 |
| Your Honors, I have reached the end of my statement. At Spa, after
the end of the First World War the delegations of the Allied Powers and of
Germany were discussing the question as to whether the so-called war criminals
of the time should be brought to trial. During a recess an eminent British
lawyer, a member of the British delegation, approached a friend of mine, who
was a member of the German delegation, put his hand on his shoulder and
reassured him with the following words: |
| |
“You know, it has nothing to
do with any vindictiveness; it is only to punish those fellows who have really
done wrong.” |
I am convinced that that is also the intention of this Tribunal to
punish only those fellows who have really done wrong. But pray bear in mind,
Your Honors, that the list of the war criminals at the time was headed by
Kaiser Wilhelm II and Field Marshal von Hindenburg. Whatever was or will be the
verdict of history upon the last German emperor as a person and as a
politician, it never did and never will regret that a wise and chivalrous
sovereign, the Queen of the Netherlands, and her government, opposed the Allied
demand that the Kaiser be surrendered, thus sparing the world the spectacle of
the “Emperor in the dock.” As for Hindenburg, in less than 6 years
the ambassadors and envoys of those same powers which 6 years previously had
wanted to bring him to trial, made their obeisance in accordance with the
protocol, and at a ceremonial reception presented the credentials of their
governments to “Reich President von Hindenburg.” Times and opinions
change rapidly.
But your verdict, Your Honors, must stand amidst the
changes of the times and of opinions like a rocher de bronze, otherwise
it will not have fulfilled its historic mission. May God bless your
deliberations. Referring to the evidence submitted on behalf of the defendant
Schmitz, to our closing brief, and to my closing statement delivered today, I
request you, Your Honors, to acquit my client, and to release him from jail.
|
| |
| |
E. Closing Statement for All Defendants on the Evidence
on the
Charges of Crimes Against the Peace¹ |
| |
DR. VON METZLER (counsel for defendants Gajewski and Haefliger,
speaking for all the defendants)²: May it please the Tribunal!
After a hearing of 9 months in a tense and agitated atmosphere which is
usual in a court when a great issue is at stake, a gigantic trial is now
entering on its final stage. |
__________
¹ Mimeographed
transcript, 2 and 3 June 1948. pages 14663-14716.
² Dr. von Metzler
succeeded Dr. Achenbach as counsel for defendant Gajewski during the course of
the trial. (See vol. XV. see. XIII G 4). Individual closing statements were
also made on behalf of the two defendants for whom Dr. von Metzler was the
principal counsel.
952 |
. 
