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DISSENTING
OPINION OF THE SOVIET MEMBER
OF THE
INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL
The
Tribunal decided:
a) To acquit the
Defendants Hjalmar Schacht, Franz von Papen, and
Hans Fritzsche;
b) To sentence the
Defendant Rudolf Hess to life imprisonment;
c) Not to declare criminal the
following organizations: the Reichscabinet,
General Staff, and OKW.
In this
respect I can not agree with the decision
adopted by the Tribunal as it does not
correspond to the facts of the case and is based
on incorrect conclusions.
I.
The Unfounded Acquittal of Defendant Schacht
The evidence, submitted to
the Tribunal in the case of Schacht, confirms
the following facts:
a) Schacht
established contact with Göring in December
1930 and with Hitler at the beginning of 1931.
He subsequently established contact between the
leadership of the Nazi Party and the foremost
representatives of the German industrial and
financial circles. This, in particular, is
confirmed by the testimony of Witness Severing
(Transcript, Afternoon Session, 23 May 1946;
USA-615).
b) In July 1932 Schacht
demanded that Von Papen resign his post as Reich
Chancellor in favor of Hitler. This fact is
confirmed by Von Papen's testimony at the
preliminary interrogation and by Schacht's own
testimony in Court (Transcript, Afternoon
Session, 2 May 1946).
c) in November ]
932 Schacht collected signatures of German
industrialists urging them to come out for
Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor. On 12
November 1932 Schacht wrote to Hitler:
"I
have no doubt that the way we are
directing the course of events can only
lead to your appointment as Reich
Chancellor. We are trying to secure a
large number of signatures among the
industrial circles to ensure your
appointment to this post." (EC-456,
USA-773; PS-3901, USA-837)
d) in February 1933 Schacht
organized the financing of the pre- election
campaign conducted by the Nazi Party, and
demanded at the conference of Hitler and Goring
with the industrialists that the latter provide
three million marks (D-203). Schacht admitted in
Court that he had pointed out the necessity for
providing the Nazi leaders with this sum
(Transcript, Afternoon Session, 3 May 1946),
while the Defendant Funk and the former member
of the management of "I. G. Farbenindustrie"
Schnitzler, who were present at this
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