I skip several lines which are not relevant to the question we are dealing with and continue:
“Then or at a later date Jodl declared that Hitler intended to begin the war against the Soviet Union as early as the autumn of 1940, but later he gave up this idea. The reason was that the deployment of the troops at that time could not yet be executed. For this purpose the necessary conditions in Poland did not exist; railways, quarters, and bridges were not prepared for the advance of the tanks; communication lines and airdromes were not organized. . . . Therefore an order was given to establish all the conditions for the preparation and execution of such a campaign.”
To the question put by the Prosecution as to whether this order was issued on 9 August 1941 and called “Aufbau Ost,” Warlimont replied:
“Yes, this order was prepared by the staff leaders in accordance with the instructions of General Jodl. . . .
“In General Jodl’s opinion, the concentration could take place only after all the preparations indicated in this order had been made.”
Further on in his statement, Warlimont said that Plan Barbarossa, originally called “Fritz,” was presented to Hitler on 5 December 1940, after which it was re-edited and issued on 18 December.
I think that the testimony of a man like Friedrich Paulus, a former field marshal of the German Army, who, as is known, was directly concerned both in the preparations and in the execution of Plan Barbarossa, can give considerable help in investigating the preparation of this plan.
I present the testimony of Friedrich Paulus, dated 9 January 1946, given in a camp for prisoners of war, and marked Document Number USSR-156, and request that it be accepted as evidence.
DR. NELTE: Mr. President, I just wanted to remark that I do not possess a copy of the document concerning Paulus. But it seems to be the same statement which it has not yet been possible to give to the defendants’ counsel. If the Soviet Prosecution could give me the statement now, I would then decide if I could present my protest for decision now in the form in which I raised it at the beginning of this session.
[Copies of the document were submitted to Dr. Nelte.]