DR. LATERNSER: Yes Mr. President.
Q. (By Dr. Laternser) Through this order did you receive the supervision over the military administration?
A. Yes.
Q. Which authority did you receive in addition to that?
A. The executive power.
Q. And what does executive power mean?
A. The maintenance of peace and of security and order
Q. Which areas were subordinate to you in this respect?
A. With Fuehrer order number 31, in addition to those areas which were already under my command in Greece, I received new areas, the Serbian area and Crete.
Q. Did you execute the executive powers yourself?
A. They were transferred to other offices and these were the military commander and or commanders.
Q. Which offices do you mean by this?
A. By this I mean the commander of Serbia, commander of Salonika Aegean and the commander South Greece.
Q. What about Crete?
A. Crete was subordinate to its own commandant who had executive powers under orders from the commander South Greece.
Q. And who was commandant of Crete at that time?
A. This was General Andrae.
Q. Did you have anything to do with him?
A. Relatively little.
Q. When, for instance?
A. He came perhaps once or twice directly to me in order to tell me what was going on. On one of these occasions he also came with a teletype from Goering who demanded very strict measures against the population of Crete. After Goering was not actually empowered to intervene and there was no longer a necessity, this order was not carried out but at that time a general amnesty was made in Crete.
Q. When was that approximately, only if you know?
A. That was end of August, beginning of September.
Q. 1941?
A. 1941.
Q. And to whom were you subordinate in your capacity as Wehrmacht commander Southeast?
A. Directly to Hitler.
Q. I will now show you another chart which I would ask you to look at. Your Honor, this is the third photostat, on which you can see on the right margin, Li-151. Is this correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you anything to add to these subordinations here, apart from what you have already told us?
A. Yes, According to order number 31, the commander in Serbia was directly subordinate to me and I had to carry out supervision of the administration. In this Fuehrer order this was stated. The general quartermaster of the OKH was of the opinion that the administration in Serbia should also continue to be directed by him. The Fuehrer order as such could not be altered. A certain appercation was therefore given in the executive provisions of the Fuehrer order.
Q. Field Marshal, I am coming to this later on. Does this chart show the relations of the offices correctly, as they were there at that time?
A. Yes.
Q. Which non offices existed in addition to yours on the Balkans?
A. The plenipotentiary of the Reich.
Q. And what was his job?
A. He had to deal with cultural, political and economic questions.
Q. And what about the Luftwaffe and the Navy at that time?
A. The Luftwaffe and the Navy were subordinate to me. The operational air war was also excepted here in this case. Both offices tried, how ever, to remain as independent as possible.
Q. Through which office were the administration affairs supposed to be managed?
A. The direction of the administration affairs as supposed to be directed by the OKH, general quartermaster.
Q. In addition to this order were you given any other orders about this either written or oral?
A. After the Fuehrer order was already finished I was called to Berkin where Brauchitsch told me about the new instillation of the Wehrmacht commander. On this occasion I also spoke to the quartermaster general and he said that the administration also in the future must be directed by the quartermaster general and he added, "We will do that all right."
Q. And what other offices were in the Balkans?
A. There were the Navy offices, the Air Force offices, the offices of the Four Year Plan and a large number of other staffs who were outside my control.
Q. From whom did these offices receive their orders?
A. From their superior Reich Offices.
Q. And at that time what was the relation of the commander of Serbia to the offices of the OKH and/or OKW?
A. The Commander of Serbia received, with regard to administrative affair, direct orders from the quartermaster general and in police matters through the Reichs Fuehrer SS Himmler, and in matters of Four Year Plan, through Goering.
Q. And how did the official channel work?
A. The official channel went directly from Berlin to Belgrade. This had to be so partly because of the difficult communication which existed between Athens and Belgrade.
Q. How should the official channel have gone at that time of which I am speaking?
A. If the Fuehrer order had been strickly kept to, them the official channels should have gone through me.
Q. And was it frequently not adhered to?
A. I didn't know. In matters, for instance, of the Reichsfuehrer SS certainly didn't know because I never had anything to do with the Reichsfuehrer SS.
Q. What is the explanation of the fact that the conditions could not be brought into line with order number 31?
A. This can be explained by the fact that the conditions had already existed which were set down by Fuehrer order number 29, and also through the desire of the quartermaster general to keep the administration of the occupied territories in his hands.
Q. What was the relation between your office and that of the German happenings General in Zagreb?
A. Very loose. The General informed me about events, about individual happenings as a neighbor tells one about what happen in his hourse.
Q. Was the German General in Zabreb subordinate to you?
A. Not at all.
Q. At which time did Fuehrer order number 31 came into force, this order which is contained in exhibit number 16 and is dated the 9 of June, 1941?
A. This Fuehrer order was supplemented by the executive directions---just a moment.
Q. The executive provisions are contained on page 60 to 62 of the English document book 1 and bear the exhibit number 16. Please continue.
A. These executive regulations came into force on the 20th of June, arrived at the Wehrmacht commander Southeast on the 20 of June, and with them the Fuehrer order of the 6th September---of the 9th June. I myself arrived on the 23d of June, 1941, back from Berlin to Athens and on this day our authority from the Wehrmacht commander Southeast about the institution of Wehrmacht commander Southeast was issued.
Q. So that you, Field Marshal, if I can summarize, received territorial authority in the Balkans on the 23d of June, 1941?
A. Yes.
Q. We will now first turn to Greece. At the end of June, 1941 what was the situation in Greece?
A. The situation in Greece at the end of June, 1941 was quiet.
Q. What are the relations of the German troops toward the population?
A. The relations of the Germans troops towards the population was good. One could say friendly, and in some cases very friendly.
Q. Did you ussur any orders about the relations of the troops towards the population?
A. I certainly issued orders of the day and in the order after the capitulation I pointed out to the troops that they should treat the Greek soldiers in accordance with their gallant behavior and furthermore pam phlets were distributed about the behavior toward the civilian population.
Pamphlets were distributed regarding the respect due to this ancient culture.
Q. What was the feeling of the German soldiers towards the civilian population?
A. There was a wide feeling of sympathy.
Q. And how did this arise?
A. This arose from the fact of the preference of the German for this whole humanistic Greek civilization and there were also through many Greeks studying in Southern Germany close relations between them; especially the Southern Germans and the Bavarians had special sympathies. The first King of Greece was the son of the Bavarian King. The town of Athens shows many signs of a well known Bavarian architect and until the world war, young Greeks were brought up in the Bavarian cadet corps and received Bavarian nationality and became Bavarian officers.
Q. Did you ever meet such an officer?
A. Yes, a close comrade of mine.
Q. And how can the good mutual relations be explained further?
A. It can be traced back to the fact that the Greek population was happy that the war was ended for them, and further they were grateful for the fact that the soldiers were released at once home.
Q. During the fighting were there damages caused in Greece?
A. No.
Q. What about Athens and Salonika for instance?
A In Athens there was no damage at all in the town that could be seen from the films we saw. Damage occurred in the harbor area of place through attacks on British transports. Salonika received no damage at all in the entry. The town was captured without a fight and also before it was not bombarded.
Q. What other signs were there of good relations?
A. By the friendly way in which the troops were received in their billets.
Q. A witness has already testified to this here, but I don't want to put a leading question, what about the hanging out of flags?
A. The Greeks would have been very grateful for the fact that I said to the Greek Minister President after we had taken over the Government, I don't want the German flag to fly over the Government building and I gave him permission from the 4th of May onwards to fly the Greek flag over the castle. In addition for the grave of the unknown soldier which was in the main square of Athens immediately in front of the castle a permanent guard was posted consisting of a Mountain Rifleman and a Greek soldier with guns, together.
Q. Field Marshall, have you any confirmation for this good re lation from the other side?
A. When I was a prisoner of war I met a later finance minister.
Q. From which Government?
A. From the Greek Government, and as he told me he took up office with the consent of the exile government and he too confirmed to me that there was completely friendly agreement between the German soldiers and Greek population.
Q. When was he finance minister?
A. I don't remember the date exactly. He must have been Finance Minister in 1943/44. I don't want to state his name here. I know that it might harm him.
Q. Did you have any other confirmations?
A. Yes.
Q. From whom?
A. The Royal Hungarian Ambassador at the Government in Athens.
Q. Who was that?
A. Freiherr von Welisch. He wrote to me after I was already back home a letter in which he specially assured me that he had spoken to a number of Greeks and was speaking to a number of Greeks and that they had never criticized my behavior at all and that many, however, had spoken of me with respect, even reverence.
Q. Where is Welisch now?
A. Von Welisch - I don't know where he is now. When the Jewish laws were introduced into Hungary he went to Cairo. He was mentioned by the last witness who testified here.
BY JUDGE BURKE:
Q. I would like the balance of that translation.
DR. LABERNER: Should the answer be repeated?
A. Freiherr von Welisch went to Cairo at a time when in Hungary the Jewish laws were introduced.
BY DR. LATERNSER:
Q. Then you said something about a Greek witness?
A. The last Greek witness, a Professor who was here on the witness stand, named Freiherr von Welisch in a certain matter as source of information.
MR. DENNEY: Will the Interpretor pull the light when the answer is not finished. Dr. Laternser has no way of knowing. That is what the lights are for.
THE PRESIDENT: Will the suggestion made kindly be carried out. I believe it will be helpful to the Tribunal and all concerned. If there is any hesitancy on the part of the interpreters don't hesitate to put on the light. We are all human and we can't do the impossible and don't hesitate to stop the witness.
DR. LATERNSER: Has everything now been translated?
THE INTERPRETOR: The last word was, "The Greek witness in the stand mentioned Freiherr von Welisch as a man who could be used as a source of information.
DR. LATERNSER: The witness just said that the last Greek witness had named Freiherr von Welisch as a reliable source of information who could be used.
THE INTERPRETOR: Yes.
BY DR. LATERNSER:
Q. When you talk about the last Greek witness, do you mean the professor of course.
A. Yes.
Q. At that time to whom else did you have connections?
A. With the Ambassador from the Holy See, Arch Bishop Roncelli.
Q. Did you often meet him?
A. He was my guest a few times. He also visited me while I was ill in the hospital and this was still in November 1941.
Q. Did he complain about anything?
A. No, with my permission he visited hospitals in which British soldiers were and he reported to me about this visit in a very satisfactory manner.
Q. Did the Ambassador at the Holy See have an opportunity to complain to you about anything, in view of the relations between you?
A. Yes, he had this possibility.
Q. What was life like after the occupation, for instance in Salonika and Athens?
A. Shortly after the occupation life in Athens and in Salonika took on a normal course. The trams started up; the shops and cafes were opened; and in Athens and Salonika we issued the approval of free use of telephone communication; also throughout Greece and in the Islands, and there that wasn't possible, for this communication with the islands was made available at certain hours.
Q. Have you yourself a personal impression, for instance, about business life?
A. Yes, in going through the town a few times I made several individual purchases.
Q. For instance were the Jewish businesses open?
A. Yes.
Q. Were any measures taken against the Jewish population?
A. No, individual officers of my staff had connections with Jewish business people and a number of officers, especially in Salonika, lived with Jews.
Q. Later on did the relation between the Jews and Greek population change?
A Relations changed by the fact that the Italians took over the occupation.
Q What is the explanation of the worsening of the relations?
A The Greeks understood that we occupied the country after the Greek Army had been beaten by us. In addition they offered capitulation to us and therefore they found it very painful that the larger part of Greece was given over for occupation by the Italians. A Greek General once said that, "you Germans have conquered us; this is an honor for us; but the fact that you have let the Italians into the country, we will never forgive you this."
Q At that time was there a strong worsening of the relations between the German troops and the population?
AAt the beginning, no. Gradually of course a certain stiffening came on.
Q Did you on your trips have any kind of protection in Greece?
AAs long as I was in office I went around in my own car throughout Greece without protection.
Q What about the food situation when you were in Greece?
A The food situation during the course of the summer became more tense. In these months there couldn't be seen so very much because at this time Greece still had a large amount of fruit. In late summer, as far as I can remember, there was a shortage, especially of bread.
Q At that time could there be any talk of famine?
A No.
Q Who was responsible for the supply?
A The supply for the Greek area was the responsibility of the Italians.
Q And what did the Germans have to do?
A On the part of the Germans the Plenipotentiary of the Reich endeavoured to increase the food imports and I made the same requests through my official channels.
Q Then what happened, what was the result?
A The result was that food deliveries, food transports, especially flour, arrived.
Q Where from?
A From Germany. It didn't come to the places where it should have gone because transport was so difficult.
Q And how did these difficulties arise?
A The difficulties lay in the fact of the destruction of the only railway line between Salonika and Athens, especially in the destruction of a very difficult viaduct.
Q Destruction by whom?
A Destruction by the British on their retreat.
Q Which viaduct was this?
A That was the so-called Pralo Bridge near Thermopylae. And there were also difficulties caused by the fact that the sea transports from Salonika to Athens was frequently interrupted by British submarines.
Q Were there any sinkings?
A. Yes. I remember myself two, one of these sinkings is mentioned in one of the documents here, the sinking of the ship "Gotial", in the first days of November, this ship having flour from Germany on board.
Q Can these difficulties be traced back alone to transport difficulties?
A No, Greece always had to rely on imports.
Q And what about the stocks.
A Stocks at that time, when we came to Greece, were very small.
Q How do you know that?
A During the first trial here in Nurnberg I read a memorandum from the Greek government which stated that the Germans upon their entry into Greece already found an exhausted country.
Q Were there further sources set up for the improvement of the food situation?
A Yes, at that time we allowed fishing on a large scale.
Q Did this cause any complications?
A Yes, it caused complications because various offices objected to this, the enemy intelligence service having thus the possibility to aid people in their attempts to escape.
Q But nevertheless was it carried out?
A Yes, it was carried out.
Q Now about this food question, did military offices also provide food for the Greek population?
A From the Army directly, especially at the beginning food stocks were given up and meals were provided.
Q While you were in Greece what was done in the cultural sphere?
A In the staff had a lecturer whose job it was to insure that if now fortifications or airfields were set up ancient monuments were not destroyed or damaged.
Q Could you give an example for this?
A I can't exactly give an example for the protection of an old cultural monument but another example. By order of the Commander in Chief of the Air Force a new airfield had to be established near Athens. As the terrain was very mountainous, this was the only place that came into the question, but this would have meant that a settlement had to be partly evacuated and also had to be destroyed partly, therefore at that time an objection was made to me and I personally found out what the situation was, and as there was no other possibility we decided to consider the interests of the Greek population as far as it was possible. We did this by avoiding i.e. getting around the security provisions of the Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe. And so we disregarded security of the occupation in order to help the population.
Q. What was the result?
A The result was that part of this settlement remained standing.
THE PRESIDENT: We will take our morning recess at this time.
(A recess was taken.)
THE MARSHAL: The persons in the Courtroom will please find their seats.
The Tribunal is again in session.
THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed.
BY DR. LATERNSER:
Q I have some further questions regarding Greece. Apart from Italians and Germans, were there any other troops in Greece?
A Bulgarians.
Q How did the Bulgarians behave towards the Greeks?
A In some places they treated them pretty roughly.
Q How did you get to know of that?
A By complaints on the part of the Greek government.
Q What did you do after receiving these complaints?
A I repeatedly asked the Bulgarian liaison officer to come to see me, General Chilkov, and I talked to him and told him very urgently that he should advise his officers to make the troops stop this kind of behavior.
Q Did these complaints to the Bulgarian authorities have any success?
A I must assume that because I did get no more complaints.
Q The prosecution has submitted Document 071-PS as Exhibit 4. Your Honors, it is on page 8 to 10 of Document Book I, the English Document Book I, and on page 6 to 10 of the German Document Book I. It is the disputed Rosenberg letter. Did you know Rosenberg personally?
A Yes.
Q When and where did you got to know him?
A I cannot recall the occasion in detail. I made his acquaintance on an official or public occasion. That was the only time that I met him and without my discussing anything with him. It may have been around about 1934.
Q And after that, you did not speak to him again?
A I never met him again.
Q What is your opinion regarding this letter, namely Exhibit 4?
A Well, that is a letter, a private letter, from Rosenberg to Bormann. I had no influence on what he wrote. He gives his own opinion. If he talks of his agencies in Belgrade being active with my permission, that is not correct because at that time I had no authority to give any orders in Belgrade. Belgrade was not subordinate to me. He further states that his special task command could also be employed in Salonika.
Q In Exhibit 10, which is on page 38 and 39 of the English Document Book I and on page 27 of the German Document Book I, there is an order of the AOK 12, Ic, of the 19th of April, according to this order a special task command of Rosenberg's was to confiscate material which was directed against the German Reich. I am now asking you, did you know anything of this order?
A No.
Q As leader of the special task command, a Lieutenant von Ingram is being mentioned. Did you know this lieutenant?
A Lieutenant von Ingram means nothing to me today but I remember vaguely to have received a lieutenant in Salonika who had received the Knight's Cross during the western campaign. At that time, that was a very exceptional case and was either told over the telephone by the chief, i.e. by the Ia or by the Ic, that this lieutenant would report to me.
Q. What did you tell him?
A. I received his report. He probably reported to me that he had an order to look up these archives. I pointed out to him that I expected that this would be done in the correct form and manner and that nothing would happen.
Q. Why did you tell him that?
A. Because I had a certain suspicion, certain distrust against everything coming from that side.
Q. But after all, he was a lieutenant, wasn't he?
A. He wore the uniform. He was an officer of the Reserve. I expect, but nevertheless he remained in this case of Rosenberg's employee.
Q. Was the special task commando Rosenberg subordinate to the Army?
A. No.
Q. What was its relationship to the Army?
A. As I now see from this document and from another document as well, it was provisioned and paid.
Q. What do you mean by being provisioned and paid?
A. That meant that he was entitled to get quarters and food in the area of the Army.
Q. Can a provisioned and paid command be given orders?
A. No.
Q. Did you know in detail what the extent of the activities of this command was?
A. No.
Q. From Exhibit 130 -- this is in the English document book 5 as a supplement after page 150 and in the German document book 5 on page 98-A.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you kindly repeat, Dr. Laternser?
DR. LATERNSER: It is in volume 5 of the English document book as a supplement after page 150, and it is exhibit 130.
Q. (By Dr. Laternser cont'd) From this exhibit we see that the Rosenberg command would start the Jewish action in Salonika. Was this reported to you?
A. No.
Q. What is the date of the this report?
A. The report is of the 29th of July.
Q. Where were you on that date?
A. From the 21st of July onwards I was absent from the High Command. On the 29th of July I was on leave.
Q. Did you know whether, during your time of activity on the Balkans, offices of the Security Service were subordinate to you? No, I correct myself - whether at that time there were any offices of the Security Service in the Balkans at all?
A. No.
Q. Were any offices of the Security Service subordinate to you at that time?
A. No.
Q. We now turn to the Serbian area. At the end of June, 1941 the commander Serbia was subordinate to you a.s you told us. First of all, a preliminary question. How was Serbia occupied at that time?
A. In Serbia these were at that time Security divisions, divisions of the 15th wave.
Q. Apart from German troops were any others present?
A. The southern part of Bulgaria, south Macedonia, was occupied by Bulgarians.
Q. I don't know whether I understood you correctly. Did you say in the southern part of Serbia or the southern part of Bulgaria?
A. I mean the same thing. I am sorry, the southern part of Serbia, the southern part of Macedonia I wanted to say, was occupied by Bulgarians.
Q. Now, what was the situation at the end of June of 1941 in Serbia?
A. With the start of the campaign in Russia we found that a lot of propaganda became noticeable, by wireless, posters, which both had their effect and which resulted in acts of sabotage especially as regards lines of communications and attacks on members of the armed forces.
Q. Who instigated these things at that time?
A. They were instigated first of all by Moscow through a liaison office, the Russian delegation in Sofia.
Q. How do you know that?
A. These reports came to us through the IC channel.
Q. What did you do when this situation became aggravated?
A. First of all we tried to explain things to the population by propaganda, and of course, we took severe steps against the sabotage acts over the local commanders.
Q. Did you ask for more troops?
A. As soon as I saw that this movement grew we appealed to the High Command of the Armed Forces to let us have troops in Serbia, especially more mobile and more effective troops than those we had at the spot.
Q. What were the disadvantages of the troops on the spot in Serbia?
A. The troops in Serbia were exclusively made up for the occupational tasks in a quiet and pacified country. The divisions only had two regiments, very little artillery, a very meagre state of training. The troops were older people, usually married. The officers were usually former officers who had not been retrained.
Q. How often approximately speaking did you ask for new troops?
