10 Dec.
45
1941, from 1300 to 1400 hours, in the presence of the
Reich Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. It is our Document 2932-PS, which I
now offer as Exhibit USA-165. The immediate subject matter is the Pearl
Harbor attack, but the expressions therein typify Nazi technique. I
quote from the second paragraph of the English translation which has not
been previously read:
"First the Führer presents
Ambassador Oshima with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the
German Eagle in gold. With cordial words he acknowledges his services
in the achievement of German-Japanese co-operation, which has now
obtained its culmination in a close brotherhood of arms.
"General Oshima expresses his thanks for the great honor and
emphasizes how glad he is that this brotherhood of arms has now come
about between Germany and Japan.
"The Führer continues: 'You gave the right declaration of
war.' This method is the only proper one. Japan pursued it formerly
and it corresponds with his own system, that is, to negotiate as long
as possible. But if one sees the other is interested only in putting
one off, in shamming and humiliating one, and is not willing to come
to an agreement, then one should strike as hard as possible, indeed,
and not waste time declaring war. It was heart-warming to him to hear
of the first operations of the Japanese. He himself negotiated with
infinite patience at times, for example, with Poland and also with
Russia. When he then realized that the other did not want to come to
an agreement, he struck suddenly and without formality. He would
continue to go on this way in the future."
If the Tribunal please, that ends my presentation of the various phases
of aggressive warfare charged as Crimes against Peace in Count One of
the Indictment. As I conclude this phase I hope the Tribunal will allow
me to express my deep sense of obligation to Commander Sidney J. Kaplan,
section chief, and to the members of his staff, who did the yeoman work
necessary to assemble and prepare these materials that I have presented.
These members of that staff, in the order in which the materials were
presented, are: Major Joseph Dainow, Lieutenant Commander Harold
Leventhal, Lieutenant John M. Woolsey, Lieutenant James A. Gorrell,
Lieu- tenant Roy H. Steyer.
Commander Kaplan and his staff have fully measured up to the famous
motto of his branch of the armed services, the United States Coast
Guard, "Semper Paratus" (Always Prepared).
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will now adjourn.
[The Tribunal adjourned until 11 December
1945 at 1000 hours.]