on the block that I saw him prepare; and that then “A” hands me the axe which I saw him sharpen and orders me to cut off the head of this captured, bound man. Would you say that under those circumstances I would be guilty or not guilty of killing the man whose head I severed at the direct order of “A” who had the full power to order me to do so. DR. JAHRREISS: I understand it this way--that guilty or not guilty is to be considered as guilt under criminal laws. Q. On the assumed facts, yes. A. I just want to ask you a question. Do you mean it as a legal question or as a question of morality? Q. As a question of law. A. Of law, yes. And according to what criminal law, and in what state? Q. You can name the state; I don’t care. A. Well, is that supposed to be a question in Utopia? Q. Let’s put it in Germany. A. In Germany? Q. In Germany, yes, after 1933. A. Yes, all right. Here then, we would be faced with terrible problems with which all of us since last year have been torturing ourselves so terribly, and I confess that in spite of having thought about it a great deal, that I have not yet found my way out of the dilemma into which we have been brought. Perhaps I can answer this hypothetical question by saying, by stating first, the points of view which in a conflicting manner make the answer more difficult. Perhaps first of all I should say, so that this should be clear, Mr. Prosecutor, how I, myself would behave.--I don’t know. No matter how horrible the whole thing is, I don’t believe that I--well, the Charter of the International Military Tribunal anticipates that an appeal to higher orders should not be admissible. It is not my task to criticize those regulations. However, perhaps I may be allowed to say that this regulation, if it should really be valid law in any state whatsoever, would have very dangerous consequences for order in general. One of the four judges of the IMT, the French judge, Donnedieu De Vabres, in a lecture which he gave this last April expressly stated that this regulation brings with it many difficulties for the idea of the discipline imposed by the state. I have the text of his lecture here. It is a lecture which Professor Donnedieu De Vabres gave before the Association des Etudes Internationales Criminologiques. May I quote a short passage from it? May I read it in French? THE INTERPRETER: Yes, you may.