 |
| this. Hence, Dr. Loeser does not belong to the group of persons
enumerated in the Moscow Declaration and in the London Treaty as well as in
Allied Control Council Law No. 10. |
| |
| D. Opening Statement for the Defendant
Houdremont* |
| |
DR. PESCHKE: May it please the Tribunal. The prosecution made the
general events which were in part the natural historical development of the
past decades in Germany the basis of its charges and burdens individuals with
the problematics of today’s evolution of mankind. This obliges me to deal
not only with the defense of my client but also with some subject matters,
which if at all are only connected with any one of the defendants insofar as
they were people living in central Europe during the past decades.
The
indictment and also the opening statement of the prosecution characterizes the
Four Year Plan which was promulgated in 1936, as the criminal instrument by
virtue of which Germany was to be prepared for a war of aggression within 4
years. Even the conception of the Four Year [Plan] would have had to be
considered a crime per se if collaboration and planning, which incidentally the
evidence submitted by the prosecution up to now has not proved for any one of
the defendants, or if their participation in every partial implementation,
should establish a crime. The world historical and the economic events of our
time connected with it are apt to furnish the answer to the question raised.
Four year or five year plans were nothing new even in 1936. In neighboring
Russia, a country abounding in raw materials, one five year plan followed the
other.
It has not yet become known that the Russian five year plans
have been designated as criminal, although they are said to be continued with
ruthless commitment of indigenous and foreign manpower. There is reason to
believe that consensus of opinion takes it for granted that no distinction can
be made between ordinary industrial and armament developments. Every kind of
strengthening of economy includes in itself a stronger potential for the
armament industry without making the latter a specific target. Should in the
future every scientist, political economist, or technician be afraid to
participate in the economic recovery of a country or a continent, because a
policy on which he is unable to exercise any influence may lead to war in which
naturally the general economy would play an important role? |
__________
* Opening statement is
recorded in mimeographed transcript 22 March 1948, pp. 4742-4753.
152 |
. 
