5
Dec. 45
unavoidable
that the German departure from the problems of
boundaries in the southeast and their transfer
to the east and northeast must make the Poles
sit up. The fact is" — I put in an "is"
because I think it is obviously left out of the
copy that I have in front of me. —
"The
fact is that after the liquidation of
the Czech question, it will be generally
assumed that Poland will be the next in
turn.
"But the later this
assumption sinks in in international
politics as a firm factor, the better.
In this sense, however, it is important
for the time being, to carry on the
German policy, under the well-known and
proved slogans of 'the right to
autonomy' and 'racial unity.' Anything
else might be interpreted as pure
imperialism on our part, and provoke
resistance by the Entente at an earlier
date and more energetically than our
forces could stand up to."
That
was on the 26th of August 1938, just as the
Czech crisis was leading up to a Munich
settlement. While at Munich, or rather a day or
two before the Munich Agreement was signed, Herr
Hitler made a speech. On the 26th of September
he said — I think Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe
has just read this document to the Tribunal.
I'll refer to only two lines of it:
"I
assured him, moreover, and I repeat it
here, that when this problem is solved,
there will be no more territorial
problems for Germany in Europe."
And
again, the last document in your book, which is
another extract from that same speech, I will
not read to the Tribunal unless the Tribunal
desire, because the Attorney General did quote
it in full in his address yesterday. These two
documents are already in, TC-28 as GB-2, and
TC-29, which is the second extraction of that
same speech, as GB-32.
My Lord, I
would refer the Tribunal to one more document
under this part which has already been put in by
my American colleagues. It is C-23, now USA-49,
and which appears before TC-28 in your document
book. The particular passage of that exhibit, to
which I would refer, is a letter from Admiral
Carls, which appears at the bottom of the second
page. It is dated some time in September, with
no precise date, and is entitled, "Opinion
on the 'Draft Study of Naval Warfare against
England.' There is full agreement with the main
theme of the study." Again, the Attorney
General quoted the remainder of that letter
yesterday, which the Tribunal will remember.
"If,
according to the Führer's decision,
Germany is to acquire a position of
security as a world power she needs not
only