Tapping Hitler's Generals

THOMA: Yes, just at that time.[206] The matter was discussed for a long time–those are the famous FÜHRER’s orders. Those are the things for which I blame Field Marshal KEITEL above all. He should have said: ‘My FÜHRER, let’s sleep on that till tomorrow morning,’ because those are only spontaneous ideas of his. ‘If we do this, our people will be treated in the same way and then on grounds of discipline–our men will become “rowdies”.’ If it had been put to him in that way he might have been convinced, even if against his will. But as it is they simply obey. And the orders that came through latterly were enough to make you sick and they were all signed ‘KEITEL, Field Marshal’.

CRÜWELL: And what were they?

THOMA: For example, there is the order that a man can only get further promotion, if it has been thoroughly investigated whether he is a 150 per cent true National Socialist, and there has to be this thorough investigation and he has to furnish proof. How is a soldier to produce proof? And our ‘First Soldier’ issues orders like that! That caused very bad feeling especially among the older officers.[207]

CRÜWELL: What were NEHRING’S[208] orders?

THOMA: NEHRING is stupid. He re-issued extracts from those orders. He issued some stupid orders which came down in the form of leaflets. One of these so-called orders was: ‘We are so short of material that every cartridge case is of the greatest value at home, and if material continues to be wasted as it is at present, we will have to stop the war in the autumn.’ He issued orders like this, signed NEHRING, thousands of them were sent down.[209]

Document 84

SRX 150

CRÜWELL–General der Panzertruppe–Captured 29 May 42 in North Africa.

THOMA–General der Panzertruppe–Captured 4 Nov. 42 in North Africa.

BURCKHARDT–Major (C.C. 1 Paratroop Regiment–Captured 5 Nov. 42 in North Africa.

Information received: 26 Jan. 43

THOMA (re explains about atrocities): ‘…so that I am actually ashamed to be an officer.’ And then he said: ‘Why are you telling me this?’ I said: ‘Whom else should I tell it to?’ He said: ‘That’s a political matter, it’s got nothing at all to do with me.’ I’ve never forgotten that of HALDER.[210] Then I went and put it into writing and gave it to BRAUCHITSCH. And BRAUCHITSCH didn’t say much, but I could read in his eyes what was up–he said: ‘Do you want to take it further?’ He said: ‘Listen, if you take it further, anything may happen.’ Then I said: ‘Of course, because I am ashamed to have experienced a thing like that.’ The good people say: ‘The FÜHRER doesn’t know about that.’ Of course he knows all about it. Secretly he’s delighted. He says: ‘Things–went–badly–for–so–many–years.’ and now he’s getting his own back, and thereby, by that attitude, he has thrown away the inner respect of the honest decent people. Of course, people can’t make a row, they would simply be arrested and beaten if they did. But he says–he just ignores it, he’s not in the least interested in it. (He just says) ‘Let the hooligans remain in power’–and so they do and it’s obvious what you said to me recently. ‘It mustn’t happen again that they go about with the red flag. Of course it won’t happen because it’s a dictatorship, but that doesn’t mean that the idea has been uprooted completely, that’s why they are all the more likely to blow up. Or, worse still, we may get passive resistance–that’s much more dangerous. In a company it doesn’t matter if there are rows now and then, but when there’s a passive resistance in a company–there is such a thing too.

Document 85

CSDIC (UK) SR REPORT, SRM 175 [TNA, WO 208/4165]

LUDWIG CRÜWELL–General der Panzertruppe–Captured 29 May 42 in North Africa.

WILHEIM RITTER VON THOMA–General der Panzertruppe–Captured 4 Nov. 42 in North Africa.

Information received: 14 Feb. 43

THOMA: A Staatsanwalt from MINSK came to see me in March; he was really a BERLIN Staatsanwalt. He was a man in the forties and he begged me to do everything in my power to enable him to join up as a soldier in any capacity–he was a NCO on the reserve. He said: ‘I can’t stand the things that are going on here any longer.’ Then he told me the kind of thing that happened. I know myself that there were actually savage, brutalised louts there, who trampled on the bellies of pregnant women, and that sort of thing.

CRÜWELL: Yes, but those are very isolated cases for which even the SS can’t be blamed. I can’t believe that Germans would do such a thing!

THOMA: I don’t think I should have believed it either, if I hadn’t actually seen it. I made two written reports about it. I feel that no one can accuse me of having been in any way responsible for it.

CRÜWELL: What did you report in writing?