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