 |
entire defense with those cases which the prosecution has advanced
under the viewpoint of the so-called spoliation of Holland, that is, the
Lager-Aktion (and the Ruhrhilfe-Aktion) including the Rademaker and De Vries
Robbè cases. These abuses, as results from evidence previously
introduced, were incidents for which government authorities will have to be
taken to account.
May it please the Court. Behind the documents and
other evidence there stands in the final analysis the personality of every
individual defendant. It is necessary that the judges gain a clear picture of
this personality if they want to evaluate his action correctly. I considered it
my task to gather not unnecessarily many, but on the other hand essential,
evaluations concerning the person of my client. In this effort I have had the
support to an unexpected degree of many persons at home and abroad, from highly
placed personalities down to plain workers.
A substantial part of these
statements which I have received reflects the recognition which Professor
Houdremont has come to enjoy in all countries as one of the most outstanding
metallurgical experts of the world. Special attention is to be called also to
the testimonies which were proffered me dealing with the further intellectual
activity and the character of my client. He was the center of a cultural circle
of the city of Essen. His study of music, literature, and philosophy shows him
as a man who far from being narrow-minded has a broad conception with regard to
all problems of life.
With such an attitude it was impossible for
Professor Houdremont to adopt the ideology and the fanaticism of the National
Socialists. In his own vivacious way he often did not hold back his expression
of dislike for the political regime in power.
A number of affidavits
prove how during the times when Gestapo and terror ruled, he, in an unselfish
manner and compromising his own person, helped people who were in distress. As
a devout Catholic it was a matter of course to him not to deny his assistance
even to Jewish or foreign fellow men. He joined the NSDAP in 1940 only in order
to render better assistance to his brother-in-law, Bruno Kurowski, who had been
arrested by the Gestapo.
The generally recognized character of my
client will make it easier for me to attain the goal of the evidence introduced
by me, that is, to convince the high Tribunal from the objective and subjective
side that the indictment is untenable |
158 |
. 
