However, Your Honors, the granting of extraordinary powers to Göring does not, in any way, mean that the other defendants took only a passive interest in organizing the looting of the occupied territories. All of them, jointly and separately, worked feverishly in this direction. Frank robbed the Poles; Rosenberg managed affairs in the Ukraine and in the other occupied territories of the U.S.S.R.; Sauckel and Seyss-Inquart were busy here and there; Speer and Funk made schemes for and carried out predatory measures within the scope of the Ministry of Economics and the Ministry for Armament and War Production, while Keitel acted in the field of the Armed Forces.
In this connection I should like to submit to the Tribunal two more documents relating to Keitel’s economic activities. These documents, Your Honors, are presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-175 (Document Number USSR-175). On 29 August 1942 Keitel, in his capacity of Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, issued the following order under “Number 002865/42-g.Kdos. regarding securing of supplies for the Armed Forces.” I shall read only two short excerpts from this order. Your Honors will find them on Page 181 of the document book. I read:
“The food situation of the German people is such that it is necessary for the Armed Forces to contribute as far as possible towards alleviating it. All the necessary means of doing so exist in the combat zones and in the occupied territories both in the East and in the West.
“It is essential, above all, that much greater quantities of supplies and forage . . . should be secured in the occupied territories of the East than has been the case up to now.”
The second excerpt:
“All establishments should consider it their pride as well as their duty to attain this goal at all costs so that in this field, too, they may play a decisive part in achieving victory.”
In a memorandum by section chiefs Klare and Dr. Bergmann, dated, “19 November 1942, most secret, subject: Procurement of Supplies for the Armed Forces”—I submit this memorandum in the original to the Tribunal under the same number, Document Number USSR-175—we find the following estimate of the results achieved by the above-mentioned order from Keitel. I now read into the record only the first paragraph of this memorandum.
“By order of the Führer, the Chief of the OKW has decreed in the attached order of 29 August 1942 that the Armed Forces must, as far as possible, contribute towards the task of ensuring food supplies for the German people and that they must themselves make every effort, not only to obtain sufficient food supplies locally to cover the needs of the armies, but also to ensure that the quantities required by the Reich are secured in addition.
“As the result of this order co-operation between the Army and the economic authorities has fortunately grown closer.”
Now with Your Honor’s permission, I shall read into the record one more document, namely, a telegram sent by Keitel on 8 September 1944. This document was kindly put at our disposal by the American Prosecution and registered as Document Number 743-PS. It was not presented to the Tribunal before; I therefore submit it now as Exhibit Number USSR-286, and I quote: