5
Dec. 45
acting
at the Nazi bidding in open revolt against the
Czechoslovak Government, the Nazi leaders were
now in a position to move against Prague. On the
evening of the 14th, at the suggestion of the
German Legation in Prague, M. Hacha, the
President of the Czechoslovak Republic, and M.
Chvalkowsky, his Foreign Minister, arrived in
Berlin. The atmosphere in which they found
themselves might be described as somewhat
hostile. Since the preceding weekend, the Nazi
press had accused the Czechs of using violence
against the Slovaks, and especially against the
members of the German minority and citizens of
the Reich. Both press and radio proclaimed that
the lives of Germans were in danger. Such a
situation was intolerable. It was necessary to
smother as quickly as possible the focus of
trouble, which Prague had become, in the heart
of Europe. — These peacemakers!
After
midnight on the 15th, at 1:15 in the morning,
Hacha and Chvalkowsky were ushered into the
Reich Chancellery. They found there Adolf
Hitler, the Defendants Ribbentrop, Göring,
and Keitel and other high Nazi officials. I now
offer in evidence Document 2798-PS as Exhibit
USA-118. This document is the captured German
Foreign Office account of this infamous meeting.
It is a long document. Parts of it are so
revealing and give so clear a picture of Nazi
behavior and tactics that I should like to read
them in full.
It must be remembered
that this account of the fateful conference on
the night of March 14-15 comes from German
sources, and of course it must be read as an
account biased by its source, or as counsel for
the defendants said last week "a
tendentious account". Nevertheless, even
without too much discounting of the report on
account of its source, it constitutes a complete
condemnation of the Nazis who by pure and simple
international banditry forced the dissolution of
Czechoslovakia. And I interpolate to suggest
that international banditry has been a crime
against international law for centuries.
I
will first read the headings to the minutes. In
the English mimeographed version in the document
books the time given is an incorrect translation
of the original. It should read 0115 to 0215:
"Conversation
between the Führer and Reich
Chancellor and the President of
Czechoslovakia, Hacha, in the presence
of the Reich Foreign Minister, Von
Ribbentrop, and of the Czechoslovakian
Foreign Minister, Chvalkowsky, in the
Reich Chancellery on 15 March 1939, 0115
to 0215 hours."
Others
present were General Field Marshal Göring,
General Keitel, Secretary of the State Von Weizsäcker,
Minister of the State Meissner, Secretary of the
State Dietrich, Counselor of the Legation Hewel.
Hacha opened the conference. He was conciliatory
— even