Description

Halder’s Diary: Nazi Germany and Post-War Influence

Timeline of Main Events

August 14, 1939: Franz Halder becomes the Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Command of the German Army (OKH). This marks the beginning of the period covered by his personal diary.
September 1, 1939: The Polish Campaign begins. Halder’s diary covers this period from August 14 to December 6, 1939.
End of 1939: Halder oversees the development of invasion plans for France, the Low Countries, and the Balkans.
November 5, 1939: Halder records one of his efforts to organize a revolt and arrest Hitler, which ultimately fails.
December 7, 1939 – May 9, 1940: Halder’s diary covers “The First Winter.”
May 10, 1940 – October 30, 1940: Halder’s diary covers “The Campaign in France.”
September 27, 1938 (Mentioned): Halder recorded an earlier effort to organize a revolt and arrest Hitler, which also failed. This event predates his appointment as Chief of Staff but is revealed in his diary.
October 31, 1940 – February 20, 1941: Halder’s diary covers “The Second Winter.”
February 21, 1941 – September 24, 1942: Halder’s diary covers “The Campaign in the Balkans and Russia.”
May 13, 1941: The Barbarossa Decree is signed. Halder’s staff drafted this decree, which allowed German soldiers to execute Soviet citizens without fear of prosecution.
June 6, 1941: The Commissar Order is issued. Halder’s staff also drafted this order, which mandated the execution of Soviet political commissars.
June 1941 (Mentioned): Halder’s diary entries reveal Hitler’s order to round up and detain Jews in the Nazi-occupied areas of the Soviet Union.
September 24, 1942: Franz Halder is dismissed by Hitler. This is described as a sign of the decline of German military power.
July 20, 1944: The failed assassination attempt on Hitler’s life by German Army officers occurs.
July 23, 1944: Following the failed assassination attempt, the Gestapo arrests Franz Halder due to revelations of his earlier involvement in conspiracies against Hitler, despite not being involved in the July 20th plot.
1944 – 1945: Halder is imprisoned in the Flossenbürg and Dachau concentration camps.
January 31, 1945: Franz Halder is officially dismissed from the army while imprisoned.
Post-World War II: Halder serves as a lead consultant for the US Army Historical Division.
Post-World War II: Under Halder’s oversight, over 700 former Nazi officers write over 2,500 historical documents for the US Army, instructed to omit detrimental information about the German armed forces.
Post-World War II: Halder uses his influence to promote a narrative of a “noble war” fought by the German army on the Eastern Front, denying war crimes.
July 1946: General Franz Halder testifies before Commissioner Ian D. McIlwraith at the IMT Nuremberg commission hearings investigating indicted Nazi organizations.
Post-World War II (Covered in Interrogations): Halder is interrogated by the Office of the U.S. Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality (OCCPAC) and the International Military Tribunal (IMT) staff in Nuremberg. These interrogations cover German military campaigns, the maltreatment of Russian prisoners of war, and plans to wage war in Western Europe. Halder also identifies and comments on captured German documents.
1948: Halder’s personal diary-journal is translated into English by the Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes, Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.).
1961: Franz Halder is awarded the US Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his contributions and cooperation with the US effort at Nuremberg.

Cast of Characters

Franz Halder: A Generaloberst (Colonel General) in the German Army. He served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Command of the German Army (OKH) from August 14, 1939, to September 24, 1942. He oversaw the planning of major campaigns, including the invasion of France and Operation Barbarossa. He was instrumental in the radicalization of warfare on the Eastern Front through the drafting of the Commissar Order and the Barbarossa Decree. He was dismissed by Hitler, arrested after the July 20th plot (despite not being directly involved), and imprisoned in concentration camps. After the war, he consulted for the US Army and testified at Nuremberg.
Adolf Hitler: The Führer of Nazi Germany. He held ultimate authority over the German military and made key strategic decisions. The source highlights his orders regarding the treatment of Jews in the Soviet Union and his dismissal of Halder. Halder’s diary also records attempts to overthrow Hitler.
Ian D. McIlwraith: A Commissioner at the International Military Tribunal (IMT) Nuremberg commission hearings. Franz Halder testified before him in July 1946 regarding indicted Nazi organizations.
Wilhelm von Leeb: A German Field Marshal. The High Command Trial at Nuremberg, officially titled “The United States of America vs. Wilhelm von Leeb,” utilized Halder’s diary as crucial evidence. This trial was one of the twelve US-run war crimes trials after World War II.
Conspirators of the July 20th Plot: A group of German Army officers who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944. Although Halder was not directly involved in this specific plot, interrogations of these conspirators revealed his earlier involvement in conspiracies against Hitler, leading to his arrest.
Soviet Citizens: The population of the Soviet Union who were targeted by the Barbarossa Decree and the Commissar Order, drafted by Halder’s staff, leading to widespread executions and atrocities.
Jewish Population in Europe: The source mentions Halder’s diary containing information about the Nazi plans to exterminate the Jewish population and Hitler’s specific orders regarding Jews in the occupied Soviet territories.
Russian Prisoners of War: The source indicates that Halder provided information during his interrogations regarding the maltreatment of Russian prisoners of war by the German forces.
US Army Historical Division: The organization for which Franz Halder worked as a lead consultant after World War II, overseeing the writing of numerous historical documents by former Nazi officers.
Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes, Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.): The US office responsible for translating Halder’s personal diary-journal in 1948, recognizing its importance for war crimes prosecutions.
Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality (OCCPAC) Interrogation Division: The US body that conducted pretrial interrogations of Franz Halder for the benefit of the prosecution staff at Nuremberg.
International Military Tribunal (IMT) staff: The prosecution staff at the Nuremberg Trials who benefited from the interrogations of Franz Halder and the evidence provided by his diaries and testimonies.

World War II Franz Halder Chief of Staff German Diaries and Reports of Interrogations of Halder

1,592 pages of Halder dairies and reports on Halder and results of interrogation of Halder.

Generaloberst Franz Halder, was the Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Command of the German Army (OKH), 14 August 1939 to 24 September 1942

At the end of 1939, Halder oversaw the development of the invasion plans of France, the Low Countries, and the Balkans. He directed the planning and implementation of Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. Halder became instrumental in the radicalization of warfare on the Eastern Front.

He had his staff draft both the Commissar Order (issued on 6 June 1941) and the Barbarossa Decree (signed on 13 May 1941) that allowed German soldiers to execute Soviet citizens for any reason without fear of later prosecution, leading to numerous war crimes and atrocities during the campaign.

His dismissal by Hitler is regarded as one of the symptoms of the decline and fall of German military might.

On 23 July 1944, after the failed 20 July assassination attempt on Hitler’s life by German Army officers, the Gestapo arrested Halder. Although he was not involved in 20 July plot, intense interrogations of the conspirators revealed that Halder had been involved in earlier conspiracies against Hitler. Halder was imprisoned at both the Flossenbürg and Dachau concentration camps. On 31 January 1945, Halder was officially dismissed from the army.

After the war, Halder served as a lead consultant for the US Army Historical Division. He oversaw the writing of over 2,500 historical documents by over 700 former Nazi officers, whom he instructed to remove material detrimental to the image of the German armed forces. Halder used his influence to foster a false history of the German-Soviet war in which the German army fought a “noble war” and which denied its war crimes.

In July 1946, General Franz Halder testified before Commissioner Ian D.

McIlwraith at the IMT Nuremberg commission hearings investigating indicted Nazi organizations.

Franz Halder was awarded the US Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1961 for his contributions and cooperation with the US effort at Nuremburg.

This collection includes:

Franz Halder Personal Diary-Journal

1,294 pages, translated in 1948 by the Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes, Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.). The journal covers The Polish Campaign 14 August – 6 December 1939, The First Winter 7 December 1939 – 9 May 1940, The Campaign in France 10 May 1940 – 30 October 1940, The Second Winter 31 October 1940 – 20 February 1941, The Campaign in France 10 May 1940 – 30 October 1940, The Second Winter 31 October 1940 – 20 February 1941 and The Campaign in the Balkans and Russia, 21 February 1941 – 1 -24 Sept. 1942.

Franz Halder’s diary would serve as a paramount piece of evidence in the Allies’ prosecution of Hitler’s high command at the High Command Trial (or, officially, The United States of America vs. Wilhelm von Leeb). The High Command Trial was the last of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Nuremberg after the end of World War II.

The diary’s detailed account of Hitler’s acts of aggression, the Nazi’s plans to exterminate the Jewish population in Europe, and Halder’s multiple attempts to stage Hitler’s overthrow provided the Allied prosecution with pivotal evidence needed to convict Hitler’s deputies for their crimes against humanity. For example, diary entries from June 1941 reveal Hitler’s order to round up and detain any Jews that had been living in the areas of the Soviet Union that the Nazi’s had successfully invaded. Also, both on September 27, 1938 and November 5, 1939, Halder recorded his efforts to organize a revolt and arrest of Hitler, but both ultimately failed.

The journal was kept by Haider personally in his own shorthand notes jotted down in connection with conferences, memoranda, staff talks, lectures, reports, etc., as they occurred during the discharge of his functions as Chief of ‘Staff. They are not to be confused with the official War Diaries kept by the Supreme Command of the German Army, but are rather to be considered the personal notes, views, and impressions of Haider contemporaneously recorded.

Between 1939 and 1941 the entries take the form of notes on conferences, staff talks, and lectures, but after 1941 they become more personal in nature, creating a more well-rounded diary. Both the French and Russian campaigns are discussed as they evolved. The diary is a typescript of an English translation. Includes footnotes and maps.

Office of the U.S. Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality Interrogations of Halder

191 pages of English-language pretrial interrogation transcripts of Franz Halder. The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality (OCCPAC) Interrogation Division conducted its interrogations for the benefit of the U.S. prosecution staff at Nuremberg, particularly the International Military Tribunal staff. The persons questioned included not only defendants before the Tribunal but also friendly witnesses.

International Military Tribunal – Office of U.S. Chief of Counsel Files
Includes reports of two interrogations in which Halder provided information regarding German military campaigns, the maltreatment of Russian prisoners of war, and plans to wage war in Western Europe. Halder also identified and commented on a series of captured German documents.