7 Dec. 45

"Führer raises the question whether it is better to undertake the Weser Exercise before or after Case Yellow."

And then on the 3rd of March, the last sentence:

"Führer decides to carry out Weser Exercise before Case Yellow with a few days' interval."

And then My Lord, there is an entry to which I desire to call Your Lordship's attention, on May the 8th, that is, 2 days before the invasion — the top of the page:

"Alarming news from Holland, cancelling of furloughs, evacuations, road-blocks, other mobilization measures. According to reports of the intelligence service the British have asked for permission to march in, but the Dutch have refused."

My Lord, may I make two short comments on that? The first is that the Germans are rather objecting because the Dutch are actually making some preparations to resist their invasion: "Alarming news" as they wrote. The second point is that Jodl is there recording that the Dutch according to their intelligence reports are still adhering properly to their neutrality. But I need not read any more of the diary extracts.

My Lord, that is the story except for the documents which were presented to Holland and to Belgium and to Luxembourg after the invasion was a fait accompli, because as history now knows at 4:30 a.m. on the 10th of May these three small countries were violently invaded with all the fury of modern warfare. No warning was given to them by Germany and no complaint was made by Germany of any breaches of any neutrality before this action was taken.

THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps this will be a convenient place to break off until 2 o'clock.

MR. ROBERTS: If Your Lordship pleases.

[A recess was taken until 1400 hours.]