Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 3, p. 62
		3 Dec. 45 "3. For the time being this order is to be made known only to the departments and personnel immediately concerned. "Signed, Adolf Hitler." Four days later, on 14 September, Defendant Keitel issued detailed instructions for the employment of specific RAD units. This order is Item 21 in the Schmundt file, at Page 45 in the English translation. I do not think I need read the order. There is another order issued by the Defendant Jodl on 16 September, Item 24, at Page 48 in the Schmundt file. I think I need only read the heading or title of that: "Subject: Employment of Reich Labor Service for maneuvers with Wehrmacht. Effective 15 September the following units will be trained militarily under direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army." Two further entries in the Defendant Jodl's diary give further indications of the problems of the OKW in this period of mid-September, just 2 weeks before the anticipated X-Day. I now read the answers for the 15th and 16th September, at Pages 5 and 6 of the English translation of the Jodl diary. "15 September: In the morning, conference with Chief of Army High Command and Chief of General Staffs of Army and Air Force, the question was discussed as to what could be done if the Führer insists on advancement of the date, due to the rapid development of the situation. "16 September: General Keitel returns from the Berghof at 1700 hours. He graphically describes the results of the conference between Chamberlain and the Führer. The next conference will take place on the 20th or 21st in Godesberg. "With consent of the Führer, the order is given in the evening by the Armed Forces High Command, to the Army High Command, and to the Ministry of Finance, to line up the v.G.a.D. along the Czech border." — That I understand to have reference to the reinforced border guard. "In the same way, an order is issued to the railways to have empty rolling stock kept in readiness, clandestinely, for the strategic concentrations of the Army, so that it can be transported starting 28 September." The order to the railroads to make rolling stock available, to which General Jodl referred, appears as Item 22, at Page 47 of the Schmundt file. In this order the Defendant Keitel told the railroads to be ready by 28 September but to continue work on the Western fortifications even after 20 September in the interest of camouflage I quote the first four paragraphs of this order: 62
		Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 3, p. 62     Last modified: January 2, 1999 Copyright © 1998 The Mazal Library and The Holocaust History Project. All rights reserved. Technical/administrative contact: webmaster@holocaust-history.org Find a typo? Let us know.