JODL: I have already said that, now and then, he went to the front for a day or so and that he was several times in Berlin for a few days; but he was at those offices which were subordinate to him. I was alone with my operations staff, and I could do whatever I pleased with my staff. During the entire war I never called a conference of other offices as a deputy of Field Marshal Keitel. I did not understand anything about those matters.
COL. POKROVSKY: You have uttered a great many words, but have not given me a clear answer to my very short and simple question—namely, do you confirm, or do you not confirm, the truth of Keitel’s statement? “Yes” or “no.” That is very easy to answer, is it not?
JODL: That is what it amounts to, but the thing as written down is ridiculous.
COL. POKROVSKY: We shall gauge the truth of your statement later. It is important to me to establish the fact.
I am submitting our Document USSR-263 to the Tribunal. You will now have the pleasure of reading it yourself. It is an excerpt from the evidence of another officer who worked with you, General Warlimont. Please acquaint yourself with that passage which is marked on your copy while I read it aloud. That will be quicker.
The question put to Warlimont:
“When did the OKW first receive the order for preparing for the attack on the Soviet Union?”
Have you found this passage?
JODL: That which I have before me—the passage which is marked in red—contains a statement by Warlimont as to the organization of the offices of the OKW. On the next page something follows about the preparations for the attack on the Soviet Union.
COL. POKROVSKY: “When did the OKW first receive the order for preparing for the attack on the Soviet Union?”