Sixth Day:
Tuesday, 27th November, 1945
[Page 204]
Paragraph 2. I request the Chiefs of the Army and Navy
High Commands and the Reichsminister for Air to carry out
the preparations in accordance with the following points:-
a) Strictest secrecy. It is of the utmost importance that
no facts become known to the outside world from which
preparation for resistance against sanctions can be
inferred, or which are incompatible with Germany's
existing obligations in the sphere of foreign policy
regarding the demilitarised zone. If necessary, the
preparations must take second place to this necessity."
One of the immediate consequences of the action was that
following the withdrawal from the League of Nations,
Germany's armament programme was still further increased.
I introduced this morning document C-153, as exhibit USA 43,
so that is already in. From that, at this point, I wish to
read paragraph 5. That, as you recall, was a document dated
12th May, 1934.
We have a copy of the German publication known as "Das
Archiv" - I suppose that is the way they pronounce it - for
March, 1935, and it is page 1890 to which I refer, and I
would offer that in evidence, identifying it as our number
2292-PS; I offer it as exhibit USA 52. It is an announcement
concerning the German Air Force:-
General Goering said:-
In the extension of our National Defence (Sicherheit) it
was necessary, as we repeatedly told the world, to take
care of defence in the air. As far as that is concerned,
I restricted myself to those measure which were
absolutely necessary. The guiding line of my actions
was, not the creation of an aggressive force which would
threaten other nations, but merely the completion of a
military aviation which would be strong enough to repel,
at any time, attacks on Germany." [Page 205]
The Germany Air Force is just as passionately permeated
with the will to defend the Fatherland to the last as it
is convinced, on the other hand, that it will never be
employed to threaten the peace of other nations."
The next allegation of the Indictment is the promulgating of
the law for compulsory military service, universal military
service.
Having gone as far as they could on rearmament and the
secret training of personnel, the next step necessary to the
programme for aggressive war was a large-scale increase in
military strength. This could no longer be done under
disguise and camouflage, and would have to be known to the
world. Accordingly, on 16th March, 1935, there was
promulgated a law for universal military service, in
violation of Article 173 of the Versailles Treaty.
I ask the Court to take judicial notice of that law as it
appears in the Reichsgesetzblatt, which is the official
compilation of laws, in the Title I of Volume 1, yearly
volume 1935, or Jahrgang, at page 369, and I think I need
not offer the book or the law in evidence.
The text of the law itself is very brief, and I might read
that; it is right at the end of the article. I should refer
to that as our document 1654-PS, so as to identify it.
The Reich Cabinet has passed the following law which is
herewith promulgated:
Section 1.
Section 2.
There is a typographical error in the English version of
that. It says "16 Divisions," but the original German
says 36 Divisions.
"Section 3.
Signed, Berlin, 16th March, 1933."
von Neurath; Frick; Schacht; Goering; Hess; and Frank.
Does the Court contemplate a short recess?
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn for ten minutes.
(A recess was taken)
COLONEL STOREY: If the Tribunal please, the prosecution
expects, to-morrow, to offer in evidence some captured enemy
moving pictures and in order to give defence counsel an
opportunity to see them before they are offered in evidence
- and in response to their request made to the Tribunal some
time ago - the showing of these films for defence counsel
will be held in this Court Room this evening at 8 o'clock.
THE PRESIDENT Very well, Colonel Storey.
MR. ALDERMAN May it please the Tribunal, I have reached
now Paragraph IV, F, 2(e) of the Indictment, which alleges:
"On 21st May, 1935, they falsely announced to the world,
with intent to deceive and allay fears of aggressive
intentions, that they would respect the territorial
limitations of the Versailles Treaty and comply with the
Locarno Pact."
[Page 206]
I offered in evidence this morning, as exhibit USA 38, our
document 2288-PS, the pertinent volume of the issue of the
Volkischer Beobachter containing Hitler's speech in the
Reichstag on that date.
In that speech he said:-
The Government of the German Reich has the intention not
to sign any treaty which it believes itself not to be
able to fulfil. However, it will live up to every treaty
signed voluntarily even if it was composed before this
Government took over. Therefore it will in particular
adhere to all the allegations under the Locarno Pact, as
long as other partners of the pact also adhere to it."
The Rhine Pact of Locarno, 16th October, 1935, Article 1:-
Then from the Versailles Treaty, 28th June, 1919, Article 42
Article 43: In the area defined above, the maintenance and
the assembly of armed forces, either permanently or
temporarily and military manoeuvres of any kind, as well as
the upkeep of all permanent works for mobilisation, are in
the same way forbidden." [Page 207]
The document deals with what is called "Operation
Schulung," meaning schooling, or training. It is dated 2nd
May, 1935, and even refers to prior Staff discussions on the
subject. It is addressed to the Chief of the Army Command,
who at that time, I believe, was Fritsch; the Chief of the
Navy High Command, Raeder ; and the Reich Minister for Air,
Goering.
It does not use the name "Rhineland" and does not, in terms,
refer to it. It is our view that it was a military plan for
the military reoccupation of the Rhineland, in violation of
the Treaty of Versailles and the Rhine Pact of Locarno.
I read from the first part of the document which is headed
"Top Secret."
The supreme direction of operation 'Schulung' rests with
the Reich Minister of Defence as this is a joint
undertaking of the three services.
Preparations for the operation will begin forthwith
according to the following directives:-
I. General.
(1) The operation must, on issue of the code word "Carry
out Schulung," be executed by a surprise blow at
lightning speed. Strictest secrecy is necessary in the
preparations and only the very smallest number of
officers should be informed and employed in the drafting
of reports, drawings, etc., and these officers only in
person.
(2) There is no time for mobilisation of the forces
taking part. These will be employed in their peace-time
strength and with their peace-time equipment.
(3) The preparation for the operation will be made
without regard to the present inadequate state of our
armaments. Every improvement of the state of our
armaments will make possible a greater measure of
preparedness and thus result in better prospects of
success."
There are certain points, in the face of this Order, which
are inconsistent with any theory that it was merely a
training order, or that it might have been defensive in
nature. The operation was to be carried out as a surprise
blow at lightning speed (Schlagartig als Ueberfall).
The Air Forces were to provide support for the attack. There
was to be reinforcement by the East Prussian division.
Furthermore, this document is dated 2nd May, 1935, which is
about six weeks after the promulgation of the Conscription
Law on 16th March, 1935, and so it could hardly have been
planned as a defensive measure against any expected
sanctions which might have been applied by reason of the
passage of the Conscription Law.
Of course the actual reoccupation of the Rhineland did not
take place until 7th March, 1936, so that this early plan
must necessarily have been totally revised to suit the
existing conditions and specific objectives. As I say,
although the plan does not mention the Rhineland, it has all
of the indications of a Rhineland Operation Plan. That the
details of this particular plan were not ultimately the ones
that were carried out in reoccupying the Rhineland, does not
at all detract from the vital fact that, as early as 2nd
May, 193S, the Germans had already planned that operation,
not merely as a Staff plan but as a definite operation. It
was evidently not on their timetable to carry out the
operation so soon if it could be avoided. But they were
prepared to do so, if necessary, to resist French sanctions
against their Conscription Law.
[Page 208]
The military orders on the basis of which the Rhineland
reoccupation was actually carried into execution, on 7th
March, 1936, were issued on 2nd March, 1936, by the War
Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,
Blomberg, and addressed to the Commander-in-Chief of the
Army, Fritsch, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Raeder,
and Air Minister and C.-in-C. of the Air Force, Goering. We
have that order signed by Blomberg, headed, as usual, "Top
Secret," identified by us as document C-159. I offer it in
evidence as exhibit USA 54.
The German copy of that document bears the defendant
Raeder's initial in green pencil, with a red pencil note
"To be submitted to the C-in-C of the Navy."
The first part of the Order reads:-
The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor has made the following
decision:
By reason of the Franco-Russian alliance, the
obligations accepted by Germany in the Locarno Treaty,
as far as they apply to Articles 42 and 43, of the
Treaty of Versailles which referred to the demilitarised
zone, are to be regarded as obsolete.
2. Sections of the Army and Air Force will therefore be
transferred simultaneously in a surprise move to
garrisons of the demilitarised zone. In this connection,
I issue the following orders:"
We also have the orders for Naval co-operation. The original
German document which we have identified as C-194, was
issued on 6th March, 1936, in the form of an order on behalf
of the Reich Minister for War, Blomberg, signed by Keitel,
and addressed to the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Raeder,
setting out detailed instructions for the Commander-in-Chief
of the Fleet and the Admirals commanding the Baltic and
North Sea. I offer the document in evidence as exhibit USA
55.
The short covering letter is as follows:
The Minister has decided the following after the meeting:-
1. The inconspicuous air reconnaissance in the German
bay, not over the line Texel-Doggerbank, from midday on Z-
Day onward, has been approved. C-in-C Air Force will
instruct the air command VI from midday 7th March to hold
in readiness single reconnaissance aircraft to be at the
disposal of the C-in-C Fleet.
2. The Minister will reserve the decision to set up a U-
boat reconnaissance on line, until the evening Of 7th
March. The Immediate transfer of U-boats from Kiel to
Wilhelmshafen has been approved.
3. The proposed advance measures for the most part exceed
Degree of Emergency A, and therefore are out of the
question as the first counter-measures to be taken
against military preparations of neighbouring States. It
is far more essential to examine the advance measures
included in Degree of Emergency A, to see whether one or
other of the especially conspicuous measures could not be
omitted."
The rest of the documents are detailed naval orders,
operational orders, and I think I need not read further.
For the historical emphasis of this occasion, Hitler made a
momentous speech on 7th March, 1936. I have the volume of
the "Vo1kischer Beobachter," Berlin, Sunday, 8th March,
1936, our document 2289-PS, which I offer in evidence as
exhibit USA 56.
This is a long speech which the world remembers and of which
I shall only read a short portion.
"Men of the German Reichstag! France has replied to the
repeated friendly offers and peaceful assurances made by
Germany, by infringing the Rhine-Pact
[Page 209]
The whole matter of the German re-occupation of the
demilitarised zone of the Rhineland caused extensive
international repercussions. As a result of the protests
lodged with the League of Nations, the Council of the League
made an investigation and announced the following finding,
of which I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice, as
being carried in the League of Nations Monthly Summary,
March, 1936, Volume 6, page 78, and it is also quoted in an
article by Quincy Wright, in the American journal of
International Law, page 487, 1936.
The finding is this:-
Most of the acts set forth in the paragraph of the
Indictment, which I have been discussing, do not, I think,
need judicial proof, because they are historical facts. We
have been able to bring you a number of interesting
documents, illuminating that history. The existence of prior
plans and preparations is indisputable from the very nature
of things. The method and sequence of these plans and their
accomplishment are clearly indicative of the progressive and
increasingly aggressive character of the Nazi objectives,
international obligations and considerations of humanity
notwithstanding.
The detailed presentation of the violations of Treaties and
International Law will be presented by our British
colleagues, in support of Count Two of the Indictment.
In clear relief there is shown the determination of the Nazi
conspirators to use whatever means were necessary to
abrogate and overthrow the Treaty of Versailles and its
restrictions upon the military armament and activity of
Germany. In this process, they conspired and engaged in
secret rearmament and training, in the secret production of
munitions of war, and they built up an air force. They
withdrew from the International Disarmament Conference and
the League of Nations on 14th October, 1933. They instituted
universal military service on 16th March, 1935. On 21st May,
1935, they falsely announced that they would respect the
territorial limitations of Versailles and Locarno. On 7th
March, 1936, they re-occupied and fortified the Rhineland
and at the same time, falsely announced that they had no
territorial demands in Europe.
The objectives of the conspirators were vast and mighty,
requiring long and
[Page 210]
The accomplishment of all those things, together with
getting Versailles out of the way, constituted an opening of
the gates toward the specific aggressions which followed.
I pass next, if the Tribunal please, to the presentation of
the story of the aggression against Austria. I do not know
whether your Honour desires me to start on that or not. I am
perfectly willing to do so.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you going to use this volume of documents
marked "H" to-morrow?
MR. ALDERMAN: There will be a new one marked "N."
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn until 10.00 o'clock
to-morrow morning.
(The Tribunal adjourned until 28th November, 1945, at 10.00
hours.)
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(Part 6 of 6)
[MR. ALDERMAN continues]
"Paragraph 1: "The enclosed directive gives the basis for
preparations of the armed forces in the case of sanctions
being applied against Germany.
I think that makes the point without further reading.
Paragraph 5: "Owing to the speed of military political
development, since Germany quitted Geneva, and based on
the progress of the army, the new A-Plan will only be
drawn up for a period of two years. The third "A" phase
lasts accordingly from 1st April, 1934, to 31st March,
1936."
Then the next allegation of the Indictment, if the Tribunal
please
"On 10th March, 1935, the defendant Goering announced that
Germany was building a Military Air Force."
That is an historical fact of which I ask the Court to take
judicial notice, and I am quite certain that the defendant
Goering would not dispute it.
"The Reich Minister for Aviation, General of the Airmen,
Goering, in his talk with the special correspondent of
the Daily Mail, Ward Price, expressed himself on the
subject of the German Air Force.
Then, at the end of that section of the article in "Das
Archiv":
"In conclusion,
As I said, I believe, this morning, when we cite assurances
of that kind from Nazi leaders, we take it that we are not
prevented from showing that they had different intentions
from those announced.
"In this spirit the German Reich Cabinet has to-day
passed the following laws Law for the Organisation of
the Armed Forces of 16th March, I935.
It is signed first by the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf
Hitler, and then by many other officials, including the
following defendants in this case:-
Service in the Armed Forces is based upon compulsory
military duty.
In peace-time, the Germany Army, including the police
troops transferred to it, is organised into: 12 Corps
and 36 Divisions."
The Reich Minister of War is charged with the duty of
submitting immediately to the Reich Ministry detailed
laws on compulsory military duty."
"Therefore, the Government of the German Reich shall
absolutely respect all other articles pertaining to the
co-operation "Euzammenleben" really meaning the living
together in harmony of the various nations, including
territorial agreements. Revisions which will be
unavoidable as time goes by, it will carry out by way of
a friendly understanding only.
For convenient reference, the territorial limitations in the
Locarno and Versailles Treaties, include the following:-
"The High Contracting Parties, collectively and
severally, guarantee, in the manner provided in the
following Articles ; the maintenance of the territorial
status quo, resulting from the frontiers between Germany
and Belgium, and between Germany and France, and the
inviolability of the said frontiers, as fixed by, or in
pursuance of the Treaty of Peace, signed at Versailles,
on 28th June, 1919, and also the observance of the
stipulations of Articles 42 and 43 of the said Treaty,
concerning the demilitarised zone."
That has reference, of course, to the demilitarised zone of
the Rhineland.
"Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any
fortifications, either on the left bank of the Rhine or on
the right bank, to the West of the line drawn fifty
kilometres to the East of the Rhine.
The next allegation of the indictment (f):
"On 7th March, 1936, they reoccupied and fortified ,he
Rhineland, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the
Rhine Pact of Locarno of 16th October, 1925, and falsely
announced to the world that 'we have no territorial demands
to make in Europe.' "
The demilitarised zone of the Rhineland obviously was a sore
wound with the Nazis ever since its establishment, after
World War I. Not only was this a blow to their increasing
pride, but it was a bar to any effective strong position
which Germany might want to take on any vital issues. In the
event of any sanctions against Germany, in the form of
military action, the French and other Powers would get well
into Germany, East of the Rhine, before any German
resistance could even be put up. Therefore, any German plans
to threaten or breach international obligations or for any
kind of aggression, required the preliminary reoccupation
and refortification of this open Rhineland territory. Plans
and preparations for the reoccupation and refortification of
the Rhineland started very early.
For the operation, suggested in the last Staff Talks of
the Armed Forces, I lay
down the code name "Schulung" (training).
The rest of the Order deals with military details and I
think it is unnecessary to read it.
"Supreme Command of the Navy:
There follow the detailed orders for the military operation.
"To C-in-C Navy:
That is signed "Keitel."
"That the German Government has committed a breach of
Article 43 of the Treaty of Versailles, by causing On 7th
March, 1936, military forces to enter and establish
themselves in the demilitarised zone, referred to in
Article 42 and the following articles of that Treaty, and
in the Treaty of Locarno. At the same time, on 7th March,
1936, as the Germans reoccupied the Rhineland in flagrant
violation of the Versailles and Locarno Treaties, they
again tried to allay the fears of other European powers,
and lead them into a false sense of security, by
announcing to the world 'We have no territorial demands
to make in Europe.'"
That appears in this same speech of Hitler's, which I have
offered in evidence as exhibit USA 56, which is document
2369-PS. The language will be found on page 6, column 1, "We
have no territorial claims to make in Europe. We know above
all that all the tensions resulting either from false
territorial settlements or from the disproportion of the
numbers of inhabitants to their living spaces cannot, in
Europe, be solved by war."