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28 Nov.
45
Afternoon Session
MR. ALDERMAN: May it
please the Tribunal, I had just referred again to the report of
Gauleiter Rainer to Reich Commissioner Bürckel in July 1939, which
outlines the further history of the Party and the leadership problem
following the retirement of Reinthaler.
In referring to the
situation in 1935, he mentioned some of the contacts with the Reich
Government, that is, the German Government, in the following terms. I
quote from Page 4 of the English text of that report, and I believe from
Page 4 of the German text of the Rainer report, which is 812-PS, that
is Exhibit USA-61:
"In
August some further arrests took place, the victims of which were,
apart from the Gauleiter"--Gau leaders--"also Globocnik and
Rainer. Schattenfroh then claimed, because of an instruction received
from the imprisoned Leopold, to have been made deputy country leader.
A group led by engineer Raffelsberger had at this time also
established connection with departments of the Alt-Reich (Ministry of
Propaganda, German racial agency, et cetera), and made an
attempt to formulate a political motto in the form of a program for
the fighting movement of Austria." And,
again, the Rainer report sets forth the situation a little later in
1936. I quote from Page 6 of the English text, and I think Page 5 of the
German text:
"The
principles of the construction were:
"The organization
is the bearer of the illegal fight and the trustee of the idea to
create a secret organization, in a simple manner and without
compromise, according to the principle of organizing an elite to be
available to the illegal Land Party Council upon any emergency.
Besides this, all political opportunities should be taken and all
legal people and legal chances should be used without revealing any
ties with the illegal organization. Therefore, cooperation between the
illegal Party organization and the legal political aides was anchored
at the top of the Party leadership. All connections with the Party in
Germany were kept secret in accordance with the orders of the Führer.
These said that the German State should officially be omitted from the
creation of an Austrian NSDAP and that auxiliary centers for
propaganda, press, refugees, welfare, et cetera, should be
established in the foreign countries bordering Austria.
"Hinterleitner
already contacted the lawyer Seyss-Inquart, who had connection with
Dr. Waechter which originated from
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