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| 3. TESTIMONY OF DEFENSE WITNESS HUENERMANN |
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EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF
DEFENSE WITNESS HUENERMANN¹
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| DIRECT EXAMINATION |
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DR. BOETTCHER (counsel for defendant Krauch): Witness, would you be
kind enough to describe to the Tribunal your career and your activity up until
the war and during the war, so that the Tribunal may get some sort of idea
about your expert knowledge.
WITNESS HUENERMANN: I was a professional
soldier — an officer.² From 1936 until 1943 I was in the Military
Economics Office in the OKW, with the exception of the period from June 1940
until April 1941. From 1938 until 1943 I was Chief of Staff of this office.
Q. Witness, what were the tasks of the Military Economics Staff?
A. This was an agency of the High Command of the Wehrmacht and was
directly under the Chief of the High Command, Keitel. Its main duty was to
prepare the German armament industry for the event of war. In connection with
this, the Wehrwirtschaftsstab had to inform the military agencies about our own
economic war potential in comparison to that of other world powers.
Q.
Now, Witness, how did you judge the potential of German war economy in 1936,
when you took over your job?
A. In 1936, the strength of the German
Wehrmacht was so slight and the extent of German armament industry was so
insignificant that war could not even be considered. It would have been an
event that would have lasted only a few weeks.
Q. Can you substantiate
your views briefly?
A. Because of the Versailles Treaty, Germany had
been disarmed to a large extent. There was only one firm — that was a
monopoly firm — for each type of arms and ammunition. The further
development of modern weapons, planes, bombers, was far behind. The number of
ships which the Navy had was at a minimum. |
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¹ Complete testimony of
Huenermann as a defense witness is recorded in the mimeographed transcript 4
and 5 May 1948. Pp. 13408-18410; and 18495-12524. Huenermann also testified as
a prosecution witness. His complete testimony as a prosecution witness is
recorded in the mimeographed transcript 81 October 1947, pp. 3147-2152.
² Huenermann, formerly a General of the High Command of the Wehrmacht,
was chief of Staff to General Thomas, Chief of the Military Economics and
Armaments Office of the High Command of the Wehrmacht
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