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1939, Hitler said the following in talking to his closest military advisers: "In principle I did not organize the Wehrmacht in order not to strike. The decision to strike was always with me. Earlier 352 30 Aug. 46 or later I wanted to solve the problem. Through force of circumstances it was decided that for the moment ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 36,000 | 36,500 |
this matter was given to the Tribunal by my American colleague, who presented an order of Field Marshal Von Manstein, former commander-in-chief of the 11th German Army. In this order, Von Manstein, giving an account of the political aims of the war against the Soviet Union in accordance with Hitler's instructions, info... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 36,450 | 36,950 |
well as the OKW, were the creators of the criminal "Barbarossa" plan? Equally active was the part of the German General Staff in the preparation of other aggressive plans of Hitlerite Germany. There can be no doubt that in the elaboration of the criminal aggressive plans, the German General Staff, as well as the OKW, p... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 36,900 | 37,400 |
the death-dealing plague bacillus as a weapon in the war. He informed us how this crime, inspired by the German High Command, the General Staff, and the Defendants Hermann Goering and Wilhelm Keitel, was conceived and realized. Only the advance of the Red Army troops towards the frontiers of Germany stopped this crimin... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 37,350 | 37,850 |
personal contact with the commanders and the commander-in-chief of the armies of the rear area. It must be stressed from the beginning that co-operation with the Armed Forces was generally good; in some cases, for instance with Panzer-Group 4 under Generaloberst Hoeppner, it was very close, almost cordial." And further... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 37,800 | 38,300 |
and of the Reich Commissioners in the occupied territories, of various Fuehrer and Leiter. And we can most categorically declare that the homogeneity and the systematic organization of the crimes, the uniformity of the means and measures used to commit them, testify to the fact that these crimes were directed by and ca... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 38,250 | 38,750 |
draconic measures. The wave of Fascist terror swept over all of Germany even before Hitler's accession to power, and increased considerably after Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 and the Defendants Frick, Papen, and Von Neurath ministers in the Reich Government. Taking advantage of their presence in the Government, the... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 38,700 | 39,200 |
subordinated to him. The principle of personal freedom and the freedom of the press and of speech were abolished. The free trade unions were abolished, their property confiscated, and the majority of their leaders thrown into prison. In order to supress by terror every kind of resistance, the Government founded the Ges... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 39,150 | 39,650 |
against the Soviet Union took place, the Government of Hitlerite Germany carefully laid plans for the monstrous extermination of the most highly cultured elements of the Soviet peoples. The report published by the Extraordinary State Commission concerning the German Fascist atrocities in Novgorod, Stavropol, Orel, Stal... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 39,600 | 40,100 |
submitted to the Tribunal by the Soviet Prosecution. Minister Rosenberg tried to, make the Tribunal believe that he did not know anything about the bestial orders of Minister Himmler. Actually, on 7 September 1943 Himmler directed the Fuehrer of the SS and SD to carry out, jointly with the military commanders, the comp... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 40,050 | 40,550 |
forced Germanization of areas seized by the Germans. It was the Reich Ministers Goering, Frick, Hess, and Lammers who signed the decree incorporating into Germany, the four western provinces of Poland. It was none other than Frick who in his instruction to Gauleiter Rainer stated, and I quote: "...Your principal task w... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 40,500 | 41,000 |
war and the population of the occupied territories was discussed and planned, but the utilization of internees and even the number of internees in wartime were discussed as well. In the minutes of this meeting it is stated: "The Plenipotentiary for Economy"--that is Funk--"will define the task which is to be executed b... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 40,950 | 41,450 |
the atrocious intentions of the chief conspirators. On the battlefields mankind has already pronounced its verdict on German Fascism. The fire of the greatest battles known to the history of mankind, fought by the heroic Red Army and the valiant armies of the Allied Forces, has not only destroyed the hordes of the Hitl... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Fifteenth Day | 41,400 | 41,641 |
Avalon Home Document Collections Ancient 4000bce - 399 Medieval 400 - 1399 15 th Century 1400 - 1499 16 th Century 1500 - 1599 17 th Century 1600 - 1699 18 th Century 1700 - 1799 19 th Century 1800 - 1899 20 th Century 1900 - 1999 21 st Century 2000 - Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 22 30 Aug. 46 Volume 22 Menu 30 S... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 0 | 500 |
having previously seen these statements in order to correct erroneous ideas or to preclude misunderstandings. How easily completely distorted reports can arise from third hand notes is also proven, among other things, by the stenographic transcript of these court sessions, which often needed correction when checked. Th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 450 | 950 |
be made subject to punishment and persecution. On the other hand, if we, the leaders as individuals, are called to account and condemned--very well; but you cannot punish the German people at the same time. The German people placed their trust in the Fuehrer, and under his authoritarian government they had no influence... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 900 | 1,400 |
says that he spoke to Admiral Doenitz at a time when the latter was, to my knowledge, in the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean. I made these predictions, however, not only here at the beginning of the Trial, but had already made them months before the beginning of the Trial in England to, among others, Dr. Johnston, th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 1,350 | 1,850 |
actions which normal human beings, especially physicians and scientists, could not possibly carry out. But this is also of equally great significance in connection with the actions of the persons who undoubtedly gave the orders and directions for the atrocities in the concentration camps and who gave the orders for sho... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 1,800 | 2,300 |
about the Moscow trial--it said that the defendants had had strange eyes. They had had glazed and dreamy eyes! I have already said that I am convinced that the governments here concerned knew nothing of these happenings. Therefore it would not be in the interest of the British Government either if my statements about w... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 2,250 | 2,750 |
been of the utmost importance if I had stated under oath what I have to say about the happenings during my own imprisonment in England. However, it was impossible for me to persuade my counsel to declare himself willing to put the proper questions to me. It was likewise impossible for me to get another counsel to agree... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 2,700 | 3,200 |
which are of a more general nature and have nothing to do with the things that I have just stated. The statements which my counsel made in my name before the High Tribunal I permitted to be made for the sake of the future 372 31 Aug. 46 judgment of my people and of history. That is the only thing which matters to me. I... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 3,150 | 3,650 |
write in their affidavits that they did not believe me. They ought to have written that in the interests of their own country they were not prepared to believe me. I am held responsible for the conduct of a foreign policy which was determined by another. I knew only this much of it, that it never concerned itself with ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 3,600 | 4,100 |
ardently desired this friendship at that time. Of this friendship there remains today only the primary problem for Europe and the world: Will Asia dominate Europe, or will the Western Powers be able to stem or even push back the influence of the Soviets at the Elbe, at the Adriatic coast, and at the Dardanelles? In oth... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 4,050 | 4,550 |
the presentation of evidence and in the final plea of my defense counsel. It is far from my intention to minimize my part in what took place. In the interest of historical truth, however, it seems advisable to correct a few errors in the final speeches of the Prosecution. The American chief prosecutor said in his final... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 4,500 | 5,000 |
virtue of instructions from the commander of the army group, who in his turn acted according to general instructions of the Defendant Keitel." Here again "instructions of Keitel" are mentioned, although the French Indictment itself states that I, as Chief of the OKW, could not give any direct orders to the branches of ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 4,950 | 5,450 |
Dr. Schreiber to be untrue. I claim to have told the truth in all things, even if they incriminated me; at least to have endeavored, in spite of the great extent of my field of activity, to contribute to the clarification of the true state of affairs to the best of my knowledge. Now, at the end of this Trial I want to ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 5,400 | 5,900 |
years. In a short time I ascertained the treason of Canaris and his accomplices to the most frightful extent. Offices IV and V of the Reich Security Main Office were subordinate to me only theoretically, not in fact. The chart shown here of the different groups and the chain of command leading from them is wrong and mi... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 5,850 | 6,350 |
by the chief of the Criminal Police, Nebe, and myself for the investigation of the concentration camps. He cannot testify as to my knowledge of the subsequent events, as to what I--dumbfounded by his report, in contrast to Mueller, who raged like one who had just been unmasked--did after reading his report. On the same... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 6,300 | 6,800 |
had long been active in the camps, I could no longer believe that there was any danger to Jewish life. My credibility has been doubted ever since then, but it would have been restored immediately if an enquiry had been made by the Prosecution with the International Red Cross at Geneva in proceedings which were not so s... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 6,750 | 7,250 |
through a false conception of obedience, if I carried out orders, all of which, insofar as they are alleged to be cardinal orders, were issued before my time of office, then they are part of a fate which is stronger than myself and which is carrying me along with it. I am accused here because substitutes are needed for... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 7,200 | 7,700 |
Jewish question would have to be solved by the creation of a minority right, by emigration, or by settling the Jews in a national territory over a ten-year period of time. The White Paper of the British Government of 24 July 1946 shows how historical developments can bring about measures which were never previously pla... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 7,650 | 8,150 |
comrades, to be one conducted for the noblest idea, an idea which had been fought for under flying banners for over a hundred years. I ask you to recognize this as the truth. In that case no persecution of beliefs could arise from this Trial; then, in my conviction, a first step would be taken for a new, mutual underst... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 8,100 | 8,600 |
of death. His path became more and more that of a frightful adventurer without conscience or honesty, as I know today at the end of this Trial. We call upon the German people, whose rulers we were, to return from this road which, according to the law and justice of God, had to lead us and our system into disaster and w... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 8,550 | 9,050 |
be able to participate. But it is God's eternal justice in which I hope our people will be secure and to, which alone I trustfully submit. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Wilhelm Frick. WILHELM FRICK (Defendant): I have a clear conscience with respect to the Indictment. My entire life was spent in the service ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 9,000 | 9,500 |
mentioned a destruction or extermination of Jewry in some article of my weekly paper, the Stuermer, then these were strong statements in reply to provoking expressions of opinion by Jewish authors in which the extermination of the German people was demanded. According to his last testament the mass killings ordered by ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 9,450 | 9,950 |
could not have known them. These criminal deeds fill me, like every German, with deep shame. I have examined my conscience and memory with the utmost care, and I have told the Court frankly and honestly everything that I knew and have concealed nothing. As far as the deposits of the SS in the Reichsbank are concerned, ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 9,900 | 10,400 |
this life full of suspicions, slanders, and vulgar accusations. Not a single human being has ever lost his life because of any measures decreed by me. I have always respected the property of others. I have always tried to help people in need and, as far as it lay within my power, to bring happiness and Joy into their l... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 10,350 | 10,850 |
the American representative, Mr. Rublee. They were all sympathetically disposed towards the plan. But since I was removed from the Reichsbank shortly afterwards by Hitler, the matter was dropped. Had it been carried through, not a single German Jew would have lost his life. My opposition to Hitler's policies was known ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 10,800 | 11,300 |
the belief that the world will recover, not through the power of violence, but only through the strength of the spirit and morality of actions. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Karl Doenitz. KARL DOENITZ (Defendant): I should like to say three things. Firstly, you may judge the legality of German submarine warf... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 11,250 | 11,750 |
Navy and as the last Head of the State, I bear the responsibility towards the German people, for everything which I have done and left undone. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Erich Raeder. ERICH RAEDER (Defendant): This Trial, now that the evidence has been concluded, has had a beneficial result for the German... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 11,700 | 12,200 |
honorable naval war over a number of years. I am convinced that the admiralties of the Allied powers understand me and that they know that they have not fought against a criminal. The only way I can explain to myself this attitude adopted by the Prosecution is by assuming that its representatives, as I necessarily perc... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 12,150 | 12,650 |
hiking, games and sports, promotion of professional education, and particularly, comradely understanding with the youth of other countries. Ever since my own youth I have kept these principles and aims before my eyes as the ideals of a national German education. These principles and aims were not dictated to me by the ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 12,600 | 13,100 |
in a youth movement which showed the greatest love for the poorest children of the people, loyalty to the homeland, pleasure in sport, and honest understanding with the youth of other nations, that was the aim of our youth and the content of its training from the first to the last day of my term as Reich Youth Leader. ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 13,050 | 13,550 |
has not yet been formally introduced. In the session of 22 August 1946 ... THE PRESIDENT: Very well, yes. The interrogatories which have come to hand, you mean? DR. NELTE: Or affidavits which have been approved. In the court session of 22 August I was given permission to submit two affidavits by the Defendant Keitel an... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 13,500 | 14,000 |
placed at my disposal in photostat form upon my return by the French Delegation in their usual considerate manner, and the French Prosecution is ready to submit both of these documents in the original, as desired by the Tribunal. DR. HANS FLAECHSNER (Counsel for the Defendant Speer): Mr. President, from the interrogato... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 13,950 | 14,450 |
of high positions in the Reich; what little spare time I had belonged to my family. I was and am happy that my wife is the daughter of a worker, who himself was and remained a Social Democrat. In this, my last word, I solemnly assure you that I was completely surprised by all foreign political events and the beginning ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 14,400 | 14,900 |
in any way mean their inhuman exploitation, but rather their economic, rational, and correct employment in labor. It was never my intention to commit crimes against international law, the laws of war, or the laws of humanity. Not for a single moment did I doubt the legality and admissibility of my task, for I thought i... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 14,850 | 15,350 |
passages, as, for instance, the passage with reference to the impossible figure of only 200,000 volunteer workers. This also applies to a number of other statements which were incorrectly taken down by third parties and never actually put into practice. Because I am a worker and have personally served on foreign ships,... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 15,300 | 15,800 |
in part was working for the enemy. And all this in the complete and clear realization that this war would decide the life or death of our beloved fatherland. They did not serve the powers of Hell and they did not serve a criminal, but rather their people and their fatherland. As far as I am concerned, I believe that no... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 15,750 | 16,250 |
peace would have to depend. The best years of my lifework were devoted to this question, in the community, in Parliament, in the Prussian State, and in the Reich. Anyone who is acquainted with the facts knows that I did not aspire to high office in 1932. Hindenburg's urgent appeal on behalf of the fatherland was to me ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 16,200 | 16,700 |
start a civil war. Does the Prosecution want to damn all those who with honest intentions offered to co-operate? Does it claim that the German people elected Hitler in 1933 because they wanted war? Does it really claim that the overwhelming majority of the German people made their tremendous spiritual and material sacr... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 16,650 | 17,150 |
hearts of the Austrian National Socialists. I was in favor of the unity of all Germans, no matter what form of government Germany had. I believe that the Prosecution is utilizing documents of the period following the Anschluss in order to deduce my plans for annexation and aggression. These are documents and remarks re... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 17,100 | 17,600 |
for large-scale and permanent evacuations, for such evacuations are today affecting more than 10 million Germans who have been settled in their homes for many centuries. After the middle of 1944, saboteurs and terrorists were shot by the Police on the basis of a direct Fuehrer order, if their activity was proved. Durin... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 17,550 | 18,050 |
46 Secondly, on the question of the effectiveness of provisions of international law during a war: From the point of view of her own interests Germany cannot desire any war. She must even see to it that no weapons are forced into her hands. The other nations do not want a war, either, but that possibility is never abso... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 18,000 | 18,500 |
orders from the highest sources to be transmitted directly to the lowest-ranking units, where, because of the high authority, they were carried out without criticism. Another result was that numerous offices and 405 31 Aug. 46 headquarters were directly attached to the supreme leadership, from which they received their... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 18,450 | 18,950 |
atom bombs, and with, the prospect of a horrible kind of chemical warfare. 406 31 Aug. 46 Of necessity the next war will be overshadowed by these new destructive inventions of the human mind. In 5 or 10 years the technique of warfare will make it possible to fire rockets from continent to continent with uncanny precisi... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 18,900 | 19,400 |
will never perish. May God protect Germany and the culture of the West. 407 31 Aug. 46 THE PRESIDENT: I call upon Defendant Constantin von Neurath. CONSTANTIN VON NEURATH (Defendant): Firm in the conviction that truth and justice will prevail before this High Tribunal over all hatred, slander, and misrepresentation, I ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 19,350 | 19,850 |
Morgen, among others, is now slowly emerging from the mist in which it was hidden until now. I believed, in Hitler's assurances of a sincere desire for peace. Therefore I strengthened the trust of the German people in them. 408 31 Aug. 46 I believed in the official German denials of all foreign reports of German atroci... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 19,800 | 20,300 |
before my conscience, because I have not preached hatred, as the Prosecution asserted, nor have I closed the door to pity. On the contrary, many times, even in the middle of the bitterest struggle, I have raised the voice of humanity. This is proved by the vast majority of my speeches, which one can compare at any time... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 20,250 | 20,750 |
that date the judgment will be announced. If any postponement should be necessary, due notice will be given. [ The Tribunal adjourned until 30 September 1946 at 1000 hours. ] 410 30 Aug. 46 Volume 22 Menu 30 Sept. 46 Nuremberg Trials Page Avalon Home Document Collections Ancient 4000bce - 399 Medieval 400 - 1399 15 th ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day | 20,700 | 20,830 |
Avalon Home Document Collections Ancient 4000bce - 399 Medieval 400 - 1399 15 th Century 1400 - 1499 16 th Century 1500 - 1599 17 th Century 1600 - 1699 18 th Century 1700 - 1799 19 th Century 1800 - 1899 20 th Century 1900 - 1999 21 st Century 2000 - Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 22 31 Aug. 46 Volume 22 Menu 1 Oc... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 0 | 500 |
wars of aggression, which were also wars in violation of international treaties, agreements, and assurances, with War Crimes and with Crimes against Humanity. The defendants are also charged with participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit all these crimes. The Tribunal was fu... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 450 | 950 |
General Staff and OKW; and 2,000 on behalf of the Gestapo. The Tribunal itself heard 22 witnesses for the organizations. The documents tendered in evidence for the prosecution of the individual defendants and the organizations numbered several thousands. A complete stenographic record of everything said in court has be... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 900 | 1,400 |
labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity: "(c) Cr... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 1,350 | 1,850 |
3. We demand land and territory for the sustenance of our people, and the colonization of our surplus population. "Point 4. Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is of German blood, without consideration of creed. Consequently, no Jew can be a member of the race.... "Point... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 1,800 | 2,300 |
the orders he received from above. This principle applied in the first instance to Hitler himself as the leader of the Party, and in a lesser degree to all other Party officials. All, members of the Party swore an oath of "eternal allegiance" to the Leader. There were only two ways in which Germany could achieve the th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 2,250 | 2,750 |
entering German political life was in order to destroy the democratic structure of the Weimar Republic, and to substitute for it a National Socialist totalitarian regime which would enable them to carry out their avowed policies without opposition. In preparation for the day when he would obtain power in Germany, Hitle... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 2,700 | 3,200 |
meeting on the day of his appointment as Chancellor, at which the Defendants Goering, Frick, Funk, Von Neurath and Von Papen were present in their official capacities. On 28 February 1933 the Reichstag building in Berlin was set on fire. This fire was used by Hitler and his Cabinet as a pretext for passing on the same ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 3,150 | 3,650 |
a law of 7 April it was provided that officials "who were of non Aryan descent" should be retired; and it was also decreed that "officials who, because of their previous political activity, do not offer security that they will exert themselves for the national state without reservation, shall be discharged." The law of... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 3,600 | 4,100 |
"eliminated the old leadership of Free Trade Unions" and taken over the leadership themselves. Similarly, on 3 May 1933 the NSDAP press service announced that the Christian Trade Unions "have unconditionally subordinated themselves to the leadership of Adolf Hitler." In place of the trade unions the Nazi Government set... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 4,050 | 4,550 |
Nazis into power in 1933, persecution of the Jews became official state policy. On 1 April 1933, a boycott of Jewish enterprises was approved by the Nazi Reich Cabinet, and during the following years a series of anti-Semitic laws were passed, restricting the activities of Jews in the Civil Service, in the legal profess... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 4,500 | 5,000 |
teachers who could be trusted to teach their pupils the full meaning of the National Socialist creed. Apart from the influence of National Socialist teaching in the schools, the Hitler Youth Organization was also relied upon by the Nazi leaders for obtaining fanatical support from the younger 'generation. The Defendant... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 4,950 | 5,450 |
Reich Finance Minister, the President of the Reichsbank, and the Prussian Finance Minister to discuss problems connected with war mobilization, and on the 27th of May 1936, in addressing these men, Goering opposed any financial limitation of war production and added that "all measures are to be considered from the stan... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 5,400 | 5,900 |
necessity. In the plan itself, Krupp stated that "the turn of political events is in line with the wishes which I myself and the board of directors have cherished for a long time." What Krupp meant by this statement is fully shown by the draft text of a speech which he planned to deliver in the University of Berlin in ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 5,850 | 6,350 |
Forces themselves were preparing for a rebuilding of Germany's armed strength. The German Navy was particularly active in this regard. The official German Naval historians, Assmann and Gladisch, admit that the Treaty of Versailles had only been in force for a few months before it was violated, particularly in the const... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 6,300 | 6,800 |
breaches of the Treaty is seen when the motive for this rearmament is considered. In the year 1940 the Defendant Raeder himself wrote: "The Fuehrer hoped until the last moment to be able to. put off the threatening conflict with England until 1944-45. At that time, the Navy would have had available a fleet with a power... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 6,750 | 7,250 |
suddenly out of an otherwise clear sky; the evidence has made it plain that this war of aggression, as well as the seizure of Austria and Czechoslovakia, was premeditated and carefully prepared, and was not undertaken until the moment was thought opportune for it to be carried through as a definite part of the preordai... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 7,200 | 7,700 |
page of the book asserts that "German-Austria must be restored to the great German Motherland," not on economic grounds, but because "people of the same blood should be in the same Reich." The restoration of the German frontiers of 1914 is declared to, be wholly insufficient, and if Germany is to exist at all, it must ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 7,650 | 8,150 |
be dismissed as inventions, nor even as inaccurate or distorted; they plainly record events which actually took place. Conferences of 23 November 1939 and 5 November 1937 It will perhaps be useful to deal first of all with the meeting of 23 November 1939, when Hitler called his supreme commanders together. A record was... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 8,100 | 8,600 |
the earlier meetings now to be considered, he was looking forward, and revealing his plans to his confederates. The comparison is instructive. The meeting held at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin on 5 November 1937 was attended by Lt. Col. Hossbach, Hitler's personal adjutant, who compiled a long note of the proceedings... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 8,550 | 9,050 |
the following expositions, then we are left to reply to the questions 'when' and 'how.' In this regard we have to decide upon three different cases." The first of these three cases set forth a hypothetical international situation, in which he would take action not later than 1943 to 1945, saying: "If the Fuehrer is sti... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 9,000 | 9,500 |
any of his hearers in November 1937, after March of 1939 there could no longer be any question that Hitler was in deadly earnest in his decision to resort to war. The Tribunal is satisfied that Lt. Col. Hossbach's account of the meeting is substantially correct, and that those present knew that Austria and 432 30 Sept.... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 9,450 | 9,950 |
were seized upon by the German National Socialists as an excuse for interfering in Austrian affairs. After the conference of 5 November 1937, these "incidents" rapidly multiplied. The relationship between the two countries steadily worsened, and finally the Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg was persuaded by the Defendant... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 9,900 | 10,400 |
to say 'Agreed'." Seyss-Inquart never sent the telegram; he never even telegraphed "Agreed." It appears that as soon as he was appointed Chancellor, some time after 10 p.m., he called Keppler and told him to call up Hitler and transmit his protests against the occupation. This action outraged the Defendant Goering, bec... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 10,350 | 10,850 |
to a suggestion made to Ribbentrop by the Hungarian Minister in Berlin, that possible war aims against Czechoslovakia should be discussed between the German and Hungarian armies. In the course of this letter Ribbentrop said: "I have many doubts about such negotiations. In case we should discuss with Hungary possible wa... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 10,800 | 11,300 |
to smash Czechoslovakia by military action in the near future." In June 1938, as appears from a captured document taken from the files of the SD in Berlin, an elaborate plan for the employment of the SD in Czechoslovakia had been proposed. This plan provided that "the SD follow, if possible, immediately after the leadi... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 11,250 | 11,750 |
assured him that from the moment when Czechoslovakia solves its other problems, that is to say, when the Czechs have come to an arrangement with their other minorities, peacefully and without oppression, I will be no longer interested in the Czech State, and that as far as I am concerned I will guarantee it. We do not ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 11,700 | 12,200 |
Austria and Czechoslovakia, which had been discussed by Hitler at the meeting of 5 November 1937, had been accomplished. The time had now come for the German leaders to consider further acts of aggression, made more possible of attainment because of that accomplishment. On 23 May 1939 a meeting was held in Hitler's stu... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 12,150 | 12,650 |
speech in the Reichstag: "During the troubled months of the past year, the friendship between Germany and Poland has been one of the most reassuring factors in the political life of Europe." Five days previously, on 25 January 1939, Ribbentrop said in the course of a speech in Warsaw: "Thus Poland and Germany can look ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 12,600 | 13,100 |
British restraint as a result of this...." In spite of the contents of these two directives, Hitler made a speech in the Reichstag on 28 April 1939 in which, after describing the Polish Government's alleged rejection of an offer he had made with regard to Danzig and the Polish Corridor, he stated: "I have regretted gre... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 13,050 | 13,550 |
rate should concentrate primarily on the war in the West, in order to defeat Great Britain and France quickly, or at least to destroy their effectiveness. Nevertheless, Hitler stressed that war with England and France would be a life-and-death struggle which might last a, long time, and that preparations must be made a... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 13,500 | 14,000 |
military strength. It also contains a statement by Hitler that an appropriate propaganda reason for invading Poland would be given, the truth or falsehood of which was unimportant, since "the right lies in victory." The second unsigned document put in evidence by the Prosecution is headed: "Second speech by the Fuehrer... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 13,950 | 14,450 |
the part of the responsible powers can there be any real change in the relationship between England and Germany." There followed a number of appeals to Hitler to refrain from forcing the Polish issue to the point of war. These were from President Roosevelt on 24 and 25 August; from His Holiness the Pope on 24 and 31 Au... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 14,400 | 14,900 |
a war between the two countries. He got into contact with Goering as well as with official circles in London, and during the latter part of August, Goering used him as an unofficial intermediary to try and deter the British Government from their opposition to Germany's intentions towards Poland. Dahlerus, of course, ha... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 14,850 | 15,350 |
Nevertheless, Germany invaded Denmark on 9 April 1940. On 2 September 1939, after the outbreak of war with Poland, Germany sent a solemn assurance to Norway in these terms: "The German Reich Government is determined, in view of the friendly relations which exist between Norway and Germany, under no circumstance to prej... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 15,300 | 15,800 |
reported on his interview with Quisling, and set out Quisling's views. On 16 December Hitler himself interviewed Quisling on all these matters. In the report of the activities of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the NSDAP for the years 1933-1943, under the heading of "Political preparations for the military occupation of ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 15,750 | 16,250 |
of "an instant and overwhelming necessity for self-defense, leaving no choice of means, and no moment of deliberation" (The Caroline Case, Moore's Digest of International Law II , 412). How widely the view was held in influential German circles that the Allies intended to occupy Norway cannot be determined with exactit... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 16,200 | 16,700 |
into Norwegian territorial waters ... is not to be expected at the present time." And Admiral Assmann's entry for 26 March says: "British landing in Norway not considered serious."Documents which were subsequently captured by the Germans are relied on to show that the Allied plan to occupy harbors and airports in Weste... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 16,650 | 17,150 |
be occupied and organized so that they could in the future be considered as German possessions. In the light of all the available evidence it is impossible to accept the contention that the invasions of Denmark and Norway were defensive, and in the opinion of the Tribunal they were acts of aggressive war. The Invasion ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 17,100 | 17,600 |
on the English coast will bring England to her knees. However, this can only occur if we have occupied Belgium and Holland.... My decision is unchangeable; I shall attack France and England at the most favorable and quickest moment. Breach of the neutrality of Belgium and Holland is meaningless. No one will question th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Seventeenth Day | 17,550 | 18,050 |
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