5
Dec. 45
The
lower jaw formed near Austria was taken —
the red part on the first chart — 12 March
1938. Czechoslovakia thereby was encircled, and
the next step was the absorption of the
mountainous part, the Sudetenland, indicated on
the second chart in red. On 1 October 1938
Czechoslovakia was further encircled and its
defenses weakened, and then the jaws clamped in,
or the pincers, as I believe General Keitel or
General Jodl called them — I believe it was
General Jodl's diary — and you see what
they did to Czechoslovakia. On 15 March 1939 the
borders were shortened, new bases were acquired,
and then Czechoslovakia was destroyed. Bohemia
and Moravia are in black and Slovakia in what
might be called light tan. But I have read to
you the documents which showed in what condition
Slovakia was left; and with the German military
installations in Slovakia, you see how
completely the southern border of Poland was
flanked, as well as the western border, the
stage being set for the next aggression, which
the British prosecutor will describe to you.
Of all the Nazi conspirators the
Defendant Göring was the most aware of the
economic and strategic advantages which would
accrue from the possession by Germany of
Czechoslovakia.
I now offer in
evidence Document 1301-PS, which is a rather
large file, and we offer particularly Item 10 of
the document, at Page 25 of the English
translation. I offer it as Exhibit USA-123; Page
25 of the English translation contained the
top-secret minutes of a conference with Göring
in the Luftwaffe Ministry (the Air Ministry).
The meeting which was held on 14 October 1938,
just 2 weeks after the occupation of the
Sudetenland, was devoted to the discussion of
economic problems. As of that date, the
Defendant Göring remarks were somewhat
prophetic. I quote from the third paragraph,
from the bottom of Page 26 of the English
translation:
"The
Sudetenland has to be exploited by every
means. General Meld Marshal Göring
counts upon a complete industrial
assimilation of Slovakia. Czech and
Slovakia would become German dominions.
Everything possible must be taken out.
The Oder-Danube Canal has to be speeded
up. Searches for oil and ore have to be
conducted in Slovakia, notably by State
Secretary Keppler."
In
the summer of 1939, after the incorporation of
Bohemia and Moravia into the German Reich,
Defendant Göring again revealed the great
interest of the Nazi leaders in the Czech
economic potential.
I offer in
evidence Document R-133 as Exhibit USA-124. This
document is the minutes, dated Berlin, 27 July
1939, signed by Müller of a conference
between Göring and a group of officials
from the OKW and from other agencies of the
German Government