28 Nov. 45
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal is of the opinion that the letters
are admissible. They were written to and received by the Defendant
Seyss-Inquart The defendant can challenge the contents of the letters
by his evidence.
If it is true that Rainer is in Nuremberg, it is open to the
defendant to apply to the Tribunal for leave to call Rainer in due
course. He can then challenge the contents of these letters, both by
the Defendant Seyss-Inquart's evidence and by Rainer's evidence. The
letters themselves are admitted.
MR. ALDERMAN: May it please the Tribunal, I agree quite fully
with the statement that if it had been known that these letters were
to be offered in evidence in a court of justice, they very probably
would have been differently written. That applies to a great part of
the evidence that we shall offer in this case. And I would say that
if the photographer who took the photograph of the Memorial Plaque
had known that his photographs would be introduced in evidence in a
conspiracy case, he probably never would have snapped the shutter.
The letter from Rainer to Bürckel indicates that he was
asked to prepare a short history of the role of the Party. Perhaps I
had better read the covering letter, addressed to the Defendant
Seyss-Inquart:
"Dear Dr. Seyss:
"I have received your letter of 19 August 1939, in which you
asked me to inform you what I know of those matters which, among
others, are the subject of your correspondence with Bürckel.
"I do not wish to discuss sundry talks and all that which
has been brought to my notice in the course of time by different
people. I wish to clarify essentially my own attitude.
"On 5 July 1939 I was asked by telephone by the Reich
Commissioner Gauleiter Bürckel if I was in possession of the
memorandum of Globus regarding the events of March. I told him that I
did not have this memorandum, that I never possessed a single part of
it; that I, furthermore, did not then participate in the matter and
do not know its content. Because of official requests by
Bürckel, I have entrusted him with a report accompanied by a
letter written on 6 July.
"If Bürckel now writes to you that certain statements
were confirmed by me, I feel obliged to entrust you with a copy each
of my copies of those two documents, which were only written in
single originals. I shall specially inform Bürckel of this,
adding that I have given--apart from those written explanations--no
confirmations, declarations, or criticisms