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Partly-printed DS, in German, signed “W. Keitel,” one page, 8 x 12, January 19, 1946. Document headed (translated), "The International Military Tribunal, Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness," made while preparing his defense for the Nuremberg trials. Keitel and his defense lawyer request testimony from "Dr. Hans-Heinrich Lammers, formerly Reich Minister and Head of the Reich Chancellery," noting that he was, to his knowledge, "at present in the military prison at Nuremberg."
Keitel cites Lammers's knowledge of these facts: "That I signed laws, although I was not minister; furthermore that in Adolf Hitler's Reich this signing did not imply that I assumed a constitutional responsibility, but merely that I took cognizance for the Wehermacht." Keitel states that the testimony is relevant because "the prosecution feels that I am responsible for the contents of various laws signed by me." Signed at the conclusion in pencil by Wilhelm Keitel, and countersigned by his defense counsel. Backed by archival paper and in fine condition, with professional cleaning to the paper. Accompanied by a contemporary English translation.
Hans-Heinrich Lammers was an especially important witness for Keitel’s defense. As chief of the Reich Chancellery, Lammers occupied the center of the Nazi government’s administrative machinery and could explain the formal significance of signatures affixed to Hitler’s decrees. When he later testified at Nuremberg, Lammers supported Keitel’s argument, stating that Keitel signed Führer decrees when Wehrmacht interests were involved and denying that his signature necessarily made him responsible for the legislation itself.
Keitel sought to use this distinction as part of his broader claim that, as chief of the OKW, he functioned principally as Hitler’s military staff officer rather than an independent policymaker. The Tribunal nevertheless found that his personal participation went well beyond merely acknowledging or transmitting orders, citing his role in such criminal directives as the Commissar Order, the Night and Fog decree, and the Commando Order. He was convicted on all four counts and executed at Nuremberg on October 16, 1946.
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