Official Transcript of the American Military Tribunal in the matter of the United States of America against Wilhelm List, et al defendants, sitting at Nuernberg, Germany, on 30 October 1947, 0930. Justice Wennerstrum, presiding.
THE MARSHAL: Persons in the courtroom will please find 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 courtroom.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Marshal; Will you ascertain as to whether or not all the defendants are present in the courtroom.
THE MARSHAL: May it please, Your Honors, all defendants are present in the courtroom except the defendant von Weichs, who is in the hospital and the defendant Lanz who has been excused.
THE PRESIDENT: Are we ready to proceed?
MR. RAPP: Your Honor, I would like to make a statement on behalf of the United States prosecution, I am having reference to document book 13, page 56 in the English, page 42 in the German.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you please give the numbers again?
MR. RAPP: Page 56, document book 13. I am referring to NOKW 910. prosecution exhibit 327. If Your Honors please, I am now having reference to the sixth and seventh line from the top on this particular page, where it says:
"The Commanding General of this Corps is to be given orders as follows."
It is page 56, Your Honor, NOKW 910.
"For this purpose, the Commanding General of this Corps is to be given orders as follows....."
Now yesterday the defense pointed out to the Court some substantial error in translation from the original document into the English. I first of all want to state that we concede this particular translation error. We have of course, acted in good faith. These documents were supposed to be checked, but this particular document slipped up.
In view of this mistake, which we have made, I would like now to have Your honors refer to Count 3 of the Indictment, sub-section i, and this particular count, Your Honors, we have alleged that on or about 11 September 1943, the Commander in Chief and the Chief of Staff of Army Group F and Supreme Command Southeast, the Commander in Chief Second Panzer Army, that is the defendant Rendulic, the Commanders of the 68th Infantry Corps, the 26th Mountain Corps, the 69th Reserve Corps and the 15th Mountain Corps, and the Military Commander of Serbia and Military Commander Southeast, issued, executed and distributed to troops under their command and jurisdiction an order for the execution of one staff officer and 50 men of each Division of the surrendered Italian Army which, prior to its surrender, had sold, given away, or destroyed its weapons, and for the execution of one officer and 10 men of each such Division which, prior to its surrender, had made a motor vehicle unusable.
We would like now to motion to have the particular word "an order" in this phrase of the indictment changed to read "directives," rather than "an order" and that is in view of the translation mistake which has occurred, so that the words "an order" should be changed in the indictment to read "directives". That is all I have Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: May I make this inquiry? Do the rules provide as to the change of the wording or statement in the Indictment, and if so in what respect and in what manner may they be changed?
MR. RAPP: Your Honor, I have checked the ordinance, and I have found no particular thereto. However, if the Court desires that we should follow this up with a written motion in addition to the announcement that I have made, now, we are, of course, only too glad to do this.
THE PRESIDENT: Is there any objection on behalf of Counsel to this proposed change?
DR. FRITSCH: May it please the Court, at this moment, I do not wish to raise an objection, but I should be grateful if I could reserve the right to come back to these things during my presentation of evidence General Rendulic. At this moment I am not in the position, I must confess, to give my comments on this point.
THE PRESIDENT: As I understand it, Dr. Fritsch, you do not wish to comment one way or the other, or consent, or agree at this time?
DR. FRITSCH: Yes, I would be grateful if I could give my comments to perhaps tomorrow. But I would appreciate it if the suggestion made by the Court could be complied with, and the Prosecution would put down their motion in writing.
THE PRESIDENT: Inasmuch as the Defense Counsel suggests the advisability of putting the motion in writing, the Court orders that before final consideration of this matter is given, to advise the Tribunal that the Prosecution submit it in writing.
MR. RAPP: Very well your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Before we proceed to other matters may we have again, Mr. Rapp, the full translation of the suggested change that you desire to have made?
MR. RAPP: Yes, Your Honor, I am referring to Page 13.
THE PRESIDENT: Of Exhibit 327.
MR. RAPP: I have not given Your Honors, up to now, a translation as it should be; however, the translation as it was read into the record yesterday by the Interpreter on the suggestion of Defense Counsel, is, in our opinion, the correct translation. If the record Your Honors wish that we have it once again repeated I will hand it to the Interpreter now and have him do it again.
THE PRESIDENT: If you please.
(MR. RAPP TAKES THE DOCUMENT IN QUESTION TO THE INTERPRETER AND POINTS OUT THE PASSAGE TO BE TRANSLATED)
MR. RAPP: If I may suggest, Your Honors, that we enter this translation now on Page 56 of Document Book XIII the way it comes over the ear-phones? Will the Interpreter please be so kind and tell us where you are starting?
THE COURT GERMAN-ENGLISH INTERPRETER: I'm starting on Page 14 of the original, at the bottom. It's the last sentence on the bottom of Page 17 of the original document, which is on Page 56 in the Document Book.
MR. RAPP: I believe the pagination which you have read right now is not the pagination the Prosecution followed. You will find a Page 4 on the top of that original document written on the document. The Page 14 that you have referred to is the number the Germans have inserted, and we have followed our own pagination.
THE COURT GERMAN-ENGLISH INTERPRETER: Yes, and it is on Page 56 in the document book. Now, the sentence should read in English: "For this purpose the Commanding Generals of the Corps are to be given orders, the meaning of which should read approximately as follows."
MR. RAPP: Would you be so kind and repeat this again because we're trying to write it, and you were speaking a little bit fast.
THE COURT GERMAN-ENGLISH INTERPRETER: "For this purpose the Commanding Generals of these Corps are to be given orders, the meaning of which should read approximately as follows."
MR. RAPP: Now, you see that brings up the point where I believe Defense Counsel and Prosecution together, for once, have a somewhat different opinion from the Interpreter. I don't think that the word "Weisungen" is properly translated with "orders" It should probably be translated with directives". I think that Dr. Fritsch and I, if I am not misquoting him, go along on that. So will you please be kind and reconsider the translation in view of this suggestion?
THE COURT German-English INTERPRETER: The German term used is "Auftraege" not "Weisung". It is "Auftraege", which of course is less stronger than would be "Order."
MR. RAPP: But "Auftrag" would be "mission" would it not?
THE COURT GERMAN-ENGLISH INTERPRETER: "Mission" or "assignment" perhaps.
DR. FRITSCH: It seems to me, Your Honor, that the translation which was given yesterday does not coincide with the one we have heard today concerning the term "sinngemaess" and the term "Etwas."
THE COURT GERMAN-ENGLISH INTERPRETER: May I say something about this, Your Honor?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Sir.
THE COURT GERMAN-ENGLISH INTERPRETER: The term I have used for "etwa" was "approximately", and I think that any dictionary would bear that out; and "sinngemaess" I translated with "the meaning of which". It means simply that the order "means the following" -- the meaning of the order is this or that.
MR. RAPP: That is certainly acceptable to us. Now, just to get the record straight, would you now be able to repeat it once in view of the various changes?
THE COURT GERMAN-ENGLISH INTERPRETER: "For this purpose the Commanding Generals of these Corps are to be given assignments, the purpose of which should read approximately as follows."
MR. RAPP: That was the translation I had reference to, and in view of that we had motioned and will follow it up in writing of course that the word "order" in the indictment be changed to "directives."
THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, Dr. Fritsch.
DEFENDANT LOTHAR RENDULIC - Resumed DIRECT-EXAMINATION - Continued BY DR. FRITSCH:
Q General, yesterday we had stopped discussing various documents which we have followed in their chronological order, and we discussed them briefly.
May I ask you to take up Volume XVI of the Prosecution documents, and there look at Page 113 on the English version, which is Page 67 in your book. Correction: It is Page 67 in the English version and Page 113 in the German. It is Exhibit 385, Document NOKW 1112, with which you have been charged under all four counts of the indictment.
Does this document concern your area?
A No, this document concerns what was known as the operational zone of the Adriatic coastal area. That area was to the north of the Army area and did not belong to the Army Group F. This document, therefore, does not concern me at all. The partisans which are being referred to there was Tito people.
Q. General, in order to illustrate the situation this document gives a certain number of clues although it does not concern the area under your jurisdiction. Would you, therefore, please read the passage which I have marked for you on the next page?
A. That passage describes how the partisans fought and it reads as follows: "They terrorize the population, steal the cattle and food supplies, recruit followers, largely by compulsory drafting. They murder German soldiers from ambush, raid motor cars and columns, blow up railway lines and bridges, plunder food supply transports, destroy cable and wire connections, massacre prisoners, and desecrate the corpses of German soldiers."
Q. Thank you very much. Now another matter; in a number of individual reports, it is reported that hospitals of the bands were burned down. Do you remember that?
A. Yes, and I can give you the reason too. I want to state, above all, what one must understand by the word "hospitals of the bands." These were barns or huts where a number of beds were put. In some cases, they had mattresses but mostly it was simply straw, heaps of straw. In very few cases these hospitals were accommodated in solid buildings such as schools or anything like that. Only in one case there was a hospital which was somewhat better equipped, but the essential point in this was that these so-called hospitals were in the most filthy condition, which was caused by the fact that the partisans used the places which were not used for sick or wounded for their own accommodation. It was known that the partisans were completely full of lice. It was also known that typhus prevailed in many areas.
Reference in the documents shows that there were villages which were full of typhus dead and all you could do was simply burn them. The partisans took people suffering from typhus to these hospitals. These so-called hospitals -- at least, the troops called them hospitals--were an immense danger for infection. Any disinfection was not feasible in these wooden buildings.
Any precautions to this effect were not possible. It was therefore necessary and also a matter of course that those huts and barns which at that time served for the accommodation of wounded and ill partisans and which in every case fell empty into our hands had to be burned down. This was a measure for protection which we took as a matter of course to prevent infection both of our own troops as well as of the population.
Q. Now about another document which is in Volume 16; it is Exhibit 388, on page 120, and in the English book it is on page--excuse me a moment, 77. This document NOKW-948--this document contains notes of a conference between the Commanding General of the XXI Army Corps who at that time was General Fehn and the representative of the Reich Fuehrer SS Fitzthum as well as a representative of the German General in Albania. From this document, the prosecution have incriminated you under Count 4. Now was Fitzthum or the German General in Albania under the Second Panzer Army?
A. No, Fitzthum was the representative of the Reichsfuehrer SS for Albania. He was not under me. Nor was the German General in Albania under the Second Panzer Army. As to the XXI Army Corps, they were in charge of the whole of the Albanian territory. This conference of which we have notes here - that however came never to the knowledge of the Army was a purely internal matter of the XXI Army Corps. These notes contain matters concerning the Albanian territory.
In paragraph 7 - reference is made to a visit which Fitzthum paid on Minister Neubacher, and the matters discussed on that visit are being put down here. All these are matters which could not concern the army and about which the XXI Army Corps was informed only for the reason that it all occurred in its area.
Q. Would you please read out paragraph D and tell us briefly what the evacuation of the Serbs mentioned therein is supposed to mean?
A. This can only be the following matter which I can suppose on the basis of my general knowledge of the position.
The Albanian Kossovo area was on the border between Serbia and Albania. It was populated by a Serbian minority between the Serbs and the Albanians there was great hatred. The Serbs who formed the minority were frequently killed, despite the protection which the German occupation afforded them, and the perpetrators as a rule could not be found. The document shows that they were evacuated into the Serbian area and that that Serbian area finally could no longer receive any more people. Thereupon, these people decided to transfer the Serbs from the Kossovo area to the Reich, a matter with which the Army had nothing to do nor could they take any influence on it.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Fritsch, may I make an inquiry please and interrupt?
BY THE PRESIDENT:
Q. General Rendulic, you and the other defendants and your respective counsels have from time to time made a distinction as to the authority of these various groups down there. The SS, the SD, and the Rosenberg Group, and various other organization that were in this particular area in the Southeast. What was the respective authority of first the Army, the Wehrmacht, the SS, the SD, and these various other organizations and who was in charge of the whole operation and was there any conflict of authority and if there was a conflict of authority who had the final word?
A. May I give you my answer?
Q. I want it purely for information purposes on my own part.
A. From a purely military point of view the Balkan Area was as far as the protection of the area was concerned under Army Group F and the units under it such as for instance the Second Panzer Army, Army Group E, etc. In other respects, in that area, other agencies had their sphere of work in that area. For instance, the plenipotentiary for Economy.
Q. Let's start with the SS.
A. In the SS we must make a distinction between what was known as the Waffen SS and the Police Formations. The Waffen SS was subordinate to military agencies only in tactical respects. That is to say, they were only subordinate to military agencies as far as combat tasks were concerned they would receive orders only for the fighting and its preparations.
From among the units of the SS, there were in the Balkans the 7th SS Mountain Division, the 5th SS Mountain Corps and then later on, the 13th SS Division, and the SS Division Skanderbeg in Albania which was about to be formed.
These divisions and troops were under the Second Panzer Army in purely military respects. They were not subordinate in judicial disciplinary and personnel matters and in all those fields where they had special assignments which they received from their highest superior and their highest superior was the Reichsfuehrer SS. As to the Police Formations, there were in the Balkans police regiments and also elements of the SI. These elements were not under the German troops, but they had their special assignment, they received from their special superiors their orders and the German troops were not in a position of preventing the carrying out of these orders which these special groups of the SS had received, or even to forbid them.
Q. Why do these references to them come into these orders then?
A. Because it might have been possible and I believe I gave an example yesterday--that units of the SD could be asked to support the troops in carrying out some of their tasks such as the screening of those parts of the population who were suspected of being members of bands. For that purpose, the troops did not have sufficiently trained and versed officials, and for the rest there is mention of those units now and then because they took certain liberties and claimed privileges to which they were not entitled so that they then had to be told where their limits were.
But the picture one should form of this should be the following. The Balkans and all other areas occupied by German troops were not territories where the Wehrmacht ruled exclusively, but a large number of Reich agencies were interested in these territories and equally claimed these territories as their sphere of influence, they established therefore their offices in these areas and pursued their intentions. They took the view that they had as much right to carry out their tasks there as had the Wehrmacht in carrying out their duties in these territories, and in the final analysis their orders came from their highest superior. The peculiarity of these positions can only be explained by the fact that although there was a dictatorship in Germany and although Hitler combined all power in his hands, there did not exist one overall agency which coordinated the activities of all these agencies that worked parallel to each other and that is the reason why there were so many frictions. The Wehrmacht, however, achieved one thing in the Balkans: If the situation had become mortally dangerous from the point of view of safety in the Balkans, for instance an allied landing, then all available forces would have been turned over in a tactical respect to Army Group F. And then the authority of Army Group F would have been boundless, but it would never have gone so far as to completely eliminate what the other Reich agencies did. This emergency never arose.
Well, that gives me a little broader picture of the situation. It has been somewhat confusing as to the division of authority. You may proceed.
A. If I may sum up what I have said, the real explanation is that these were various Reich agencies pursuing the same interests without that there was a head to coordinate work, and another explanation is that colossal jealousies existed between these agencies. All of them insisted on their own competencies.
General, the last document we discussed was in Volume 16, but perhaps, I could put one question to you now which is connected with the problem his Honor has just touched upon.
How could you interfere if you found something amiss with, say, the SD or any of the other formations mentioned? Who would you turn to?
A. All I could do was write a report which had to reach the OKW in the end and which would then decide this matter with whatever highest Reich agency would be involved as being the superior of the respective agency in the Balkans.
Q. What I understand you to say, witness, is that you in the Southeast could do nothing. You simply, so to speak, had to go to Berlin.
A. No there existed no other way out that is correct. At the utmost there would have been the method of violence.
Q. General, another technical matter in this context. His Honor referred to the term "Rosenberg Groups." We did not have time yet to clear up that particular term. Rosenberg was already mentioned yesterday or the day before yesterday, I believe. Will you just tell us what Rosenberg did down there?
A. I never noticed anything of Rosenberg's in my area. This Rosenberg detachment became known to me for the first time here from the documents. But this was not a troops unit, this was a handful of people who had the task of doing a certain amount of research work. Rosenberg, for instance, as becomes clear from the documents here had regarded the Balkans also as part of his sphere of influence and sent out his people in order to carry out some tasks which were of importance or at least he regarded them as being important for what he did generally, and of course, it was quite impossible to prevent these people from carrying out their tasks.
Q. General, perhaps in two or three brief words, were these tasks military ones in any sense of the word?
A. They were military ones only in so far as the small detachments had to be linked to something or other so that they could live somewhere, where they would received their food, where they would be billeted and as far as they were soldiers and members of the Wehrmacht, they had to be under somebody's disciplinary supervision concerning their personal conduct, but in no case concerning the things they did on behalf of Rosenberg.
Q. And General, what did they really do? Do you know what they did these Rosenberg people?
A. I have seen it from the documents here. I, otherwise would not know what they did.
Q. The document in Volume 16, Exhibit 388, I shall conclude by putting this question to you: Did you ever know the document at the time?
A. No, I believe I indicated it before, these are notes concerning a conference among the Corps which somebody made for some purpose, possibly in order to include them in a diary, but which never left the Corps in any form of a report to the Army and I never obtained knowledge of it. It wouldn't have been possible for me to do so.
Q. Now, please, look at page 139 in Volume 16. It is page 93 in the English. This is Document 1428, which is Exhibit 393. This document refers to Croatian fighting units. At this point I might point out, your Honor, that in the document this term has been translated by "combat group" whereas just now it has been translated correctly. May I ask you to repeat this expression?
THE INTERPRETER: The expression I used was "fighting units" instead of "Combat groups."
Q. Could you tell us, General, what these fighting units were?
A. These Croatian fighting units were local organizations formed by the rural population to protect themselves against the terror of the partisans. They did their normal work in daytime and only met if and when they had to defend themselves against the partisans in their villages, or when they saw an opportunity of making surprise attacks on the partisans. These fighting units consisted for the most part of the pravoslav part of the population and were Tito's bitter enemies.
Q. Were these fighting units under the German troops?
A. No, certainly not. They were private organizations formed for their own protection. The reason that the 15th Army Corps is informed about what the fighting units did, is only because this is an incident which occurred in the area of the 15th Corps. The document also shows a typical form of extermination fight between two opposing parties in the Balkans, a form of fighting which is so typical for that part of the World. One band attacks the other and kills anything which they capture, the ill, the wounded and even the doctors.
DR. FRITSCH: May I ask to have just one moment interruption, please?
(Witness left the stand for a few moments.)
Q. Now, General, please let us look at Document Book XVII, and there on page 37, which is page 52 of the English, we find NOKW 174, which is Exhibit 410. The entry has been used against you in Counts 1, 2 and 4. Would you just read the headings please?
A. The headings concern Serbia, Greece and Croatia.
Q. And what area was it that was under you?
A. I was in charge only of the Croatian territory.
Q. What is the date of this report?
A. It is 29 August. That is to say three days after I arrived in the Balkans.
Q. Now, will you please read the paragraph which is headed "Croatia" on page 2 of the document.
A. It says "Political situation in the main unchanged. Cross unrest in the Zagreb area."
DR. FRITSCH: Excuse me one moment, please. May I ask whether the Tribunal has found this document? It is on page 52 of the English Document Book XVII, page 52.
Q. Please continue.
A. "In the city area--
Q. I beg your pardon?
A. "In the city area delivery of communist orders to report for active duty, under the threat that members will be killed in case of disobedience and their possessions destroyed. The population of the neighborhood of Zagreb is forbidden by the bandits to bring provisions into the city under penalty of death." All I wanted to say about that is that the calling up orders were delivered with threats. That means calling up orders issued by the partisans, not calling up orders issued by a German or Croatian agency. Then it also is stated that the population had been forbidden by the bandits at the death penalty to bring food into the town. I am not clear in how much this document is supposed to incriminate anyone.
Q. General, let us continue, but I might point out here that the same reports is contained on page 86, in the same document book. This is Exhibit 418, and it is Document NOKW 44. Will you please look at page 43 the same Document Book, which is page 58 of the English. This is Exhibit 411, and is Document NOKW 157. This document has been used against you; did you have anything to do with this in your area?
A. No, these are daily reports by the military commander and concern only Serbia and Greece, and say nothing about Croatia. I am unable to see what could be incriminating in this document.
Q. At that time you were not even in charge of part of Serbia or Greece, were you?
A. No, certainly not.
Q. Then please look at Document Book XVIII on page 15 and page 12 of the English. You will find there NOKW 161, which is Prosecution Exhibit 432. This document has been used to incriminate you under Counts 1 and 3, and perhaps you could tell me whether this document was applicable to your area?
A. I can only say the same again, these are all areas which have nothing to do with me at all, nor could I see what would be incriminating in this document.
Q. This was page 12 of the English Book. Now, please look at page 16, which is page 13 of the same book in English; it is NOKW 708, Exhibit 433. This has been used to incriminate you on Counts 1 and 3. What connection does this document have with you?
A. Here we have an entry concerning Croatia. It says that a few enemy aircraft had flown into the area of Zagreb, and Karlovac, that they had attacked an armored train with their weapons, had wounded the crew and the mechanics. That is all there is to it. I don't see what there is to incriminate me there.
Q. And please look at page 434, which is page 17 of the English. This is Exhibit 434, page 17 of the English, NOKW 661, and this is supposed to incriminate you under Counts 1 and 2. This is a daily report of 11 February 1944.
Were you in charge at Albania and Croatia at the time?
A. Yes.
Q. To simplify matters, General, let me ask you this, in this report concerning the area just mentioned is there anything said about acts perpetrated by the troops under you?
A. No, certainly not. Reference is made to the Cetniks in Serbia, terror of the bands. You mean the document on page 17?
Q. It is on page 20 of the German. I beg pardon.
A. Yes, on page 1 of the original Montenegro is mentioned. Montenegro was part of my area. There is alleged street fighting between the Cetniks and the Reds mentioned. On page 2, the German Plenopetentiary General in Albania reports fighting in which the Albanian militia suffered losses in dead and wounded. The Albanian militia was a militia of the Albanian state, and did not fight against us. On page 3 the German General in Albania reports that a group of Cetniks had taken evasive action towards the Serb-Albanian border. On page 5 the sub-area headquarters report in Montenegro that during a mopping up operation enemy lost, two killed, and our own troops suffered losses three killed and 7 wounded. That is all I can see from these reports concerning my area.
DR. FRITSCH: May it please the Tribunal, I am just told that the pagination in the English Book is wrong here. May I inquire whether the Tribunal found that the pages agreed?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe so, Dr. Fritsch, although the references made by the witness include some matters that perhaps were not mentioned in the English Document Book.
MR. RAPP: I had reference to pages 17 and I believe the witness made reference to Montenegro, etc. If I did not misunderstand him. I couldn't find it at all in the document book, therefore I was worried about whether I had the right page.
THE PRESIDENT: There is no reference to Montenegro in the Document Book I have on page 17.
DR. FRITSCH: I looked at the copy which the defense centre gave me and examined it once more last night lest there be confusion in the courtroom. According to those copies, page 17 would have been the correct number, but I must confess that concerning the one point which we touched on yesterday I had to look at a different page number in the document book I have got. I am extremely sorry, but there is nothing very much I can do.
THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed.
Q: General, we are still concerned with Document Book 18, NOKW 717, which is on page 26 of the German and page 22 of the English. It is Exhibit 435, NOKW 717. This document has been used to incriminate you under all four counts. It is the daily report of the Military Commander Southeast of March 4, 1944. Would you please tell us what passages concern your area, and what the meaning of these paragraphs is?
A: On page 2 of the document the German general in Albania reports that the British had for some days been para chuting arms and gold from airplanes.
On page 4 the German General in Croatia reports that on the Zagreb-Semlin main line two armored trains were involved in fighting with bands. The General in Albania reports that a number of British had parachuted down near Tirana. On page 5 the German General in Albania reports that by Nationalist 5 British parachutists had been captured and handed over, one of which had been killed. I wish to state about that that these nationalists meant Nationalist bands who captured these British. They were, of course, not under the Army and it was the bands who killed this British soldier. And then on page 8 the German General in Croatia reported that a number of railroads were blown up by partisans. The General in Albania reports that the oil installations in Deboli were on fire. That the Albanian Volksbund demands the incorporation of Sandzaks. On page 10 it is reported from Montenegro that during a pursuit along Groto-Budea road losses amounting to 5 were suffered and one aircraft shot down. Pursuit along the road means pursuit by British planes of vehicles which drove along the roads. There is another report about an exploding mine, on page 12. There are political differences within the Montenegro. In Albania band attacks are reported against our own bases. And on the next page, page 14, more attacks by the bands are reported and air raids over Budoa and Kumbar along the Coast. These are of course air-raids by the enemy. That is all this document contains concerning my area.
Q: You want to say in other words, that there is no act committed by your troops which is incriminating?
A: That is exactly what I want to say. I can see nothing incriminating here.
Q: Now, still in Vol, 18, look at page 40 of the German and page 29 of the English. This is document NOKW 208, Exhibit 436.
This has been used to incriminate you on Counts 1 and 3. Will you give us in a few words your comments?
A: Once again on page 1, railroad blown up. Page 2, surprise attack on German lowry; 3 German NCOs and one enlisted man dead, and 3 lorries burned; and on the last page, page 5, again rerailing of a train, and that is all.
Q: Then please look at page 57, Volume 18, which is page 54 in the English, NOKW 654, which is Exhibit 438. On page 2 of that document the German general in Albania reported that in Valona 5 communists were shot and there is a reference on page 5 to an order. This document has been used to incriminate you under Counts 1 and 3. May I ask you does this concern you and your area, and if so how?
A: On page 2 there is a report by the General in Albania, and that concerns my area, because Albania was part of it. Now, as it states here that in Valona 5 communists have been shot, I cannot comment on this for a number of reasons, -first, it does not say who shot the communists, was it the troops of the Army or of the General in Albania who was not under me, or of the bands; and then it does not say why they were shot, whether they were shot in a fight or during mopping up operations or as part of a reprisal measure. It is impossible to give comments on this. Then I find another entry here on page 5 which concerns my area, Here Tito orders his 16th and 17th Division to capture Banjabasta. That is scarcely incriminating. On the contrary it was simply a matter that was highly unpleasant, because Banjabasta was a point where Tito pressed further into Serbia.
Q: The last document in Document Book 18, is on page 86 of the German and page 88 of the English, which is Exhibit 440 NOKW 668. This is supposed to incriminate you under Counts 1 and 4. Will you give us your comments briefly, but tell us particularly about the position within the channel of authority of the SS Divisions Skanderbeg.