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IMT02-T157 MAZAL LIBRARY |
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22 Nov.
45 preserve enemy information in the form of documents, records, reports, and other files. The Germans kept accurate and voluminous records. They were found in Army headquarters, Government buildings, and elsewhere. During the later stages of the war, particularly, such documents were found in salt mines, buried in the ground, behind false walls, and many other places believed secure by the Germans. For example, the personal correspondence and diaries of the Defendant Rosenberg, including his Nazi correspondence, were found behind a false wall in an old castle in eastern Bavaria. The records of the OKL, or Luftwaffe, of which the Defendant Göring was Commander-in-Chief--equivalent to the records of the Headquarters of the Air Staff of the United States Army Air Forces--were found in various places in the Bavarian Alps. Most of such Luftwaffe records were assembled and processed by the Army at Berchtesgaden. When the Army first captured documents and records, they immediately placed the materials under guard and later assembled them in temporary document centers. Many times the records were so voluminous that they were hauled by fleets of Army trucks to document centers. Finally, as the territory seized was made secure, Army zones were established and each Army established a fixed document center to which were transported the assembled documents and records. Later this material was indexed and cataloged, which was a slow process. Beginning last June, Mr. Justice Jackson requested me to direct the assembling of documentary evidence on the continent for the United States case. Field teams from our office were organized under the direction of Major William H. Coogan, who established United States liaison officers at the main Army document centers. Such officers were directed to screen and analyze the mass of captured documents, and select those having evidentiary value for our case. Literally hundreds of tons of enemy documents and records were screened and examined and those selected were forwarded to Nuremberg for processing. I now offer in evidence an affidavit by Major Coogan, dated November 19, 1945, attached hereto, describing the method of procedure, capture, screening and delivery of such documents to Nuremberg. (Document Number 001 A-PS, Exhibit USA-1) At this time, if Your Honors please, and in order to present this matter to the Tribunal, I believe it wise to read at least substantial portions of this affidavit. It is dated November 19, 1945. "I, Major William H. Coogan, 0-455814, Q.M.C., a commissioned officer of the United States of America, do hereby certify as follows: |
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