VON BRAUCHITSCH: I was the first military adjutant of the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe. I held the rank of chief adjutant. I had the job of making the daily arrangements as ordered by the Commander-in-Chief and working out the adjutants’ duty roster. The military position had to be reported daily; military reports and messages only to the extent that they were not communicated by the offices themselves. I had no command function.
DR. STAHMER: In the course of your work did you know that on 25 March 1944 from the prison camp of Sagan, Stalag Luft III, 75 English Air Force officers had escaped?
VON BRAUCHITSCH: I knew of this as a special event, as at that time it was reported that a number of air force officers had escaped.
DR. STAHMER: Can you give us some information about the fate of these officers after their escape?
VON BRAUCHITSCH: The fate of these officers is not known to me.
DR. STAHMER: Were you not ever informed that 50 of these officers were shot ostensibly while trying to escape?
VON BRAUCHITSCH: I heard only much later that a number of these officers were said to have been shot.
DR. STAHMER: Can you tell us under what circumstances these shootings were carried out?
VON BRAUCHITSCH: I do not know anything about that.
DR. STAHMER: Did Reich Marshal Göring order the shooting, or did he have any part in these measures?