Q. Was it possible for you to remove directors of industry, or to appoint them?
A. No. Either there were limited companies [G.m.b.H.], or shareholder companies, and they had their own organizations, their own administrations. The shareholders appointed the board of directors and the board of directors decided who was to be the general manager, and we never interfered with that.
Q. Witness, will you explain to the Tribunal how overburdened you were with work during all these years?
A. May I refer to my field of tasks which is shown in one exhibit?
Dr. Bergold: May I ask this Tribunal now to see the charts which are in the document book—the first document?
A. Until the end of 1941 my main task was that of Inspector General of the Luftwaffe. From that point onward, the work as GL took the first place, while in my capacity as Inspector General I was continuously travelling by plane. But as Inspector General I was tied more closely to the Berlin ministry. Oh, I beg your pardon, I mean to say as GL. There we had meetings every day; and in my capacity as GL I took over a technical staff in the Ministry of over four thousand. I reduced this staff to about half; but in spite of that the number of conferences and meetings could not be reduced. Therefore, I had to go through the incredible amount of papers which were to be read and also the papers which had to be signed; and I had to take them home in the evening. I think that always amounted to two large suitcases and sometimes even three of them. On the average I would work at home until 2:00 o’clock, a.m. The reading was the main task because in all technical matters I had to be up to the mark myself; and that was not very easy for me because, after all, I had not studied technique but rather was a self-taught man as a soldier who had been a pilot. In the morning I would start my duties at 9:00 o’clock or at 9:15. Generally I would eat my lunch at my desk, and often I even ate my dinner at my desk, so that I had the impression that I was overburdened with work. Even apart from these two functions, as GL and Inspector General of the Luftwaffe, the direction of the different other offices in the Ministry made quite a lot of work for me, though in my last position the excellent General Foerster took most of the work off me.
Q. Witness, are the offices correct as they are shown on this chart which I have submitted to the Tribunal, and can you confirm them as such?