GÖRING: I cannot say whether that was at the Platterhof. At any rate, I talked with the Field Marshal many times on the subject.
DR. NELTE: It is important in this connection to establish whether the Defendant Keitel approached you on this question and stated to you that he was against the idea of lynch law, which was advocated by the Party.
GÖRING: He said that several times. We were in agreement on this.
DR. NELTE: Did the Defendant Keitel at that time also state to you that he was in favor of an official warning or a note to the Allied Governments—in respect to the well-known Dieppe case—rather than separate court-martial proceedings without legal evidence?
GÖRING: I think we had frequent discussions on this point. I advocated that in the case of pure terror-fliers—that is to say, those who violated the orders of their own superiors—there should be legal proceedings. Keitel said it would be hard to differentiate, and to carry this out. It would be more practical to send a note to the Allies to the effect that if it were not stopped, measures would have to be taken. The view that this course should be adopted was also advocated in other quarters.
DR. NELTE: Mr. President, when submitting my applications for evidence, I proposed, among other things, a characterization of Field Marshal Keitel given to me by Göring. In the session of 25 February an agreement was reached with the Prosecution that this characterization, which is in the form of an affidavit, might be submitted in the presence of the witness, that is, Göring. Am I now permitted to read you this characterization, of which you have already received the original, or may I refer to it as evidence and merely put it in? I ask this question because a part of the description which is contained in the affidavit has already been given by this witness in this interrogation.
THE PRESIDENT: What is the document that you are referring to? What is the origin of it? Is it a document drawn up by the Defendant Göring?
DR. NELTE: It is an affidavit signed by Göring, entitled, “Characteristics of Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel.” It is referred to in my applications as an affidavit. Much of what is contained in it has already been said by Reich Marshal Göring.
THE PRESIDENT: The Defendant Göring is giving evidence under oath. Therefore, nothing in the shape of an affidavit ought to be put in. If you have any questions to ask him which he has not already answered, about the Defendant Keitel, you may ask them now. It is inappropriate to put in a written, sworn statement when you have a defendant giving evidence under oath.
DR. NELTE: In the session of 25 February 1946 this was approved, for the reason that it would shorten the proceedings if an affidavit were to be read and the witness were then to state: “That is correct.” I have a copy here of the transcript of that session, should the Tribunal not recall.