 |
| were in a far better position than the ordinary German citizen to
appraise and determine the significance of the course of action in which they
were engaged. Political events which were matters of common knowledge in
Germany, including the promulgation of the program of the Nazi Party, and
successive aggressive acts, were relied upon, not for the purpose of showing
that this evidence of itself established the necessary criminal intent, but
rather as the basis for proper evaluation of the significance of the special
knowledge which the defendants are alleged to have had. Affidavits, statements,
and testimony from several defendants refute the assertions developed at length
in the judgment of the Tribunal indicating that these defendants seriously
believed in the public protestations made by Hitler expressing a love for
peace. The defendants became increasingly skeptical concerning Hitler’s
ultimate aims. The evidence rather strongly indicates that all defendants
feared the possibility of war; and important action of the corporate
instrumentality, Farben, was based upon the possibility of war. The
nonaggression pacts, emphasized in the Tribunal's judgment, constitute separate
moves in the establishment of the European Axis, and rather than being
indicative of an intention to maintain peace, intensified the prospect of war,
and must have been so considered by the defendants. For example, the
nonaggression pact of 23 August 1939 between Germany and Russia was widely
accepted as increasing the possibility for further aggression leading to
aggressive war. The position of these defendants in regard to political events
in Germany prior to the invasion of Poland is in no sense the same as that of
the average citizen of Germany, professional man, farmer, or industrialist, as
referred to in the judgment of the Tribunal. But the evidence is sufficiently
close that, despite the positions of the defendants which meant they were more
able to appraise the true meaning of the events, the doubt is to be resolved in
their favor. |
| |
| II |
| |
| The foregoing résumé of certain specific items of
evidence bearing upon knowledge and criminal intent, selected from the vast
amount of evidence presented to the Tribunal by the prosecution, by no means
does justice to the voluminous record. It is important to review in more detail
a variety of the activities of Farben showing its participation in and identity
with the rearmament and war preparation of the Nazi regime. The indictment
alleges that the individuals acted through the instrumentality of Farben in
committing the crimes as alleged. The development and corporate characteristics
of Farben as disclosed by the record are presented as the bases of better
appraising the positions of the defendants within Farben. |
1237 |
. 
