IMT01-T188
VolumeVolume I — Page 188
"Therefore we National Socialists have purposely drawn a line through the line of conduct followed by pre-war Germany in foreign policy. We put an end to the perpetual Germanic march towards the South and West of Europe, and turn our eyes towards the lands of the East. We finally put a stop to the colonial and trade policy of the pre-war times, and pass over to the territorial policy of the future.Mein Kampf is not to be regarded as a mere literary exercise, nor as an inflexible policy or plan incapable of modification.
"But when we speak of new territory in Europe today, we must think principally of Russia and the border states subject to her."
Its importance lies in the unmistakable attitude of aggression revealed throughout its pages.
Evidence from captured documents has revealed that Hitler held four secret meetings to which the Tribunal proposes to make special reference because of the light they shed upon the question of the common plan and aggressive war.
These meetings took place on 5 November 1937, 23 May 1939, 22 August 1939, and 23 November 1939.
At these meetings important declarations were made by Hitler as to his purposes, which are quite unmistakable in their terms.
The documents which record what took place at these meetings have been subject to some criticism at the hands of defending Counsel.
Their essential authenticity is not denied, but it is said, for example, that they do not purpose to be verbatim transcripts of the speeches they record, that the document dealing with the meeting on 5 November 1937, was dated five days after the meeting had taken place, and that the two documents dealing with the meeting of 22 August 1939 differ from one another, and are unsigned.
Making the fullest allowance for criticism of this kind, the Tribunal is of opinion that the documents are documents of the highest value, and that their authenticity and substantial truth are established.
They are obviously careful records of the events they describe, and they,have been preserved as such in the archives of the German Government, from whose custody they were captured. Such documents could never be dismissed as inventions, nor even as inaccurate or distorted; they plainly record events which actually took place.
It will perhaps be useful to deal first all with the meeting of 23 November 1939, when Hitler called his Supreme Commanders
