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German citizenship. I could have evaded all these measures simply by
becoming a naturalized German citizen, and I actually did that 2 years later,
because by that time the restrictions had become so severe and because the
Gestapo had taken over this matter so that this letter actually didn't offer
any security for me any more because of the ever increasing severe measures.
Q. Mr. Haefliger, but at
that time, when this letter was written, you didn't have any desire to acquire
German citizenship?
A.
No, but one had to present it that way. That was Krueger’s idea. You
understand he could say “Mr. Haefliger wants to become a German, but the
firm has forbidden him because of interests for Farben, not to do that and the
firm is going to see to it that you are not going to be molested as a
foreigner.” But that was Krueger’s idea of presenting this matter. He
said “It's dangerous for anybody to say ‘Spare me’ if he can be
told, ‘Well, you can become a German.’ And if he then says
‘Well, I don't want to become a German’ that makes matters much
worse.” That was the whole idea of Krueger and he made a statement to that
effect during the early investigations. He made an affidavit which we are going
to offer later.
Q. Mr.
Haefliger, why did you have no desire to become a German citizen?
A. Well, since 1909 I had
been living in Germany. That is to say I had been in Germany for more than 30
years. I was going to retire in the immediate future, and I said to myself,
“If I have stayed a Swiss citizen for 30 years why should I become a
German now.”
JUDGE
MORRIS: Dr. Hoffmann, I am somewhat at a loss to understand how your question
or the question of Mr. Haefliger's citizenship affects your client, or as far
as that is concerned, affects the other defendants. Would you mind telling the
Tribunal why you asked these questions; what point you are trying to prove as
competent on redirect examination?
DR. HOFFMANN: Judge Morris, we are concerned with the following
thing. In my opinion the prosecution assumes that Dr. Haefliger actually was to
retain his Swiss citizenship in order to be able to have certain advantages
arising from this fact for the German Reich, as this letter erroneously states.
Now my question is directed to find out that this letter, that is also signed
by my client von der Heyde, in its form as it is before us, does not correspond
to the truth, but that it is only a false front — a camouflage — in
order to conceal the fact that Dr. Haefliger didn't want to become a German
citizen; and that that was the only reason why the letter was written, and it
was not written with the |
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