7 A. The sentence referring to the cruelties that have been committed in the Balkans. However, I would like to state again that we had issued an order according to which partisans were to be treated as regular troops, as long as they could be recognized as troops by their insignia or by appearing in organized formations. Q. That is exactly what I am trying to get at. You officers in the field, in the Wehrmacht, refused to obey orders which were issued by Keitel with such strenuous terms as this order that was issued by Keitel concerning the treatment of partisans, did you not? A. We couldn't simply refuse publicly to accept these orders. Q. You accepted them, then threw them in the waste basket, did you not? A. Yes. We did exactly the same thing with the commando order* which I have already had occasion to mention. Q. You also accepted them and filed them and never referred to them again, didn't you? A. We have done so in cases where they were not in accordance with our opinions. Q. And you did so in this particular order, which I have now referred to, didn't you? A. Of that, I am not sure. It depends on the date on which it reached us. I don't know when it came to us. I don't know whether the order I mentioned that was issued was provoked by this order or whether we had issued it independently. Q. You will admit that the order which you, of the OBSW, issued concerning the treatment of partisans, did not have within it the same principles as outlined in the order which I have just read to you, did it? A. Yes, of course. Excuse me, may I add something? You should keep in mind that I am testifying under oath and I would not say anything of which I am not entirely sure. This is why I am so hesitant and need some time for reflection. Q. But you are sure, General, that the order which you issued for Marshal Keitel did not embody in it the paragraph that "It is therefore not only justified but the duty of the troops to use all means, without restriction, even against women and children, as long as it ensures success"? A. This is the most atrocious sentence in the whole order. Q. But you do know, do you not, that Keitel's order, issued by Keitel himself at the direction of the Fuehrer, contained within *See document 498-PS, vol. III, p. 416. it that very paragraph that I have read to you concerning the treatment of women and children? A. I believe so, but I cannot affirm it with certainty. In any case, I know that we never conducted war against women and children. As this order was found, it must have been issued by the OKW. It is the usual lingo of an order of the OKW. Q. I will ask you further, if you, as Chief of Staff for Field Marshal Kesselring, did not know that the police troops behind Kesselring's line did take this very action outlined by Keitel towards the partisans in the north of Italy? A. In Italy, I never heard of such policies being actually practiced and as for other theaters of war, I had no insight. Only now, in captivity, I have learned about alleged policies in Russia, and my feeling is that if those were actually practiced, they have to be condemned very strongly. Q. You not only have heard of it, General, but you know that Keitel did issue orders couched in the terms of this order, which I have read to you, do you not? A. Yes, but I do not believe that it was his own mind that produced those orders. As it says here, this was by order of the Fuehrer. Q. But Keitel did sign these orders, did he not? A. Yes, of course. Q. He, as Chief of the OKW, fully expected his troops to carry out that order when they received it, didn't he? A. Yes. Q. And although you members of the Wehrmacht in the field refused to carry out that order, you would certainly have been. punished by Keitel had he heard that you had refused to obey the order? A. Yes, of course. Treatment of Allied Commandos in Africa Q. Now, General, when you were with Field Marshal Rommel in Africa, you received orders from the High Command outlining the treatment that would be accorded commandos, too, didn't you? A. Yes. I already testified to that point. Q. Can you outline for us about what those orders covered? A. I do not recall the details, but I can summarize them. They provided that in view of the increased activities of commando units behind our lines, all enemy soldiers found behind our lines should be "killed in combat." This order was immediately burned on the spot after Field Marshal Rommel and myself read it. Q. I now hand you a document which bears the date of 18 October 1942,* and ask you to read it and tell me whether or not this is a copy of the order that was issued by the OKW at the direction of the Fuehrer and which outlined to the troops under the commands who are listed on the last page, and tell me if this copy is the copy of an order which you, in Africa, received concerning the treatment of commandos when captured by your forces? A. Yes. This is it. Q. Did you know that at the very time you received this order, that you had in your possession the nephew of Field Marshal Alexander, of the British forces? A. Yes. It may, however, have been before or after that. Q. Wasn't Field Marshal Alexander's nephew a commando of the British forces? A. Yes, he was. Q. What did you do with him? A. We treated him as a prisoner of war, although he had violated International Law. He was wearing a German-Africa hat and carrying a German pistol at the time of his capture. Massacre of Hostages at the Ardeatine Caves Q. Then if 335 Italians were executed on the afternoon of 23 March 1944, at the Ardeatine Caves, by Obersturmbannfuehrer Herbert Kappler, BDS Italian Aussenkommando Rome, that action of Herbert Kappler was a direct result of an order which was issued by the OKW at the direction of the Fuehrer? A. Yes, this was so. However, I do not know now whether it was on the 23d March 1944 or whether the exact number of Italians was 335, and as I said before, they were not hostages. Q. However, OKW and the Fuehrer were informed that you did not have in your possession any of the people who were reported to have committed the crime for which these 335 persons were to be executed, were they not? A. Yes. Q. And any order issued by OKW or the Fuehrer concerning punishment that was to be meted out as a result of the action. taken against the German Police in Italy was issued with the knowledge that you didn't have in your possession the actual perpetrators of the crime? A. Yes, but I do request you to make it part of the record *See document 498-PS, vol. III, p. 416. that those people who were actually executed were, according to the reports from Kappler, not hostages but people in his custody, anyway. Q. But the intent in the mind of you commanders in OBSW and in the minds of the 14th Army Commanders and in the mind of Kappler was to convey to the Italian people a message that you had executed 335 hostages wasn't it? A. Yes, this was so, in order to scare them and discourage them from repeating such incidents. XXVIII. KARL WOLFF* Excerpts from Testimony of Karl Wolff, taken at Nurn- German Atrocities in Italy. Mussolini's Complaints Ignored Q. In addition, in those reports which you received daily, you also received reports which showed what action was taken against the partisans, didn't you? A. Yes, about every three days. As for the other reports that I was just talking about, I said they were daily reports. They did not necessarily come every day. Sometimes they covered several days. Q. These reports that you received concerning these atrocities outlined to you definitely the number of civilians that were killed or the number of German soldiers that were killed, didn't they? A. Yes, of course. A look at my records would clarify this whole incident. Reading your report here, it is impossible for me to know what it was all about. It doesn't even mention the unit involved in this action. Assuming that this report was correct, it would have come to me in approximately this form: It would say that on this day four of our soldiers had been killed by bandits; that in the action that ensued, thirteen bandits had been killed and that so and so many houses from which we had drawn fire had been burned down. My subordinate responsible *Karl Wolff held the following positions: Supreme SS and Police Fuehrer in Italy; Commander of the Italian SS Legion; General of the Waffen-SS at the Fuehrer's Headquarters; Chief of the personal staff of the Reichsfuehrer SS (Himmler); SS-Obergruppenfuehrer. for this sub-area was the Brigade Leader Tensfeld, whom I mentioned this morning and who would be in a position to say much more about what happened in this area of his responsibility. Q. Maybe this will refresh your memory: Il Duce made a report to you and to the Army High Command of the atrocities that had been committed in Italy during this period, and number one on this list was this very incident which we are now talking about.* Read paragraph one of that report which was rendered by Mussolini to you and the High Command, and see if that calls to your mind what happened at this place and what action you took in regard to it. A. (Examining document) I remember Il Duce protested once or twice or possibly three times in writing against excesses committed allegedly by German troops. This matter of Boccia again strikes a familiar chord and I seem to remember this incident now. I believe that I received a report either directly from Il Duce or more likely from Kesselring with instructions to investigate the case. Q. Did you investigate the case? A. Yes, of course. Q. Was there any punishment rendered by you to those who committed it? A. Il Duce was just an Italian like any other Italian and all his statements or complaints were full of the typical Latin exaggerations. Undoubtedly you have had the same experience with the Italians. Sir, this matter was immediately investigated and a report was made which went to Kesselring and probably to Il Duce. However, the facts as reported were not accurate. Q. You now deny that the allegations made by Il Duce in his report to Field Marshal Kesselring are correct, is that right? A. Reports by Il Duce can be generally dismissed. He would take the word of any girl, or of any person who came running to tell him some grotesquely inflated story and accept it as truth. and pass it on in the form of a report or complaint. Q. My question was, do you deny that Il Duce's report which you have identified is correct? A. Yes, I do. Q. You will note that they both contain the same number of individuals who are alleged to have been killed, thirteen in each case, do you not? A. Yes. *Document referred to did not form part of prosecution case as finally prepared and hence is not published in this series. 768060-48-105 |