“The validity of the decree is not affected by the destruction of the copies. In accordance with Paragraph III, it remains the personal responsibility of the commanding officers to see to it that the offices and legal advisers are instructed in time and that only these sentences are confirmed which correspond to the political intentions of the Supreme Command.”
That was with regard to German soldiers not being tried by court-martial for offenses against Soviet troops: “This order will be destroyed together with the copies of the Führer’s decree.”
My Lord, I submit that the anxiety on the part of the OKW, presided over by Keitel, to destroy that—I suggest an illegal order; a barbarous order—is significant.
My Lord, I desire now to put in another document which is almost the last document in the bundle, UK-20. Your Lordship will find it flagged at the end of the bundle. It is from the Führer’s headquarters, 26th of May 1943. It says:
“Re: Treatment of supporters of De Gaulle who fight for the Russians.
“French airmen serving in the Soviet forces have been shot down on the Eastern Front for the first time. The Führer has ordered that employment of French troops in the Soviet forces is to be counteracted by the strongest means.
“It is therefore ordered: