 |
| PRESIDING JUDGE SHAKE: Dr. Haefliger, you are excused from the
witness stand but subject to the orders of the Tribunal about being recalled if
we find it necessary. |
| |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| |
| c. Testimony of Defendant Ilgner |
| |
EXTRACT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF
DEFENDANT
ILGNER¹ |
| |
| DIRECT EXAMINATION |
| |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| |
DR. NATH (counsel for defendant Ilgner) : First of all, I should
like to go into your knowledge, or lack of knowledge, of the coming war, the
so-called invasions and wars of aggression. Dr. Ilgner, what did you personally
know of a coming war?
DEFENDANT ILGNER: I was firmly convinced that no
war was planned and certainly no war was coming.
Q. Why did you
personally believe to the last minute that there would be no war?
A.
First of all, because of my mentality. After the Austrian question and the
Sudeten question had been solved with the approval of the world without
warfare, it seemed to me that war was pure madness. Any war had to mean a
weakening of Europe and a strengthening of bolshevism, and that was madness.
Besides, I was sick. I was in a sanitarium in Switzerland, and after that in
Austria, and I was not in very close contact with the course of events; but my
basic ideas and convictions were not affected by that.
Q. How did you learn for the first time of
subsequent political events, first of all, the Anschluss of Austria?
A. I learned that over
the radio, like every citizen. The idea was not new. It was expressed for the
first time in 1919 and then again in 1931. That has been discussed enough here.
When and whether there would be an anschluss, I did not know, and I may say
most everybody did not know that. It was quite a surprise, and I can give no
better answer than the prosecution exhibit introduced 2 days ago, Document
NI-14507, Prosecution Exhibit 2014,² which
was put to Mr. Haefliger. And I would like to read three things from it:
“Already at 9:30 the first alarming messages had reached us. Mr. Fischer
returned excited from a telephone conversation …… We realized
suddenly that — like a |
________
¹ Further extracts are
reproduced above in subsection, IV D2, VII D 4b, O 7c. and in
subsection, VIII C3, and E4 in volume VIII, this series.
² Memorandum
of Haefliger, 16 March 1938, reproduced in subsection O 5.
1596 |
. 
