3
Dec. 45
of
the German offensive formations will, in
conjunction with the Army, first deliver
the decisive blow against
Czechoslovakia."
By
mid-summer direct and detailed planning for Case
Green was being carried out by the Luftwaffe. In
early August, at the direction of the Luftwaffe
General Staff, the German Air Attaché in
Prague reconnoitered the Freudenthal area of
Czechoslovakia south of Upper Silesia for
suitable landing grounds.
I offer in
evidence Document 1536-PS as Exhibit USA-83, a
report of the Luftwaffe General Staff,
Intelligence Division, dated 12 August 1938.
This was a top-secret document for general
officers only, of which only two copies were
made.
Attached as an enclosure was the
report of Major Moericke, the German Attaché
in Prague, dated 4 August 1938. I quote the
first four paragraphs of the enclosure:
"I
was ordered by the General Staff of the
Air Force to reconnoiter the land in the
region Freudenthal-Freihermersdorf . . .
"
THE PRESIDENT: Page 3 of the document?
MR.
ALDERMAN: Yes. " . . . for landing
possibilities.
"For
this purpose I obtained private lodgings
in Freudenthal with the manufacturer
Macholdt, through one of my trusted men
in Prague.
"I had
specifically ordered this man to give no
details about me to Macholdt,
particularly about my official position.
"I used my official car
(Dienst Pkw) for the journey to
Freudenthal taking precautions against
being observed."
By
25 August the imminence of the attack on
Czechoslovakia compelled the issuance by the
Luftwaffe of a detailed intelligence memorandum
entitled "Extended Case Green"; in
other words, an estimate of possible action by
the Western Powers during the attack on
Czechoslovakia.
I now offer this
document in evidence, Number 375-PS as Exhibit
USA-84. This is a top-secret memorandum of the
Intelligence Section of the Luftwaffe, General
Staff, dated Berlin, 25 August 1938. Based on
the assumption that Great Britain and France
would declare war on Germany during Case Green,
this study contains an estimate of the strategy
and air strength of the Western Powers as of 1
October 1938, the target date for Case Green. I
quote the first two sentences of the document.
That is under the heading "Initial
Political Situation":
"The
basic assumption is that France will
declare war during the Case Green. It is
presumed that France will decide upon