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.
A: On the 2nd page the Military Commander Southeast reports something which comes from the German in Albania that the SS Division Skanderbeg had arrested 300 Jews. I should say about that, that the SS divisions was being formed at the time. While I was there only one regiment had been established, and I heard that no more was done later. This division was under the authority of the representative and plenopotentiary of the Reichsfuehrer SS in Albania, in every sense of the word, while it was being formed. And during the forming period only from case to case and time to time elements of the division were used for fighting purposes by the 21st Group. These elements were thereupon for tactical purposes under their orders, but otherwise this formation while it was being formed had nothing to do with the 21st Group or the Army. Now, as it is reported here that these people had arrested 300 Jews, they can only have done so on orders by their experts along the channel which reaches up as far as Himmler, but never on orders given by the 21st Corps or the Army, which was not interested at all in things like that.
THE PRESIDENT: We will take our morning recess at this time.
(Thereupon a 15--minute recess was taken)
Court No. V, Case No. VII.
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal is again in session.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Marshal, I wonder if we might have some fresh air in here. I think in the future at recess if we could get a little fresh air it might be advisable.
DIRECT EXAMINATION - Continued BY DR. FRITSCH:
Q General, we only have a few questions left concerning the problem of the Balkan area. Just recently we have discussed quite a number of Daily Reports of the Commander Southeast, and I would like to put one concluding question to you.
Did you read all of those reports at the time?
A You may rest assured that I did, on principle, not read the reports of the Military Commander Southeast, and I would not think that they were even submitted to me. As you have seen yourself, these reports did not contain anything that could be of possible interest to me. When I looked at the photostats I saw quite a number of these reports. All of these merely bear the initials of my Chief of Staff and there is not a single sign that I looked at them.
Q We then turn to Document Book XIX.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Fritsch, before we turn to Document Book XIX may I ask the Witness to again refer to Document Book XVIII, Page 89, and there is a comment there made as to the 300 Jews arrested in Kristina by SS Division Skanderbeg. I do not know what the German pagination is.
DR. FRITSCH: That is Page 86 of the German if you are referring to Exhibit 440, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. This was commented upon just before our morning recess.
BY THE PRESIDENT:
Q General Rendulic, I do not want to embarrass you by asking any question that might in some way embarrass you, but I would like to submit this question. You can answer it if you care to.
Under International Law, as I understand it, the Commander in Court No. V, Case No. VII.
Chief of a territory is responsible for the administration of that territory is he not?
A Concerning my own Army this did not apply. The administration of the area was the task of the Military Commander Southeast and his agencies. Those were the German General in Albania and the German Plenipotentiary General in Croatia. Those two General were not under me. They were only subordinate to the Military Commander Southeast. The administration of these two countries, Croatia and Albania, was in the hands of the countries themselves. They were independent states which were under a pact and a friendly relation with Germany.
Q Well, what I'm getting at, General, you or some German authority were in charge of Albania.
A Yes, but merely in a military respect. In this respect Albania was under the Second Panzer Army. That was the Army of which I was in charge. Concerning the sphere of administration, the Army had nothing to say or to do neither in Croatia nor in Serbia.
Q Well, as to the arrest of these 300 Jews by the SS Division, that was a part of the administration of the country of Albania was it not? That was during the administration or the handling of it in some military way, or the action by some military unit?
A To the best of my knowledge and judgment of the conditions this was an action by the representative of the Reich Fuehrer SS in Albania. That is, the SS leader Fitzthum who was previously mentioned in a document. This can only be a matter which fell into Himmler's sphere of interest and activity, never in the sphere of the Army.
Q What I'm getting at is that, as the Commanding Officer in charge of that territory, under International Law, there then arises a responsibility for the action taken by the various units in that territory. Is that a correct rule of International Law?
A Yes, he can only carry the responsibility if the units concerned are subordinate to him. But concerning the sphere of administration there was a special organization which was embodied in the Military Court No. V, Case No. VII.
Commander Southeast. He was the man who was solely responsible for all administrative matters, if no special affairs of Albania and Croatia are concerned which would fall into the sphere of sovereignty of those countries.
Q Well, can a Commanding officer in charge of a territory such as Albania relieve himself of responsibility for an act such as the arrest of 300 Jews by saying that action was taken by some other unit of which he, at least claims, over which he had no authority? Now, maybe I'm asking a question that you don't wish to answer, but I would like to get your conception of this problem of International Law.
A Yes, I'd very much like to answer it. There was, after all, one person who was to be held responsible as a result of the German organization, such as it existed in the Balkans. This person was to be responsible for everything that went on in the administrative sphere, and that was the Military Commander. Concerning everything that went on in a purely military respect the Army Group is responsible, and the Army in its corresponding area. This is the way it was ordered and regulated by the Supreme German leadership, and I think we have heard this here on several occasions. It would have been quite impossible for me to interfere with any administrative matters because I would then have overstepped my sphere of competency that was assigned to me. Now, concerning International Law, insofar as I can judge on the spur of the moment, I must say that the regulation that any military commander is responsible for events and that he is also responsible for the way the administration is arranged, the way it is provided for by the Hague Rules for Land Warfare, the German organization created this post of a man who was responsible. This post existed. It was filled by the person of the Military Commander, and there the way of organizing things down there, International Law was complied with. Unfortunately all this is not very clear because, as a result of the regulation of the channels of command, tactical leadership was completely separated from the administration.
THE PRESIDENT: Do other members of the Tribunal wish to question on this matter?
You may proceed.
DR. FRITSCH: May it please the Tribunal, I would like to continue in this line of questioning quite briefly. The Court will remember that yesterday on direct examination I submitted for identification the document Rendulic No. 1 and it was given identification number "1-a." This document is a map which gives a survey of the administration of that area.
Q General, do you have that sketch in front of you?
A Yes.
DR. FRITSCH: May it please the Tribunal, I tried yesterday on the basis of this sketch to illustrate the separation of authority.
Q Could I ask you, General, to explain to the Tribunal on hand of this sketch and other vertical lines which I made yesterday the folLowing? Will you please answer this question. Looking at the sketch and looking at the agencies which appear on the right of the vertical line, what did these agencies represent?
A On the basis of this sketch we see the relation between the tactical or operational leadership and the administration. This vertical line which goes through this sketch shows the complete segregation of the purely military and tactical leadership and the administrative agencies. We see on this sketch on the left of the vertical line the highest operational and tactical unit in the Balkans was Army Group F, Commander-in-Chief Southeast. On the right and segregated from it we see the Military Commander Southeast who only had a very loose connection with Army Group F; and on the right of this Military Commander South East we find the Higher SS and Police Leader. He again had only a very loose connection with the man on the left of him, the Military Commander Southeast.
These three highest agencies in the Balkans are parallel to each other and if we then turn to the 2nd Panzer Army with which we are concerned here we find that army was under Army Group F as demonstrated by the line connecting the two and we see no official channel to the other side of the vertical line. There is no connection to the Military Commander Southeast or to the administration represented by him.
We further see from this sketch how the administration was subdivided. The following agencies are subordinate to the Military Commander Southeast. In Serbia in his immediate area there are the Administrative Sub-Area Headquarters, et cetera; then the German Plenipotentiary Generals in Albania, in Croatia and in Greece. Those generals are subordinate to him.
This sketch does not show the very restricted spheres of influence which the generals in Albania and Croatia had which was a consequence of the fact that these two countries were not German administration but were independent, sovereign states which looked after their own administration.
Q General, may I now put a question to you? If we think of the conception of executive power where were the executive powers located, right or left of the vertical line?
A It is on the right of the vertical line where the Military Commander Southeast is mentioned but there again is an exception. In Croatia and Albania the German Military agencies did not have executive power. In these countries executive power was in the hands of the indigenous governments and the German Plenipotentiary Generals in these countries were only to represent the military claims of their agencies to the executive indigenous governments.
Q General, if now in conclusion of this question I may make a comparison, let us say, with for instance our own country, the chief of a large administrative area -- for instance, in Germany, a province -and within that administrative area we assume an army, the head of this army would the Commanding General.
Let us look at this comparison from peacetime and let us make a comparison with this sketch and how would you make this comparison?
A It is not very simple to follow your line of thought but I shall try.
Q Maybe I can put it a little clearer. Looking at this sketch, who would be the man who is the head of the province or let me take an example from the United States. Who is the governor of the state -on the right or on the left?
A That would be a person who would have to be on the right of the vertical line.
Q And the Commanding General of the Military unit which by chance happens to be in that area -- where would he be on this sketch?
A He would be on the left of the vertical line because he would have no connection with any administrative affairs.
Q I would then like to leave this particular complex. Previously, I had mentioned, General, that we don't particularly want to look at Document Book XIX. Instead we will turn to Document Book XX and there we will look at page 89. Will you please open your document book on that page? This is page 125 of the English text. That is Document Book XX, page 125 of the English text. This is Document NOKW 1556 which is Exhibit 477. I would like you to turn to the last page of this exhibit. You are charged with Counts 1 and 2 with reference to this document. The document concerns the arrest of band members, et cetera. Will you make brief comments on it?
A The report of the 5-SS Mountain Corps reports that a mopping-up operation has been concluded and the report further states that 332 band suspects were arrested and 10 were shot to death. I would like to say the following with regard to this document.
One has to concede that the arrest of band suspects in a larger number on the occasion of a mopping-up of an area is justified. The number of the band suspects undoubtedly depends on the size of the area concerned and on the number of the population in that area. The report further says: "10 shot to death." The troops were not consistent in the use of their designation. Sometimes a man shot in combat action was designated as shot and on another occasion a man who was shot for reprisal measures was also designated merely as shot. From this sentence, "10 shot to death," we cannot conclude whether these people were killed in combat or for any other reason.
If I may say here now in actual fact these things would have occurred, what would have happened if this report had been orally reported to me, then I would have been in a position to clarify whether these 10 people had been shot for any particular reason or whether they had been killed during combat. If such a report was not clearly expressed then the responsible officer, who in this case would have been the "I-a", made inquiry immediately what these 10 shot people were. He would have immediately tried to find out why were there 332 band suspects, were there several villages and for what reason were they arrested and he would have made inquiry so that he would be prepared for every question which I might ask because my officers had to give explanations when orders and reports came in and something was not clear. If the officers concerned could not give me the proper information immediately I would give him a piece of my mind in a very friendly manner. It was in order to evade this criticism of mine, that every unclear expression in every report was always clarified for me and if anything was contained in a report which was open to discussion this was immediately followed up.
Q General, I would now like you to have a look at Document Book XXIV. It will be given to you. What I want you to look at there is the photograph which you find there as Exhibit 536. That is Document NOKW-1807. It is on page 158 of the English text and on page 114 of the German text -- page 158 of the English text. I do not have to put an introduction or any question to this photograph. Would you explain it, please?
A This photograph shows five partisans in uniform. I can see here that the jackets of these men are of Italian origin. One wears a German pair of trousers and gaiters which are German or Italian. One of the men who is shown standing in the picture wears undoubtedly a German coat. There can be no question about that. Only the caps seem to be uniformly of Italian origin.
If this photograph is to show the fact that partisans wore uniforms, then I am afraid I will have to say that the wearing of these uniforms was a violation of International Law on the part of the partisans.
Q Witness, let's now turn to Document Book XXV. We will have a look at a document there which is on page 2 of both the German and the English text. Would you turn up page 2? You find Document NOKW-812 there which has the exhibit number 557. There is some talk here about prisoners in Serbian concentration camps. Do you know anything about this affair or did you know anything about this affair and if so what?
A Serbian concentration camp prisoners had nothing to do with the army. It is the first time here that I see this report. It appears to be an entry in a war diary. Even if this had reached the army nobody would have had the idea to submit anything of that kind to me. The transport of these prisoners from Albania to a mine in Serbia is discussed here. This mine again had nothing to do with the army. In accordance with my knowledge of the situation this could have been an affair of the Higher SS and Police Leader who would have approached the 21st Mountain Corps with the request to put the trucks for the transport at his disposal.
I would think that the corps complied in accordance with the order which existed for all agencies and for all areas to support each other where possible. There is nothing more I can say about this.
Q And now to another document in the same document book; it is NOKW-1790, Exhibit 558, on page 3 of the German and page 4 of the English text. This exhibit contains a number of reports by the 15th Mountain Corps dated October 1943. That was a period of time where this corps was commanded by General Lueters. Did you see this report?
A The first report I do not know. I never gained knowledge of it. Then on the fourth page of this document I see an entry of the 373rd Division according to which 7 hostages were arrested and two localities were burned down. The 373rd Division was a Croatian division. It was stationed in an area which required quite a number of operations because it contained a great number of partisan villages. The reason is not given here why these two villages were burned down. They might have been burned down during a combat action but it is also possible that they were burned down as reprisal measures -- yes, it does say here it is a reprisal measure. It says, "These two villages were burned down as a reprisal measure"; but in spite of this I would not be in a position to say -and I don't believe anybody would be in a position to say -- whether or not this measure was justified because the reason for the measure is not given here.
To refer back to a practice which I previously mentioned, the man who would have verbally reported this report to me would have immediately been in a position to know why all that happened. He would have been in a position to answer my question immediately so that I would have currently been informed whether actions taken were justified or not.
On the fifth page of this document we have a report which is of a unique nature in all documents which I have got to know here. It says here: