The defendant is found not guilty on the second count of the indictment.
Though Milch is acquitted of complicity and participation in the medical experiments, we have nonetheless commented on those experiments at length. We have done this because otherwise the reference to Milch’s acquittal standing alone might convey impression that the experiments themselves were not criminal. The Tribunal holds that the corpus delicti was established and a crime was committed, even though Milch is not guilty of it.
(c) Count Three
The third count of the indictment charges the defendant with crimes against humanity (slave labor and fatal medical experiments) committed on German nationals and nationals of other countries. As we have found him not guilty on count two, we necessarily also find him not guilty of the crime of fatal medical experiments in count three. We have, however, adjudicated him guilty on count one, and since the evidence establishes that nationals of other countries were also victims of slave labor under his control, we thus find Erhard Milch guilty on that part of the third count which covers the nationals of other countries. Sufficient proof was not submitted as to slave labor offenses against German nationals to justify an adjudication of guilt on that ground.
Thus, in recapitulation, we find the defendant guilty on count one, not guilty on count two, not guilty on count three insofar as it appertains to German nationals and guilty wherein it refers to “nationals of other countries.” In reaching these conclusions, we inescapably ascertain that Erhard Milch was a full-fledged member of the National Socialist Party of Germany. Further, that he adhered to the doctrines of this Party which, with the almost cataclysmic force of planetary violence, achieved more destruction than has been known since man stood upright on the shores of history. The conclusion is also unavoidable that it was individuals like Milch that made the Hitler plan of war and subjugation possible. Hitler was but one man and it was only because he had brilliant and able coadjutors that he could develop a war machine which achieved the incredible and fantastic record of smashing Poland in 18 days, striking France to her knees in 2 months, driving England from the continent in 6 weeks, overrunning Holland and Belgium in a few days, vanquishing Norway in several weeks, and Denmark overnight.
In those days of spectacular triumph, Milch had no complaint against Hitler. But it was precisely then that Hitler was working his greatest harm to Germany because it was inevitable that the people he had temporarily crushed would rise again and not rest until the evil power responsible for their suffering was destroyed. If Milch had entertained the loyalty to his people which he now professes, then was the time to withdraw from a program which was wreaking a devastation so universal that no country, including Germany, could escape.
The defendant stated from the witness stand he could not withdraw because he owed fealty to Hitler and to the German people. His loyalty to Hitler was loyalty to a man who he now states had marked him for liquidation, and so far as allegiance to the German people is concerned, they can feel no gratitude for an allegiance which increased their ruin, magnified their misery, and pushed them only deeper into the pit of despair. The Germans could do without a devotion of that kind.
The defendant apparently gained the impression in our questioning of him that some heroic sacrifice was expected on his part. We never intended, nor was it suggested, that he should take any action which could result in the forfeiture of his life. But he did himself volunteer from the witness stand that on two occasions he was ready to tell Hitler the truth even if it should mean his execution. If he was prepared to sacrifice his life on so futile a gesture, he could have taken some action which involved less hazard. He could thus, at least to that extent, have contributed to honesty and justice by refraining from threatening with death and whipping those who did not give of their last ounce of energy in the production of ordnance whose muzzles would eventually be turned on Germany itself.
In his last statement in court Milch declared that he was indifferent to his fate but he was interested in seeing Germany relieved of her suffering and re-admitted to the community of nations as an equal partner. We do not believe that any intelligent person can be indifferent to his fate, although one can summon sufficient spiritual fortitude to rise above an immediate regret. With regard to Milch’s wish for the German people, he has definitely performed one service in pulling aside the curtain to disclose to them the stupidities, the vanities, and the arrogances of their leaders which brought about their present state. The record of this case will particularly, of course, expose Milch’s own errors and his transgressions against international law, the laws and customs of war, the moral code of humanity and even commandments 4 and 7 of the 10 commandments of the German soldier.
The purpose of these postwar trials obviously is not vengeance. The object aimed at (as in the criminal jurisprudence of all civilized nations) is the ascertainment of truth. When guilt is established, the penalty imposed is to serve as a deterrent to all others who might be similarly minded. Albert Speer, convicted in the first trial, stated here in this courtroom that had trials such as these followed the First World War, the Second World War might have been averted. Erhard Milch may obtain some comfort from the realization that by the publication of the evidence of this trial he is definitely contributing to the education and well-being of Germany’s future, as indeed a precise contribution is being made to the cause of world justice itself.