PRESIDING JUDGE CARTER: Will you state again just why you need a recess now?
DR. FRITSCH: The defendant Rendulic doesn't feel very well.
PRESIDING JUDGE CARTER: Very well. We will recess for 15 minutes.
(A recess was taken)
MR. RAPP: Your Honors, we stopped prior to the recess on page 90, page 87 of the German defense counsels' books, and we concern ourselves with NOKW 668, which became Prosecution's Exhibit 440.
The last entry on this document was, "German General plenipotentiary in Albania."
"29 Albanian deserters and 20 hostages arrested in operation of the Albanian Gendarmes in the area NW of Prizren".
Signed, Military Commander Southeast Ia, No 1 3152/44 secret, signed von Geitner".
This, your Honors, concludes the particular document.
MR. RAPP: If your Honors turn now to page 91, please, you find document No. NOKW-611; that is page 88 in German Defense counsel's book. And then if you will turn to page 102, please -- German Defense Counsel's book page 100, we have Document No. NOKW-1731. Your Honors, these two particular documents we are not offering into evidence at this time, but with Your Honors' permission we would like to have them marked for identification only, and suggest that NOKW-611 be marked 440-a and NOKW1731, which is on page 102 be marked 440-b. No. 440-a-1, the second document. The first one to be marked 440-a and the second document 440-a-1. This, your Honors, concludes document book No. 18.
MR. DENNEY: May it please your Honors, at this time we would like to ask the Court to request the Marshal to produce the witness Felber, and Mr. Rapp will examine Felber. And, with your Honors' permission, he will examine him in the German language.
PRESIDING JUDGE CARTER: The Marshal will bring in the witness Felber.
(THE MARSHAL ESCORTS THE WITLESS TO THE STAND.)
PRESIDING JUDGE CARTER: The witness will be sworn. Raise your right hand please, and repeat after me: "I solemnly swear that the testimony I will give in the case on trial will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God." You may be seated. You may proceed, Mr. Rapp.
MR. RAPP: Witness, please talk slowly and distinctly into the microphone. If you talk too fast a light will appear in front of you. You must then stop and repeat your sentence slowly. Please state your full name.
A. My name is Hans Gustav Felber.
Q. When were you born?
A. On the 8th of July 1889.
Q. Where were you born?
A. In Wiesbaden.
Q. Are you married?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you have children?
A. No.
Q. Were you ever a member of the NSDAP or any of its affiliated organizations?
A. No.
Q. What is your profession?
A. I am a professional soldier and officer.
Q. Since when?
A. Since 1907.
Q. Were you on active duty the whole time?
A. Yes.
Q. Please state quite briefly your military career, with dates and promotions, from first of September 1939, that is to say, the outbreak of the Second World War.
A. On the first of September 1939 I was Brigadier General and Chief of the General Staff of Army Group 3 in Dresden, Germany. In the Police campaigns I was employed as Chief of the General Staff of the 8th German Army. After the conquest of Warsaw, on the first of October 1939, I was promoted Major General. On the 15th of October 1939, the 8th Army was dissolved. I myself became Chief of the General Staff of the newly organized 2nd German Army in the West. In February, 1940, I became Chief of the General Staff of the Army Group C ("C" for Caesar) in Frankfurt on Main. After the end of the campaign in the West, on the first of August 1940 -- I was appointed General of the Infantry.
JUDGE WENNERSTRUM: Judge Burke is having difficulty in getting the transmission of the Interpreter. Can we get a check on that of some sort?
(THE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM WAS CHECKED FOR APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES.)
Q Witness, will you kindly continue with your career.
A On 20 October 40, I became Commanding General of the XIII Army Corps in the West. In the Spring 1941, I was transferred to the East with the staff of my corps where on the 22nd of June we took part in the attack on Russia. At the beginning of January 1942 I was transferred to the Fuehrer Reserve. On the first of April 1942 I took over a high command in France and remained there until the invasion of Southern France in November 1942. On the 29th of August I took over the newly created office of Military Command Southeast in Belgrade and I remained there in that capacity until the 29 of September 1944 on which date I took over the newly founded Army Group Serbia which I led until its dissolution on the 26th of October 1944. Then I was transferred to the West. At first I took over a combat group in the battle of the Ardennes and then on the 20th of February 1945 I was appointed to lead the 7th German Army which I led until the 26th of March. Then I was transferred to the OKH Officers Reserve (Fuehrerreserve). On the 12 of May I surrendered to the American Army in the Prison Camp Eger in Czechoslovakia.
Q Witness, did you take part in the first World War?
A I took part in the whole of the first world way from the beginning to the end, in the ranks and the last year in the General Staff.
Q What German awards or medals did you receive during world wars I and II?
A In the first world war I received the Iron Cross, second and first class; the Hessian Medal for Bravery; and the Brunswick Medal for Bravery. In the second World War I received the clasp to the Iron Cross I and II class and the Knight's Cross.
Q In what internment camps have you been since you were taken prisoner?
A First of all in Eger, then in Pilsin, then in Freysing, in Wiesbaden, in Toucainville near Cherbourg, in Paris, in Neustadt near Marburg, in Hersfeld, in Zufeuhausen near Stuttgart, in Dachau, in Allendorf near Marburg and now in Neustadt near Marburg.
Q Are you a prisoner of the United States?
A Yes.
Q Now long in the Nurnberg Jail?
A I am here since the 3rd of May.
Q Approximately how much was that altogether?
A The first two times each for six weeks; now I have been here for eight days.
Q Approximately how many times were you interrogated in Nurnberg by members of the Prosecution?
AApproximately ten times.
Q In the prison of Nurnberg were you treated exactly in the same way as the other inmates?
A Until now, yes; since three days I have been guarded with special severity.
Q Have any promises been made to you by the Prosecution?
A No.
Q In connection with the interrogation were you subjected to any physical or mental pressure from the part of the prosecution?
A Besides of the last three days, no.
Q In the last three days have you seen members of the prosecution?
A No.
Q When did you see members of the prosecution for the last time?
A I believe that must have been on the 15th of June; no, that is a mistake; it must have been in the first week of June.
Q From when to when exactly were you Military Commander Southeast and at the same time Military Commander Serbia?
A I was that from the 29 of August 1943 until the 29 of September 1944.
Q Which headquarters or person gave you the assignment?
A I got this assignment from the Army Personnel Office.
Q Before you took over your position as Military Commander Southeast and at the same time Military Commander Serbia, did you receive any instructions with regard to your position?
A Yes, I had to report to the Fuehrer's Headquarters, that was on the 20th of August 1943; there I was received by the General Quarter Master General Wagner, by the then Field Marshal Keitel, and subsequently by General Jodl.
Q Whom were you directly subordinated in your capacity as Military Commander Southeast and simultaneously Military Commander Serbia?
A I was officially subordinated to the High Command of the Army and the Quartermaster General who at the same time looked after things in the OKW.
Q Who were the people with whom you had to deal in the OKW and in the OKH respectively?
A I can only remember the then Lieutenant Colonel Gartmeyer who especially had to do with affairs regarding the Balkans.
Q And of which department was Gartmeyer?
A He was attached to the Quartermaster General, the number of his department I don't know.
Q In the OKH or OKW?
A That is the same department, the same officers worked there, under the designations of these departments, that is, OKW and (OKH).
Court No. V, Case No. VII.
Q. Witness, what were your tasks as Military Commander Southeast?
A. When I took over my position I received so-called directives for the activities of Military Commander Southeast. When I was introduced to my job I was, however, told by General Wagner right away that these directives had not been worked out definitely. I received the order already on the 5th of September, that is after a fortnight, to submit new proposals for such directives to the quartermaster general.
Q. Did you have orders as Military Commander of Serbia?
A. No, this directive concerned the Military Commander of Serbia. This is not clear from these directives whether I should have to carry out these orders as Military Commander of Serbia and Military Commander Southeast. But in practice the union of these two offices in one persons worked itself out and as such it was tacitly acknowledged.
Q. During your time as Military Commander Southeast simultaneously Military Commander Serbia, who was the highest responsible personality in the Southeastern Theatre as far as Military Tactical and security matters were concerned?
DR. LATERNSER: I object. Your Honor, I believe the question which had been put in the form is not admissible. The witness cannot tell here who had the highest responsibility in this matter. The Court can decide that.
THE PRESIDENT: Objection overruled.
A. The highest responsible personality was Field Marshall Freiherr von Weichs, Supreme Commander Southeast, in my opinion.
Q. Did you know the Field Marshall von Weichs personally?
A. Yes, I knew him for a number of years, as a subordinate as commanding general of the Nurnberg Corps previous to the beginning of the war subordinate to the Army Corps 3 in Dresden, whose Chief I was.
I knew the Field Marshall von Weichs in the Polish Campaign. I experienced from there the new organization of the 2nd Army, whose Commanding Chief I was. I became his Chief of Staff. Then in the East in the Russian Campaign, I was subordinate to him as Commander in Chief of the 2nd Army.
Q. Thank you, Witness. We will return to this later on. Can you recognize the defendant, former Field Marshall von Weichs, can you recognize him in this courtroom?
A. Yes.
Q. Where is he now?
A. He is just opposite from me under the window, counting from the left, he is seventh from the left, starting from Speidel.
Q. That is former Field Marshall von Weichs?
A. Yes, that is the fifth from the left.
Q. Who was the Chief of Staff to the Commander and Chief Southeast at that time, when you became Military Commander and Chief Southeast?
A. That would be General Foertsch.
Q. Did you know the Chief of Staff personally?
A. I only got to know him in Belgrade.
Q. Do you recognize the former Chief of Staff, the present defendant Foertsch, here in the courtroom?
A. Yes, he is the third from the left.
Q. Who was your Chief of Staff then, Witness?
A. That was the Col. Ritter von Geitner, who was later promoted to General.
Q. Do you recognize him here in the Court?
A. He is sitting between Foertsch and Field Marshall von Weichs.
Q. Who was, during your term of office as Military Commander Southeast, the Commander in Chief of the 2nd Panzer Army.
A. General Rendulic when the office was taken over.
Q. Did you know General Rendulic personally?
A. Yes, in the East as Commander of a Division he was subordinate to me for a short time, and then I saw him again in Serbia?
Q. Is he here present in the Court?
A. Yes, the sixth from the left.
Q. What were your personal connections with the defendant von Weichs, as far as you haven't told us that before?
A. My personal relationship with Field Marshall von Weichs was mostly of an admiring nature. In the long years of the war I saw him, especially as an upright, a clever and judicious superior, and he was an exemplary man. He was, in contrast to many others, in my view in no way devoted to the interests of the Nazi Party, and on the other hand his strong leanings toward the church prevented him from doing that, even under the eyes of the Party he did not hesitate to show himself as a true leader; In my superior Field Marshall von Weichs I want to say I had kind of a fatherly friend to whom I had access at any time, and I could tell him all my worries and my thoughts quite frankly and openly, and I often made use of that.
Q. Who was your predecessor in your capacity as Military Commander Southeast?
A. I did not have a predecessor and under this designation there was none. This staff had only been founded when I appeared.
Q. Was this position created especially for you?
A. Yes.
Q. Was there then a Military Commander of Serbia previous to your time?
A. On this staff --- the one of my staff which I took over in Belgrade emerged under the leadership of my new Chief, Col. Ritter von Geitner.
Q. Who was your predecessor in the position of Military Commander Serbia?
A. That was General of the Artillery Bader, who then took over the XXI Mountain Corps in Tirana.
Q. Who was Chief of Staff with Bader when you took over from Bader?
A. That was Col. Ritter von Geitner.
Q. Did you have a successor as Military Commander of Serbia or as Military Commander Southeast?
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. Because the Military Commander Southeast was disbanded when Military Commander of Serbia was founded. That must have been on the 5 of October 1944.
Q. Please state briefly what your staff consisted of in your capacity as Military Commander Serbia; in your capacity as Military Commander of Serbia what kind of a staff did you have under you in order to deal with this job in Serbia?
A. I had the same staff as when I was Military Commander Southeast. It was composed of two large departments, first of all from a really directive staff, a technical staff, Col. Ritter von Geitner, and a purely administrative staff, which first of all when I arrived there was only occupied by people as deputies, because the people in their designation of the definite chiefs of the administration had met with great difficulties and this had to be overcome and set geographically.
Q. The territory in which you were responsible as Military Commander Southeast, was that identical with the then territory of the Army Group-F?
A. Yes.
Q. What were your tasks as Military Commander Southeast in Croatia?
A. In Croatia I didn't have any actual tasks as Military Commander, because the Croatian Government under Poglavnik carried out its administration.
Q. Under whose supreme command were the German Troops in Croatia, while you were there as Military Commander Southeast?
A. The German troops we subordinate to the Commander in Chief of the 2nd Panzer Army.
Q. Besides yourself in this position as Military Commander in Serbia were there any additional Military Commanders in the Southeast area?
A. Yes, there was a Military Commander in Greece, that was German Plenipotentiary General in Albania and Montenegro, whose offices were divided later on. The business of Montenegro was subordinate to local headquarters. Then the German Plenipotentiary General in Croatia. I was under my command.
Q. Could you give these Military commanders in the War required by you by name and also their successors, if there had been many, during your tenure of office?
A. I can in detail only remember the highest commanders, that was for the Southern area of the Balkans, the Commander in Chief of the Army Group E and the Commander in Chief of the 2nd Panzer Army.
Q. Witness, I believe you did not understand my question. I asked you whether you could tell us by name, give us the names of the Military commanders or their successors during your tenure of office as Military Commander Southeast?
A. The Military Commander in Greece was, first of all, General of the Air Force Speidel. As far as I know on the 1st of July 1944, he was replaced by General Scheuerlen, again of the Air Force. The Plenipotentiary General in Albania was in the beginning a General Bessel and he was being replaced by the General of the Artillery Geip who simultaneously with General Speidel was replaced by a Major General Gullmann. The local headquarters in Montenegro was under the command, from the Spring of 1944, of Brigadier General Keiper. The Plenipotentiary General in Croatia also was the Lieutenant General of Infantry von GlaiseHorstenau.
Q. Who was the superior of these military commanders.
A. The superior of these military commanders was the military Commander Southeast. That is I.
Q. How often did you visit these Military Commanders?
A. During all the time of my activities as Military Commander Southeast I never left Serbia. The Military Commanders occasionally went to see me and to report to me in Belgrade; that was either Greece or Tirana, and happened only a few times.
Q. Were the military commanders disciplinarily subordinated to you?
A. On paper, according to the directives, the military commanders and similar personalities were subordinate to me. In practice, however, this subordination could not be carried out in this form. It soon appeared, that the Military Commander Greece was dependent on Army Group E which had always fought for complete subordination. The Commander in Albania soon became dependent on the 21st Mountain Corps which was likewise stationed in Tirana. This is explained by the fact that the Plenipotentiary General did not have any troops of his own.
The Plenipotentiary General in Croatia had a special and rather peculiar position. He had no jurisdiction as regards territory and he was looked upon as political and military adviser of the Poglavnic.
Q. Witness, may I ask you to answer my questions briefly? We will come to all the other points; what did the independence of the Military Commander amount to in practice?
A. The Military Commanders Greece and Albania were more or less independent and, as far as they were not bound by the directives of the 21st Mountain Corps or Army Group E, they were also independent in the execution of their measures.
Q. Were these military commanders ordered by you at any time to collaborate closely with the individual troop commanders in their respective territories?
A. No, there never was such a directive.
Q. Which troops were subordinate disciplinarily to the Military Commander?
A. That is subordinate to Military Commander Serbia?
Q. No, this concerns every individual Military Commander as far as you got to know of that officially and had to know this.
A. I cannot say anything of the troops subordinate to the Military Commander in Greece and Albania. I cannot say anything exact and accurate about this. As far as I remember, there were very few troops. As far as Greece is concerned, I remember one police regiment which was, however, directly subordinate to the Higher Police and SS Leader, General von Glaise-Horstenau had no troops at his disposal at all.
Q. As far as you know, witness, in your position as Military Commander Southeast, was it possible that German troops and that native troops were at the disposal of the Military Commanders?
A. No, I have knowledge only of those troops which were sub ordinate to me as Military Commander but only as Military Commander for Serbia.
Q. Do you know which two tactical main units were subordinate to Army Group F during your tenure of office?
A. That is the Army Group E in Saloniki and the Chief Command of the 2nd Panzer Army.
Q. Can you explain in general the military geographical jurisdiction of Army Group E?
A. Without a map, I cannot remember this in detail. The demarcation line between Army Group E corresponds about with the SerbianGreek frontier. That was the jurisdiction area of the 2nd Panzer Army without the Serbian area.
Q. Was there any tension, to speak of, between the military commanders and the troop commanders of which you got to know?
A. Yes, shortly after my arrival General Speidel visited me, the Military Commander Greece, and complained to me about the fact that somebody interfered in his capacity, that the Army Group E constantly interfered with his jurisdiction and command. I remember that he resented this so much he was thinking of asking for his transfer. The General commanding Albania, General Geip, arrived in the Spring of 1944 and told me the same story, that there was especially the will to power of the higher SS and police leader; General Geip was at his request replaced by a younger officer.
Q. In your capacity as Military Commander Serbia was the SD under your jurisdiction?
A. The SD consisted, as far as I know, of a group attached to the higher SS and Police Leader. Whether it was a group or a command-whatever the official designations are, that I cannot tell.
Q. Approximately how many men did the SD have during your period of service in Serbia?
A. I cannot tell that.
PRESIDING JUDGE CARTER: We will recess until one-thirty.
(A recess was taken until 1330 hours).
AFTERNOON SESSION The hearing reconvened at 1330 hours, August 11, 1947.
HANS GUSTAV FELBER - Resumed DIRECT EXAMINATION - (Continued) BY MR. RAPP:
Q Witness, who was highest ranking person of the SD in Serbia during your term of office there?
A The highest ranking person in the SS was Oberfuehrer Schaefer-Oberfuehrer Doctor Schaefer.
Q Whom was he subordinate to?
A Dr. Schaefer was subordinate to the higher SS and police leader, Meissner.
Q Who was the successor of the higher SS and Police leader Meissner?
A That was a Brigadefuehrer Behrens.
Q Was Meissner subordinate to you?
A Meissner was subordinate to me only regarding his own person, not with regard to his position within the police.
Q Whom was Meissner subordinate to with regard to his directives, etc.?
AAs to his directives, Dr. Meissner was subordinate to the Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler.
Q Did this same subordination later apply to Behrens?
A Yes.
Q Did Meissner or Behrens ever accept any orders or instructions from you?
A They only received orders from me in respect to a military affair, for instance, an order to put police troops at my disposal for combatting of bands, and secondly, orders with regard to reprisal measures against hostages.
Q Can you name other higher SS and Police leaders, who during their term of office were active in the southeastern area?
A I can name for Albania, the higher SS and police leader Fitzhum; for Greece the higher SS and police leader Streck) and about from October 1943, the Brigadefuehrer Schimana. In Croatia, I know by name, Kammerhofer.
Q These higher police and SS leaders in Albania and Greece, who were just named by you -
A No.
Q Just a moment, witness, my question was not yet finished. These leaders were they subordinate to the military commanders in Albania or Greece at that time?
A Yes, indeed.
Q In what respect?
A In military matters Meissner was subordinate to me.
Q Would you say that a little more detailed?
A Meissner as well as the other higher SS and Police leaders in respect to military tasks, were subordinate to the military commanders in their respective areas, solely for these tasks.
Q Did the higher SS and police leaders Fitzthum and Schimana, did they have SD subordinates?
A I cannot answer this question. I do not know anything about it.
Q You as military commander Southeast -- did you hold the same rank as the Commander in Chief of an Army?
A Yes, my position was expressly designated as that of a Commander in Chief.
Q Where, in your opinion, lay the difference between your service instructions, and the instructions of Fieldmarshal Weichs, so far as you were notified of this officially?
A The Supreme Commander Southeast was responsible for the entire military area of the southeastern area; my responsibility was limited first of all to the security and to the maintenance of order - law and order - and further to the administrative action of the southeast area.
Q In what respect, witness, did you have executive power?
A The conception, executive power, was not very clear to me. I expressly received from the Army Group F, at the end of September, the executive power for Serbia, that was in September, 1944. Therefore, I assume that the idea "executive power" did not apply at all to the southeast theatre. That would also comply with the fact that my sphere of work geographically seen fell together with that of the Army group. There was not the usual distinction made between combat and rear areas. Everything was combat area.
Q Witness, if I understood you correctly, your testimony says that neither you nor the then military commander of Army Group F, up to September, 1944, had any executive powers?
A That is correct, inasmuch as, so far as I know, this was not expressly ordered by the Supreme Commander Wehrmacht.
Q Did this situation change before September, 1944, at all?
A No.
Q The situation in Croatia, with respect to executive power, was it any different?
A In Croatia the Croatian government had the executive power in the person of Peglavnik.
Q. What troops were directly under your command in Serbia?
A. The foreign troops.
Q. That is, inasmuch as it is important for these proceedings here?
A. When I started my term of office, the following were subordinate to me: Police Regiment 5, which was under the command of the Higher SS and Police Leader; further, a security regiment for the security of railway lines; a field gendarmerie unit; and a company of Panzers; a third of a division stationed in Croatia; further a replacement unit which was stationed in the area west of Belgrade. Apart from these there were a few Field Gendarmerie units which were mainly active in the security of railway lines. Further, a Serbian Free Corps, a Russian protection corps and a Bulgarian occupation corps with four divisions. That was everything of importance.
Q. Did you know for a fact, witness, whether your former chief, Geitner, and the chief of Weichs, that is, defendant Foertsch -- did you know whether they knew each other personally?
A. I had the impression that those two not only knew each other well but also got along well.
Q. Were you, witness, satisfied with the defendant Geitner as your Chief of Staff?
A. I can only say that General von Geitner - from a military view I was very happy with him. Although he was older than I, he always behaved very correctly and he carried out his duties in a very special manner. I hold him in high esteem as a man of rich experience of life, of extraordinary personal bravery, which his high awards from the First World War show. On his staff, to his subordinates he was know as the true father of the staff, especially when he was promoted to general, and on the occasion of his 60th birthday was this fact pronounced clearly. He was a man free of all personal ambition. He was only devoted to the cause. He had nothing to do with Party ideology and ideas. The proof of this are the daily, very frank discussions between the two of us.