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Volume II · Page 730
DR. FRIEDRICH BERGOLD: May it please the Tribunal. In my opening statement I drew a picture of the defendant Milch which differs considerably from the description given by the prosecution. It is my hope that in the long course of producing evidence I have given proof that my conception is the full truth.
According to the testimony of the witness Richter, the affidavit of the witness von Mueller and according to the defendant Milch's own testimony, nobody can doubt that Milch has never been a good National Socialist. His love for peace and his longing for a final understanding between the nations of Europe, especially between Belgium, France, England, and Germany, became completely obvious. No one who believes in justice would refuse to believe him if he states that he regarded the war as a misfortune, He was also one of the few intelligent men to admit Germany's defeat in the First World War. There was no proof supplied that in any way prior to 1933 he supported any armaments. His testimony and military affidavit from von Mueller have shown that under his management the Luftwaffe was always a peaceful instrument of communication among the nations. It is to be regretted that the examination of foreign politicians, such as Van Zeeland, Pierre Cot, and Delbos, were not permitted, because only then the personality of Milch would have been shown in its true light. He must have been a peaceful and just man; otherwise, all these statesmen would not have had confidence in him. Even the witness delegate Messersmith, whose affidavit, Document 1760-PS, was introduced in the International Military Tribunal proceedings, affirmed that Milch condemned the coercive methods of the Nazis. He was different from the other Party members, so that after 1937 he lost Goering's confidence. At that time he asked to be allowed to retire but in spite of his threat of suicide, he did not obtain that permission.
Such a man of such a past must be believed when he testified that even in 1939 he had no knowledge of Hitler's aggressive intentions. Milch had misgivings about Hitler because he regarded the measures taken against Czechoslovakia as a breach of peace, and he was sufficiently intelligent to see that Britain would no longer tolerate such violations. Hitler was dishonest with him and always put before him his intentions for peace, even forbidding him the manufacture of bombs. The defendant never requested the manufacture of bombs because he intended to lead a
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*Defense Counsel Dr. Friedrich Bergold delivered the closing statement before the Tribunal on 26 March 1947, Tr. pp. 2377,2436.
