7 Dec.
45
And then I would like the Court to
look at the entry for the 21st of March, which by inadvertence has been
included in the next page at the bottom of Page 6:
"Misgivings
of Task Force 21 . . . "
The
Court has seen from documents that I have put in already that Task Force
21 was Falkenhorst's force, which was detailed to conduct this invasion.
"Misgivings of Task
Force 21 about the long interval between taking up readiness positions
at 0530 hours and closing of diplomatic negotiations. Führer
rejects any earlier negotiations as otherwise calls for help go out to
England and America. If resistance is put up it must be ruthlessly
broken. The political plenipotentiaries must emphasize the military
measures taken and even exaggerate them."
Comment
upon that entry is, I think, unnecessary. The next entry, if the Court
will turn to Page 5, of the 28th of March, the third sentence:
"Individual
naval officers seem to be lukewarm concerning the Weser Exercise and
need a stimulus. Also Falkenhorst and the other three commanders are
worrying about matters which are none of their business. Krancke sees
more disadvantages than advantages.
"In the evening the
Führer visits the map room and roundly declares that he won't
stand for the Navy clearing out of the Norwegian ports right away.
Narvik, Trondheim, and Oslo will have to remain occupied by naval
forces."
There the Court
will observe that Jodl, as ever, is the faithful collaborator of Hitler.
Then April the 2d:
"1530
hours. Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Commander-in-Chief of the
Navy, and General Von Falkenhorst with the Führer All confirm
preparations completed. Führer orders carrying out of the Weser
Exercise for April the 9th."
Then
the last entry in the next page, the 4th of April:
"Führer
drafts the proclamations. Pieckenbrock, Chief of Military Intelligence
I, returns with good result from the talks with Quisling in
Copenhagen."
Until the very
last the treachery of Quisling continued most active.
The
Prosecution has in its possession a large number of operation orders
that were issued in connection with the aggression against Norway and
Denmark, but I propose only to draw the Court's attention to two of them
to illustrate the extent of the secrecy and