THE PRESIDENT: But I have already told you, Dr. Siemers—you can certainly confine yourself to the really important part of it and summarize anything that is really not so important. We cannot have all these documents read out to us.
DR. SIEMERS: The Tribunal will agree with me that as far as my other documents are concerned, I read remarkably little. My reason for wanting to read a part of it was because the British Delegation, at the close of the cross-examination, submitted two very lengthy summaries, GB-464 and GB-465. These are summaries about the key documents of the 22d.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Siemers, surely you can tell us what the subject matter of the affidavit is. We will then know the general subject matter of it, and then I should have thought you could direct your attention to the particular matters which are of special importance here. It only takes up time if you are going to tell us what the Prosecution have done.
DR. SIEMERS: I beg your pardon. Mr. President, if I have been misunderstood. It was my intention to do that.
I shall not read from “I” of the affidavit. I shall only summarize it. It is a discussion between Raeder and Generaladmiral Böhm in the summer of 1939, on which occasion Böhm told Raeder that he was worried about the political developments. He then asked Raeder whether he had called Hitler’s attention to the great dangers and to the fact that the German Navy would not be in a position to carry on a war at sea:
“Grossadmiral Raeder replied to me”—and these are his words—“that he had put this up to Hitler more than once, and that he had concluded his exposition to Hitler with the fundamental sentence: ‘In such a case the Navy could not do anything but die gloriously.’ ”
Number II of the affidavit of Generaladmiral Böhm:
“On 22 August 1939 Hitler made a speech to the top leaders of the Armed Forces at the Obersalzberg. I was present during the entire speech, which lasted 2 to 2½ hours. The speech was delivered in Hitler’s office.”
I am omitting the next few points and continue:
“The speech”—which was submitted to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number Raeder-27—“has been set down by me with great accuracy, and I can state under oath that the speech was delivered in the way in which I have set it down. In particular I can confirm that my account contains all the important ideas and words.