Do you, as the direct leader of the counterintelligence—this section was subordinate to you—know anything about this Fifth Column organization in Poland?
JODL: There are two small errors you have made, Colonel Pokrovsky: first of all, counterintelligence was not under me but under the Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces; and secondly, I stated at length yesterday that I know nothing about any of the preparations for the Polish campaign, either from the point of view of operations or otherwise, because I was Artillery Commander in Vienna and Brünn. What Canaris did at that time with respect to Poland is something I know absolutely nothing about. I am afraid, therefore, that I cannot be of any help.
COL. POKROVSKY: Well, let us proceed to the next group of questions. You were examined on 8 November by the Soviet Prosecution, and you were asked whether Germany was pursuing a predatory policy when attacking the Soviet Union? Do you remember being asked this question?
JODL: I remember very well, yes.
COL. POKROVSKY: You will now be handed a copy of your answer. You replied:
“I admit that the question of the expansion of Germany’s ‘Lebensraum’ and the utilization of Russian economy for Germany’s needs did play a certain part, but it was not the basic reason for the attack on the Soviet Union.”
Do you remember answering in this sense?
JODL: It is possible. I did not sign it. At any rate, I said it was not the chief cause.
COL. POKROVSKY: You also said in the same answer:
“It was never our intention to keep enlarging our ‘Lebensraum’ and thereby create new enemies.”