WESTHOFF: Himmler was responsible for the security of the Reich and, insofar as all the prisoners of war were concerned, he had to concern himself with the search for all escaped prisoners.
DR. NELTE: Did he, because of this, come into conflict in any way with your OKW Prisoner of War Department?
WESTHOFF: Insofar as we often asked, whenever prisoners of war escaped, what had been done with them and received no information, or information with which we could do nothing, for which we had no use.
DR. NELTE: Does that mean that it was possible that Himmler or his office gave you no information when they caught prisoners of war?
WESTHOFF: That is absolutely possible, and we also supposed that such was the case repeatedly.
DR. NELTE: Did you on one occasion, while drawing up or drafting orders which were concerned with the treatment of escaped prisoners of war, use the words “Stufe III”?
WESTHOFF: No.
DR. NELTE: Do you know whether the meaning of these words signifying a death sentence were known at all in the OKW?
WESTHOFF: They were not known to me. I was asked about that the first time in London and had to state then also that I could not give any information about that.
DR. NELTE: When you say, you personally, then you probably mean the organization as well, since you belonged to the OKW.