GEN. RUDENKO: You did not know about it. Very well. Tell me, in the German totalitarian state was there not a governing center, which meant Hitler and his immediate entourage, in which you acted as deputy? These directives must have concerned Keitel and Himmler also. Could Himmler of his own volition have issued directives for the extermination of 30 million Slavs without being empowered by Hitler or by you?
GÖRING: Himmler gave no order for the extermination of 30 million Slavs. The witness said that he made a speech in which he said that 30 million Slavs must be exterminated. Had Himmler issued such an order de facto, if he kept to regulations, he would have had to ask the Führer—not me, but the Führer—and the latter would probably have told him at once that it was impossible.
GEN. RUDENKO: I did not say it was an order; I said it was a directive from Himmler. You therefore admit, or you state rather, that Himmler could have issued instructions without discussing them with Hitler?
GÖRING: I emphasize that such instructions could not have been given by Himmler, and I know of no instructions; also no directive has been mentioned here.
GEN. RUDENKO: I shall repeat the question once more: Is it not true that the directives and the orders of the OKW with regard to the treatment of the civilian population and prisoners of war in the occupied Soviet territories were part of the general directives for the extermination of the Slavs? That is what I want to know.
GÖRING: Not at all. At no time has there been a directive from the Führer, or anybody I know of, concerning the extermination of the Slavs.
GEN. RUDENKO: You must have known about the mass extermination of the Soviet citizens from the occupied territories of the Soviet Union with the help of the SD and the Security Police. Is it not true that the Einsatz Kommandos and their activities were the result of the plan prepared in advance for the extermination of Jews and other groups of Soviet citizens?
GÖRING: No. Einsatz Kommandos were an internal organ which was kept very secret.
GEN. RUDENKO: I shall have several other questions. Perhaps it is better to adjourn now.
THE PRESIDENT: How long do you think it will take, General Rudenko?