A Yes. In 1940 a Captain Mueller, a squadron loader of a reconnaissance group, because of a misappropriation of NV funds, was sentenced to one year in jail and loss of rank. He committed that out of pure carelesness. He used the money for Festivities and for women. Otherwise, he mas a man who was an alert and good flier. General Field Marshal Milch saw to it that tho sentence mas reduced to three months in jail without loss of rank and that tho man was put in the squadron for activity at the front.
Q Do you know of tho case Rautenbach?
A Yes, I do remember this case. Rautenbach was a man from the aluminum Industry. He had his factory in Reinland-Westfalen. Then his factory had to be transferred to another place because of tho air raids, and it was rebuilt in Berniger-Rhode. For that purpose, the Bank for Aviation had given a certain transfer credit, and out of this credit the machinery had to be bought for the factory in Berninger-Rhode. Rautenbach took out of this money, which was intended solely for tho outfitting of the factory, 800,000 Marks and he built a beautiful villa. According to the regulations of the war economy, this was not permitted. The members of the staff announced this, and General Field Marshall Milch ordered the Field Tribunal to investigate immediately. His words were as follows: "Catch the guy and shoot him to death," he said. "I want to have this matter investigated immediately." When I wanted to leave the room, Milch told me, "As far as that goes, he is my best aluminum expert. He has accomplished the biggest quotas, also, in the remelting process, please be rather careful with him as to how this matter develops." Between the first words and the statements made later on there were only a few minutes, but his whole attitude had changed within those few minutes.
Rautenbach, who was then in Berninger-Rhode, was examined there and transferred to Berlin for further examination. Then I personally went to see Milch. I told him that the sum of 600,000 Harks was highly exaggerated and that in a construction contingent of five or six millions, 70,000 Harks, approximately, had been used for rebuilding the villa. That is how the matter became entirely different. However, in itself it was still punishable.
1383a The final decision was that there would not be any proceedings until the end of the war.
Milch discussed the matter with Rautenbach and told him to be worthy of this concession and, "I hope that your output will be increased by thirty per cent." Quite a few months later I happened to be in the ante-room of the Field Director whoso name I don't remember when Milch came out of his office and, with tho friendliest smile on his face, told me, "You see, Rautenbach has already increased his output by 15 per cent."
Q That is enough. He wanted to have the man shot first, and then a few minutes later he said, "Be careful with him?"
A Yes, that is the way it happened frequently.
Q Do you remember a case where ho tried to bring people over to tho Luftwaffe Courts when they were in the hands of the Gestapo or who were put before special courts, in order to prevent them from being sentenced to death, which they would have had to expect?
A Yes, it occurred very often that the Gestapo captured members of the Luftwaffe and was not willing to put them before tho regular courts of the Luftwaffe. They often said that political reasons also were decisive, that the normal procedure could not be followed.
The first case which caused us trouble, that tho intrusion into the military jurisdiction should not occur, was in 1938, when a Ministerial Director, Schwartz, because of alleged monarchistic activity, was arrested by tho Gestapo.
I learned about that when I was supervisory judge in Luftgau 3, and I tried to help Schwarz, who had been with the Gestapo for ten days, and to transfer him into tho military jurisdiction. This was not quite easy. However, later on I succeeded in, with the help of Milch, General Weidl, and the Chief of the Luftwaffe Jurisdiction, von Hammerstein, the Ministerial Director, I succeeded in bringing this military director, Schwarz, before a military tribunal and to remove him from captivity of the Gestapo. Later on, on the basis of innocence, he was acquitted, pardoned, and upon application of Milch he was used as a military director again, in which position ho remained until the end of the war. A further case was the arrest of the two directors of Radio OPTA, which used to be Radio Loewe, who had boon arrested by the Gestapo because of alleged economy sabotage. In reality, however, there were rather small differences and monetary discrepancies between these two and the Gauleiter Goerlitzer, They had been sent to the Concentration Camp Oranienburg. Milch called me up and I was asked to go immediately to the Gostapo and talk to them in my official capacity. I actually succeeded in, on the basis of the proof that there were personal differences between tho two - or the three, rather - I succeeded in frocing both of them within four days from the Concentration Camp Oranienburg. The personnel of Radio OPTA was rather bothered by the arrest of these two people because both of them had a good name in that radio station, particularly Reader, because he started as a simple employee.
Q Thank you, that is sufficient. Do you remember the case Schleich, and can you toll me something about it?
A Schleich had been sentenced to death.
Q. No, that isn't right, There is something else, too. I'm sorry. Would you tell me the case of the -- Obergofreiter who had boon sentenced to death because ho had used strong expressions concerning Hitler, and who had then been pardoned by Milch, or at least, whoso pardon had been proposed by Milch?
A Yes, that was towards the end of summer or early in autumn, 1943.
1385a all air raid had taken place in Berlin and somebody was on leave from the regiment of Goering.
A man had lost his wife and his child. I don't remember. In any case, he had lost quite a few of his relatives. The next day, as they were all in an air raid shelter and the people there were being fed, he used very strong expressions concerning the Fuehrer, Hitler, that is, and also concerning the Luftwaffe and its lack of defensive power. In a field tribunal he was sentenced to death, because of subversive activities against the Wehrmacht. Milch in this case put in a good word for him, which Was then sent to Goering, and asked whether these people, who under psychological strain made such remarks, had to be given consideration to a certain extent. He said the sentence later on was reduced and, as far as I know, the man, after two or three months in jail, came back to his regiment. In any case, the death sentence was withdrawn on the basis of Milch's intervention.
Q Witness, is it correct that, since he did not have that first Z.B.V., that you gave Milch a man by the name of Schleich, as a legal adviser?
Yes. From October 1942 to January or February 1943 he stayed there, and then in February the Field Court went to General KastnerKirdorf, who at the same time had the office of pardoning. However, as there were too many judicial questions concerning civilians, the central division of jurisdiction, the Oberfeldrichter Schleich was given to Milch and was put at his disposal permanently, who spoke to me concerning Milch, and also concerning the cooperation between the two, during which time he used a term concerning Milch, the cooperation would be good. I am sorry, I shall use the term exactly as Schleich used it: "Dogs that bark do not bite."
Q Witness, since we know the judicial powers of this department, could you answer my question: If Milch had any possibility, any legal possibility whatsoever, to sentence prisoners of war to death?
A The Luftwaffe had. nothing at all to do with prisoners of war. The whole prisoners of war question was under the army, so that a procedure of the Luftwaffe against prisoners of war was absolutely impossible. If prisoners of war - if anything happened with prisoners of war, then a report had to be sent to the respective army courts and the army courts then proceeded against.
1386 A PW's. This was a very difficult procedure.
The protective power had to be informed of it and then, with many copies, had to be sent to OKW, and various other organizations. In all these six years of the war I did not know of any case in which the Luftwaffe acted or proceeded against PW.'s. In any case I know for sure that none of the military courts which were under me ever carried out a procedure against prisoners of war.
Q Would the Wehrmacht have permitted such a proceeding?
A What kind of a proceeding?
Q If Mr. Milch himself would have passed a death sentence?
A This would have caused a storm in the justice. The Luftwaffe Justice, or justice, would no longer have permitted such a thing to happen, namely, that an officer, who could have used his power in judicial questions; that is absolutely impossible.
Q Witness, you tell us that this investigation followed that case. Did you find out how Udet died?
A Yes. Together with present Dr. Koel, Minister Director Dr. Ernst, I carried out a thorough investigation. All personal friends of Udet were examined. Udet, in July and August 1941, had been sick due to grippe, flu; and due to having drunk too much alcohol, and he was very weak, constitutionally, that is. When he recuperated after a long time, and slowly, the Rich Program had just been completed, concerning air armament and which put air armament in a new program Oasis. Udet, due to various facts, and due also to his disease, was very little informed of this program. He told this to Reich Marshal, whereupon the Reich Marshal noticed the lack of knowledge of Udet and also his poor physical condition. He understood that. There was a long discussion in the garden of Karin Hall, which ended in Udet's taking six weeks leave in order to go to Buehlerhoehe and to rehabilitate his health there. He did that; then he came back. However, he believed that he had lost Goering's confidence in him, and he said in the following weeks, about early in October or towards the middle of October, he mentioned repeatedly to his friend Mrs.
Bleile that he was thinking of suicide. Early in November, in the evening, he asked his Chief of Staff to come and 1387A see him - General Ploch and General Lucht, where he said that he had lost confidence, and he was very pessimistic on that evening.
A lot of cognac was drunk that evening and it Was one o'clock in the morning. All the gentlemen who had been at Udet's party came in his apartment on Heerstrasse, they came back, that is, toward 7:30 in the morning.
Mrs. Bleile, who, as far as I can remember, lived in Wannsee, received a phone call from Udet. He said he wanted to say goodbye to her. He was sick and tired of his life and he was going to end it. She should not try to change his mind for him. Mrs. Bleile told him that she would arrive immediately, she would go and see him immediately, where upon Udet told her, "It's not worth while. You will not find me alive any more when you come." Thereupon he hung up the receiver. Mrs. Bleilo immediately telephoned a friend of hers and together with him she drove from Wannsee to Heerstrasse. The apartment was closed there. The butler there had been sent for various errands by Udet. after a few minutes, however, he returned. When they entered the apartment, they found Generaloberst Udet dead in his bed. He had committed suicide with a Colt pistol, by shooting himself in the right temple. The exit of the bullet was on the left hand part of the skull and went from the right, front part of the head to the left, upper part of the head. There was a letter in which Udet made final dispositions concerning his assets, particularly concerning his memoirs of the first world war, Which Koerner received, and a few other things.
BR. BERGOLD: Thank you, witness. I have no further questions to the witness, Your Honors.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. DENNEY:
Q. Witness, were you in tho Luftwaffe?
A. Yes, I was.
Q. When did you enter?
A. I entered the Luftwaffe on the first of April,1935.
Q. And you stayed until the end of the War?
A. Yes, I stayed there until the end of the War.
Q. And were your duties always in the legal department of the Luftwaffe?
A. No. I was never in tho legal department of tho Luftwaffe, but I was always a supervisory judge in various courts in Koenigsberg, the field court, Braunschweig, and after 1938 supervisory judge in the field court, Berlin, of the Luftwaffe. I stayed in Berlin until 1939. Then I was in France during the first campaign as supervisory judge with the First Land Corps. Then in Autumn, 1940, I returned from France, and from then on until the first of January, 1944, I was supervisory judge for the field courts of the Luftwaffe, for the Luftgau III and IV; that is Berlin and Dresden, the division courts and the flak: courts the courts of the War, school courts and tho Z.B.V. special courts also belonged to that.
Q. Well, you always acted as a judge in a supervisory capacity, didn't you, that is, in the years 1939 to 1945 ?
A. No. In a general supervisory capacity mainly in regard to administration end my main task was to be examiner so that during the whole War I passed very f aw sentences myself. I was prosecutor and my main task Was the administrative part among other tasks also the training of the reserve judges and the personnel administrative part for these people which at the time amounted to from one hundred to one hundred ten judges and five hundred people as personnel.
Q. What was your rank?
A. My rank last was office with supreme authority Generalrickfer. I became general judge on the 24th of January 1945.
Q. What were you before that?
A. Before that I was Oberst judge from August, 1941, until my promotion 1389(a) to general judge.
Q. An Oberst judge is like a colonel , isn't it?
A. Yes, indeed.
Q. Now were you familiar with the Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention?
A. Yes. They were familiar to me. We also had various teaching courses from 1937 to '38. Through the Division for International Law in the OKW and on the basis of those teaching courses, the Ten Commandments were written in the Soldier's Book of every soldier and brought to the attention of every soldier.
Q. Do you know those Ton Commandments that appeared in the Soldier's Book?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Will you tell what they were?
A. Protection of private property, the enemy population must be outside of the War itself, the Ban on destruction of non-military buildings, furthermore, protection of the wounded and the prisoner of war, the enemy prisoner of war. These are the ten main commandments and also the protection of private property. These were the main points.
Q. Those were in a little book that was carried by every soldier in the German Army please let me finish. These precepts which you hare just enumerated for us were sot forth in the first page of a little book known as a sold-buch, 4 soldier's book?
A. Yes, the sold-buch; that's correct.
Q. Which was carried by everyone in the German Armed Forces?
A. Yes, indeed.
Q. So you had that sold-buch, didn't you?
A. Yes, indeed, I did.
Q. Every soldier had that sold-buch?
A. Yes, every soldier did.
Q. And the Field Marshal?
A. That I do not know if the Field Marshal himself had such a sold 1390(a) buch.
In any case, even the General and up to the General, every soldier had a booklet like that.
Q. Well, everybody didn't become a Field Marshal over night, did they?
A. No. That's correct; everyone has to be in the other ranks too. Every soldier gets this sold-buch, which also contains a record of his pay. However, if he gets the sold-buch that I do not know, because I did not Have so many dealings with the Field Marshal myself.
Q. Well, you know Milch pretty well, didn't you?
A. No. I only had official dealings with him -- if I am to guess as to oho date -- fifteen to eighteen tines. That is all. I tried to remember the actual number of tines I met him. however, I think this was the number, And all these meetings were just short informational meetings which usually took from fifteen to twenty minutes and not over that.
Q. In the investigation of Rudolf Udet's, did you talk to Milch?
A. General Field Marshal Milch was Called as a witness and examined as such. He was examined and questioned as to questions of armament and also as to the program and of his ideas on that program. Furthermore, General Jeschonek, General Field Marshal von Richter and various other members and people were examined, and the opinion of the Generals was to be found out, how their attitude was toward the program. Everyone of them Was to give his opinion if he approved of it or if he disapproved of this program. In any case, everyone of them had. to make a brief free statement in order to get a true picture of the reason for the big slumps in production of Materials for the Luftwaffe.
Q. Well, under Udet's leadership as Generalluftzeugmeister, the performance of the Luftwaffe so far as production was concerned of airplanes, motors and other things that had to do with keeping the Luftwaffe in the air had not been satisfactory.
A. No, this is a historical mistake to think that under the leadership of General Oberst Udet the Luftwaffe had reached his peak. The development of a plane, took three to four years -- that is, the body itself -- and the development and construction and testing, that took two to three years, the 1391 (a) engine, four years.
All that which had been available in the Luftwaffe in 1939 and '40 had been planned and worked out by General Weber, who approximately crashed in 1936 -- '37, and after General Oberst had taken over his official position, a new planning or rather a progressive program had not taken place. And everything became stagnant, that is why the Luftwaffe failed completely from 1942 to '44 in stopping the attacks. however, after the end of Udet, the air armament had started a new development stage.
Q. In other words, it was after Udet died that the air armament went into a new phase of development and began to improve?
A. Yes, indeed. They tried to build a stronger engine, and efforts were made for a new development of the engine between 1300 and 1200 PS; the total aggregate tried to reach that after they had tried to use the engine in one and DB 9; and also they tried to solve this problem by using both engines the DB 805 on a single crankshaft, that, is, in order to gain the necessary number of PS for stronger engines. PS means horsepower. This attempt however, failed.
Q. When you went up to; let's take this. How do you spell the name of this man who was the aluminum specialist, who was accused of misappropriating some funds which had been allocated for the purpose of machinery; whose case you investigated. How do you spell his name?
A. Rautenbach.
Q. You are sure his name is Rautenbach, and not Rautenberger?
A. No, Rautenbach, yes, indeed.
Q. You say that he did not steal 800,00 marks; he only stole about 200,00 is that right?
A. It was not a real theft because it belonged to the factory and all the credits which had been given by the bank for the Luftwaffe had to be paid back any way. Ho actually just misappropriated this money, in so far as he received special money for building, which he usually would not have been able to get because they were under the war economy plea.
Q. That was a comparatively minor matter; it didn't amount to much any way.
A. Yes, indeed; it was rather minor offense; it was more of an action which should not have taken place in war, and according to regulations concerning war economy were punishable.
Q. And you are not aware that he has ever been tried, are you?
A. No, there was no trial. He had just been arrested, but he was considered a free nan; and in the company of six others he was taken to Berlin and then on the same day he had a discussion with Milch and so far as I know he went back to Oranienburg on Saturday.
Q. Well, the answer is "no", is that right?
A. I don't quite understand, would you repeat the question?
Q. The answer is "no", is that right?
A. Do you want to know if he was put before a war court?
Q. That is all I asked you.
A. Then, in that case, the proceeding formally had been entered against him, and then this proceeding on the basis of Milch's order, as authority in this field, was said to be stopped until at the end of the war on a probationary basis.
Q. You made an investigation and Milch said : "Let's stop; this man is a good aluminum man, And it was stopped.
A. Yes, it was the right of every supreme judge to interrupt the proceeding until the end of the war, if the guilty crime is not as important as to necessitate and immediate proceeding.
Q. Now, another time you went up to Oranienburg, do you remember that in connection with these two gentlemen from Radie OPTA?
A. No. I was not at Oranienburg myself, but only these two, Riedel and Moissner from Division 4 were picked up from there and brought to my Field court; at Steglitz Riedel and Moissner made strong remarks that his hair had been cut off in the concentration camp; they had to have their hair cut very short.
Q. Who did you talk to when you got these people released from Oranienburg?
A. Concerning that matter, I spoke with a regierungsdirector, in Division 4. If I remember right.
Q. Do you know who ran Oranienburg?
A. No. I don't.
Q. Do you know who was in charge of the concentration camps in Germany?
A. It was known that the concentration camps were under the Gestapo.
Q. Under the Gestapo; didn't the SS have anything to do with it?
A. Concerning the SS, which was an absolutely different part of the Wehrmacht, or rather political part or the Wehrmacht, we know nothing, but we even did not know anything about the disposition and the organizational chart of this organization because the Wehrmacht went its own way and the other went its own way.
Q. You didn't know the SS had anything to do with concentration camps, did you?
A. Oh, yes, of course I did. Everybody knew that in Germany.
Q. Everybody in Germany knew about that?
A. If it was known to every one, I don't know, but one can really say that the larger part of the population knew that the concentration camps were under the supervision of the SS.
Q. What did they use the concentration camps for?
A. I only know that now from the daily press; In any case witnesses were shown to me who had been in the concentration camps and among them was a homosexual who had misled forty juveniles and had also relations of that sort to soldiers at Langwitz and had formed a real homosexual circle; and there were also incurable homosexuals in the concentration camp.