A. I believe not.
DR. FRITSCH: Thank you. I have no further questions, Your Honor.
Just one moment, please.
I have no further questions, Your Honor.
MR. RAPP: The Prosecution had no further questions, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Are there any questions desired to be asked by members of the Tribunal -- Judge Carter?
JUDGE CARTER: No.
THE PRESIDENT: Judge Burke?
JUDGE BURKE: I have none.
THE PRESIDENT: The witness may be excused
MR. RAPP: If Your Honors, please, we would like to turn now to Document Book 23. If Your Honors will turn to page 1, please, of the Document Book 23, and this is also on page 1 of the German Document Book. This is a report in the nature of a decision made by the Police Chief in Finmark in the town of where the Norwegian Government carried on an intensive investigation of war crimes committed by the 20th Army during that time.
DR. FRITSCH: Mr. President, in order to save time I would like to object now against the submission of these documents. These are not official documents at all, they are just reports of the general atmosphere, without any reference material of any kind, and it is a report which has not been sworn to, and from which nothing becomes evident, and it has no similarity with any acceptive evidence material or any probative value.
MR. RAPP: Most of the documents contained in this document book are similar to this Document No. 1. They were put at our disposal by the liaison officer and representative of the Attorney General's office in Norway. He has made out the covering certificate which I will offer at the end of this presentation, that all of these affidavits have been submitted to him, they have been taken in his presence or by persons working there in conjunction with and under his authority, and we submit that we would like to have these documents admitted into evidence, and your Honor yourself should decide how far the probative value of these documents should be adjudged.
THE PRESIDENT: First, may I inquire, Mr. Rapp, if the affidavits or depositions are in the form which has been approved by the Tribunals, or the rules for the Tribunals?
MR. RAPP: If Your Honor, please, I would like to pass up to you the affidavit so you may decide yourself as to whether this would meet with your requirements.
THE PRESIDENT: I think then your preliminary proof should be presented first, rather than the affidavits and the supporting certificate.
MR. RAPP: As Your Honors will note that many of these affidavits are made at a time, or quite a number of these affidavits were made at a time by the Norwegian Government when Ordnance No. VII was not known either to this Tribunal or to us, and the Norwegian Attorney General has travelled around extensively in these Northern parts or Norway and has gotten these affidavits on the basis they are used to, that is according to their laws and their regulations, and I do not know whether or not the affidavits as they are today will comply meticulously to the rules laid down in Ordinance No. VII. Nevertheless, I will have Colonel Volestad, who took these affidavits and who is present here and who could also, if the Court so chooses, take the stand in order to give the Court information as to how these affidavits were obtained, and the nature in which they were obtained, and elaborate on that particular rule.
DR. FRITSCH: Your Honor, may I say something to that? The first report which will be submitted with a new exhibit number, is of 14 March 1947. That is a date when doubtlessly the rules of this court were known. These rules have not been kept to. There is no explanation of any kind in these documents that they were made in forms of affidavits or that they have been sworn to.
MR. RAPP: Your Honor, as I would like to repeat, and I am sure you will appreciate this particular emphasis I am trying to make, these reports were not made by us, they were made by the Norwegian Government, and we are trying to have them submitted for whatever probative value the Tribunal wishes to give these reports.
THE PRESIDENT: You are presenting, Mr. Rapp, an affidavit which is not in the form as has been approved of by the rules laid down for these tribunals, am I correct in that?
MR. RAPP: In some cases it is true, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: That being true, can they be offered with any degree with which you could support them and on which the Tribunal could receive them.
MR. RAPP: Your Honor, we felt that it was technically not possible for us to bring all the affiants down to Nurnberg, we, therefore, we asked Col. Volestad to be present here and thought if there was any question as to the procedural value of these affidavits, the Tribunal might like to avail itself of the opportunity of talking to Col. Volestad, to see whether or not, as matter of fact, all rules were observed as laid down in Ordinance No. VII.
THE PRESIDENT: It is not for the Tribunal to satisfy itself in that respect. It seems to me it is encumbent upon the prosecution to present affidavits that are in keeping with the rules laid down for the Tribunals.
MR. RAPP: Your Honor, I have pointed out before that though Document Norway No. 1 was possibly made at a time when the rulings were known, I can see about 7 documents which were made at a time when the ordnance was not published or not known. How could we go about after this has been submitted to us to get this changed at this time? Would it be agreeable to the Tribunal if we put them in for identification, and we are trying to get the necessary rules and procedures as laid down under Ordnance VII affixed to these documents?
THE PRESIDENT: You can, number them for identification, and if you wish submit them later in what you think is the proper form to the Tribunal, and we will give consideration to them then.
MR. RAPP: Your Honor, that will be agreeable to us.
DR. FRITSCH: May I just ask, Mr. Rapp, if this applies to all the documents of this document book which are now numbered?
MR. RAPP: The documents which are in this book, although reaching us through the Norwegian government are German reports that is official German Army orders, as for instance the document Norway No. 4, Norway No. 6, Norway No. 7, Norway No. 8, Norway No. 10. These documents are regular German reports which fell into the hands of the Norwegian Government, and were turned over to us, and they have the regular certificates saying where they came from, and we believe there is no question as to the authenticity of these particular documents, so I feel we could put these in and withhold those which are in the nature of an affidavit but are not at this time admitted by the Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will receive and give consideration to the old captured army documents. If you wish to present them we will consider then one by one when they are presented. As to the others, the Tribunal is not receptive to their consideration at this time in their present form.
MR. RAPP: Your Honor, may I inquire from the Tribunal whether or not it would be acceptable to the Tribunal if the Prosecution would put Col. Volestad on the stand to testify as to the nature of these documents? This is merely in the nature of an inquiry?
DR. FRITSCH: Your Honor, this seems to be a procedure which is not in agreement with the general rules. It is important that each individual man who made these statements was conscious of having made these statements under oath. That is one of the essentials of affidavits, and that cannot be borne out by the witness either.
THE PRESIDENT: If the Prosecution wishes to call the suggested witness he may do so, and we will rule on the matters as they develop.
MR. RAPP: Very well, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: We are not telling you how to submit your case.
MR. RAPP: We appreciate this, Your Honor, I would like to in the nature of the existing rule of 24 hours, inform now the defense that we may call this colonel to testify about this.
DR. FRITSCH: Your Honor, I may call your Honors attention to the fact that this witness has been present here since the beginning of the proceedings, and in my opinion therefore he can not be examined as a witness at this point.
THE PRESIDENT: The objection will be overruled.
MR. RAPP: If Your Honor will then mark the following documents for identification only, Norway No. 1 for identification 511-A, Norway No. 2, for identification 5 -----
Am I going too fast, Your Honor?
THE PRESIDENT: No.
MR. RAPP: 511-A, Norway No. 1.
THE PRESIDENT: Where is 510?
MR. RAPP: 510 was offered, the Norwegian picture we saw last Friday.
THE PRESIDENT: And the script is 509, and 510 is the picture itself?
MR. RAPP: It is the picture itself. Norway No. 1, is 511-A, Norwa, No. 3, is 513A.
And now if your Honors will turn please, to page 11, there we have a document which is Norway 4, offered as Prosecution 514. This is a report submitted by the Mountain Army Corps, dated the 30th of October, 1944. It was at that time commanded by the previous witness, Jedl. It is secret, and the subject is: Comment of the Division Commander of the 210th Infantry Division concerning the evacuation.
To 20th (Mountain) Army High Command Enclosed I am transmitting a comment of the Commanding Officer of the 210th Infantry Division concerning the problem of evacuation with which I concur completely.
1 Enclosure (initial) J This report is dated the 29th of October, 1944, 210 Infantry Division Commanding Officer, 1c.No. 1114/44 Secret.
Stamped, Corps Headquarters, XIX Mountain Army Corps, Received 31 December 1944.
This, Your Honor, is as it actually appears on the original document. We understand that this is rather ambiguous, how this report could have been received by the XIX Army Corps on the 31st of December. Yet, on the 30th of October, it is being forwarded to the 20th Army.
If your Honors wish, I could pass this up to the bench so that you could see this yourselves.
Competent Officer : Ic Diary No. 1479/44 Secret Comment concerning the evacuation
1.) The Division has pressed for more than a year for the evacuation of the Varanger area, Repeatedly the Division approached the office of the Reichs Commissar in Kirkenes requesting it. Again and again Government Councillor Dr. Schaud as well as the present incumbent of the office, Landrat Neven explained that the Reichs Commissar in Oslo did not agree to the evacuation.
When, during the past summer Russian hostilities increased the Division again contacted the office of the Reichs Commissar in Kirkenes with the request to speedily initiate the evacuation.
The heavy air combat on Kirkenes, Vadsoe and Vardoe toward the end of August caused me to personally request the speedy evacuation of the population now. The psychological moment seemed to mo particularly suitable. Actually I was informed from many levels of the population that at that time they were willing to carry out an evacuation according to plan.
"However the evacuation measures had to remain half measures since the Reichs Commissar in Oslo rejected any compulsory evacuation. At the occasion of the evacuation of some houses in Kirkenes the Deputy of the Reichs Commissar was informed by Reichs Commissar Terboven that Reichs Commissar Terboven reserved for himself personally the evacuation of each individual house. This directive was issued because the chief of the Organization Todt, Senior Architectual Councillor Dr. Luehrs during a visit in Oslo called the attention of the Reichs Commissar to the fact that the Division intended to carry out compulsory evacuation.
When the Commander in Chief of the 20th (Mountain Army) visited the Varanger area on 26 August 1944 I submitted to him the view of the Division according to which the area from Vardoe to Vadsoe would have to be evacuated immediately in any case, if necessary compulsion. I asked him to influence the Reichs Commissar in Oslo to grant the necessary authority. However, a decision as suggested by the Division was not made.
11.) The last minute evacuation measures could not be successful as had been foretold by the Division on the basis of their knowledge of the local situattion.
The reasons for that are as follows:
1.) Transportation via sea is too dangerous; no civilian can be influenced to go aboard.
2.) Transportation possibilities via land are exhausted excepting minor possibilities, as far as the Division can see."
3.) The civilian population does not fear the danger inherent in remaining any mere than it does the dangers of transportation of any sort.
111.) At this time compulsory evacuation is to be carried out in the territory still remaining. The troops cannot be employed for this purpose without endangering the defense tasks. However, the Division is ready to round up whatever can be rounded up of the population with the organs of Reichs Commissars, of the SD and of the Secret Field Police. Here however, one must state frankly that large parts of the population have fled to the barren lands.
They no longer can be captured. That is why the Division will limit itself primarily to the settlements along the roads. In as far as that goes, the population will be ordered suddenly to evacuate and a short time limit will be set. In order to compel tho evacuation the population will simultaneously be informed that all houses will be burned down. It is tho view of the Division that this is the only way by which anything at all can still be accomplished.
At this time Sturmbannfuehrer Baberske and the Secret Field Police by agreement with the Chief of Police (Lensmann) who is reliable, are establishing the parts of the population of tho Tana area concerned. This was done at the initiative of the Division. Execution of the operation suddenly after information has been received of the actual space available for transportation. It rust be avoided that the operation brings about the assembly of larger parts of the population, who then can not be evacuated.
Permit me to point out that such compulsory measures no matter how successful individually encounter serious objections of the political kind. The short time limit and the limited transport space will make it possible to evacuate only several hundred persons.
The mass of the population which in the Tana area alone 3,000 are still living, can not be removed. One should consider whether the disadvantage arising from the bitterness of the remaining population is not larger than the advantage accruing from the evacuation of several hundred persons.
I myself believe it is more valuable to retain the high reputation of the German Wehrmacht here instead of burdening it with compulsory measures.
In addition the effect of compulsory measures can not be foreseen. It is to be feared that partisan and sabotage matters ill increase considerably in the rest of Norway to which the Corps will withdraw. Exactly these elements which have been evacuated by compulsion offer themselves for this work. On the other hand it may be advantageous if the German Wehrmacht continues its beneficial attitude toward the population until the end. It will soon become common knowledge that the Russians employ the population to compulsory labor in the territory occupied by them. With some clever propaganda we might be successful in bringing closer to us the population in the rest of Norway by exactly this procedure.
Finally I wish to state that Sturmbannfuehrer Baberske, the German Political Advisor of the Fylkesmann, who is there by order of the Reichs Commissar shares these objections.
(signed)
(illegible)
DR. FRITSCH: Your Honors, there is a certificate contained in this document, a certificate of somebody called, "Rolf Schnyder". According to my knowledge Mr. Schnyder is a member of this division. In this certificate it is certified that it is a true and correct photo copy, and that the original is in Oslo.
I think it my duty to clarify this question, because I do believe that Herr Schnyder as a member of the local prosecution, is not allowed to issue a certificate of this kind.
MR. RAPP: Your Honor, all individuals in the office Chief of Counsel of War Crimes are members of the prosecution staff. There is no independent individual, with the exception of those individuals under the Secretary General, who are not members of General Taylor's staff, and as such, serve as part of the prosecution. I believe, therefore, that the objection of the defense counsel to this particular certificate is rather irrelevant.
PRESIDENT WENNERSTRUM: May I inquire as to where the certificate is in this document book to which reference has been made.
(Mr. Rapp handed the document to the Tribunal)
PRESIDENT WENNERSTRUM: The Tribunal will give consideration to the objection just made, and during the recess period will study the matter further, and will make the necessary ruling when we reconvene after our noon recess.
The Tribunal will be in recess at this time until one-thirty this afternoon.
Court No. V, Case No. VII.
AFTERNOON SESSION (The hearing reconvened at 1330 hours.)
PRESIDENT WENNERSTRUM: The question before the Tribunal at the time of adjournment was to certain of these exhibits, and the Tribunal is of the opinion that until they have met the requirements as set out by Ordinance 7, Article 7, that they should not be admitted.
That particular article and section is very liberal, add it should not have been difficult to have covered that requirement as set out therein.
That indicates the attitude and the rulings of the Tribunal.
MR. RAPP: Your Honors, may I just point something out to the Tribunal, not in any kind of reflection as to the ruling the Tribunal has handed out, but merely in the nature that I believe there is possibly a misunderstanding on the cart of defense counsel.
The documents referred to as certified by this individual are in the original here, right in Nurnberg. They were brought to us as originals from Oslo, Norway. They were then photostated, and returned to the Norwegians for their archives. The individual certifying merely states that he has compared the photostatic copy to the original.
I believe that defense counsel was inquiring about that one particular point and we have the originals of these documents right here.
PRESIDENT WENNERSTRUM: There is no question raised as to that part, - that phase, but it is as to the manner of the certification, and as to the jurat, or the swearing. There is nothing of that nature attached to the document.
MR. RAPP: Very well, your Honor.
Your Honors will recall that prior to offering this Document Book 23, I made the statement, which possibly escaped your Honors' attention, saying that we have a covering affidavit from the Norwegian government, for all of these documents, and that I will submit this particular affidavit at the end of my presentation.
I believe that I have made this or a similar remark at the beginning of cutting these documents in.
We have this affidavit before us, and if your Honors wish, we could put that in at this time.
PRESIDENT WENNERSTRUM: It is not for the Tribunal to say what you should or should not do. If you care to put it in, you may do so. We will rule on it as we see fit.
MR. RAPP: All right, your Honor. Then we will submit this affidavit at this time. We were not prepared to make sufficient copies of it to o all around to defense counsel, and use it as an individual document, so with your Honors' permission, I would like to mark this for identification, and after the 24-hour period has elapsed, I will see to it that the necessary copies as required will be furnished to all concerned.
I would like to submit this, Your Honor, for identification as No. 155-A.
If your Honors now please, turning to Document Book 23, page 17, this is being offered as Prosecution Exhibit 516. This is in the nature of an official report from the -
PRESIDENT WENNERSTRUM: This is Norway 5?
MR. RAPP; Norway 5, that is correct, your Honor.
Ihis is in the nature of an official report, -
DR. FRISCH: I beg your pardon if I have misunderstood the decision of the Court. Just before the interval, before the recess, my objection to the certificate had not been decided on. It was the certificate referring to the preceding document, that was Norway No. 4.
I pointed out to the Tribunal that there was a certificate on the part of Mr. Schnyder. I believe I do not nave to repeat my argument. The Tribunal had promised the decision concerning this particular case.
PRESIDENT WENNERSTRUM: You may continue with your remarks.
DR. FRISCH: Your Honor, I had pointed out that in this document, Norway No. 4, Exhibit No. --- I don't remember it, -- it is 514, it is a certificate of a member of the prosecution staff, Mr. Schnyder. In this certificate it is certified that it is a correct photostat and that the original document is in Oslo.
THE PRESIDENT: As to this particular objection the same will be overruled.
DR. FRITSCH: Your Honor, in this case perhaps I haven't expressed myself correctly. May I in this case ask whether Herr Schneider did actually see the original document in Oslo, and on account of his actual inspection of the document decided to certify it?
THE PRESIDENT: He certifies to the fact that it is a copy of the original - of a document filed in German archives.
DR. FRITSCH: Yes, and in my opinion it says at the end of the document that the original document is in Oslo.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it makes no difference where the document is if he certifies that it is the original -- a copy of the original. The objection will be overruled.
MR. RAPP: If Your Honors permit, now, we turn to Page 17 in Document Book 23, Page 19 in the German Document Book. This particular document are excerpts from an official report of the Norwegian War Crimes Commission, dated the 20th of April 1945. That is at a time when Norway was not yet liberated, and it states as follows: "The City Engineer of Hammerfest: The devastation of Hammerfest after the compulsory evacuation of the population at the beginning of the month of November 1944. On Sunday 29 October it was proclaimed that 'the population of Finnmark was to be compulsorily evacuated immediately.' The first district of Hammerfest to be evacuated was FuglenesStorelven at the latest Monday, 30 October , 1200 hours. On Monday 30 October I called on the then Island Command Major Gaedke, who simultaneously was Evacuation Commissar."
DR. FRITSCH: Your Honor, I would suggest that regarding the question which we talked about, that Mr. Rapp should explain and state whether he wants to use this document only for identification or for evidence.
MR. RAPP: May I be permitted to answer this question, Your Honor?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MR. RAPP: This document we submit as evidence. It's an official report from the Norwegian War Crimes Commission. It's not in the nature of an affidavit and, as such, is admissible under the rules of the ordnance. And it was, as a matter of fact, written at the time when Norway was still occupied. I believe that the ruling of one Tribunal this morning pertained only to affidavits. This is not an affidavit but a report.
DR. FRITSCH: Your Honor, in that case I protest. I object against submission of this document. It is a report of some kind of local engineer, and it does not became evidence from the fact that it is an official government report.
THE PRESIDENT: Is there any certificate showing as to ...
MR. RAPP: Yes, that particular certificate is covered in the certificate I have just submitted for identification, made out by Colonel Follestad. In other words, this report was one of many reports submitted to the Norwegian War Crimes Commission and the Attorney General's office, from which they were inturn made a complete report.
THE PRESIDENT: Now is this admissible until your certificate can be received properly?
MR. RAPP: Your Honors, we believe that under the rules an official report of any nature by a War Crimes Commission or members thereof are admissible in evidence.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, but we do not have that certificate.
MR. RAPP: Very well; then we offer this for identification for the time being, but not on the reasons as set out by defense counsel.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's all right, but it's not acceptable in its present form, and not without a certificate showing as to its authenticity.
MR. DENNEY: Excuse us for a moment, Your Honors.
MR. RAPP: If Your Honors permit, we were just trying to find out from defense counsel whether or not they would waive the twentyfour hour rule, but they want to find out whether or not the certificate was official; so we are trying to get them a translation of this certificate. So, if Your Honors permit, I shall take the liberty to go to those documents now about which there seems to be no argument. And the first one I'd like to submit as such is the Norway No. 8. It will be offered as Prosecution 's Exhibit No. 517, and if I may call Your Honors' attention to the fact that Norway 5 should now be designated "For identification only" and be called 516.a. This Norway No. 8, which is 517, Your Honors will find on Page 28. This is a report stamped secret, Divisional Combat Post, 4th of January 1945, 230th Infantry Division. It's in German on Page 30. Ic No. 42/45 Secret.
"To the Command Army Unit Narvik Subject:
Evacuation. Counter propaganda Reference:
Your teletype Ic No. 1469/44 Secret of 31 December 44.
Innumerable German women and children have died painfully up to now in burning cellars and under the ruins of their houses because of the air terror started by the Anglo-Americans. The American terror filers boast of their cruelties calling themselves "Block Busters" and "Murder Incorporated". The neutral press avoids making charges against the English and the Americans for that. However, it picks out the fact of the evacuation of North Norway and of North Finnland in order to incite against methods of German warfare in the worst way.
To the German Mountain Army situated in North Finnland and North Norway Finnland's treason on 3 September 1944 lost the natural supply road across the Baltic and Finnland.
That is why the Mountain Army had to be led back. Finnland and a part of North Norway had to be evacuated, that was a military necessity. It was a matter of withdrawing an entire army so as to avoid its encirclement. Toward the end of October 1944 the Bolsheviks invaded Norwegian territory and occupied Kirkenes. The Norwegian population which by and large had shown itself loyal and more than that even helpful and obliging toward the Germans during the four years of occupation had to be preserved from the grasp of Bolshevism. The procedure of the Bolshevists in Rumania, Bulgaria, Poland, Finnland, Estonia and Lettland shows what kind of fate the Bolsheviks had in store for the Norwegian population also. They would have employed the Norwegians ruthlessly and brutally for their own purposes. They would have killed all Germanophile Norwegians, raped the Women and brought starvation to the country.
In order to safeguard the German March movements the Soviets had to be prevented in the course of their advance from finding billets and working forces available which might be employed in combat against the Germans. Cases of espionage participated in by individual Norwegians, who had remained in the Finnmarks show that the Bolshevik would have found supporters also in the indigenous population. North Norway and North Finnland were evacuated for this reason and all residences and installations were destroyed.
A large part of the sensible Norwegian population gladly and willingly followed the call of the German government in October 1944 to evacuate voluntarily.
THE PRESIDENT: Just a minute, please. Did you mean to read that "German Government"?
MR. RAPP: "The call of the" Norwegian Government in October, 1944."
THE PRESIDENT: You read it "German."
MR. RAPP: I'm sorry, Your Honor; it should be "Norwegian."
"Thus cities like Hammerrest and Honningsvaag could be evacuated mainly voluntarily. The following urgent telegram signed by the Norwegian minister Lippestad and the Norwegian Chief of Evacuation Berg was sent to all chiefs of Police (Lensmaenner) in West Finnmark.
"You are herewith ordered to compulsory evacuate the population within your district. Publicize this by posters and via all telephone stations and contact the German authorities for immediate initiation of the compulsory evacuation which has been ordered by the German authorities. Inform us immediately by wire, particularly whether additional transport is required".
On 1 November 1944 red colored eye fetching posters and while leaflets were distributed containing a proclamation of the Commander in Chief of the German Troops in North Finnland and North Norway and of the Reichs Commissar for occupied Norwegian territories. It stated that all Norwegians again were requested to follow the orders of the evacuation authorities and to move off towards south. The end of this proclamation reads as follows:
"Any person not obeying this order exposes himself and his family by his own fault without possibilities for shelter and food to the perils of the Northern winter."
The contents of this proclamation have become known to all Norwegians in North Norway. All Norwegians of good will had the possibility of evacuating to the south.
The English radio broadcast a proclamation to the Norwegian population in the Norwegian language not to follow the orders of the evacuation authorities but to move off into inaccessible side valleys.