insignia of a uniform character they did not wear for the reason that the partisans had different tendencies. I said there were National partisans and Communist partisans, and the two were at leggerheads. We will have to discuss that in detail later on.
Within the Zervas' partisans, I think I am justified in assuming that a definite insignia was worn. One of the witnesses, the witness Pryandaphilidis, has said so for the record here. I think then they changed their insignia. They wore it at the cap. But it was so small that as he himself admitted - after all he was a witness for the prosecution - he said himself that they could identify the insignia only from 20 or 25 yards, which is about 20 meters, as far as I know.
You can scarcely say that you can identify that from a distance, 20 meters is a distance which would amount to hand-to-hand fighting.
Q Did the partisan units in your area wear their arms openly?
A That varied also. I could not say yes or no to this question. In a battle, of course, they were their arms quite openly, and I am sure that Zervas had certain units under him who always wore them openly. In the case of Communists, that was different. The Greek witness himself stated here that if there was a danger of the troops being encircled or destroyed, they simply dropped their arms and hid them. In other words, I could not answer your question just in one word. It depended upon what period of time it was; it depended on the space, on what types of bands you were dealing with, but by and large, one must say they wore their arms openly in combat, and afterwards, at least, Communist bands hid their arms. Whereas I think in the case of the Zervas partisans, the Zervas people wore them openly. I am nor sure. After all I did not contact them after the battle was over.
Q Do you know, General, that the partisan units frequently mistreated German soldiers who had been taken prisoner, or who had been wounded in the most cruel fashion, and in some cases even killed them?
A Reports of that sort reached me. I recall, for instance, one incident which occurred with the Zervas partisans. Raids had been made against the column of medical transportation. I was there on the spot.
I saw how these people were shot at, and I recall other incidents as well when a Communist band made a surprise attack. We wanted to collect our wounded, but we could not do so because of the shooting by the partisans, and I also remember other reports where the killed and wounded were mutilated.
We have a large number of witnesses' statements in this connection. As a matter of principle, I wish to state this about this problem. The Zervas partisans, generally speaking - there are always some black sheep everywhere, not only with the Germans, but also with other people - as a rule the Zervas partisans endeavored to observe the rules of warfare and respect the Geneva Convention.
I am quite ready to admit that in the case of the Zervas partisans. I want to emphasize that this applies to them only generally, there occurred of course excesses for which evidence existed. In the case of the Communist partisans, one did not gain the impression that they bothered too much about the Geneva Convention. That was a type of warfare in which they fought as they thought fit. Quite obviously, there was no uniform leadership which would have put matters right.
Q Witness, is it correct to say, or is it not correct to say, that in your area, under your command, there were many cases where women and children were used by the bands in support of their operations, particularly for the purpose of espionage? Can you tell us anything about that, on the basis of your own observations or reports you received, or can't you?
A That the bands used women and children for their intelligence service there cannot be any doubt. They were one of the most important transmitters of intelligence. Speaking quite personally, I had experienced a case where women and children faced us with arms in their hands. I will emphasize again, I personally did not, but I know from reports, and I know of affidavits which show beyond a doubt, that women and adolescents fought arm-in-hand, and I have no doubt as to that fact.
Q Witness, my final question to you today concerns the matter of warfare of the partisans. Is it true, or isn't it, that in the area under your command, according to your observations and reports, the partisans, as a matter of principle almost, did not pay any respect to the Red Cross and its dressing stations? Did it ever occur that dressing stations were being fired at; that trucks which showed the Red Cross were being fired at? What can you tell us about that?
A Concrete examples of this type are known to me, namely that dressing stations were attacked; that medical convoys were ambushed; that lorries carrying the wounded were set on fire. I know that.
Q To a large extent you mean, or were these merely isolated instances?
A There were a number of surprise attacks. I, for instance, remember 3 or 4 at this particular moment.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn at this time until 9:30 tomorrow morning.
(Court in recess until 9:30 hours November 20, 1947)
Official Transcript of Military Tribunal V, Case VII, in the matter of the United States of America against Wilhelm List, et al, defendants, sitting at Nuernberg, Germany, on 20 November 1947, 0930, Justice Burke presiding.
THE MARSHAL: Persons in the courtroom will please take their seats.
The Honorable, the Judges of Military Tribunal V.
Military Tribunal V is now in session. God save the United States of America and this honorable Tribunal.
There will be order in the Court.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Marshal, you will ascertain as to whether or not all defendants in the Courtroom.
THE MARSHAL: May it please your Honors, all the defendants are present in the Courtroom with the exception of General von Weiche who is absent due to medical reasons.
THE PRESIDENT: Judge Burke will preside at this day's session.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: You may continue, Dr. Sauter.
DR. SAUTER: If the Tribunal please, before I continue with the examination of defendant Lanz, I would like to have it ordered that the sentry receives instruction to hand me over a book which for my defense. General Lanz has received a book from me which is essential for his defense. I need that book. He wanted to hand the book to me just now but the guard took the book away from me and, although I insisted on having it, he would not let me have it. I think this is a piece of impudence on the part of the guard and I beg the Court to issue an order that the guard must hand the book to me immediately.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Have you any statement, Mr. Fenstermacher, to make concerning the matter?
MR. FENSTERMACHER: No, I haven't your Honor. This is the first I heard about it just now. I did not see the occurrence.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: I assume that the guard is simply following instructions from some source.
MR. FENSTERMACHER: That may be, your Honor. I can inquire about it.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: I wish you would do so.
DR. SAUTER: To continue with my examination of defendant Lanz, -
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Just a moment, Dr. Sauter. It is the feeling of the Tribunal that we desire information on the matter submitted by you at this time.
DR. SAUTER: What happened was that the guard took the book away from me and I asked him to give it back to me. He handed it over to the sergeant. I asked the sergeant to give it back to me and in a highly undignified manner he simply walked away with the book and didn't say one word. A defense counsel need not stand for treatment of that sort, even thought he is a German.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: The fact of German nationality has nothing whatever before this Tribunal to do with the administration of justice in a dignified and orderly fashion.
DR. SAUTER: Perhaps the court might be interested -
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: In the absence of prosecution counsel, I think we should withhold further proceedings for the time being.
(Pause)
MR. FENSTERMACHER: If your Honor, please, I talked to the sergeant and the guard in this matter. It is apparently a misinterpretation of what his orders where. Their orders are that no, literature should be exchanged between a defendant and his counsel except outside of the regular conference periods which are held I believe in the prison at given hours between the defendants and their counsel. The sergeant however, said that when the guard took this particular book from General Lanz, he had hot had time to check with the guard as to the reasons for his taking the book and if he had done so and had learned that it was simply an exchange between General Lanz and Dr. Sauter he would have certainly told his subordinate to permit the exchange to take place.
I believe it is entirely due to a misunderstanding on the part of the Military unferior as to what the sergeant's orders really were.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Very well, Mr. Fenstermacher. Are you prepared at this time to deliver to Dr. Sauter the document that he referred to?
MR. FENSTERMACHER: Yes, I am, your Honor, and I am sorry that the incident took place.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: As a matter of information, it seems to me that would be desirable in the event that a guard or other person charged with military responsibility who desires to do anything of that kind should confer first with the counsel for the prosecution.
MR. FENSTERMACHER: I shall inform them, your Honor. I think that is a very good suggestion.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Very well. You may proceed, Dr. Sauter.
DR. SAUTER: May I make a remark about this? The statement that the exchange of literature is allowed only in the prison is not quite correct. We have, of course, the right even here in this Courtroom to exchange documents and things like that. Also, if the Tribunal please, lest there be a suspicion that any particularly dangerous book is involved here, I would like to tell the Court, what sort of book it is. It is a book by Govanni Papini, it is the life of Christ. General Lanz has been reading this book lately. He marked a few passages for me, and this is the book I was not allowed to have.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Dr. Sauter, the incident in its entirety is regrettable and I trust that the solution will prove satisfactory to you and the defendant.
DR. SAUTER Thank you very much, Your Honor.
DIRECT EXAMINATION (Continued) Defendant:
General Lanz BY DR. SAUTER:
Q If the Tribunal please, defendant General Lanz at the end of the session yesterday told us about his experiences which he had in his operational area with the fighting methods of the partisans. About that problem, you will find in Document Books Lanz No. 2 and 4, a number of affidavits which I should now like to offer in evidence. These affidavits I shall only read in extracts in order to avoid repetitions, but I would be grateful if the tribunal took judicial notice in their entirety. The first of these exhibits is contained in Document Book Lanz NO II on page 23. It is Document No. 37. It will receive Exhibit No. 23, Lanz Exhibit No. 23. This is an affidavit given by Gebhard von Lenthe who has furnished me with affidavits concerning other problems which I have read into the record. The affiant was the Ic with General Lanz between September 1943 and the end of the war. He said so in the introductory paragraph of this affidavit.
This affidavit deals with the question of the illegality of the partisans in Greece. Then it describes collaboration between General Lanz and Greek authorities and the Greek civilian population. It also shows what welfare measures General Lanz took on behalf of prisoners. The affidavit is typical for the judgment of General Lanz's character. I should be grateful if its contents were taken notice of. I shall not read it in detail lest I be repetitious.
The next document which I submit to the Tribunal is document No. 38. It is the next document in Document Book II. It is contained on page 27 of that volume. It is Document No. 38 and it is offered as Exhibit 24. This is an affidavit by Karl Wilhelm Thilo who says at the beginning that his position with General Lanz was that of a first general staff officer of the 1st fountain Division between 22 January 1943 and 25 July 1944. This Document No. 38 speaks about the question of uniforms and the methods observed by the partisans in their fighting in Greece. From this document, I would like to read paragraph "c" on page 27 and paragraph "e" on page 28.
Under paragraph "c" the affiant says:
"c.) The guerilla bands did not carry their arms openly, On the contrary, their fighting methods were treacherous, The murder of Regimental Commander Lt. Col Salminger, as well as of the commander of the bakery company of the 1st Mountain Division are examples of this. Treacherous attacks were frequent, Often the guerillas disbanded during a battle and camouflaged themselves as harmless civilians. This happened especially in or near villages. Then the resistance flared up again in the rear of the German troops. As I recall, in Oct. 1943 the main dressing station of the 1st fountain Division, which was filled with casualties, was attacked by guerillas and destroyed. The dressing station was marked with a Red Cross sign."
And it has been duly sworn to and properly certified as the previous one.
In the same document book, there is another affidavit. This is Document No. 39 in Document Book Lanz No. II on page 29. This is offered as Exhibit 25; Lanz No. 25. This document also deals with the question of uniforms and the treacherous and cruel methods used by the partisans against German troops. It described the surprise actions of sabotage committed by the partisans and the violations of international law. Then it describes the conduct shown by the German occupation towards the civilian population and the way the German authorities supported it in the Epirus.
I should like to read a few paragraphs from this exhibit. Affiant Wecker, as he says in his affidavit, was the commander of the Light Infantry Regiment 734, of the 114th Light Infantry Division. This regiment of his was subordinate to General Lanz from 1 January 1944 with a few interruptions until the end of the war. This Regimental Commander on the basis of the experiences which he has gathered in Epirus stated in paragraph 1 on page 29:
"The conduct of the struggle in the Balkans became, by necessity, always fiercer, for the actions of all the fighting units of the resistance groups of all the Balkan countries became steadily more cruel. I can prove this assertion by the following facts, which I experienced myself:
1. ) The armistice concluded between the German troops and the units of General Zervas in August 1944 in the area of Prevesa was without notice broken, through the attack at night upon a great number of German supporting-points, whereby great losses were sustained by the German troops.
2. ) All roads in the area of Agrinion - Prevesa - Jannina could only be used under military escort. During the period of January until September 1944 over 40 attacks occurred on German vehicles, which regularly caused bloody losses.
At one attack on the road Arta-Amphilochia near the hamlet of Menidi towards the end of July 1944 the crew of a German truck was found mutilated, with gouged eyes and ears and tongues out off.
Insurgents who early in August 1944 carried out an attack on the village Nea-Kerasus (15 kilometers west of Arta) partly were german uniforms.
3. ) Motor-Food transports sent by the International Red Cross into the area of Epirus - Akarmia were regularly assaulted and plundered, so that at the end they could only operate with the aid of German escorts.
4. ) The insurgents forced the generally peaceful civil population into obedience by threats, reprisals and violent measures. Particularly did they draw their food requirements regularly from the villages. Especially feared were the forced recruitments, which often drove the ablebodied men to flee into the areas made secure by the German troops.
5. ) In the first days of September 1944 on the road - Preseva - Jannina, closely below the pass west of Jannina an ambulance corps of about 30 cars was attacked and all inside slaughtered to the last man. After about one week German troops regained that territory and the bodies were found in a cruelly mutilated condition.
6. ) The various tribes in the Balkans also among themselves committed atrocities of all kinds. I especially recall the action of insurgents against the inmates of a monastery about 10 km East of Trafnik, who according to creditable statements by indigenous people were shot by the insurgents for not having resisted strongly enough the occupation of the monastery by German forces. Although the disregard of International Law, the cruelty and deceitfulness of their way of fighting often embittered the German troops greatly, the German leadership never took reprisals against the defenseless civilian population, but always tried to help where their own situation and the available means permitted and to mitigate the distress of the population. I prose this assertion by the following facts:"
The following description, your Honors, I do not propose to read in detail. He describes efforts made by the German occupying power to improve the measures taken on behalf of the population by special orders of the commanding general who was the defendant General Lanz. He points out that the insurgents when wounded were also medically treated in the same way as the German wounded, that officers were instructed to that effect, and that General Lanz cooperated closely with the Red Cross.
He made efforts to obtain more current and electric power and finally under Roman III, he says -- this is on page 32 of Document Book II:
"The number of the examples that I have given here is evidence of my assertions, they would increase considerably if I could consult my written notes that have been taken away from me while I was a prisoner. Thus I could list only facts of which my memory has still kept place and time."
I have read this last paragraph, if your Honors please, to give the Court yet another example as to how difficult it is to defend these defendants because they were all deprived of their notes and diaries while they were prisoners. This affidavit by Col. Wecker is also duly signed by him, sworn to, and properly certified. From the next document, I shall only read extracts; it is contained in Document Book Lanz No. II as Document 40; it is on page 34 and it is offered as Exhibit No. 26, Lanz No. 26. This is an affidavit by Matthias Starl who says that in the Second World War he was a captain and first ADC with the XXII Mountain Division, that is to say with General Lanz, between 3 September 1943 and 14 November 1943, after which he went as Ia to the combat group Steyler from 14 November 1943 until 8 August 1944.
I would appreciate it if the Court would take judicial notice of the entire document. I shall merely read a few paragraphs now.
Under Paragraph A), on page 34, it says:
"A). About the fighting manner of the Edesbands, Gen. Zervas I know the following:
"1.) The uniforms, which I personally saw on members of the Edesbands were not all alike and partly mixed up with civilian clothes. One could not make out, especially at a great distance, whether civilians or members of bands were in front of us. The uniforms of the Edes-bands became much better, I believe only after the middle of 1944, when the supply of the bands by air through Allied planes made itself felt. I did not know of any marks recognizable from the distance."
I shall skip paragraphs 2) and 3), on pages 34 and 35, and I shall then read paragraph 4) on page 35, and this is what the affiant says:
"4). An exchange of prisoners between the Edesbands and the German occupation force took place in summer of 1944 at the road crossing at Minina-Tsuka where the road branches off to Paramithia. The exchange of prisoners took place on the occasion of a fight between the German forces of the Light Infantry Regiment 724 and Edesbands, which by mistake occurred on the basis of false information and was broken up immediately, as soon as the German side realized that these were Edesbands and not parts of Communistic bands as had been assumed."
Then under Paragraph B) he speaks about the negotiations between General Lanz and Zervas. I shall not read this part of the affidavit, because we have other attestations to that affect which will be more precise and detailed.
I also recommend to the Court's notice the next document in Lanz Document Book II. This is Document 41 on page 37, which is offered as Exhibit 27. This is an affidavit by one Franz Bessell. This again has been duly sworn to and properly certified by a Notary, I will not read it in detail, but recommend it to the notice of the Court. It also describes the way the Edes bands fought in 1943 and 1944.
The next document in the same document book is Lanz Document 42, on page 38, which is offered as Exhibit 28. This is an affidavit by Hans Munckel, who says that he held the position of an ADC with the Armed Forces Transport Control Southeast in Vienna from January to October 1941, and then he was Battery Officer, Orderly Officer, Battery Commander and finally Commander of a Unit in the 4th Garrison 79 from November 1941 to February 1945, and then he was the Deputy Division Adjutant of the First Mounta in Division during the period from November December 1944, and from March to May 1945. The affidavit by this gentleman, who of course on the basis of his position had acquired a particularly wide knowledge, refers to relations between General Lanz and his troops. It describes his basic attitude as an old soldier and troop commander, and then later on describes a number of acts violating International Law committed by the Partisans. He describes the atrocities and cruelties committed by the Partisans on the German soldiers. This affidavit again is in many ways a very interesting document, and I recommend it to the judicial notice of the Court.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Sauter, please, I am taking the liberty of interrupting, because of the fact that Judge Burke's document book does not show this document, and it should be corrected, Mr. Secretary General. Document 42, Exhibit 28 is not in Judge Burke's book, and there seems to be a jump in the pagination from page 37 to page 48, and the page 48 that is in Judge Burke's book indicates it is from Document Book I of the defendant Kuntze.
While I am on the microphone, Dr. Sauter, I think your attention should be called to the fact that in a few exceptions the page noted in the index is not correct. Perhaps you will want to check that for your own benefit. I am correcting it as we go along, but I am calling that to your attention. I do not know whether Judge Burke's book is correct on the next document. What will be the next document you will have?
DR. SAUTER: The next document, Your Honor, will be an affidavit by Piloty.
THE PRESIDENT: What page?
DR. SAUTER: In my book it is on page 44. it should be on page 44 of the English book too. It is Document 43. Document 43 contained on page 44, an affidavit by one Otto Piloty.
THE PRESIDENT: Judge Burke advises me that it is his document book, so you may proceed with that.
If the other may be corrected, Mr. Secretary General, please?
DR. SAUTER: Thank you very much, Your Honor.
I shall now come to the next document in Document Book II. This is Document 43 on page 44 of the Document Book Lanz II, which is offered as Exhibit 29. It is an affidavit by a commanding officer called Otto Piloty, who is 49 years of age and a resident of Munich. He states that he served under Lanz as a commanding officer of the 4th Garrison Heavy Mountain Artillery Regiment 79, between April 1943 and May 1944. I have announced before that 1 shall not read the details of this affidavit. It describes surprise attacks made by the Partisans against German troops, and the methods with which they did their fighting. This document is again based entirely on the observations made by the affiant Piloty himself.
The next document which I recommend to the attention of the Court is contained in Document Book Lanz II on page 47. This is Document 44, and it will be given Exhibit number Lanz No. 30. This affidavit as all the others, has been properly signed, duly sworn to and correctly certified, and has been given by Kurt Hepp, who says his position was that of a platoon leader, later that of adjutant and finally company commander within the First Mountain Division, which of course was subordinate to General Lanz. He held this position between February 1943 and October 1944. In his affidavit the affiant Hepp also describes the treacherous and cruel methods in which the Partisans fought, and he produces a number of detailed cruelties committed against German soldiers, and which are quite obviously not in accordance with International law and its provisions.
I shall not read the details of this affidavit, but I should be grateful if the Court took judicial notice of it.
This brings me to the next affidavit in the same document book on page 51. This is Document 45, and I shall give it Exhibit No. Lanz 31. This document has been signed, sworn to and certified. It was given by Captain Matthias Starl, from whom I have submitted another affidavit concerning another problem this morning. This also describes the treacherous surprise attacks committed by the Balkan Partisans on German troops. They are violations of International Law in their attacks on medical personnel, hospital trucks and hospital convoys of the International Red Cross, and it describes an attack on a German main dressing station. I should like to read a few excerpts from this affidavit. On page 52 at the top where it says "around the 1st of June; 1944." This is on page 52, if your Honor, please: