International Military Tribunal - The Nuremberg Trials - Complete Tribunal Proceedings (V. 9)

MILCH: No, I was not informed. Everybody had to submit his papers, and the certificate of one of my grandparents could not be found.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And you were never required to do that under the Weimar Republic?

MILCH: No, there was no such question at that time.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And you knew that this whole question was raised by the Nazi Party, of which you became a member in 1933; in other words at about the time this happened. Is that right?

MILCH: I had applied for membership earlier, before this question came up.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: When did you apply for membership?

MILCH: I do not know exactly—I think in March or April.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And you had to clear up this question before you could become a member; wasn’t that the point?

MILCH: That had been cleared up in the meantime. I cannot say exactly when.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: In 1933 you became aware of the concentration camp, the first one?

MILCH: Yes, I believe in 1933 there was a public announcement about it.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And later, as I understand you, you heard so many rumors about concentration camps, that you thought the matter ought to be investigated; that you ought to go there and see?

MILCH: Yes.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: When was it that these rumors became so persistent that you thought the matter should be investigated?

MILCH: That must have been at the end of 1934 and in the spring of 1935, because, if I remember correctly, I was in Dachau in the spring of 1935.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And those rumors persisted throughout the entire period until the collapse of Germany, didn’t they?

MILCH: Those rumors which led me to ask to visit Dachau were really only current in the circle of the higher officers, who passed them on to me. I had little contact with other circles; I cannot say to what extent the thing was generally discussed.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Well, among the higher officers with whom you associated, the rumor went about that these concentration camps were the scene of atrocities as early as 1935. I understood you to say that; am I correct?

MILCH: No, not exactly. I said there . . .

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Well, now you tell us what it was that you went to investigate.

MILCH: I was quite unable to conduct any investigation; all I could do was to see for myself—in order to dispel the many rumors—whether it was true that many people were shut up there who should not have been there at all, innocent people who were brought there for political reasons only. At that time there was much talk about many members of the so-called “Reaction” having been sent there. Some officers were very concerned about this, and I told them that I would go and see for myself to try to gain a personal insight.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: You did not need to go to Dachau to find that out, did you? You could have asked Göring; didn’t you know that?

MILCH: To go where?

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Did you ever ask Göring who were these people who were sent there?

MILCH: No. I did not talk to Göring about that.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Did you not know that Göring publicly said that political enemies of the regime were going to be sent there; that was what they were founded for; did you know that?

MILCH: I cannot say I ever heard that that had actually been said, but that was what I surmised at the time, and I wanted to see for myself.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And you found nobody there except criminals?

MILCH: All that I was shown were people who had committed crimes or rather serious offenses. The only political prisoners I saw were people who had taken part in the Röhm Putsch. Whether there were others, I am unable to say, because I cannot swear that I saw the entire camp. But we saw all we asked to see. We said, “Now I would like to see this, or that,” and the guide took us there.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: By whose authority did you get into the concentration camp for an examination?

MILCH; Himmler’s.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Who asked Himmler if you could go?

MILCH: I do not understand.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Did Göring know that you were making the trip?

MILCH: I do not think so. I did not make a special trip. I had some business in southern Germany in my military capacity, and I set aside one morning for this purpose.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: There were people in the concentration camp who had to do with the Röhm Putsch, as you call it?

MILCH: Yes.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: How many were there who had to do with that?

MILCH: I cannot say exactly. As far as I remember now, I should say that altogether I saw about four or five hundred people.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Four to five hundred people; and how many were killed?

MILCH: Well, I could not be too sure about this figure, there might easily have been 700. I estimate it at around that figure.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: How many people were killed in the Röhm Putsch?

MILCH: I can only give the figure which Hitler publicly stated in the Reichstag; I cannot say from memory. I may be right if I said the number ranged between 100 and 200.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Now why were you so concerned about the concentration camps? Did you have any official responsibility for them?

MILCH: No, I had no responsibility whatsoever; but there was so much talk about them at the time that I decided I would find out for myself. I knew how many questions would be asked me, and I would not be able to answer them, so I said I would go there and see for myself.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Now, Germany had ordinary prisons for criminal prisoners, had she not?

MILCH: Of course.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And those prisons had sufficed for a good many years to take care of the criminal population, had they not?

MILCH: I could not say what their purpose was.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And the concentration camp was something new that came in after 1933?

MILCH: Yes. It is true I never heard of anything like that in Germany before.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Did you see any Jews in the concentration camp when you inspected it?

MILCH: Yes; there was one hut which contained Jews, but they all were under heavy sentences for economic misdemeanors and crimes, such as forging documents, and so on. We passed right through, and each one told us, without even being asked, what his sentence was and the reason for it, and not one of them told us that he was there for political reasons. The only political prisoners were the SA men.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: You could not find a single prisoner there who claimed he was innocent of a crime?

MILCH: No; everyone with whom we spoke related his case.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Who accompanied you on that trip?

MILCH: As far as I remember, General Weber, who at that time was Chief of the General Staff. I believe also General Udet and several other gentlemen. But at the moment I do not remember who they were.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And who showed you through the concentration camp? Who guided you?

MILCH: I cannot recollect his name. It was one of the officials of the SD. I assume it was the commander of the camp himself, but I do not know his name.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And who was running the concentration camp? What organization was in charge of it?

MILCH: I could not say, but I presume it was one of Himmler’s offices.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: You have said that the march into the Rhineland was a great surprise to you?

MILCH: Yes.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Where were you on your leave when this occurred?

MILCH: I was on winter leave in the mountains, abroad.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: In Norway?

MILCH: No, no.

MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: In which country?

MILCH: I was in the Alps; I believe it was Southern Tyrol, which, at that time, was Italy.