Schacht confirmed in Court the fact that he had
signed a series of anti-Semitic decrees (Transcript, Afternoon
Session, 2 May 1946).
As to the reasons for Schacht's resignation from the post of the
Minister of Economy and the Plenipotentiary General for War Economy
in November 1937, and also from the post of the President of the
Reichsbank on 20 November 1939, and finally from the post of the
Minister without Portfolio in January 1943, the evidence submitted
establishes the following:
a) The reason is not Schacht's disagreement with the economic
preparation for aggressive wars.
Three weeks before leaving the Ministry of Economy and the post
of Plenipotentiary General for War Economy, Schacht wrote to
Göring: " . . . . I also don't consider that my opinion can
differ from yours on economic policy . . . " (EC-497, USA-775).
In his reply Göring states:
" . . . . You promised me your
support and collaboration . . . . You have repeated this promise many
times, even after differences of opinion began to creep up between
us." (EC-493, USA-642).
Schacht testified in Court that Göring and he
only "differed in matters of procedure" (Transcript,
Morning Session, 3 May 1946).
In the preliminary examination Göring testified that
Schacht's leaving the Reichsbank "had no relation to the program
of rearmament" (USA-648).
The vice-president of the Reichsbank, Puhl, confirmed that
Schacht's resignation from the Reichsbank can be explained by
"his desire to extricate himself from a dangerous
situation" which developed as the result of Schacht's own
crooked financial operations (EC-438, USA-646).
b) The reason is not Schacht's disapproval of mass terror
conducted by the Hitlerites.
The witness for the Defense, Gisevius, testified that he
constantly informed Schacht of the criminal actions of the Gestapo,
created by Göring, and that nevertheless, right up to the end of
1936, Schacht looked for "Göring's support"
(Transcript, Morning Session, 24 April 1946).
In his letter to Von Blomberg on 24 December 1935, Schacht
suggested that the Gestapo apply "more cautious methods' since
the open terror of the Gestapo "hinders the objectives of the
armament" (Transcript, Afternoon Session, 2 May 1946).
On 30 January 1937, Schacht was awarded a golden Party insignia
by Hitler (EC-500; Transcript, Afternoon Session, 2 May 1946). As
stated in an official German publication, "he was able to be of
greater help to the Party than if he were actually a member of the
Party" (EC-460, USA-617).