LAMMERS: I do not know; I can only substantiate...
COL. POKROVSKY: How could you not say it? You told us you were forwarding it; you gave this document and forwarded it to somebody else. Did you send it to some address?
LAMMERS: I sent on the document signed. I signed the letter informing Herr Rosenberg of the attitude taken by the Foreign Office. Whether the enclosure is authentic or not, I do not know.
COL. POKROVSKY: I am quite satisfied with this answer.
On 8 April, here before the Tribunal, you stated that the solution of the Jewish problem was referred by Hitler to Göring and Heydrich and later on to Heydrich’s successor, Kaltenbrunner. Now, I want you to tell us exactly how Göring, Heydrich, and Kaltenbrunner participated in solving the Jewish problem.
LAMMERS: I only knew that a Führer order was transmitted by Reich Marshal Göring to Heydrich, who was at that time head of the RSHA. I believe that it was then transferred to Kaltenbrunner’s authority. This order was called, “Final Solution of the Jewish Problem,” but no one knew what it dealt with or what the term meant. In the period which followed I made several efforts to clarify the real meaning of the term “final solution” and what was to happen. I attempted yesterday to explain this question, but I was not allowed to say all I wanted.
COL. POKROVSKY: Well, it is not sufficiently clear exactly through whom and how—in what way—you attempted to clarify the meaning of the expression, “final solution of the Jewish problem.” To whom did you appeal? Whom did you ask?
LAMMERS: At first I appealed to Himmler and asked him what the meaning of it was. Himmler told me that the Führer had ordered him to evacuate the Jews who were still in Germany, and this led to a number of problems referred to as the “Final Solution of the Jewish Problem.” That is what I said yesterday.
COL. POKROVSKY: Witness, wait a minute. You said that Hitler charged Göring and Heydrich, and subsequently Kaltenbrunner, with the solution of this problem. Did you address yourself to Göring in regard to this? to Heydrich and to Kaltenbrunner? Did you ask them that question, the question in which you told me you were interested?
LAMMERS: No, I cannot remember doing that, because I believed that Göring was merely transmitting the Führer’s order. I have no knowledge of Keitel’s participation; I did not hear of that until today.