Forces was concentrated in the hands of Keitel who
signed the major part of the decrees concerning the execution of the
prisoners of war and of the civilians in occupied territories.
Thus the comparisons made with the organization of the supreme
commands in Allied countries cannot be considered valid. In a
democratic country, not one self-respecting military expert would
agree to prepare plans for mass reprisals and merciless killings of
prisoners of war side by side with plans of a purely military and
strategic character.
Meanwhile it is precisely such matters that occupied the supreme
command of the General Staff and of the OKW in Nazi Germany. The
commission by them of the heaviest Crimes against Peace, of the War
Crimes, and of the Crimes against Humanity is not denied but is
particularly emphasized in the verdict of the Tribunal. And yet the
commission of these crimes has not brought the logical conclusion.
The verdict states: "They have been a disgrace to the
honorable profession of arms. Without their military guidance the
aggressive ambitions of Hitler and his fellow Nazis would have been
academic and sterile . . . . "
And subsequently:
"Many of these men have made a
mockery of the soldier's oath of obedience to military orders. When
it suits their defense they say they had to obey; when confronted
with Hitler's brutal crimes, which are shown to have been within
their general knowledge, they say they disobeyed. The truth is they
actively participated in all these crimes, or sat silent and
acquiescent, witnessing the commission of crimes on a scale larger
and more shocking than the world ever had the misfortune to know.
This must be said."
All these assertions in the verdict are correct and
are based on numerous and reliable depositions. It remains only
incomprehensible why "these hundred or so higher officers"
who have caused the world and their own country so much suffering
should not be acknowledged a criminal organization.
The verdict advances the following reasons for the decision,
reasons quite contradictory to the facts:
a) That the crimes were committed by representatives of the
General Staff and of the OKW as private individuals and not as
members of a criminal conspiracy.
b) That the General Staff and the OKW were merely weapons in the
hands of the conspirators and interpreters or executors of the
conspirators' will.
Considerable evidence disputes such conclusions.