apo 758 us army :lnit:f:/r

Ref No SAIC/l6 25 May 45

S E C R E T

SEVENTH ARMY'INTERROGATION 0EKT3R APO 758 US ARMY

GOSRING DISCUSSES HITLER, ROMMEL,, SCIENCE, AND

: S E 0 R :Auth:0G,7th

E T : Army:

:lnit:f:/rr :Date:23 May 4<? : .

- GOSRING

1 . PREAMBLE - .

The cause for which GOSRING stood i s l o s t - bu t the canny Hermann, even now, t h i n k s only of what he can do to salvage some of h i s personal f o r t u n e , and to. c r e a t e an advantageous p o s i t i o n for h imsel f . He condemns the once beloved FUEHRER without h e s i t a t i o n . . Up to . now he has. no t made a p l e a in favor of any of h i s former henchmen, a l i v e or dead. Yet , behind h i s s p i r i t e d and of ten w i t t y conver sa t ion , i s a cons t an t watchfulness for t h e oppor tun i t y to p lace h imsel f in a favorable l i g h t - . .

Ra t ing : C~3 Date of Informat ion: See Text

2 . THE FUEHRER

I n t e r r o g a t o r : W.K.

a) HITLER AS STRATEGIST

according to source , HITLER concerned himself almost exc lu s ive ly wi th m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n s from the beginning of the war up to the end. At t imes he made d e c i s i o n s down to d i v i s i o n o p e r a t i o n s . The FUEHRER be l i eved t h a t f a t e had se l ec t ed him to be t he m i l i t a r y leader of Germany - a b e l i e f which was s t rengthened by the success of h i s o p e r a t i o n s in Franco. Here HITLER decided to break through, a t SEDAN and d r i v e for AB3EVILLS aga in s t the advice of the OKH, where i t was be l i eved t h a t the a t t a ck was poss ib l e only from the r i g h t f l a n k , '.flien o p e r a t i o n s s t a r t e d the OKH openly expressed doubt of t h e success of the p lan- Then, When the a t t a c k went off b e t t e r than expected, and r e s u l t e d in a complete v i c t o r y , HITLER became very proud of h i s m i l i t a r y a b i l i t i e s - as did tho 'goner a l s themselves' .

PW went on to desc r ibe the s i t u a t i o n meet ings a t the FUEHRER'S hq . HITLER was always p resen t a t t he se mee t ings , which took up 6 to 7 hours of h i s day« The fol lowing o f f i c e r s u sua l l y a t tended these mee t ings :

KEITEL, GENFELDMARSCHALL (Fid Marshal) WINTER, GENLT (Maj Gen) BUHLE, GEN d. INF (Lt Gen) ZANDER, STAF (SS Col) BURGDORF, GEN d. INF (Lt Gen) ) VON PUTTKAMMSR, Admiral . ) VON BELOW, OBST (Col) )

"HAENSCHS, STUBAF (SS Maj) ) KERSTEN, HPTSTÜF (SS Oapt) ) FEGELEIN, GRUF (Maj Gen) VOSS, Admiral SCHERFF, GSNi-UJ (Br ig Gen) JODL, BEHOBST (Col Gen), or h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e

GUDERIAN, GSN03ST (Col Gen)

JUNGE, KAP z . SEE (Navy Oapt)

OKW OKH Par ty Chancel lory

FUEHRER'S Adju tan ts

Lia ison Off to HIMMLER " " " DO ENI TZ

War d i a r y wr i t e r Roportod on the s i t u a t i o n i n tho VEST Chief of Staff of t h e Army; r epo r t ed on the s i t u a t i o n in t h e EAST Roportod on the naval s i t u a t i o n Reported on the a i r s i t u a t i o n BUSCHS, MAJ

GOERING himself and GROSSADMIRAL (Grand Admiral) D02NITZ were f r equen t ly p r e sen t a t t h e s e meetings»

At t he meet ings , maps were spread out on a h u g e , t a b l e . The o f f i c e r s waited near the en t r ance for t h e appearance of HITLER, \fhen the FUEHRER a r r ived ho shook hands with a l l p r e s e n t and then load the group i n t o tho room.

The o f f i c e r s then gave t h e i r t a l k s on tho s i t u a t i o n . During thoso speeches HITLER f requen t ly i n t e r r u p t e d and gave h i s views in e n e r g e t i c tonos - Opinions in oppos i t ion to h i s own wore sof t -pedaled and never reached a p o i n t of s e r i o u s d i s c u s s i o n -

S E C R E T

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S S 0 R 3 T

Rof No 3AIC/16 23 May 45

During po r iods when tho s i t u a t i o n was unfavorab le , HITLER took i t out on tho d i f f o r o n t bronchos of tho a r m o d f o r e o s and blamed t h e i r heads for a l l m i s t a k o s . Sourco was s ing led ou t q u i t e o f t on , and had to toko robukos in f r o n t of a l l tho o f f i c e r s prosont« Th is load to tho po in t whoro tho o f f i c e r s began to l o se t h o i r r e s p e c t for GOERING's m i l i t a r y a b i l i t y .

At tho mootings HITLER always prosonted tho l a t o s t d i s p a t c h e s of tho foreign p r e s s , which ho thon d i scussed in h i s woll-known mannor.

During t h e l a s t few months tho s i t u a t i o n mee t ings wore hold in tho Wintor Garden of tho Chancollory and thon to the vory l a s t in HITLER's bunkor undornoath tho Chance l lo ry . This bunkor had a dimension of only 2x5 m. All tho o f f i c e r s had to crowd in to t h i s small spaco and many of thorn f a in tod dur ing t ho mootings«

Tho n i g h t mooting which u s u a l l y s t a r t o d between 2400 and 0100 hours was no t at tondod by a l l tho o f f i c e r s , but HITLER waB always present« After tho mooting HITLER's famous t o a would tako p l a c o , ..Hero o. small c i r c l o of t r u s t e d f r i onds would-ndke d e c i s i o n s of prime p o l i t i c a l impor tance . Hero, t o o , BORMANN usod h i s s t rong in f luonco to ovo r ru lo HITLER, who was u s u a l l y t i r o d a f to r tho p rev ious moot ing . GOERING m a i n t a i n s t h a t a l l t h i n g s n o t d i r e c t l y connoctod with tho conduct of t ho war bocamo tho r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of BORMANN.

The FUEHRER'S t o a guos t s u s u a l l y i eludod tho fo l lowing porsons-BORiiANN, PEGELEIN, GRUF (SS Mai Gon), BURGDORF, GEN d. INF (Lt Gon), All or somo of the a d j u t a n t s , and Mrs JUNGE Mrs S0HRO3DER Mrs CHRISTIAN

b ) HITLER'S PLANS FOR THE VIOLATION OF THE G2FEVA CONVENTION •

i ) P r i s o n e r s of War

PW cla ims t h a t i t was HITLER's i n t e n t i o n to donounco tho GENEVA Convention i f tho war would have l a s t e d anothor th roo months . All Al l ied PW oxcopt those va luab lo to tho Gorman war economy wore to bo ex te rmina ted .

According to sourco, t h i s plan boenme known to t h e gene ra l s .and tho Nazi Pa r ty l o a d e r s , a l l of whom took a stand squaroly a g a i n s t i t , with tho oxcoption of GOEBBELS.

I t was pointed ou t to HITLER t h a t Gorman PV in Al l ied hands would have to oxpoct t h e samo f a t o . To t h i s tho FUEHRER rop l iod t h a t those, m i l l i o n s of Gormans woro of no more uso to tho war e f f o r t anyway* but t h a t a f t e r h i s proposed ac t ion t h c r o would be no more d o s o r t o r s from tho Gorman Army. Tho Gorman pooplo, sa id he , would thon f i g h t to tho l a s t man.

i i ) Chemical Warfare

PW s t a t e s t h a t HITL23* was r e s t r a i n e d from tho use of CW dur ing tho l a s t poriod of tho war only by h i s fear of Al l iod r e t a l i a t i o n . Ho ofton admitted t h a t ho had missed tho chance to use CW a t t h e r i g h t t imo ( i . e . , du r ing tho o a r l i o r s t ages of the w a r ) . At t h a t timo ho had bol iovod Gorman v i c t o r y c e r t a i n with tho uso of normal weapons-

c) HITLER'S DEATH

When tho s i t u a t i o n in BERLIN had d e t e r i o r a t e d beyond hope, HITLER allowed h i s persona l phys i c i an , Dr MORELL, to oscapo to tho SOUTH of Germany. MORELL had boon admin i s t e r ing a vory l a r g e d a i l y dose of hormones to tho FUEHRER. Sourco bo l iovcs t h a t i t was tho sudden absence of t hose hormones which causod HITLER's gonoral breakdown and subsoqucnt d o a t h .

Following 20 Ju ly 44 tho FUEHRER'S h e a l t h had boon d e c l i n i n g . His r i g h t log and arm tromblod spasmodical ly , and tho smal les t c o n t r a d i c t i o n i r r i t a t o d him to a high dogroo. Only BORKAHJT, GOEBBELS and FSGELSIN s t i l l had any inf luonco on him. PW says tho atmosphere of HITLER's sho l to r was h o r r i b l e His s e c r e t a r y and h i s m i s t r o s s could stand i t only by be ing drunk a l l day l o n g .

S E C R E T

Rof No SAlC/lo 25 May 45

5- ROMMEL'S DEATH

Ptf c la ims t h a t ROMMEL had p l o t t e d aga ins t HITLER in the 20 Ju ly P u t s c h . On tho fo l lowing day tho FUEHRER sont a h igh SS o f f i c e r to ROMMEL with t h e ordor o i tho r to accept a r r e s t and t r i a l o r , as a spoc ia l p r i v i l o g o bocauso of h i s m o r i t o r i o u s s e r v i c e , to shoot himself with tho p i s t o l which was handed to him a t tho same t i m e Ho was allowed f i v e minutos in which to make up h i s mind. ROMMEL chose tho second a l t e r n a t i v e .

4 . GOERING ON SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

a) ATOM SMASHING

PW claims t h a t German s c i e n t i s t s have-mado tremendous p rogress in smashing tho atom. Ho bo l iovos t h a t t h i s w i l l bo the r e v o l u t i o n a r y source of energy in tho f u t u r o .

Although ho was chairman of tho Gorman S c i e n t i s t s ' Loaguo, sourco does no t have an apprec iab le amount of knowledge of tho f i e l d .

Basing h i s s ta tamont on a bopklo t ho once saw d e a l i n g with tho s ub j ec t , PW cla ims t h a t American rosca rch in t ho f i e l d of tho atom i s fa r below t h a t o f o thor n a t i o n s -

b) N5tf GERMAN U-BOAT

Sourco i s vory proud of tho success which ho c la ims for a now German t u r b i n e -dr iven submarine which "does no t need to surfaco for a i r " . Only a few of those subs wore roady in spr ing 4 5 ; in l a rgo numbers they would have i n f l i c t e d s e r i ous damage on Al l ied sh ipp ing . Thoir undor-wator spocd i s claimod to bo almost aa high as tho speed of the f a s t o s t surface v e s s e l s -

5 . GOERING'S ECONOMIC STATUS

a) REGULAR INCOME

In tho l i g h t of one of the P a r t y ' s foremost e a r l y aims - namely, t h a t no ono earn moro than RM 1,000 per month - GOERING1s economic s t a t u s i s g ro t c squo .

In answer to ques t i ons concerning tho source of h i s income, P'.f r o p l i o d t h a t ho rece ived "very decent" wages as Pros idon t of tho Pruss ian M i n i s t r y , and t h a t " l a rgo chocks" were placed a t h i s "d i sposa l " (ZUR VSRFUEGUNGJ by tho mombor f i rms of tho Suporvisory Council of Manufacturers (AUFSICHTSRAT VON FABRIXUNTERNEHMUNGEN), al though ho did no t r e c e i v e a r e g u l a r s a l a ry as head of t h i s agency. Ho would no t mako any p roc i so s ta tements as to tho t o t a l of h i s income, which would bo d i f f i c u l t to e s t a b l i s h , h i s r e s o u r c e s being in tho hands of a numbor of d i f f e r e n t banking i n s t i t u t i o n s -

Examination of a bankbook, however, r evea led tho fo l lowing in fo rmat ion :

Income as Minis tor of Aviat ion approx RM 5500 por mo • " mombor of "REICHSTAG" 1700 • "

Spocial oxponso account from REICHS Chancel lory 20000 " "

Adding to t h i s h i s es t imated sa la ry of RM 25,000 per aontb as P r e s i d e n t of tho Pruss ian M i n i s t r y , h i s t o t a l monthly incomo from t h o above sources was over RM 600,000 per y e a r .

In a d d i t i o n , t h e r e wore r e g u l a r chocks from the EHER Par ty Pub l i sh ing House amounting to RM 120,000 por y e a r , for h i s w r i t i n g s on tho Four-Year-PI an- Allowing for s a l a r i e s accruing from othor publ ic p o s i t i o n s , a y o a r l y income of RM 1,000,000 may bo considered a f a i r e s t i m a t e .

b) ADDITIONAL INCOME

Tho above-mentioned bankbook also shows occas iona l checks and c r e d i t s from l a rgo f i rms - for example, semi -yea r ly amounts of RM 500,000, RM 250,000, o t o -from tho REENTSMA Firm ( O i g a r o t t o s ) , HAMBURG. (Note: Minis tor of Finance FUNK

S E C R E T 5

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Rof No SAIC/16 25 May *+5

oxplains thoso amounts» s ta t ing t ha t REENTSMA. WQB involved in' a t r i a l for ovaaion of taxos amounting to sovoral mi l l ions , from which i t was ablo to oxtr icato i t s o l f with.OÖERlNG's a id . )

As chiof of tho Four-Year-Pi an, sourco was ablo to have any amount of monoy put at h i s disposal , moro or loss "voluntar i ly" . Thus i t may bo said tha t for a l l p rac t ica l purposoa, money was not a matt or of concern in PW's l i f e .

QuoBtionod about a posBiblo fortuno in foroign countr ios, sourco ropl iod, "I can await any rovolat ions of your agents concerning my 'foroign fortunes ' ;

with an untroublod mind." (Note: I t was possiblo, howovor, to loarn from REI0HSHINIST2R PUNI^iljat

GOERING had probably smuggled monoy abroad through MEDSL, a partnor in tho WITZIG banking concern. MEDEL, a nativo of Gormony and a naturalized Dutchman• married to a Swiss woman, workod for GOERING in somo sort of i l log i t imato doals in foroigi currency. About throe to four months ago ho flow to Spain, probably with a largo Bharo of GOERING's fortuno, which was in a l l likolihood to bo deposited in "••• Portugal or South Amorica.

I t may bo notod tha t GOERING asked tho in terrogat ing officer ropoatodly whothor l iv ing conditions woro hot ter in Argentina, or in Chile«

Dr FUNK oxplainod tha t GOERING, as diroctor of tho Four-Yoar Plan, could disposo of foroign ourroncios indopcndontly, and tha t ho usod thom unhesitat ingly for h i s own purposos, such a3 tho purchaso of ar t trcasuros«) • • - --— •

c) PRIVATE FORTUNE

PW'a fortune oonsists mainly in objects of a r t , which he robbed from foroign countrios, bought, or accoptod as "voluntary" g i f t s - Some of t h i s fortuno came from towns such as NtJREMBSRG, which prosontod him with objects of a r t - jowolod daggers, swords, boxos wrought of gold, and the l ike - at ovory possiblo occasion. Othor works of a r t cstno from foroign nat ions , statoanon, i ndus t r i a l i s t ; craftsmen, musoums, and from tho FUEHRER. Thoy combined to form a colloetion worth many mill ions* which, judging by h i s omotion in discussing i t , ho wantöd to build up into tho largost troasuro in tho world, something liko tho two fabulous hoards of Gorman folkloro, tho NISBSLUNG3NSCHATZ or tho WELFENSOHATZ.

6 . VANITY OUTRAGED •

PW complainod about h i s troatmont as a prisoner, saying tha t i t i s usual for a marshal to havo a house of h i s own to l ivo i n . Considering h i s posi t ion as a Nazi, however, ho thought ho would havo to bo sat isf ied to l ivo in tho saWO" mannor as tho othor officor PW.

Ho says ho askod tho Amoricans for safe conduct when ho gave himsolf up, and now \tö finds himself a prisonor of war. Ho i s worriod about h i s private possessions« Judging by tho way the Allies havo boon doaling with thom, ho says, ho foars t ha t one day "thoy will toko thd pants off mo".

25 May 45 PAUL KUBALA, Maj/ MI *> " Oommonding

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