26 Nov. 45
the conflict, realizing the military implication of an entry of
the United States into the war. However, their incitement did result
in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and long prior to that attack, they
had assured the Japanese that they would declare war on the United
States should a United States-Japanese conflict break out. It was in
reliance on those assurances that the Japanese struck at Pearl
Harbor.
On the present discussion of this phase of the case, I shall
offer only one document to prove this point. The document was
captured from the files of the German Foreign Office. It consists of
notes dated 4 April 1941, signed by "Schmidt," regarding
discussions between the Führer and the Japanese Foreign Minister
Matsuoka, in the presence of the Defendant Ribbentrop. The document
is numbered 1881-PS in our numbered series, and I offer it in
evidence as Exhibit USA-33. In the original, it is in very large,
typewritten form in German. I shall read what I deem to be the
pertinent parts of this document, beginning with the four paragraphs;
first reading the heading, the heading being:
"Notes regarding the discussion
between the Führer and the Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka,
in the presence of the Reich Foreign Minister and the Reich Minister
of State Meissner, in Berlin, on 4 April 1941.
"Matsuoka then also expressed the request that the
Führer should instruct the proper authorities in Germany to meet
as broad-mindedly as possible the wishes of the Japanese Military
Commission. Japan was in need of German help particularly concerning
the U-boat warfare, which could be given by making available to them
the latest experiences of the war as well as the latest technical
improvements and inventions."--For the record, I am reading on
what is page 6 of the German original.--
"Japan would do her utmost to avoid a war with the United
States. In case that country should decide to attack Singapore, the
Japanese Navy, of course, had to be prepared for a fight with the
United States, because in that case America probably would side with
Great Britain. He (Matsuoka) personally believed that the United
States could be restrained, by diplomatic exertions, from entering
the war at the side of Great Britain. Army and Navy had, however, to
count on the worst situation,-that is, with war against America. They
were of the opinion that such a war would extend for 5 years or
longer, and would take the form of guerilla warfare in the Pacific,
and would be fought out in the South