4 Jan. 46
fields of national activities, the military leaders
must act in accordance with international law and the dictates of the
public conscience. Otherwise the military resources of the nation will
be used, not in accordance with the laws of modern society, but in
accordance with the law of the jungle. The military leaders share
responsibility with other leaders. I use the word "share"
advisedly. Obviously the military leaders are not the final and
exclusive arbiters, and the German military leaders do not bear
exclusive responsibility for the criminal holocaust which was committed.
But the German military leaders conspired with others to undermine and
destroy the conscience of the German nation. The German military leaders
wanted to aggrandize Germany and, if necessary, to resort to war for
that purpose.
As the Chief Prosecutor for the United States said in his opening
statement, the German military leaders are here before you because they,
along with others, mastered Germany and drove it to war.
Your Lordship, that concludes the evidence under Counts One and Two,
and if this would be a convenient stopping point ...
THE PRESIDENT: You have another branch of the argument?
COL. TAYLOR: Counts Three and Four, Your Honor, which will take
considerable time.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well, we will adjourn now.
[The Tribunal adjourned until 7 January
1946 at 1000 hours.]