Milch testifies at Nuremberg Trial

(Munich 41) War Crimes Trials, Nuremberg, Germany, March 11, 1946. MLSs, witness and prosecutor. Erhard Milch, General Field Marshal and Secretary, Permanent Deputy of the Ministry of the Reich Luftwaffe, is cross-examined by Chief US Prosecutor Robert H. Jackson. Milch held positions of Quartermaster General of the Air Force and IG for the same branch, was a member of the Armament Council, and directed air operations against Norway in 1940. Jackson questions the witness in English; Milch answers in German. Jackson attempts to establish that Germany was prepared for war by questions leading directly to the knowledge of the occupation of certain countries and showing the speed with which they were taken. Cited are Denmark, Norway, France, and Poland. Milch states that no preparations were made and no knowledge in advance of these movements was known by the Army generals. Milch makes a statement that Poland provoked the war since they were not agreeable to the German proposition of occupation. Note: The NARA cataloger provided a general translation of Milch's testimony here.