Following that I granted my consent.
Q Just before you mentioned a report which is missing in the document - a report by you to the Army Group. What kind of a report was that? Can you give us details?
A This can only have been the report which described the action taken near Distomon as an excess committed by the regiment without any cause for such an excess. This must have been reported in conjunction with the first report made by NCO Koch. If that report could be found amongst the files then it would quite clearly show the correctness of my statements.
Q The incident Distomon -- was that further pursued by the Army Group?
A Yes. The Army Group, as can be seen from one of the documents, contacted the Commander-in-Chief Southeast, the High Command of Army Group F, and passed on the report to this agency.
QNOKW-467, in Document Book XXI, is Exhibit 484 on page 22 of the German text and page 54 of the English text. Will you please give us your comments on this report?
A The Army Group again commissioned me with the investigation of the incident. Also, the Commander-in-Chief Southeast had, as can be seen from the document, reported the incident to the Operational Department of the O.K.W. It says here, literally, "68th Corps has been commissioned to investigation a deliberately false report." These words also show that I consented merely to the disciplinary facts. Then all I would have had to do was to show no reaction to the report issued to me by NCO Koch.
Q General, why were you, as you say, not authorized or competent to give your consent for the disciplinary procedure taken in the incident?
A Because the regiment was subordinated to me only for tactical purposes but not for administrative purposes.
Q What do you mean by that?
A No Administrative subordination means that the members of the regiment were not personally subordinated to me. I could neither grant furloughs for them nor could I promote them; or take disciplinary action against them. I had no judicial authority over them. I could neither give directives to the Court Martial of the 4th Armored SS Division to start and to carry out an investigation, nor would I have been in a position to confirm or refute the sentence pronounced by this Court Martial. All I had was the right to issue orders of a tactical nature to the regiment for that time period during which it was tactically subordinated to me.
DR. MUELLER-TORGOW: If it please the Tribunal, I would now like to submit another Defense Document which is contained in Felmy Document Book III. This is Document No. 78, on page 38. It will become Exhibit 50. This is an affidavit executed by one Wilhelm Hammer. I am reading from the second passage of this affidavit?
"From my work with the Army Group E during the summer of 1944, I still recall the incident Distomon, with respect to which General Felmy submitted a report to the Army Group, concerning the Commander of the 7th SS Armored Police Regiment of the 4th Armored Police Division. As far as I remember, Greeks, among them a cleric, had turned to General Felmy for help who, because of his correctness and fairness, enjoyed special confidence in many Greek circles, as some units of the aforementioned SS Armored Police Regiment had arbitrarily shot the inhabitants of a village and burned down the village itself. The report, sent to General Felmy upon his request, tried to gloss over the facts. In a report to the Army Group, General Felmy himself voiced his opinion about the above report and after a detailed examination of the incident, came to the conclusion that the commander of the Police Regiment had evidently and knowingly made a false official report. It was clearly evident from the data available that the unit had acted arbitrarily, that is to say, without the knowledge of, or even the instructions of the Commanding General, General Felmy himself was indignant about the action of the unit, as being a soldier of the old school himself, he detested all unmilitary actions.
The Commander-in-Chief of Army Group E shared General Felmy's opinion. As, however, as far as I recall, the 4th SS Armored Police Division was in the meantime no longer stationed within the area of Command of the Army Group, the whole matter was transferred for further action to the OKW. In this connection I would like to say that the 4th Armored Police Division, as far as I remember, was stationed in the area of Kozani, which was under the command of the Saloniki Aegaeis commander."
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: We will conclude the reading of the affidavit at the termination of the recess.
(A recess was taken.)
Court No. V, Case No. VII.
THE MARSHAL: Persons in the Courtroom will please take their seats.
The Tribunal is again in session.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: You may continue, Doctor.
BY DR. MUELLER-TORGOW:
Q. May I continue reading the affidavit by Wilhelm Hammer which is contained in Document Book V? I shall continue on page 39.
"In this connection I would like to point out that General Felmy, to whose staff I belonged from September 1941 until about September 1942, constantly reminded the commanders subordinated to him to see to it that the units under their command maintained a soldierly bearing and behaved correctly towards the Greek population. The reason for issuing these reminders was the very bed behavior of the Italian troops in Greece whose outrages, lootings and burnings were, as is well-known, the first reasons for many Greeks banding together.
"Strict punishment was meted out by General Felmy in cases where members of the Wehrmacht had committed excesses in individual instances with respect to the Greek population. This fact is confirmed by the relevant Military Court Martial verdicts.
"General Felmy can be considered as a pronounced fried of the Greeks. Not only was he a warm sponsor of all aims purporting to lead to a cultural German-Greek collaboration (see his sponsorship of the work of Professor Wetter on Aegina, sponsoring the publication of a book about the Peloponnea and other things), but he was always trying to ease the burden of the Greek population during the time for the occupation. Among other things he had in mind the improvement, from a point of view of agriculture of the Kopais, an area of about 40,000 ha, made fertile by artificial irrigation, by means of better irrigation machinery, and by a more thorough cultivation in order thus to increase the food supplies for the Greek population.
He often voiced his intentions; I do not know, however, whether in view of the guerrilla situation it was possible to carry out these plans.
"The fact that on the German Memorial Day in 1942, General Felmy deposited a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Greek Soldier in the City Castle in Athens, does not in itself demonstrate his soldierly and pro-Greek attitude, but this is demonstrated in particular by his behavior at the time when the last German troops moved out of Athens in 1944. At a solemn ceremony, he had the German flag, flying on the Akropolis, hauled down, and before he himself left Athens, he deposited a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Greek Soldier. It is also in conformity with his attitude that he prevented the destruction of the Marathon-dam and with it the breakdown of the entire water supply of the whole of Athens.
"When retreating in the autumn of 1944, General Felmy was trying to evacuate the area if possible in such a way, as to make it possible for it to be occupied step by step by British or National-Greek troops; what mattered to him at the time was the idea to save the Greek people the terrors of Civil War and to let peace and order reign in the territories given up."
General, the next document which has been used to incriminate you is contained in Volume 21. It is NOKW-649which is Exhibit 486. It is on page 64 of the English and 49 of the German. This document represents two situation reports by the Military Commander Greece for the time between 16 May to 15 July 1944. In the second report it says on page 68 of the English and page 54 of the German book, "68th Infantry Corps has issued orders to hold in readiness people suspected of belonging to bands, and also hostages for deportation to Germany.
These people will be employed in Germany in closed working camps."
Would you please give us your comments on this alleged order? Was it issued at the time and if so why?
A. This instruction was based on an order by OKW to the army group.
Q. Did yon at the time have any doubts as to the admissibility of this order which came from higher up?
A. No, in no sense of the word because even in Greece those people who were suspected of belonging to the bands could scarcely have been left at large. For reasons of security they had to be apprehended. Whether this happened in Greece or in Germany couldn't matter to me in the least.
Q. General, did you at the time on that occasion have any misgivings about the fact as to whether those people who were to go on forced labor would be treated in the same way as those who had gone voluntarily or whether they would be treated differently?
A. When the order arrived, the troops drew my attention to the fact that labor allocation of those elements, namely those who were suspected of belonging to bands would not be expedient because one had to expect them to indulge in sabotage in German plants. Nobody thought that they liked us or had any favorable opinion of us. I shared that opinion and, as far as I can recollect, I expressed it in a letter or telephone call to the army group.
Q. Do you mean to say that you did not expect a different treatment of those elements from those who had gone voluntarily?
A. Yes, I did not expect that. Otherwise I would not have assumed that they might indulge in sabotage. What they were to be allocated to was not known to me and the reports by the Military Commander did not reach me which becomes clear from the distribution list.
Court No. V, Case No. VII.
The next document used to incriminate you by the Prosecution in this volume is PS-537, Exhibit 488, on page 75 of the English and 65 of the German. This document concerns treatment of members of foreign military missions kept together with partisans. The OKW orders were that members of these military missions were not to be treated as prisoners-of-war but in accordance with a Fuehrer order concerning the annihilation of terror and sabotage troops of 18 October 1942. This Fuehrer order which I have just mentioned we have discussed in a different context. General, did you ever see this order of the OKW of 30 July 1944?
A. At the time I am inclined to assume that. I could not speak with certainty but if it reached the Commander in Chief Southeast, I assume that the Commander in Chief Southeast passed it on as it says in the distribution list. Anyway, according to my information, I have to assume that but, as I say, I cannot speak with certainty.
Q. The next document which has been used to incriminate you is NOKW-933 which is Exhibit 495. It is on page 88 of the English and page 76 of the German. This document is the war diary of Army Group E for the period of time between 1 July 1944 to 31 December 1944. On page 99 of the English and 79 of the German text there is in this document, under the date of 27 August 1944, an entry which says that a transport of 1,000 people suspected of belonging to the bands were to be deported to the Reich. For the unit employed for railroad security....
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: From what page is counsel reading? From what page are you reading?
DR. MUELLER-TORGOW: I am reading from page 99 of the English. According to my notes, it should be on page 99, 79 in German and 99 in English.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: It is found on page 90 in the English document book.
DR. MUELLER-TORGOW: I am just informed it is on page 90. I apologize, your Honors.
To repeat, under the date of 27 August 1944 it says under the heading of, "Transport of Band Suspects".
"On 28 August 1700 hours a transport with 1,000 band suspects leaves for Reich territory" and later on it says, "for the units employed for railroad security and an increased degree of alertness is to be ordered while the transport is under way."
Why, General, did this order reach the 68th Army Corps among other agencies?
A. The only reason can be that the 68th Corps was in charge of the railroad security regiment which guarded the railroad track between Athens and Lamia to prevent any attacks on this particular railway train whereby the band suspects would be liberated. Actually it was only here from the documents that I learned of this incident. I mean I do not recall the order nor do I believe that it was submitted to me personally.
Q. Now, I should like to discuss Document NOKW-1641which is Exhibit 497, which is on page 110 of the English and page 97 of the German. I suggest that we turn immediately to page 119 of the English and 102 of the German document book. It says there in the daily report by the commander in chief Southeast of 23 August 1944 on page 119 of the English:
"For the area of the 68th Corps north of Erseke during local mopping up one band village destroyed, 12 prisoners taken"; but it may also be "12 people killed." The abbreviation actually is "GEF". General, can you tell us anything about that incident?
A. I do not know where Erseke is situated. I do not think it was part of my corps area and there is nothing else I can state in this connection.
Q. May I in this connection read from Document Book Felmy No. V, Document 115, which is on page 85, which makes it clear that in this report we are not concerned with the area of the 68th Army Corps and that Erseke was not in the area of the 68th Corps. This document, No. 115, is offered as Exhibit No. 51.
General, the next document is NOKW-96 which is Exhibit 495. It is on page 122 of the English and on page 105 of the German. This document is a daily report by Army Group E, addressed to the Commander in Chief Southeast of 5 September 1944:
"From the area of the 68th Army Corps, it is reported that on Euboea supply convoy of North Caucasian Battalion 845 annihilated by band south of Kyne; 40 own dead; all weapons and equipment completely lost. For attack upon convoy (see yesterday's daily report) 186 suspects shot."
General, will you please give us your comments on this teletype letter by Army Group E?
A. I am scarcely in a position to do so. This daily report to which allusion is made here is not in my possession and, therefore, I am unable to go into the background of it. The evacuation of the Peloponnes had already started on the 5th of September and the decision had also been reached to evacuate Greece altogether. I was overwhelmed with organizational tasks and for that reason this particular report I no longer recall. I cannot give any detailed statements about it.
Q. The next document I should like to deal with is NOKW-981, Exhibit 497 on page 125 of the English and 107 of the German text.
This document contains a number of daily reports by the Commander in Chief Southeast from the period of time between 1 September and 15 September 1944, I don't know, General, why this particular document should incriminate you.
A Well, nor do I. There is one passage "Raids in the Big Cities," then it says "Disengaging movements in the Peloponnese go according to plan. Attacks by strong bands on construction trains. Losses of our own," and that is the only reference I can discover in Exhibit 497. I really can't see anything incriminating here.
Q The next document incriminating you is NOKW 964, which is Exhibit 498 on page 139 of the English and page 112 of the German. This report contains an incident in the area of Stip and Skeplje in the course of which four villages were burned down and 160 suspects were shot. General, please give us your comments about this?
A In Exhibit 498 I cannot find any connection with my corps. On the 16 October we were on our retreat, on the 12th and 13th Athens having been evacuated we were north of Lamia, and probably had reached Lurissa with the Operational Staff, and therefore we were not concerned with engagements in Northern Macedonia or even Bulgaria. I know that Salviati was with the 22nd Division, which had come up from Crete, but that is all I can say about this.
DR. MUELLER-TORGOW: If the Tribunal, please, at this time I should like to offer a few defense documents. They are documents which have been submitted previously by the Prosecution, but they had been incomplete and therefore were in need of supplementation, because only if you have the addition one can see the connection quite clearly. The first document in this series is contained in Volume V for Felmy. It is document 106 on page 74 of that document book. It is offered as Exhibit 52. This document is an extract from Document NOKW 755 contained in Document Book 19. It says there under "Greece:"
"Band attacks on Italian escort and motorized column turned back at Levadia. Attack by strong bands on Italian, garrison at Almiros (25 SW of Volos) repulsed after a battle lasting several hours. 16 Italian dead, 66 wounded, 35 enemy dead......"
It goes on in the photostat copy: "2 villages occupied by the bands bands bombed by the Luftwaffe."
The part I read just now is not included in the document book.
Q General, I would like to ask you now, do you know anything of the bombing by the Luftwaffe of these two villages occupied by the bands. Excuse me -- did you have anything to do with the committment of the Luftwaffe?
A What was the date, please?
Q The report comes from the Commander-in-Chief Southeast to the OKW, and is dated 15 August 1943.
A On the 15th of August 1943 I and my headquarters were in the Peloponnese. Incidents occurring in the area of Volos or southeast of Volos, were none of my concern. I had nothing to say there. Therefore committing the Luftwaffe was none of my concern. I was in command of Army units, not Luftwaffe units, although I wore a Luftwaffe uniform, but that had its special reasons.
Q Was at that time Levadia part of your Corps area?
A I said just now we were situated in the Peloponnes, that is to say Levadia was not part of the area of the 68th Corps.
Q Where is Levadia situated?
A Levadia is situated in Boeotia.
Q Would you please show it on the map?
A Here is Athens. This is the road to Lamia, and Levadia is about half way.
DR. MUELLER-TORGOW: The next document in Volume Felmy No. 5 is document 107 on page 75. It is offered as Exhibit 53. This is a daily report by the High Command Army Corps East, addressed to the Commander in Chief Southeast, of the 5th October 1943. In the document of the Prosecution, which is contained in Document Book 19 there are missing the words "Under 68th Army Corps: 22nd Mountain Army Corps." There it says "As reprisal for the murdered regiment commander, " and, then it says "Village of Akmetopos completely destroyed. All inhabitants shot."
This incident, in other words, does not concern the 68th Army Corps, but the 22nd Mountain Army Corps. This incident has been discussed when General Lanz was examined.
The next document offered from Document Book Felmy V is Document 109, which is to be found on page 78 and it is offered as Exhibit 54. May I just read this one paragraph, which has again been emitted in the document book of the Prosecution. The document is also contained in Volume 19 of the Prosecution. It is a Daily report by the High Command Army Group E, addressed to the Commander in Chief Southeast, of the 21st December. It says there under 68th Corps:
"68th Corps :On Sparta-Tripolis road a band attack on our truck column. Our losses: 7 dead, 11 wounded. The area along the read is being combed out. State of emergency proclaimed in Sparta. Telephone connections Sparta - Tripolis, Sparta. - Cythion - Molaki and Molaki - Monemwasia interrupted. Attack on Greek volunteers south of Sparta repulsed in bloody fight. Renewed sabotage on telephone line connections near Lamia."
Q General, will you very briefly give us your comments on this?
A This is one of the surprise attacks along the Sparta-Tripolis road. This I alluded to yesterday when I said that down there a total of four attacks had taken place. That this entailed the destruction of telephone lines, more or less, at the same time had become a daily occurrence.
DR. MUELLER-TORGOW: The next document from Felmy Document Book V is Document 110 on page 79, offered as Exhibit No. 55. This is an extract from Document NOKW 1012 contained in Prosecution Document Book 20. It is a "Ic Activity Report" with enclosures for the War Diary of the Headquarters of 1st Panzer Division from 1 June 1943 to 16 October 1943. The particular passage I read this morning when we discussed the document.
The next document will be Felmy No. 112, in the same Document Book, to be found on page 82, offered as Exhibit 56.
Here we are concerned with an extract from Document NOKW 1363 in Document Book 20 of the Prosecution. I shall read from the Daily report of the "Ic" Daily Report of 20 September.
"Night of 17/18. Plundering of a Camp of the Liaison Staff for road construction in Kalanos (8 Km. SE Chalandritsa) Explosions on the road Patras-Chalandritsa-Kalavrita; bridge near Chalandritsa (still passable), at 2 points near Lopesi, explosions occurred; explosions occurred at 5 points between Polosi and Kalanos (part of the road not passable, explosions E Kalanos, Band Group engaged on the outskirts of Pyrgos, 1 man shot.
In Metsena (12 Km S Patras) 6 Italian officers (among them three staff officers of the Piedmont Division) and 300 soldiers in a band group (statement of an Italian soldier)."
The next document follows on this document immediately. It is Document 113, page 83, offered as Exhibit 57. This document is an extract from Document NOKW 1557, and is contained in Document Book XXI.
"Information as regards the situation.
...............
III.) Balkans, Position 21.7 22.00 o'clock
I). Army Group E:
LXVIII Army Corps: N. Pilos an own motor vehicle convoy attacked by superior bands and destroyed. 78 of our soldiers dead, 6 missing, motor vehicles burned out. Enemy losses up to the present in the pursuit party operation N. Pirgos, 288 dead."
..............
Reprisal measures were not ordered.
The next document will be Felmy 114 on page 84 of Document Book V.
JUDGE BURKE: Just a moment. What was the last sentence you read of Exhibit 57, please?
DR. MUELLER-TORGOW: The last words were "288 dead," and the last think I said was my own addition, which is not contained in the document.
Felmy Document No. 114, on page 84 is an extract from Document NOWK 1641, contained in Prosecution Document Book 21. It is on page 34 in my document book. It is offered as Exhibit 58. This is a Daily Report by the Commander-in-Chief Southeast addressed to the High Command of the Wehrmacht. The date being 15 August 1944. The words "68th Army Corps" are contained in the Prosecution Document Book in the report concerning the instance in Crete, according to which 50 suspects were shot, and the impression was thereby created as though the 68th Army Corps was responsible for the shooting of the 50 suspects there.
And the last document of this type which I would like to offer is Document Felmy 117, contained on page 87. It is offered as Exhibit 59. This is an extract from Document NOKW 1667 contained in Prosecu tion Document Book 25.
In the report concerning Attica it says:
"Attica: Reinforced Company Light Infantry Regiment 22 (L) 11 mutilated corpses north of Mirini (see Daily Report dated 7 Feb.) and one seriously wounded Greek (presumably a bandit) recovered...." This is a short report by the 68th Army Corps. The paragraph read by me is again not contained in the Prosecution Document Book.
May it please the Tribunal, I would like briefly to refer to Document Book 24 of the Prosecution. In that Volume III, Document NOKW 1783, Exhibit 547, which we should discuss -- it may be found on page 246 of the English and page 180 of the German. This is a document which has been used to incriminate General Felmy. It contains a list of names of persons named for execution. This list has been submitted by the Iraklien district headquarters on 5 July 1943. It has been sent on to the Commander of the 22nd Infantry Division. Iraklien is situated on Crete. General, please give us your comments on this?
A. I see no connection between the Island of Crete and the area of the XVIII Corps. On 5 July 1943 the General Headquarters was situated in Peloponnes and had nothing to do with Crete.
Q. This is the only document in Book XXIV which we need discuss. and I shall now come to the last document book of the Prosecution, which is Document Book XXV. The first document, General, which has been used to incriminate you in this document book is NOKW 1667, which was Exhibit 571. It may be found on page 76 of the English and page 59 of the German. It is a report by the XVIII Corps, the date being 20 March 1944. There mention is made of a band attack on a group of the North Caucasian First Battalion on Kymi in Euboea. In that operation, according to the report, two Greek policemen were killed. As a reprisal measure the destruction of houses of well-known Communists was ordered in several villages in the neighborhood of Kymi. General, can you recall this incident?
A. No, I could not give you any details here. All I know is that in the neighborhood of Kymi we had frequent clashes with the bands, because they were attacking the coal mines in that neighborhood.
We have mentioned these coal mines before today on several occasions which supplied the electricity work in Athens.
DR. MUELLER-TORGOW: I shall now turn to page 84 of the English, which is page 66 of the German text. Under 18 May 1944, the Ia of the XVIII Army Corps reports a reprisal measure for repeated acts of sabotage on telephone lines. That 17 well-known Communists were hanged on telephone poles along the Road Chamari-Erveni northwest of Xylecastren. The same incident also occurred in NOKW 1804, which was Exhibit 579, and is contained in the Daily Report by the Ic of the Corps of the 17th of May 1944. This may be found on page 124 of the English and page 94 of the German. General, what about this incident, did you know it at the time?
A I do not recollect it. Whether it was reported at the time I cannot state from my memory.
Q The next document used to incriminate you is NOKW-1803, Exhibit No. 578, on Page 115 of the English and Page 87 of the German Document Book. There we are concerned, first, with a letter by the Commandant of the Sea Defense of Attica, dated 31 May 1944, and addressed to the 11th Luftwaffe Field Division. In that letter a proposal is made by the Commandant of the Sea Defense of Attica to the 11th Luftwaffe Field Division that, in view of the band situation such as it is in the area of Marathon, certain precautionary and reprisal measures should be taken. General, do you remember whether the 11th Luftwaffe Field Division, to which this letter was addressed, followed this proposal by the Commandant of the Sea Defense of Attica and took any steps?
A I am afraid I could not say any more. All I remember is that around that period of time there was, in the neighborhood of Raphina, which is on the eastern side of Attica--roughly in the neighborhood of Marathon, which is mentioned here, there was an incident in which two officers had been murdered because officers were reported as having been lost. That is what I remember. I believe they were members of the 11th Luftwaffe Field Division stationed in one of the harbor towns, namely Raphina, I believe with a company. That is all I can say about this document.
Q This brings me to Page 116 of the English Document Book and Page 88 of the German Document Book. There we have a report by the 11th Luftwaffe Field Division where we are concerned with what was known as Operation "Falke." That report has its climax in the proposition to have the prisoners and people who were found to be definite criminal types arrested during the operation, and all who had propagated Communist tendencies to be used as hostages. This report was signed by the Commanding Officer of the 11th Luftwaffe Field Division, General Kohler. Was this proposal by the Divisional Commander complied with, and did the Corps reach a decision?
A Well, you couldn't see that in the document. I see on top, under Chief, the initial "G." This might be Colonel Goerhardt, who was my Chief of Staff and who later lost his life in an airplane crash. And then we have the initials "K.G.," illegible. My "F" is usually quite distinct when I initial something, and I always put the date next to it. I cannot say, therefore, whether this was submitted to me, nor do I remember what happened afterwards. Operation "Falke" was one of the many operations against the hands which was touched upon before today, some of which took place on Euboea, and some of which took place on Boeatia. This is all I am able to tell you about this document.
Q This brings me to Page 118 of the English and Page 89 of the German Document Book. There we have combat reports by the Combat Group Froech, concerning the Operation "Falke." There are two reports of the 6th and 17th of June 1944, and mention is made of the shooting of four bandits by Greek police and of three armed women shot by members of the Citizens' Guard. Were you connected with these incidents in any way?
A Major Froech, who took part in the "Falke" Operation, as I said this morning--I remember the name and this is why I deduce it must have been an operation by the 11th Luftwaffe Field Division--the Greek Policemen and the Citizen Guard on Euboea had nothing to do with us. They attached themselves to our operations on some occasions. All I know is that EDES units had been formed at the beginning of 1944 in Euboea by the Higher SS and Police Leader. A certain dualism appeared in the band system. The Greek witness, for instance, condemned the EDES people who worked with us. He called them Quislings. The people must have had their reasons because had they remained alone they would not have been safe of their lifes because of ELAS; therefore, they preferred to contact us rather than be killed by ELAS. I believe, if the War Reporter of General Zervas, whom we saw here, had been on Euboea he might have formed a little different picture of the situation from what he told us here, and thus the leading man of the EDES people in Athens--I do not wish to intentionally give his name because at the moment he is one of the ministers in office; I do not want to incriminate him politically--and thereupon the EDES formations were formed in Euboea, and that is the reason who they participated in this operation.