This is all that I can remember for sure. Thereby I did not try to bridge gaps of memory by constructions.
The official contact that I thus had with the former Gen. of the Airforce Felmy causes me to give the following characterization of his personality: sparing with words, simple in the way of living, judiciously minded, not a National Socialist, full of reverence for classical Hellas, high feeling of responsibility for the welfare of his troops. Sympathy for the fate of the Greek civilian population could be felt from his utterances. That Felmy should at an earlier time have caused violent measures against. the Greek civilian population, I cannot imagine on the basis of my experiences with him.
The next document, if the Tribunal please, which I would like to offer is Document Felmy No. 135 on page 49, offered as Exhibit 131. This is an affidavit by F. W. Herzog who was mentioned in the last document. He was the editor of the German News in Greece. I should like to read some of this affidavit, second paragraph.
From the autumn of 1942 until October 1944 I was working in Athens as feuilleton editor of the "German News". That newspaper owed allegiance neither to the Wehrmacht, nor to the Propaganda Ministry. The censorship, as practised in every occupied country, was carried out first by the Italians and after the fall of the Fascist regime by the Germans. I myself was, after my discharge from the German Wehrmacht, free as a civilian and independent from any tutelage and tried, in my professional work, to live up to that independence. My testimony about General Felmy refers only to the last weeks before the liberation of Greece. At that time the other editors of the paper had already left Athens, so that the responsibility for carrying out the undertaking and the care for the Greek workers fell upon me. The evacuation of Greece was in full progress, postal communications with Germany were interrupted, i.e., cut off. All important offices (Military Commander, Legation, Field and Town Commandatura), were in a process of disintegration. Under these circumstances it came about as a matter of course that the discussions about the fate of the newspaper and its workers had to be conducted with the Chiefs of the combat forces, i.c., with the Commanding General of the LXVIIIth Army Corps.
I got in personal contact with Felmy twice in those weeks at the end of September and the beginning of October 1944. During the last days of September I called on General Felmy in his Staff quarters in Psychiko, in order to ask him, for how long a time the paper might be kept going. Moreover, I asked him to give me his opinion about an instruction just received from Belgrade to the effect that the paper with all its technical installations should be destroyed when Athens was evacuated. For us, however, it was most important to hand the whole plant back to its Greek owner fully unscathed. Felmy approved of our point of view, and ordered Lt. Arntz, the head of his propaganda platoon, to remove the explosives that had already been stored on the premises of the publishing house; which was done the very same day. During my conversation with Felmy we then broached the subject of the destructions in general. Felmy told me that he too had received the order to dynamite all essential installations, which he considered senseless. Thereupon, he added, he had sent an officer of his staff to Belgrade, in order to explain his own point of view and to try to get the order cancelled or at least mitigated. Unfortunately without success. An explicit order had been issued by the Fuehrer: there had been too few destructions on the occasion of the retreat from France. This is why thorough work was to be done now in Greece. In view of our objections, that this was plain madness.
And then what he goes on to say in this paragraph is well known to the Tribunal and the next paragraph merely supplements the affidavit I read just now. I should like, however, to read the last paragraph:
"My short personal meeting with General Felmy don't suffice to give a picture of his personality. As an adversary of any uniform I always had first to overcome a certain deep rooted diffidence, whenever I approached an officer.
In the case of General Felmy, however, I felt at once attracted by his warm sincerity and humanity, which confirms what I had been told by a number of his soldiers who called at my paper with all sorts of wishes, namely that he was no Nazi, that his sense of justice was incorruptible, and that he cared not only for his troops, but also for the "Grecos" to the best of his ability. I myself have, during my work in Athens, never heard any detrimental or derogatory remark about Germans neither by the Greeks nor the Germans."
And the last document in this volume, if the Tribunal please, I should like to offer Felmy Document 136 on page 52. It will become Exhibit 132. This affidavit was given by the then Welfare Minister and Minister of Education Nikolaos Louvaris. He has given this affidavit in the German language. Louvaris states first what he knows about the negotiations shortly before the surrender of Athens and the evacuation of Greece.
And on page 54 he says under paragraph 6:
Court No. V, Case No. VII.
I saw and spoke with General Felmy personally - in September 1944 I did so (or August) - in the suburb of "Psychico" where he lived, and for the following reason:
Dr. Loos - not known to me - a higher official of the Balkan Gestapo, having come from Belgrade where he was stationed, visited me in August 1944 and talked to me about the plan and intention to surrender the city without a struggle to the British, and suggested that I should discuss it with General Felmy; but on condition, that I should mention it to nobody. The next day he repeated what he had said in my house before the following persons: The Bishop of Jiannina, the ex Minister and present member of parliament B Sajias, Colonels B. Petropolos and Georgepulos among others, and begged us to go together to General Felmy who knew all about the matter. We did that the following day at 11 a.m.. The General recommended me urgently to dispatch someone to Cairo to convey his suggestion about the surrender of the city without resistance, to English-Greek competent circles. I proposed Herr Philon, King's Administrator to which the General agreed. Soon after, I visited Herr Philon, and through Major Kalligeris who was employed in the Intelligence Service, informed the English Authorities in the near East of the Felmy proposal at the same time. The next day, the German charged affairs Herr von Graevenitz, informed me that I was being charged - obviously by the SS - with a "new conspiracy" against Germany, the corpus delicti being my agreement with General Felmy and the intended dispatch of Philon to Egypt. Towards midday of the same day I asked the General if Philon had already left. I told him what the legation had said to me and assured him that nevertheless I would do my utmost so that Philon might go to Egypt. Two days later Herr Stadtmueller visited me in the Ministry of Education and declared that he was ready to go to Egypt himself, that the General had agreed to that and that he wished to go there on a British submarine. The replies from Egypt, however, to our telegrams, in the meantime made a journey to Egypt superfluous, for according to them, Court No. V, Case No. VII.
contact between, the British and General Felmy was already under way. From the words of the German diplomats and from Neubacher's anger when he learned of my understanding with General Felmy, it became clear to me that there was no unity as to the fate of Greece among the different German military authorities. It is possible that this dissension was the result of the cut and dry order which I did not know of as already said.
What is reported above is a proof for me that General Felmy was sincere in his intention to avoid senseless disturbances and unnecessary blood-shed. It is self evident that through his measures the Greek civilian population was rendered a great service."
If the Tribunal please, this brings me to the end of the Felmy Document Book No. 6. After compiling that book, there are only another two affidavits which have reached me which I shall submit. Solely apart from that I shall submit as a last book, Felmy Document Book No. 7, which so far I have not been in a position to offer. Most of the documents in that book are extracts from Greek newspapers, which the Tribunal has allowed me to use at the time and which were sent here from Athens. The gentleman in charge of the Translation section has promised me, having eventually found somebody to translate this from the Greek, that I shall receive the translated copies in the very near future.
DR. LATERNSER: If the Tribunal please, in the course of this trial I have so far examined my client Field Marshal List and some witnesses, but I should now like to start presenting my documents. I have submitted eight document Books, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 5, 6 and 7. They are already in the translation. I should like to remark first that the pagination in the German and English document books is identical. As I present these documents I shall submit only a few loose documents to the Court.
Unfortunately, if Your Honors please, I must start by making corrections to which I beg to draw the Court's attention. There is Court No. V, Case No. VII.
in document book 1 on page 7, document No. 165, but that should read 16.
On Page 46 of Document Book 1 we find No. 164, but it should read 166.
THE PRESIDENT: What was that page again, Dr. Laternser?
DR. LATERNSER: On Page 46 and the document number should not be 164, but 166. May I remark here, Your Honors, that in the German document book the numbers are listed correctly. On Page 59 the document No. 104 should be added. And on page 60, the Number LI-104. should also be added. On page 101 we find No. 27 in the English, but it should read 27-F. And on page 111, the number should not read 111, the document number should be 117. Then there is one correction in document book 2 on page 7, the number should not be 135, but 35. It is on page 7 of document book 2. It is not document No. 135, but 35.
THE PRESIDENT: The document listed in my book here gives Document 137 on page 7.
DR. LATERNSER: I have compared the pagination there, on page 6. It should read instead of 135, No. 35 on page 6.
THE PRESIDENT: In the book that I have page 6 lists document No. 35, That is correct, is it? Now what is the correct number?
DR. LATERNSER: If it says No. 35, then indeed it is correct.
THE PRESIDENT: Then, as to page 7, what is the correct document?
DR. LATERNSER: On page 7 it should also read No. 35. In document book 3 on page 2, it should not read 150, but 150a. On page 44 in the same book No. 151 should also read 151a. And finally on page 57 instead of 152, it should read 152a. And then there is one final correction in Document Book 4a. Document 201 on page 91 in the first paragraph of that document in the third line of the text, it should read in the negative, it should read: "The organization of the commander of the Wehrmacht in the Southeast does not seem to be Court No. V, Case No. VII.
generally known."
These are the corrections which I wanted to make.
If the Tribunal please, the question that Field Marshal List is still a prisoner of war or whether he is not should be cleared up. I want to prove that the Field Marshal is still a prisoner of war. For that purpose I offer first document LI-340, which may be found in Document Book 6 on page 13. This is offered as Exhibit No. 1. This is an application addressed by me to the International Military Tribunal and it reads as follows:
"Nurnberg, 1 May 1946." It says on the left: "Attorney-atlaw Dr. Hans Laternser, Attorney-at-law Dr. G. v. Rohrscheidt, Counsel for the Group, General Staff and OKW."
MR. FENSTERMACHER: May it please the Tribunal, I should like to object to the admission of this document into evidence for these reasons. In this letter to the International Military Tribunal, Dr. Laternser protests against the type of treatment which is being given to the various generals, who are held in custody. That has nothing to do with this case. The same generals who were held in custody during the I.M.T. proceedings are not here involved. I submit this is completely irrelevant.
DR. LATERNSER: If the Tribunal please, I think this document is of decisive importance because it is the reply given to that letter that is of greatest importance. I have asserted in my letter to the International Military Tribunal that the Generals are still prisoners of war and should therefore be treated according to the Geneva Convention, because that was not the case at the time. The reply by the International Military Tribunal, contained in the same exhibit, shows unequivocably that the International Military Tribunal took the view that the status of the prisoners of war must not be changed because of the fact that they were as witnesses in Nurnberg. I also want to prove and shall prove that because of these applications, Field Marshal List, for instance, was released from being a prisoner of war.
Court No. V, Case No. VII.
This is a loose document which I shall submit later. This whole set of problems can only be understood and particularly so the reply by the International Military Tribunal, if the application will also show and become part of the exhibit. I therefore request the admission of these documents in any case.
MR. FENSTERMACHER: If Your Honors please, no matter how the prisoners were treated at the time of the International Military Tribunal, this has nothing to do with how these men are treated now. I submit the whole matter is completely irrelevant to this proceeding.
THE PRESIDENT: This Tribunal is not concerned with the question of treatment, it is concerned with the status of the prisoners and any information which may bear upon the question of their status, not their treatment, is a matter in which we are interested. The exhibits will be received for such probative value as the information therein set out will be of aid to the Tribunal. We are conscious of the fact that no statement made by an officer, who is not authorized perhaps to bind anyone can bind the Prosecution or this Tribunal in this case, but to such extent as it can give information as to the status of the prisoners, the exhibits will be received. You may proceed.
DR. LATERNSER: If the Tribunal please, I must say I am only interested in the status and this is the only reason why I offer the document, I shall now read it:
"Nurnberg, 1 May 1946. To the Secretary General of the International Military Tribunal, Nurnberg:
At the request of some of the generals now confined in the prison of the Nuernberg Military Tribunal as members of groups or as witnesses for the war criminal trial, the defense counsel for the group "General Staff and OKW" respectfully submits to the Military Tribunal the following material for its information and for the elimination of the violations represented herewith against the Geneva Convention concerning tho treatment of prisoners of war of 27.3.1929.
The Defense believes that it can derive its justification for this step from its appointment as legal representatives of the accused group to which these generals belong, or for which they may come into consideration as witnesses if the occasion arises.
The Defense bases its procedural and substantive statements on Article 42 of the Geneva Convention.
The Defense is convinced that the provisions of this agreement have a full and unrestricted application to the interests of the generals here in custody as prisoners of war (Art. 82), since up to now the agreement still exists and is binding on the victorious nations who participated in the Convention even with respect to Germany, and for the time being military hostilities have been conclude only by an armistice (Art. 83).
Furthermore, this opinion is also confirmed by the repeated statements of the American Secretary of War and the British Foreign Secretary on the application of the provisions of the Geneva Convention to the treatment of German prisoners of war.
Since the generals are in the custody of the local military prison which is under the orders of the International Military Tribunal, the Tribunal ought to have jurisdiction for this petition and the measures subsequently required by it. Otherwise it is requested that this application be forwarded to the competent superior military office.
1.
It might first be pointed out that most of the generals here in prison have already been prisoners for almost one year and have been in custody here since about the middle of October 1945, and hold very high or high military ranks and are in an advanced age. As a result of their long imprisonment and several months in custody their mental and physical condition has been more or less strongly prejudiced.
It must further be emphasized that these generals, insofar as they were not brought here merely as witnesses, are from a legal point of view not defendants even as members of the group "General Staff and OKW", so that for them, apart from the fact of their being prisoners of war, there is no legal provision whatsoever for their being lodged in a prison and for the application of the rules which are valid in this connection.
As a matter of fact, however, the generals are regarded as defendants in this trial or similar to convicts, as the treatment accorded them shows. In the eyes of the guard personnel they are considered especially guilty and dangerous persons and are placed on a level with the civilians lodged in the same wing of the prison building who are charged with criminal offenses, since indeed the military guards are not acquainted with the circumstances or cause of the generals' confinement.
The fact alone that they are staying in the prison of a military tribunal must result in their getting the same treatment which is accorded to prisoners in general, since for reasons of prison discipline and organization any treatment different from that given the other prisoners seems hardly possible. The confinement of the generals in a military or civilian prison, whether as members or only as witnesses for the accused group is not at all permitted as a matter of fundamental principle according to Article 9 of the Agreement. This provision permits prisoners of war to be kept in a prison only as an indispensable security measure and even then only temporarily for the duration of the circumstances which make the measure necessary.
However, there does not exist any strong danger of flight on the part of the generals or the danger of their exerting unproper influence on any military or National Socialist elements of the population still in existence, or even the danger of their prejudicing the course of justice with regard to the material under discussion in the war criminal trial, all of which could give occasion to special security measures.
Therefore, the Defense respectfully requests in the name of the generals that the High Tribunal shall examine the legal conditions for this unusual imprisonment, which is permissible only under special circumstances, on the basis of the facts described above, and that it shall then order the generals to be quartered in some other place according to the rules of the Agreement, and indeed while taking into consideration the special circumstances which are present.
A part of the generals in this prison will of course be presumably needed as witnesses in the trial or admitted to legal testimony, but above all they will be continually interrogated by the undersigned defense counsel for their information for conducting the defense of the accused group.
The Defense, therefore, takes the liberty of proposing that all these generals be lodged in one house under guard which is inaccessible to civilians, as has happened in similar cases and is still being done. Quarters of this kind are especially desired for these generals who are urgently needed for the Information Department -- this particularly applies to Field Marshals von BRAUCHITSCH, KESSELRING, and von MANSTEIN, as well as to Generals HALDER and WESTPHAL. For there is no possibility for them to provide information in an extensive and responsible manner, and for their necessary mental concentration under the present conditions in the cell, which is not suitable for must discussions, the door of which must remain open in such cases according to regulations, which does not permit the necessary quiet for their important word. The Defense, however, is dependent to an outstanding extent on the cooperation the above-named generals and accordingly also requests for its own part that these generals in particular be given such accommodations as will enable them to perform the task set them by the Defense.
According to Article 2 of the Agreement prisoners of war are not to be given treatment which is in any way insulting, but are rather to be treated according to Article 21 with regard to their rank and age. The orders issued by the prison directors, even with respect to the generals, are contrary to these provisions.
Thus it does not appear to be in conformity with Article 3, which guarantees to captured officers that their persons and honor will be respected, if the latter, by way of example, are detailed for cleaning floors and stops and drawing water in the presence of American soldiers and have to remove the filth caused by the latter, in which connection no more detailed reference will now be made to quite specific instances of a particularly degrading nature which are known to the Defense.
In case the original request for other quarters is rejected, the suspension of the latter order above all would be indispensable, since such work cannot be expected of them not only because of their high military rank but also because of their age and physical condition.
Even if special considerations may have been decisive in issuing the above order the generals must regard it as a further slight on their honor that they are forbidden to wear their insignia of rank, which is permitted them according to Art. 19.
Above all it is the desire of the generals, absolutely justified according to Article 43, that they be given the possibility of choosing a spokesman.
Court No. V, Case No. VII.
"in the person of the senior officer in rank through whom they can submit their complaints to the Commandant of the prison, and who as a change from his previous attitude is also willing to receive, investigate and if occasion warrants pay heed to these complaints, without this resulting in any prejudices to the treatment of the one making the complaints, as has happened in the case of Field Marshal Kesselring.
"With this petition the generals further request that the provision of Article 37 for receiving packages be observed, which, even if the prohibition against sending additional food appears understandable for explainable reasons, at least allows them necessary additions to their clothes and linen after a year's imprisonment, or the procurement of other objects of daily use. for example, toilet articles such as brushes, aponges, wash cloths, etc."
I shall skip the next paragraph, and I shall read from the bottom of Page 18.
"The generals also feel it to be a restriction of the privileges guaranteed them which cannot be reconciled with the provisions of Articles 16 and 88 that up to now they have not been allowed visits by members of the International Red Cross as well as visits and consolation by a German clergyman.
"They ask further that the right to mental and physical relaxation granted to them in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention in particular in accordance with Article 17, as well as the right to freedom of movement, be taken into consideration - a right to which is attached not merely freedom of movement in the building itself but also, at all times, in the court-yard reserved for the prisoners of war and liberty to stay together undisturbed in the cells, and in accordance with which guarding was to be limited to prevention of escape only.
"Finally the generals ask leave to refer to Art. 23, according to which they are entitled to army pay as prisoners of war which, however, has not been paid to them up to the present here in prison. This does not concern themselves alone but, above all, their families, and, for that reason, appears to be an unfair hardship because other officers accommodated in officer camps, according to reliable sources, receive their army pay.
"The defense asks that all these points should be considered in justly evaluating the circumstances of the case from the point of view of the facts and the law. It asks leave to point out how important it is for an absolutely truthful clarification of all the facts of the case in the interest of the trial, that the members of the group and military witnesses who already show signs of physical weakness and mental break-down, due to long and increasingly difficult imprisonment, should be kept in a state of health which ensures their full contribution to the findings.
"In addition, however, as members of the Group "General Staff and OKW, which, for its part, counts as representative of the German Armed Forces, they must also be granted extensive possibility of unlimited activity to defend the Group and refute the serious accusations brought against the German Army, by release from prison or by a relaxation of the rules while observing the regulations of the Geneva Convention.
"The defense, in view of the urgency of the request put forward in the name of the Generals and the importance of the matter, would humbly express the wish for a very early decision.
"Signed: (Dr. Hans Laternser) "And:
(Dr. G. v. Rohrscheidt)" On 7 May 1946 another application was submitted to the IMT, and it reads as follows:
"Nuernberg, 7 May 1946 "To Secretary General International Military General.
Nuernberg "Following the petition of the defense dated May 1946, the undersigned Counsels for the defense for the Generals belonging to the Group as members or witnesses, ask leave to submit a short supplement as requested:
"The Generals here in the military prison suffer, above all, psychically from the conditions of their imprisonment to which they are all subject in general.
"This signifies encroachments on their ability to work, on which the defense relies to support them.
"If the gentlemen concerned are repeatedly reminded, as a result of complete failure to appreciate their legal position, that they are in prison here as prisoners and war criminals, then these continuous explanations must cause serious depression. Their treatment, too, is in conformity with these utterances which they quite justifiably consider unworthy in view of their age and position.
"In detail, the Generals refer to the following objections with a request for speedy redress:
"1. The summons to receive an order or instruction is always issued without indication of rank and addition such as "Herr', often even without mention of name, but only by an appropriate movement of the hand or sharp order.
"2. The corridors used by the Generals for common discussion have to be cleared several times a day on order under present conditions and the Generals have then to disappear into their cells.
"3. The cells, as soon as 2 persons are in them for discussion or work in common, must be left continually open. As a result, not merely is undisturbed work impossible but also the health of the inmates is endangered by the drought.
"4. The same danger to health and disturbance of quiet work already results from the fact that the hatch in the cell door has always to be open.
"5. Repeated inspection of the cells and the inmates' belongings takes place for the most part in the most inconsiderate manner as far as the person himself is concerned and, above all, as far as the things are concerned, clothes, under-linen etc. which are thrown down and scattered around the floor.
"6. Toilet articles as for instance, nail scissors, nail files etc. have bean taken away from the Generals.
"7. The receipt of packages is so limited that it amounts practically to complete prohibition. As a result, individual Generals in consequence of having been in prison for many months already no longer possess any wearable underclothing and garments and, for instance, have lent their shirts to one another. Also, receipt of permissible foodstuffs is made impossible by this.
"8. The unusually limited exchange of letters naturally affects the psychical well being of the Generals, too and indirectly their ability to work.
"9. The Generals as a whole have to clean the corridors in front of their cells and the stairs between the different floors day in day out in connection with which they themselves have regulated this work to be undertaken by individuals.
"10. The same applies for the so-called 'water-service'. Here too the Generals appointed among themselves have to clean the tubs daily that serve for washing the table utensils and fill them again with water, which has to be done 3 times a day even.
"11. As long as the Generals had an assembly room at their disposal, they had to clean it too and the toilet in it, as well, which even when they were present in this room, was used mainly and in fact exclusively by the guards.
"12. The collaboration for giving of information required by the defense and the co-operation necessary for this is no longer granted.
"a) because the necessary larger assembly room for discussions held in common is lacking, "b) because when several persons are together in a cell the door of which has to be left open, peace to work is disturbed by the continual coming and going and noise in the corridor, "c) because, at night too, when the guard is being relieve, on account of loud talking, often singing and whistling - which happens unconsciously and with no evil intent - there is no peace, "d) because meeting of the members of a group is prevented from time to time, as for instance, now on account of separate housing of General Halder and General Westphal.
"The undersigned Defense Counsel pass on these preceding objections with the reiterated request to grant, for reasons of unlimited defense and to make the difficult task easier, not merely unhindered co-operation of the Generals among themselves by appropriate arrangement, but, over and beyond that, to make possible facilitated collaboration between them and the defense counsel of the Group.
"This, in the opinion of the defense counsel, is possible only by accommodating elsewhere the Generals at present in the prison here.
"Signed: (Dr. Hans Lateraser) "And:
(Dr. Guenther v. Rohrscheidt)."
Now, when these applications were handed in the generals then in Nurnberg, including Field Marshal List, were released from their status as prisoners of war.
I shall now submit LI Document 550, which will become Exhibit No. 2. It is an unattached document; and, if the Tribunal please, it reached me only a few days ago. It is the release powers, as you may see from Page 3 of 31st of May 1946. I shall not read this document, but I beg to draw the Court's attention to the fact that above the signature which Field Marshal List gave there is a note in handwriting which reads: "Under protest against my release."
May I ask the Court that the Tribunal make a mental note of this handwritten note?
MR. FENSTERMACHER: I should also like to call the Tribunal's attention to the fact that on the second page there is a notation that Field Marshal List received a discharge pay of 80 marks.
DR. LATERNSER: But not now; please don't do that now! I never interrupted the Prosecution in the middle of a document. If the Prosecution wishes to read something from this document, then please only after I am through.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you kindly give the translation of the statement written by Field Marshal List again please?
DR. LATERNSER: Certainly, Your Honor. May I ask the Court Interpreter to translate this?
THE COURT INTERPRETER: "Reserving my protest against my release."
THE PRESIDENT: Again, please.
THE COURT INTERPRETER: "Reserving my protest against my release."
DR. LATERNSER: This protest which the Field Marshal announced was later submitted. It is contained in Document Book VI, on Page 25.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Laternser, where should this be inserted in the Document Book, and what exhibit number should be given it?
DR. LATERNSER: Yes, I meant to say that. I would like to see it attached to Page 20 of Document Book VI. If the Tribunal please, this protest which the Field Marshal has announced in his release papers has been submitted.
THE PRESIDENT: The exhibit number?
DR. LATERNSER: It is Exhibit No. 2. This protest announced in the release papers was submitted later, and it may be found in Document Book VI, on Page 25. I submitted it at the time on behalf of Field Marshal List. I shall read it:
"Nuernberg, 6 June 1946.
"To Commander in Chief of the 3rd American Army Heidelberg "The Defense Counsel of the group 'General Staff and OKW' indicted in the Nuernberg War Criminal Trials takes the liberty of submitting the following statements on behalf of the Field Marshals and Generals represented by it as members of the group, with the motion:
1. to examine the legality of the measures taken against the officer prisoners of war detained in the Military Prison of this place, 2. to annul the issued orders concerning their discharge from the Armed Forces and their release from captivity, and to apply to them the regulations of the Geneva Convention of 27 July 1929 as prisoners of war as up to now.
"Reasons:
I.
"As members of the group "General Staff and OKW", indicted in the Nuernberg War Criminal Trials, a number of Generals and officers are in the Military Prison of this place, among then as highest military leaders:"
And then there is a list of names which I need not read not. To continue on Page 26, after the list:
"Since the Generals consider the treatment given to them in the local Military Prison to be unworthy of their position, their military rank and their age and to be contrary to the regulations of the Geneva Convention of 27 July 1929 (Art. 3), they requested the undersigned Defense Counsel to raise legal objections against the treatment of the prisoners of war with reference to the Geneva Convention.
"Thereupon the Defense Counsel lodged a complaint as per attached copy with the International Military Tribunal on behalf of the members of the group represented by it. We beg to refer to the individual points of the complaint in the attached petition as traceable violations of the special regulations of the Geneva Convention.
"The undersigned did not receive a reply to this complaint up to now.
"On the contrary, the Field Marshals enumerated under No. 1 to 5 and the Generals named under No. 8 to 11 were notified a few days ago that they were discharged from the Armed Forces and with this simultaneously released from captivity and that they will be held in custody as civilian internees from not on.
"By their being discharged from the Armed Forces the Generals named above are deprived of the privileges legally granted to them by the Geneva Convention as officer prisoners of war. As civilian internees the regulations issued by the Military Court Prison of this place for civilian prisoners are now applied to them.
II.
"The Defense Counsel takes the liberty of submitting and proving its opinion to the effect that the issued orders have no legal foundation.