23 Nov. 45
in the way which he will overcome
with the utmost energy and ruthlessness."
The supply of foreign currency had shrunk because of preparations
for the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and it was considered necessary
to replenish it. "These"--and I am now referring to the
third paragraph of that same Page 25 of Document 1301-PS:
"These gains made through the export
are to be used for an increased armament. The armament should not be
curtailed by the export activities. He received the order from the
Führer to increase the armament to an abnormal extent, the Air
Force having first priority. Within the shortest time, the Air Force
is to be increased fivefold; also the Navy should get on more
rapidly, and the Army should procure large amounts of offensive
weapons at a faster rate, particularly heavy artillery pieces and
heavy tanks. Along with this manufactured armaments must go,
especially fuel, powder and explosives are to be moved into the
foreground. It should be coupled with the accelerated construction of
highways, canals, and particularly of the railroads."
In the course of these preparations for war, a clash of wills
ensued between two men, the Defendant Göring and the Defendant
Schacht, as a result of which the Defendant Schacht resigned his
position as head of the Ministry of Economics and plenipotentiary for
the war economy in November of 1937 and was removed from the
presidency of the Reichsbank in January of 1939. I do not propose, at
this moment, to go into the details of this controversy. There will
be more said on that subject at a later stage in these proceedings,
but for the present, I should like to have it noted that it is our
contention that Schacht's departure in no way implied any
disagreement with the major war aims of the Nazis. The Defendant
Schacht took particular pride in his vast attainments in the
financial and economic fields in aid of the Nazi war machine. And in
the document bearing the number EC-257, which is a copy of a letter
from the Defendant Schacht to General Thomas, in the first paragraph
of the letter:
"I think back with much satisfaction
to the work in the Ministry of Economics which afforded me the
opportunity to assist in the rearmament of the German people in the
most critical period, not only in the financial but also in the
economic sphere.I have always considered a rearmament of the German
people as conditio sine qua non of the establishment of a new
German nation."
The second paragraph is of a more personal nature and has no real
bearing on the issues before us at this time.