4 Jan. 46
"Until the summer of 1944 they bore
the designation Befehlshaber and from then on that of
Oberbefehlshaber. This change of designation carried with it no change
in the functions and responsibilities that they previously had."
Your Honor, that concludes the description of the composition of the
group and the personnel of it. The staff of the Tribunal have referred
to me two inquiries which have been addressed to the Tribunal by counsel
for the group and it seemed to me it might be appropriate if I disposed
of those inquiries now as to the composition of the group. The letters
were turned over to me 2 days ago.
The first is from Hofrat Düllmann, and he has asked whether the
group, as defined in the Indictment, is contingent upon rank, whether it
includes officers holding a definite rank such as field marshal or "Generaloberst."
The answer to that is clearly "no." As has been pointed out,
the criterion of membership in the group is whether one held one of the
positions on the chart up there; and one would be in the group if one
held one of the positions, no matter what one's rank. Rank is no
criterion. In point of fact, I suppose everybody in the group held at
least the rank of general in the German Army, which is the equivalent of
lieutenant general in ours.
He has also asked whether the group includes officers of the so-called
General Staff Corps. The answer to that is "no." There was in
the German Army a war academy, and graduates of the war academy were in
the branch of service described as the General Staff Corps. They signed
themselves, for example, "Colonel in Generalstab." They
functioned largely as adjutants, and assistants to the chief staff
officers. I suppose there were some thousands of them-two or three
thousand, but they are not included in the group. Many of them were
officers of junior rank. They are not named in the Indictment, and there
is no reason and no respect in which they are comprehended within the
group as defined.
The other letter of inquiry is from Dr. Exner, who states that he is in
doubt as to the meaning of Oberbefehlshaber and goes on to state that he
believes that Oberbefehlshaber includes commanders-in-chief in theaters
of war, the commanders-in-chief of army groups, and the
commanders-in-chief of armies. That is quite right. Those are the
positions as shown on the chart.
Let us now spend a few minutes examining the way this group worked. In
many respects, of course, the German military leaders functioned in the
same general manner as obtained in the military establishments of other
large nations. General plans were made by the top staff officers and
their assistants in collaboration with the field generals or admirals
who were entrusted with the execution of the plans. A decision to wage a
particular campaign would be made,