7 Dec.
45
"Top secret,
Operation Order-'Hartmut.' Occupation of Denmark and Norway.
"This
order comes into force on the code word Hartmut. With its coming into
force the orders hitherto valid for the boats taking part lose their
validity.
"The day and hour are designated as Weser-Day
and Weser-Hour, and the whole operation, is known as Weser Exercise.
"The operation ordered by the code word has as its
objective the rapid surprise landing of troops in Norway.
Simultaneously Denmark will be occupied from the Baltic and from the
land side."
And there is at
the end of that paragraph another contribution by Dönitz to this
process of deception:
"The
naval force will, as they enter the harbor, fly the British flag until
the troops have landed except, presumably, at Narvik."
The
Tribunal now knows as a matter of history that on the 9th of April 1940
the Nazi onslaught on the unsuspecting and almost unarmed people of
Norway and Denmark was launched. When the invasions had already begun a
German memorandum was handed to the Governments of Norway and Denmark
attempting to justify the German action; and I would like to draw the
Court's attention to Document TC-55, Exhibit GB-92. That is at the
beginning of the book of documents — the sixth document of the
book. I am not proposing to read the whole of that memorandum; I have no
doubt the defending counsel will deal with any parts which they consider
relevant to the defense. The Court will observe that it is alleged that
England and France were guilty in their maritime warfare of breaches of
international law and that Britain and France were making plans
themselves to invade and occupy Norway and that the Government of Norway
was prepared to acquiesce in such a situation.
The memorandum
states — and I would now draw the Court's attention to Page 3 of
the memorandum to the paragraph just below the middle — of the page
beginning "The German Troops":
"The
German troops, therefore, do not set foot on Norwegian soil as
enemies. The German High Command does not intend to make use of the
points occupied by German troops as bases for operations against
England as long as it is not forced to do so by measures taken by
England and France; German military operations aim much more
exclusively at protecting the north against proposed occupation of
Norwegian strong points by English-French forces."
In
connection with that statement I would remind the Court that in his
operation order of the lst of March Hitler had then