28 Nov. 45
the only doubt which ever existed in
conversations or statements to me was how and when."
In connection with that paragraph, I invite your attention to the
list of German officials to whom he refers on Page 2 of the
affidavit. They are listed as Hermann Göring, General Milch,
Hjalmar Schacht, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Count Schwerin von
Krosigk, Joseph Goebbels, Richard Walter Darré, Robert Ley,
Hans Heinrich Lammers, Otto Meissner, Franz Von Papen, Walter Funk,
General Wilhelm Keitel, Admiral Erich von Raeder, Admiral Karl
Dönitz, Dr. Bohle, Dr. Stuckert, Dr. Krupp von Bohlen, and Dr.
Davidson. The affiant states he was sure that at various times and
places, everyone of those listed German officials had made these
statements to him, with the exception of Schacht, Von Krosigk, and
Krupp von Bohlen. I shall continue with the next paragraph:
"At the beginning of the Nazi regime
in 1933, Germany was, of course, far too weak to permit any open
threats of force against any country, such as the threats which the
Nazis made in 1938. Instead it was the avowed and declared policy of
the Nazi Government to accomplish the same results which they later
accomplished through force, through the methods which had proved so
successful for them in Germany: Obtain a foothold in the Cabinet,
particularly in the Ministry of the Interior, which controlled the
police, and then quickly eliminate opposition elements. During my
stay in Austria, I was told on any number of occasions by Chancellor
Dollfuss, Chancellor Schuschnigg, President Miklas, and other high
officials of the Austrian Government that the German Government kept
up constant and unceasing pressure upon the Austrian Government to
agree to the inclusion of a number of ministers with Nazi
orientation. The English and French ministers in Vienna, with whom I
was in constant and close contact, confirmed this information through
statements which they made to me of conversations which they had with
high Austrian officials."
I shall read other portions of the affidavit as the presentation
proceeds, on the question of pressure used against Austria, including
terror and intimidation, culminating in the unsuccessful Putsch of
July 26, 1934. To achieve their ends the Nazis used various kinds of
pressure. In the first place, they used economic pressure. A law of
24 March 1933, a German law, imposed a prohibitive 1,000 Reichsmark
penalty on trips to Austria. It brought great hardship to this
country which relied very heavily on its tourist trade. For that I
cite the Reichspesetzblatt, 1933, Part I, Page 311, and ask
the Court to take judicial notice of that German law.