Lot 359

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Description:

WALTHER VON BRAUCHITSCH AND THE 'CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION' GERMAN GENERAL STAFF
(1881 - 1948) German field marshal and commander in chief who formally led the campaigns against Greece, France, Poland and the USSR. Superb content partial T.L.S. (lacking first page), 7pp. 4to., Nuremberg, Jan. 3, 1946, to GEOFFREY LAWRENCE (1880-1971), the main British judge during the Nuremberg trials and President of the Judicial group. Either out of arrogance or ignorance, von Brauchitsch had this letter typed entirely in capital letters, and it is quoted as such here. In very small part: '[MY LORD!...MY REQUEST OF DEC. 20TH, 1945, DEALING WITH THE DEFENSE OF THE GENERAL STAFF...HAS NOT YET BEEN ANSWERED. AS A BRITISH PRISONER OF WAR I THEREFORE TURN TO YOU...[TO] GRANT A FAIR CHANCE OF DEFENSE TO EVERYBODY ACCUSED...WE HEARD HERE IN PRISON THAT THE U.S. CHIEF PROSECUTOR , MR. JACKSON, PUT IN A MOTION...THE FORMER GERMAN GENERAL...SHOULD BE DECLARED A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION]...WE FURTHERMORE GATHERED FROM A NEWSPAPER THAT THE DECLARATION AS A 'CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION' SHOULD FORM THE BASIS OF A LATER PROSECUTION OF ITS INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS...THE DECLARATION AS A 'CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION' HOWEVER COULD NOT BE CONTESTED. THE GERMAN DEFENSE COUNSEL DR. EXNER FINALLY INFORMED US THAT IN HIS CAPACITY AS COUNSEL OF GENERAL JODL, HE HAD ALSO BEEN CHARGED WITH DEFENDING THE GENERAL STAFF IN THE CURRENT TRIAL...THE GENERAL STAFF...WOULD BE DEPRIVED OF AN EFFECTIVE DEFENSE AGAINST THE ACCUSATION RAISED AGAINST THEM AS AN 'ORGANIZATION'...DR. EXNER IS NOT ABLE TO DEFEND THE GENERAL STAFF...HE IS NOT INFORMED OF THE DUTIES AND THE RESPONSIBILITIES AND...OF THE PARTICULAR
OFFICES AND PERSONALITIES...HE IS COMPLETELY OCCUPIED WITH THE DEFENSE OF ...GENERAL JODL...ALREADY BEFORE THE WAR AND DURING THE WAR THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE ARMY AND MOST OF ITS HIGHER RANKING OFFICERS FOUND
THEMSELVES IN A SEVERE OPPOSITION TO THE LEADING MEN OF THE OKW OF WHOM JODL WAS A MEMBER . THEREFORE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE THAT DR. EXNER AT THE SAME TIMECAN DEFEND HIM AND THE GENERAL STAFF IN AN UNPREJUDICED WAY...DR. EXNER FINALLY MENTIONED HIS DESIRE TO BE RELIEVED OF THE DEFENSE OF THE GENERAL STAFF...EVERY DEFENDANT AT ALL TIMES HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFEND HIMSELF IN COURT WITH SUPPORT OF A LAWYER...WE HAVE NO AUTHENTICAL KNOWLEDGE AS TO WHICH OFFICES OF THE ARMY COME INTO THE SPHERE OF A 'CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION' AND WHAT THEY ARE ACCUSED OF. WE NEITHER HAVE THE INDICTMENT NOR ANY OTHER DATA. WE ONLY CAN ASSUME ON ACCOUNT OF OUR RANK THAT WE OCCUPIED THE ACCUSED OFFICES BY THE DECLARATION AS A 'CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION'...[EACH GENERAL STAFF MEMBER] WILL MOST SEVERELY BE HAMPERED IN CONDUCTING HIS DEFENSE BY THE PRECEDING DECLARATION...YEARS MIGHT ELAPSE UNTIL ALL TRIALS RESULTING FROM THAT DECLARATION WOULD BE CONCLUDED...THERE IS A SIMILAR CASE IN SECURING THE WITNESSES FOR THE DEFENDANTS. A GREAT NUMBER OF GENERAL STAFF OFFICERS...HAVE BEEN EXECUTED IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE...JULY 20TH 1944 [BOMP PLOT]...' He also complains of the difficulty in locating crucial witnesses and documents, the personal expense involved, and asks that information on other defendants be made available to the accused general staff. He concludes invoking German military history: 'WE ARE THE LAST REPRESENTATIVES OF AN INSTITUTION WHO WERE EDUCATED AND WORKED UP TO THE LAST IN THE SPIRIT OF ITS GREATEST INCUMBENT FIELDMARSHALL COUNT MOLTKE...' Sold with a copy of the original first page of the letter. Mounted to heavy stock, very good. Dr Hans Laternser would defend the German General Staff at Nuremberg, with Dr. Paul Leverkuhn of Hamburg, whom von Brauchitsch requests in his letter. Under their representation,the Tribunal concluded that the General Officers were not a 'criminal organization' as von Brauchitsch has declared, though it left open the door to individual prosecutions. Of course, several members of the German General Staff already on trial would be executed following the trials, including Keitel and Jodl. Others would be tried in the Generals and High Command trials at Nuremberg, 1947-48. As for von Brauchitsch, he was arrested at his estate the previous August. His war crime charges included conspiracy and crimes against humanity. He died on 18 October 1948 of bronchial pneumonia in a British-controlled military hospital in Hamburg, aged 67, before he could be prosecuted. This document originates from the files of Hans Werner, Director of Printing for the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. It was his task to publish the 42-volume record of the trial using this document and scores of others. Following completion of his task, Werner was permitted to retain possession of the documents, which were never tagged as evidence. They were then sold by autograph expert Charles Hamilton in his auctions, in 1979.

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December 7, 2021 10:00 AM EST
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
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$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000