Archive/File: imt/ tgmwc/judgment/j-defendants-funk
Last-Modified: 1997/09/06

                          Judgment
                           of the
               International Military Tribunal
                           For The
             Trial of German Major War Criminals

                           London
               His Majesty's Stationery Office
                            1951
                                                            
                                                  [Page 102]

                            Funk

Funk is indicted under all four Counts. Funk, who had
previously been a financial journalist, joined the Nazi
Party in 1931, and shortly thereafter became one of Hitler's
personal economic advisers. On 30th January, 1933, Funk was
made Press Chief in the Reich Government, and on 11th March,
1933, became Under Secretary in the Ministry of Propaganda
and shortly thereafter a leading figure in the various Nazi
organisations which were used to control the press, films,
music, and publishing houses. He took office as Minister of
Economics and Plenipotentiary General for War Economy in
early 1938 and as President of the Reichsbank in January,
1939. He succeeded Schacht in all three of these positions.
He was made a member of the Ministerial Council for the
Defense of the Reich in August, 1939, and a member of the
Central Planning Board in September, 1943.

Crimes against Peace

Funk became active in the economic field after the Nazi
plans to wage aggressive war had been clearly defined. One
of his representatives attended a conference on 14th
October, 1938, at which Goering announced a gigantic
increase in armaments and instructed the Ministry of
Economics to increase

                                                  [Page 103]
                                                            
exports to obtain the necessary exchange. On 28th January,
1939, one of Funk's subordinates sent a memorandum to the
OKW on the use of prisoners of war to make up labor
deficiencies which would arise in case of mobilization. On
30th May, 1939, the Under Secretary of the Ministry of
Economics attended a meeting at which detailed plans were
made for the financing of the war.

On 25th August, 1939, Funk wrote a letter to Hitler
expressing his gratitude that he was able to participate in
such world-shaking events; that his plans for the "financing
of the war", for the control of wage and price conditions
and for the strengthening of the Reichsbank had been
completed; and that he had inconspicuously transferred into
gold all foreign exchange resources available to Germany. On
14th October, 1939, after the war had begun, he made a
speech in which he stated that the economic and financial
departments of Germany working under the Four Year Plan had
been engaged in the secret economic preparation for war for
over a year.

Funk participated in the economic planning which preceded
the attack on the U.S.S.R. His deputy held daily conferences
with Rosenberg on the economic problems which would arise in
the occupation of Soviet territory. Funk himself
participated in planning for the printing of ruble notes in
Germany prior to the attack to serve as occupation currency
in the U.S.S.R. After the attack he made a speech in which
he described plans he had made for the economic exploitation
of the "vast territories of the Soviet Union" which were to
be used as a source of raw material for Europe.

Funk was not one of the leading figures in originating the
Nazi plans for aggressive war. His activity in the economic
sphere was under the supervision of Goering as
Plenipotentiary General of the Four Year Plan. He did,
however, participate in the economic preparation for certain
of the aggressive wars, notably those against Poland and the
Soviet Union, but his guilt can be adequately dealt with
under Count Two of the Indictment.

War crimes and Crimes against humanity

In his capacity as Under Secretary in the Ministry of
Propaganda and Vice-Chairman of the Reichs Chamber of
Culture, Funk had participated in the early Nazi program of
economic discrimination against the Jews. On 12th November,
1938, after the pogroms of November, he attended a meeting
held under the chairmanship of Goering to discuss the
solution of the Jewish problem and proposed a decree
providing for the banning of Jews from all business
activities, which Goering issued the same day under the
authority of the Four Year Plan. Funk has testified that he
was shocked at the outbreaks of 10 November, but on 15
November he made a speech describing these outbreaks as a
"violent explosion of the disgust of the German People,
because of a criminal Jewish attack against the German
People", and saying that the elimination of the Jews from
economic life followed logically their elimination from
political life.

In 1942 Funk entered into an agreement with Himmler under
which the Reichsbank was to receive certain gold and jewels
and currency from the SS and instructed his subordinates,
who were to work out the details, not to ask too many
questions. As a result of this agreement the SS sent to the
Reichsbank the personal belongings taken from the victims
who had been exterminated in the concentration camps. The
Reichsbank kept the coins and bank notes and sent the
jewels, watches, and personal belongings to Berlin municipal
pawn shops. The gold from the eyeglasses, and gold teeth and
fillings was stored in the Reichsbank vaults. Funk has
protested that he did not know that the Reichsbank was
receiving articles of this kind. The Tribunal is of the
opinion that he either knew what was being received or was
deliberately closing his eyes to what was being done.

                                                  [Page 104]
                                                            
As Minister of Economics and President of the Reichsbank,
Funk participated in the economic exploitation of occupied
territories. He was president of the Continental Oil Company
which was charged with the exploitation of the oil resources
of occupied territories in the East. He was responsible for
the seizure of the gold reserves of the Czechoslovakian
National Bank and for the liquidation of the Yugoslavian
National Bank. On 6th June, 1942, his deputy sent a letter
to the OKW requesting that funds from the French Occupation
Cost Fund be made available for black market purchases.
Funk's knowledge of German occupation policies is shown by
his presence at the meeting of 8th August, 1942, at which
Goering addressed the various German occupation chiefs, told
them of the products required from their territories, and
added: "It makes no difference to me in this connection if
you say that your people will starve."

In the fall of 1943 Funk was a member of the Central
Planning Board which determined the total number of laborers
needed for German industry, and required Sauckel to produce
them, usually by deportation from occupied territories. Funk
did not appear to be particularly interested in this aspect
of the forced labor program and usually sent a deputy to
attend the meetings, often SS General Ohlendorf, the former
Chief of the SD inside of Germany and the former Commander
of Einsatzgruppe D. But Funk was aware that the Board of
which he was a member was demanding the importation of slave
laborers, and allocating them to the various industries
under its control.

As President of the Reichsbank, Funk was also indirectly
involved in the utilization of concentration camp labor.
Under his direction the Reichsbank set up a revolving fund
of RM12 million to the credit of the SS for the construction
of factories to use concentration camp laborers.

In spite of the fact that he occupied important official
positions Funk was never a dominant figure in the various
programs in which he participated. This is a mitigating fact
of which the Tribunal takes notice.

Conclusion: The Tribunal finds that Funk is not guilty on
Count One but is guilty under Counts Two, Three, and Four.

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