Following the three day cross examination of Hermann Goering by American Chief Prosecutor Justice Robert H Jackson, Britiish Chief Prosecutor Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe took the podium. Nearly half of the his examination was devoted to the murder of the fifty British flyers who escaped Stalag Luft III. This was the so-called Sagan Order ( depicted in thh film “The Great Escape”) Goering testified that the exetent of the activities at the concentration camps ” were kept a secret from me. I might add that in my opinion not even the Fuehrer knew the extent of what was going on.”
On the following day, March 21, 1946, Chief Prosecutor for the Soviet Union Roman Rudenko continued the cross examination. Goering conceded that he was the closest collaborator of Hitler on matters concerning the Air Force and economics. On invasion of Russia, he confirmed a prior statement to the troops that “you are sent there not to work for the welfare of the population, but for the purpose of extracting everything possible out of these territories.”
Produced by US Army Signal Corps 1945-1956, housed in National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Digitized and provided by The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive.
