7 Dec.
45
"The representatives of the two
general staffs consider it suitable to inform their governments that
it will be advisable of necessity to take secrecy and surprise into
consideration when the Three Power Treaty is signed by Bulgaria, in
order to assure the success of the military operations."
I pass then to the next document, C-59. I offer that as Exhibit GB-121.
It is a further top-secret directive of the 19th of February. I need
not, I think, read it. All that is set out of importance is the date for
the Operation Marita. It sets out that the bridge across the Danube is
to be begun on the 28th of February, the river crossed on the 2d of
March, and the final orders to be issued on the 26th of February at the
latest.
It is perhaps worth noting that on the original which I have put in,
the actual dates are filled in in the handwriting of the Defendant
Keitel.
It is perhaps just worth setting out the position of Bulgaria at this
moment. Bulgaria adhered to the Three Power Pact on the lst of March . .
.
THE PRESIDENT: What year?
COL. PHILLIMORE: In 1941, and on the same day the entry of German
troops into Bulgaria began in accordance with the Plan Marita and the
directives to which I have referred the Tribunal.
The landing of British troops in Greece on the 3rd of March in
accordance with the guarantee given in the spring of 1939 by His
Majesty's Government may have accelerated the movement of the German
forces; but, as the Tribunal will have seen, the invasion of Greece had
been planned long beforehand and was already in progress at this time.
I pass now to the next document in the bundle, C-167, which I put in as
GB-122. I am afraid it is not a very satisfactory copy, but the original
which I have put in shows that both the Defendants Keitel and Jodl were
present at the interview with Hitler which this extract records. It is a
short extract from a report by the Defendant Raeder on an interview with
Hitler in the presence of the Defendants Keitel and Jodl. It is perhaps
interesting as showing the ruthless nature of the German intention.
"The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy
asks for confirmation that the whole of Greece will have to be
occupied even in the event of a peaceful settlement.
"Führer: The complete occupation is a prerequisite of any
settlement."
The above
document . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Is it dated?