Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 1, p. 342
		DISSENTING OPINION OF THE SOVIET MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL The Tribunal decided: a) To acquit the Defendants Hjalmar Schacht, Franz von Papen, and Hans Fritzsche; b) To sentence the Defendant Rudolf Hess to life imprisonment; c) Not to declare criminal the following organizations: the Reichscabinet, General Staff, and OKW. In this respect I can not agree with the decision adopted by the Tribunal as it does not correspond to the facts of the case and is based on incorrect conclusions. I. The Unfounded Acquittal of Defendant Schacht The evidence, submitted to the Tribunal in the case of Schacht, confirms the following facts: a) Schacht established contact with Göring in December 1930 and with Hitler at the beginning of 1931. He subsequently established contact between the leadership of the Nazi Party and the foremost representatives of the German industrial and financial circles. This, in particular, is confirmed by the testimony of Witness Severing (Transcript, Afternoon Session, 23 May 1946; USA-615). b) In July 1932 Schacht demanded that Von Papen resign his post as Reich Chancellor in favor of Hitler. This fact is confirmed by Von Papen's testimony at the preliminary interrogation and by Schacht's own testimony in Court (Transcript, Afternoon Session, 2 May 1946). c) in November ] 932 Schacht collected signatures of German industrialists urging them to come out for Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor. On 12 November 1932 Schacht wrote to Hitler: "I have no doubt that the way we are directing the course of events can only lead to your appointment as Reich Chancellor. We are trying to secure a large number of signatures among the industrial circles to ensure your appointment to this post." (EC-456, USA-773; PS-3901, USA-837) d) in February 1933 Schacht organized the financing of the pre- election campaign conducted by the Nazi Party, and demanded at the conference of Hitler and Goring with the industrialists that the latter provide three million marks (D-203). Schacht admitted in Court that he had pointed out the necessity for providing the Nazi leaders with this sum (Transcript, Afternoon Session, 3 May 1946), while the Defendant Funk and the former member of the management of "I. G. Farbenindustrie" Schnitzler, who were present at this 342
		Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 1, p. 342     Last modified: October 10, 1998 Copyright © 1998 The Mazal Library and The Holocaust History Project. All rights reserved. Technical/administrative contact: webmaster@holocaust-history.org Find a typo? Let us know.