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shop; the shop for producing railway material and others of a similar
nature. At that time we did not think that the German Reich after the end of
the war would still be in a position to pay our war damages. Therefore, Dr.
Janssen said to me, “We shall have to make our financial position so
strong that after the end of the war we shall be able to reconstruct those
shops from our own funds to continue the production of peacetime
material.” Mr. Janssen was thinking of the great number of Krupp workers
who had been with us for many years and for whom he wanted to save the place of
work.
Q. Yes, I understand, but how was it decided that that would be
accomplished?
A. We tried to accomplish it by piling up large bank
reserves. For that purpose, as I said yesterday, we tried to realize our claims
on the German Reich because we did not think that the Reich would be able to
pay anything after the end of the war; therefore, we were more interested in
having cash than having claims on the Reich. Apart from that, we sold our
treasury bonds. In 1942 we had accumulated more than two hundred million in
treasury bonds, and we started to sell those gradually, so that when the war
was over we had only 68 million marks left in bonds. On purpose, we did not
sell all of them because that would have been too noticeable, and it would have
smacked too much of defeatism; therefore, we had to retain a certain amount of
bonds.
Q. Well, the whole policy, as a matter of fact, smacked of
defeatism, didn’t it, and was directly contrary to the military
regulations or decrees of the Reich?
A. Your Honor, I would like to
tell you very frankly that anybody who was a Krupp employee would, of course,
have done his duty until the very end. We were no traitors. On the other hand,
however, we had a great responsibility toward all those numbers of workers
whose livelihood depended on us, and nobody could expect us to bring that
livelihood to ruin with open eyes by falling in with Hitler’s mad policy.
Q. But the fact nevertheless remained that you, in adopting this
financial policy in 1943, that you were doing so in violation of the
governmental policy?
A. Yes, Your Honor, we definitely did that.
Q. And well, weren’t you afraid of the concentration camp
possibilities in adhering to that action?
A. The danger definitely
existed, and therefore we discussed those matters only in a very small circle
of people, and we never wrote any letters about it, or any notes. When we
informed the subsidiaries of such a policy, Mr. Janssen would go in his own
car, and he would neither write nor make telephone conversations |
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