29 Nov. 49
it a relatively full account of the way in which the German
Government on 11 March 1938 deprived Austria of her sovereignty.
First I shall give the report of the day's events in Austria as given
by the Austrian Nazis. I refer to Document 812-PS, Exhibit USA-61, a
report from Gauleiter Rainer to Reich Commissioner Bürckel, and
I shall read from Page 8 of the English version. For the benefit- of
the German interpreter I am starting following a tabulation: First
case, second case, third case, and following the sentence, "Dr.
Seyss-Inquart took part in these talks with the Gauleiter."
"On Friday, 11 March, the Minister
Glaise-Horstenau arrived in Vienna after a visit with the
Führer. After talks with Seyss-Inquart he went to see the
Chancellor. At 11:30 a.m. the Landesleitung had a meeting at which
Klausner, Rainer, Globocnik, Jury, Seyss-Inquart, Glaise-Horstenau,
Fischböck, and Mühlmann participated. Dr. Seyss-Inquart
reported on his talks with Dr. Schuschnigg which had ended in a
rejection of the proposal of the two ministers.
"In regard to Rainer's proposal, Von Klausner ordered that
the Government be presented with an ultimatum, expiring at 1400
hours, signed by legal political 'front' men, including both
Ministers and also State Councillors Fishböck and Jury, for the
establishment of a voting date in 3 weeks and a free and secret
ballot in accordance with the constitution.
"On the basis of written evidence which Glaise-Horstenau had
brought with him, a leaflet, to be printed in millions of copies, and
a telegram to the Führer calling for help were prepared.
"Klausner placed the leadership of the final political
actions in the hands of Rainer and Globocnik. Schuschnigg called a
session of all ministers for 2 p.m. Rainer agreed with Seyss-Inquart
that Rainer would send the telegram to the Führer and the
statement to the population at 3 p.m. and at the same time he would
start all necessary actions to take over power unless he received
news from the session of the Ministers' Council before that time.
During this time all measures had been prepared. At 2:30
Seyss-Inquart telephoned Rainer and informed him that Schuschnigg had
been unable to take the pressure and had recalled the plebiscite but
that he refused to call a new plebiscite and had ordered the
strongest police measures for maintaining order. Rainer asked whether
the two Ministers had resigned, and Seyss-Inquart answered, 'No.'
Rainer informed the Reichskanzlei through the German Embassy, and
received an answer from Göring through the same channels, that
the Führer will not consent to partial solutions and that
Schuschnigg must resign. Seyss-Inquart was informed