And again, in the appendix to directive OKW 37/39, which I have already submitted to the Tribunal and which is entitled, “Special Orders for Fall Weiss,” there is one very significant sentence. I shall read into the Record the penultimate subparagraph of Paragraph 2:
“In case of a public announcement of general mobilization (Mobplan) for the Armed Forces, the mobilization will automatically cover the entire civilian network, including war production. A public announcement, however, of mobilization should not be counted on, should military events be confined to Fall Weiss.”
It seems highly significant to me that the fascist conspirators, though fully conscious of the fact that war was to begin, had planned the execution of their criminal intent without announcing any mobilization.
And finally, I should like to point out that in Keitel’s order to the Armed Forces, Number 37/39, of 3 April 1939, issued in connection with Fall Weiss, the following directives by Hitler were made public:
“I. Operational plan Fall Weiss must be elaborated with a view to the fact that its execution must be possible at any time, as from 1 September 1939.”
We know that the invasion of Poland was, in fact, started on 1 September 1939—in short, on the very first day on which the German Armed Forces had to be fully ready for action.
Operational Order Number 1, 25039, of 21 August 1939, issued to the Command of Naval Group OST, on board the battleship Schleswig Holstein, stated as follows—this document has already been submitted to the Tribunal as a German photostatic copy:
“I. General situation. a) Political: All the armed forces must be defeated by means of a lightning thrust, to enable the creation in the East of a situation favorable for the defense of the Reich. The Free City of Danzig will be declared a Reich city.”
It is worth while to bear this sentence in mind when speaking of the “free expression of will by the Danzig population,” which allegedly aspired to become part of the Reich. It must not be forgotten that this free expression of will had been foreseen by the above operational Order Number 1, to the very day.
To conclude, I consider it essential to read into the record, almost in full, a rather long but exceptionally important document. I have in mind a note by the Defendant Bormann of 2 October 1940, referring to a conversation about Poland. This conversation was held after a dinner which took place in Hitler’s apartment. You will find this note on Page 311, Volume I, Part 2 of the document book: