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not merely nominal, but substantial participation in and
responsibility for activities vital to building up the power of a country to
wage war. To establish the requisite criminal intent, it seems necessary to
show knowledge that the military power would be used in a manner which, in the
words of the Kellogg [Briand] Pact, includes war as an “instrument of
policy.”
In view of the factual situation, the prosecution
necessarily, in presenting its case, submitted evidence dealing with activities
of Gustav Krupp and the Krupp firm, in an effort to connect up the defendants
with substantial participation with these activities in such a manner that
guilty knowledge could also be imputed to them.
Gustav Krupp is not on
trial in the present case nor has he had his day in court. Neither is the Krupp
firm on trial except as it may appear as the alter ego of defendant
Alfried Krupp after he became the sole owner of the Krupp family enterprise by
virtue of Hitler’s Lex Krupp in December 1943. Yet, as said before, in
view of the circumstances of the present case, evidence concerning Gustav Krupp
and the Krupp firm was admitted by the Tribunal; and the voluminous amount of
credible evidence presented by the prosecution, the major part of which comes
from the files of the Krupp firm, is so convincing and so compelling that I
must state that the prosecution built up a strong prima facie case, as
far as the implication of Gustav Krupp and the Krupp firm is concerned.
I have also no hesitancy in stating that in my opinion the vast amount
of credible evidence justifies the conclusion that the growth and expansion of
the Krupp firm at the expense of industrial plants in foreign countries were
uppermost in the minds of these defendants throughout the war years. This huge
octopus, the Krupp firm, with its body at Essen, swiftly unfolded one of its
tentacles behind each new aggressive push of the Wehrmacht and sucked back into
Germany much that could be of value to Germany’s war effort and to the
Krupp firm in particular. It is abundantly clear from the credible evidence
that those directing the Krupp firm during the war years were motivated by one
main desire — that upon the successful termination of the war for Germany,
the Krupp concern would be firmly established with permanent plants in the
conquered territories and even beyond the seas. This was more than a dream. It
was nearing completion with each successful thrust of the Wehrmacht. That this
growth and expansion on the part of the Krupp firm was due in large measure to
the favored position which it held with Hitler there can be little doubt. The
close relationship between the Krupp firm on the one hand and the Reich
government, particu- […larly] |
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