28 Nov. 45
leitung Munich was dissolved, and the
Party in Austria was left to its own resources.
"There was no acknowledged leader for the entire Party in
Austria. New readerships were forming in the new Gaue. The process
was again and again interrupted by the interference of the police;
there was no liaison between the formations, and frequently there
were two, three, or more rival readerships. The first evident,
acknowledged speaker of almost all the Gaue in Autumn 1934 was
Engineer Reinthaler (already appointed Landesbauernführer,
leader of the country's farmers, by Hess). He endeavored to bring
about a political appeasement by negotiations with the Government
with the purpose of giving the NSDAP legal status again, thus
permitting its political activities. Simultaneously, Reinthaler
started the reconstruction of the illegal political organization at
the head of which he had placed Engineer Neubacher."
Next we have secret contacts between German
officials, including the Defendant Von Papen, and the Austrian Nazis;
the use by the Austrian Nazis of front personalities.
There are two cardinal factors concerning the Nazi organization
in Austria which should be borne in mind.
First, although the Führer had, on the surface, cast the
Austrian Nazis adrift--as indicated in the document I have just
read--in fact, as we shall show, German officials, including Von
Papen, maintained secret contact with the Austrian Nazis in line with
Hitler's desires. German officials consulted and gave advice and
support to the organization of the Austrian Nazis.
In the second place, the Austrian Nazis remained an illegal
organization in Austria, organizing for the eventual use of force in
a so-called emergency. But in the meantime they deemed it expedient
to act behind front personalities, such as the Defendant
Seyss-Inquart, who had no apparent taint of illegality in his status
in Austria.
Mr. Messersmith relates, in his affidavit, that he got hold of a
copy of a document outlining this Nazi program. I quote from Page 8
of Document 1760-PS, USA-57, the following:
"For 2 years following the failure
of the July 25 Putsch, the Nazis remained relatively quiet in
Austria. Very few terroristic acts occurred during the remainder of
1934 and, as I recall, in 1935 and most of 1936, this inactivity was
in accordance with directives from Berlin, as direct evidence to that
effect which came to my knowledge at that time, proved. Early in
January the Austrian Foreign Minister Berger-