. NMT05-T1127
Volume VI · Page 1127
villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended is prohibited." |
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| In spite of that the Allies considered themselves justified
throughout the war to attack incessantly cities, villages, residences, and
buildings with the most cruel weapons, to turn them into rubble and ashes and
to spread hunger and misery, and not only German cities but in the later course
of the war French cities and villages too. By that 1 have settled the questions
in regard to international law in as far as they concern these defendants here
except for two minor special questions which, however, can be omitted here. I
would ask the Tribunal to read these statements, in case they consider them
relevant. That is the special case of the French prisoners of war, although
none of the cases has been proved by the prosecution, and the other special
case of the Italian military internees. Both are matters which I think I have
clarified quite definitely during my case in chief. [The argument immediately following was devoted to a discussion of count two, the spoliation charges] |
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| May it please the Tribunal, at the end of my final plea I want to apologize because in the course of my case-in-chief and during my final plea I probably bored the Court at times, but it is easier to defend with brilliant eloquence a guilty man than an innocent person, in which latter case the sense of duty compels one to deal with each factual charge and this led me perhaps to becoming too factual and thus tedious. And yet, at the close, I would like to carry along on this line and abstain from giving you a glittering picture of Mr. Weiss' personality. I have tried to give some details on his personal character in my document books and this may suffice. A lot could be said, but what for? It is not Weiss' personality that is accused, nor is he arraigned for offenses committed by him personally; he has the singular honor of being here as the representative of German industry and of being accused for offenses which concern every German industrialist because, with him, thousands of decent industrialists and employees committed the same alleged crime of employing alien workers and exercised the same economic activities in the occupied territories. Therefore, I have produced personal material only so far as it shows my client as an industrialist at his native place at Dahlbruch in Siegerland, as an industrialist and respected person for whom intervened the Regierungspraesident, as a leading member of the Social Democratic Party, the Landrat of Siegen, as a leading member of the Christian Democratic Party, and the Workers Council of his plant, the Siemag, whose chairman is a Communist. |
