IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF COUNSEL
FOR KRUPP VON BOHLEN FOR POSTPONEMENT OF
THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THIS DEFENDANT
Council for Gustav Krupp von Bohlen has applied to the Tribunal for postponement of the proceedings against this defendant on the ground that his physical and mental condition are such that he is incapable of understanding the proceedings against him and of presenting any defence that he may have.
On November 5, the Tribunal appointed a medical commission composed of the following physicians: R. E. Tunbridge, Brigadier, O.B.E., M.D., M.Sc., F.R.C.P., Consulting Physician, Brit-
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ish Army of the Rhine; Rene Piedelievre, M.D., Professor a la Faculte de Medicine de Paris; Expert pres les Tribuneaux; Nicolas Kurshakov, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Medical Institute of Moscow; Chief Internist, Commissariat of Public Health, USSR; Eugene Sepp, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Neurology, Medical Institute of Moscow; Member, Academy of Sciences, USSR; Eugene Krasnushkin, M.D.; Professor of Psychiatry, Medical Institute of Moscow; Bertram Schaffner, Major, Medical Corps, Neuropsychiatrist, Army of the United States.
The Commission has reported to the Tribunal that it is unanimously of the opinion that Krupp von Bohlen suffers from senile softening of the brain; that his mental condition is such that he is incapable of understanding court procedure and of understanding or cooperating in interrogations; that his physical state is such that he cannot be moved without endangering his life; and that his condition is unlikely to improve but rather will deteriorate further.
The Tribunal accepts the findings of the medical commission to which exception is taken neither by the Prosecution nor by the Defense.
Article 12 of the Charter authorizes the trial of a defendant in absentia if found by the Tribunal to be “necessary in the interests of justice”. It is contended on behalf of the Chief Prosecutors that in the interests of justice Krupp von Bohlen should be tried in absentia, despite his physical and mental condition.
It is the decision of the Tribunal that upon the facts presented the interests of justice do not require that Krupp von Bohlen be tried in absentia. The Charter of the Tribunal envisages a fair trial in which the Chief Prosecutors may present the evidence in support of an indictment and the defendants may present such defence as they may believe themselves to have. Where nature rather than flight or contumacy has rendered such a trial impossible, it is not in accordance with justice that the case should proceed in the absence of a defendant.
For the foregoing reasons, the Tribunal Orders that:
1. The application for postponement of the proceeding against Gustav Krupp von Bohlen is granted.
2. The charges in the indictment against Gustav Krupp von Bohlen shall be retained upon the docket of the Tribunal for trial hereafter, if the physical and mental condition of the Defendant should permanent.
Further questions raised by the Chief Prosecutors, including the question of adding another name to the Indictment, will be considered later.
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D. MEMORANDUM FILED BY THE UNITED STATES
CHIEF OF COUNSEL TO THE INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL
The United States, by its Chief of Counsel, respectfully shows:
The order of the Tribunal, that “The charges in the indictment against Gustav Krupp von Bohlen shall be retained upon the docket of the Tribunal for trial hereafter, if the physical and mental condition of the Defendant should permit,” requires the United States to make clear its attitude toward subsequent trials, which may have been misapprehended by the Tribunal, in order that no inference be drawn from its silence.
The United States never has committed itself to participate in any Four Power trial except the one now pending. The purpose of accusing organizations and groups as criminal was to reach, through subsequent and more expeditious trials before Military Government or military courts, a large number of persons. According to estimates of the United States Army, a finding that the organizations presently accused are criminal organizations would result in the trial of approximately 130,000 persons now held in the custody of the United States Army; and I am uninformed as to those held by others. It has been the great purpose of the United States from the beginning to bring into this one trial all that is necessary by way of defendants and evidence to reach the large number of persons responsible for the crimes charged without going over the entire evidence again. We, therefore, desire that it be a matter of record that the United States has not been, and is not by this order, committed to participate in any subsequent Four Power trial. It reserves freedom to determine that question after the capacity to handle one trial under difficult conditions has been tested.
Respectfully submitted: [signed] Robert H. Jackson
ROBERT H. JACKSON,
Chief of Counsel for the United States.
16 November 1945
E. MOTION BY THE SOVIET, FRENCH, AND AMERICAN
CHIEF PROSECUTORS TO DESIGNATE ALFRIED
KRUPP AS A DEFENDANT
TO THE INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL:
Upon the Indictment, the motion of Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach and the answers thereto and all proceedings had
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thereunder, the Committee of Prosecutors created under the Charter hereby designates Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach as a defendant and respectfully moves that the Indictment be amended by adding the name of Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach as a defendant, and by the addition of appropriate allegations in reference to him in the Appendix A thereof. It also moves that the time of Alfried Krupp be shortened from thirty days to December 2, 1945. For this purpose, the Committee of Prosecutors adopts and ratifies the Answer filed on behalf of the United States on November 12, 1945 in response to the Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach motion, and the motion made by Robert H. Jackson in open Court on behalf of the United States of America, The Soviet Union, and the Provisional Government of France. This motion is authorized by a resolution adopted at a meeting of the Committee of Prosecutors held on November 16, 1945.
[signed] Pokrovsky
For the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [signed] Francois de Menthon
For the Provisional Government of France [signed] Robert H. Jackson
For the United States of America. 16 November 1945
F. RULING OF THE TRIBUNAL REJECTING THE
PROSECUTION’S MOTION TO NAME ALFRIED KRUPP
AS A DEFENDANT
INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL
Sitting at Nurnberg, Germany, on 11/17/1945,
In session 1500 hours
THE PRESIDENT: The motion to amend the indictment by adding the name of Alfried Krupp has been considered by the Tribunal in all its aspects and the application is rejected.
The Tribunal will now adjourn.
(Whereupon at 1505 the Tribunal adjourned.)
