Chapter V: Front Matter (5)

“The Reich Protector, Von Neurath, regularly received reports on
the most important events in the Protectorate which had some
bearing on the Security Police, from me, from the State
Secretary, as well as from the Chief of the Security Police. For
example, Von Neurath was informed in the special case concerning
the student demonstrations in November 1939 both by me and by
the Chief of the Security Police. This case dealt with Hitler’s
direct orders demanding the shootings of all the ringleaders.
The number of ringleaders was to be fixed by the Prague Stapo
and the Reich Protector was informed about this. In this case an
estimate on the number of the ringleaders was left to the
discretion of the State Police, or rather to the approval of the
Reich Protector. Reich Protector Von Neurath signed the official
dispatch announcing the execution of these students, thereby
approving this action. It can therefore not be said that in this
case the Reich Protector was merely responsible for the carrying
out of the general Hitler order which deals with the execution
of all ringleaders, but that he is also responsible for the
fixing of the number of ringleaders, namely nine. I informed him
in detail about the interrogation and he signed the poster.

“If this had not met with his approval and had he wished to
revise it, as for instance, making it less severe, which he had
the right to do, then I should have had to abide by his
decision.”

Now do you deny these statements?

VON NEURATH: Yes; I do not know how many times I have got to tell you that I was not in Prague at all.

And besides I do not know under what sort of pressure Frank might have made these statements. It does not give the date, but you just said that he made this statement on 7 April, and therefore a few days before his execution.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: I should like the Tribunal to note that the defendant is deliberately distorting the facts. I repeated several times that these statements were made by Frank on 7 March and not on 7 April, or 2 days before the execution, as you are telling me now.

The document is before you and you can look at it yourself and see the date.

VON NEURATH: All right, then 7 March instead of 7 April. I think I said 7 April because I did not see the date at the top. But as I have said—I think I have already told you three times—I could not have known anything at all about it because I was not there.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Well. But you are making too many mistakes. Yesterday when giving testimony you were not very clear as to the number of students, either.

VON NEURATH: I cannot remember what I said yesterday, but I could hardly have made so many mistakes; I do not know if there were one or two less.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: I would like to remind you. Yesterday, in reply to a question by Sir David, who submitted to you Document 3858-PS, from which it was evident that after the closing of the higher institutions of learning, 18,000 students found themselves out of school...

THE PRESIDENT: Is it necessary to go over Sir David’s cross-examination again? Surely we have said that we do not want to go over the same subject twice.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Mr. President, I do not want to go back to the very same thing, and I do not want to add anything to the questions put by Sir David who has carried out a very detailed interrogation. I wanted only to establish the truth. When the defendant stated yesterday that in the document which was submitted by Sir David there was a mistake—that in Prague there existed only two institutions of higher learning and that 12,000 students could not have been arrested, this was not correct. The question was not merely about the closing of two Prague universities, but, on the basis of the order of 17 November 1939, there were closed the Czech university in Prague, the Czech university in Brünn, the Czech Higher Technical School in Brünn, the Czech Higher Technical School in Prague...

THE PRESIDENT: We heard all this yesterday, and we do not want to hear it again. We heard all about the closing of the university in Prague.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Very well, Mr. President. I just wanted to state that not 2 universities were closed, but 10 institutions of higher learning.

I have just a few questions left which I should like to put to the defendant.

[_Turning to the defendant._] You received many awards from Hitler, as is evident from the documents, and as you yourself stated. For instance, on 22 September 1940 you received the Iron Cross for Military Service. For what kind of services did you receive this award from Hitler?

THE PRESIDENT: Surely we went into this yesterday, did we not, in Sir David’s cross-examination, or in the examination-in-chief, I forget which? I think it was the examination-in-chief—all these decorations which were given the defendant.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Mr. President, I do not want to revert to these orders, but I should like to ask the defendant, for what special services he received the Iron Cross from Hitler in 1942.

THE PRESIDENT: All right, ask him that.

VON NEURATH: Unfortunately, I cannot tell you. I cannot tell you what sort of merits I am supposed to have displayed. The award of this order of merit was made generally to all higher officials who were in service at the time.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Very well, I am not going to insist on your reply. I just wanted to state here that you received this award in 1940 after the mass terror was applied against the Czechoslovak population.

VON NEURATH: I do not know that I am supposed to have carried out a mass terror.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Very well, if you do not understand, we are not going to argue about this question.

In February 1943, in connection with your jubilee, various articles about you were published in many newspapers. I am not going to submit all these papers to the Tribunal or quote these articles, but I should like to read just two excerpts from the newspaper _Fränkischer Kurier_ of 2 February 1943. We shall submit to you one of the copies of this so that you can follow me as I read this document into the record.

This newspaper is being submitted to the Tribunal under Document Number USSR-495.

In connection with your anniversary, it was stated:

“The most outstanding events in the field of foreign policy
after Hitler’s coming to power, in which Freiherr von Neurath
played a most important role as Reich Foreign Minister and with
which his name will always be connected, are: Germany’s leaving
the Geneva Disarmament Conference...the reuniting of the Saar to
Germany...and the denouncing of the Locarno Pact.”

And further on:

“Reich Protector Freiherr von Neurath was repeatedly decorated
by the Führer for outstanding services in the interest of the
people and the Reich. He was decorated with the Golden Party
Badge of Honor, received the rank of SS Gruppenführer, was a
knight of the Order of the Eagle, and received the Gold Badge of
Honor for Faithful Service for his 40 years of diplomatic
service.

“In appreciation of his outstanding services in the field of
military efforts in the post of Reich Protector for Bohemia and
Moravia, the Führer decorated him with the Military Cross, First
Class.”

Are the facts correctly stated in this article?

VON NEURATH: If I had to investigate the correctness of every article written by some journalist or other, I would have had a lot to do. These statements are the opinion of a journalist and nothing more.

THE PRESIDENT: That was not the question. The question was whether they were correctly stated, as a matter of fact. You can answer that.

VON NEURATH: Yes—no.

THE PRESIDENT: Which do you mean, “yes” or “no”?

VON NEURATH: The decorations are correctly stated. Apart from that it is not correct.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: I have no further questions to put.

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Lüdinghausen, do you wish to re-examine?

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Mr. President, yesterday afternoon I had the feeling and impression, probably not without reason, that Herr Von Neurath was visibly tired and strained after the previous examination and that he was no longer in a position to do complete justice to the questions which were put to him. This, after all, is not surprising, if one considers that Herr Von Neurath is in his seventy-fourth year and besides that he is also suffering from a fairly serious heart disease. I feel obliged, therefore, to refer back to various points of the cross-examination of yesterday and put a few questions to him.

[_Turning to the defendant._] Herr Von Neurath, you stated yesterday that because of the excesses of the SA and other radical groups in 1933 and later, you frequently protested to Hitler. What was the reason why you remonstrated with Hitler directly and did not raise your objections at the Cabinet meetings which were still taking place at that time?

VON NEURATH: I had already learned from personal experience that Hitler could not stand contradiction of any kind and that he was not amenable to any kind of petition if it was made before a fairly large group, because then he would always develop the complex that he was facing some sort of opposition against which he had to defend himself. It was different when one confronted him alone. Then, at least during the earlier years, he was accessible, thoroughly amenable to reasonable arguments, and much could be achieved in the way of moderating or weakening radical measures.

Moreover, I should like to mention again that just after the excesses mentioned in Mr. Geist’s affidavit there was a meeting of the Cabinet, during which strong protests were raised against the repetition of such occurrences by various ministers including non-Nazi ministers. At that time Hitler thoroughly agreed with these objections, and declared that such excesses would not be allowed to recur. Shortly afterward he also made a speech in which he publicly expressed an assurance to this effect. From then until June 1934 no more excesses took place.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: But in April 1933 there was the well-known anti-Jewish boycott, which lasted 24 hours, if I am not mistaken?

VON NEURATH: Yes, that was one of Herr Goebbels’ provocations. But actually there were no excesses and acts of violence whatsoever on that occasion. It was confined merely to boycotting.

Moreover, the fact that no further disturbances arose in that case was the result of a joint intercession by Herr Von Papen and myself with Hitler and especially with Hindenburg. A perfectly correct description of this episode is to be found, as I recall, in an article of _Time_ for April 1933, which is also contained in my document book.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Mr. President, it was submitted in my document book, Document Number Neurath-9.

[_Turning to the defendant._] In connection with the events that occurred at that time, arrests, and so forth, Sir David yesterday referred particularly to the arrest of the well-known author Ossietzski. Do you recall that this Ossietzski had already been sentenced to a fairly long prison term by a German court even before the seizure of power?

VON NEURATH: Yes, I remembered that afterward. I remember which government—Herr Ossietzski had been sentenced by a Reich that even before the seizure of power—I do not know under court to a fairly long term in the penitentiary for high treason, but he had not yet served it, and consequently was arrested again.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Now I should like to ask you another question with reference to the report submitted by the Prosecution yesterday. It is the letter of Ministerial Director Köpke on 31 May 1934. That is Document D-868. In this report, from the information noted down by Herr Köpke, do you see any proof that the Foreign Office was drawn into the subversive activities of the Austrian Nazis?

VON NEURATH: No, not at all. This has to do with a report which Ministerial Director Köpke made to me about a visit by Herr Wächter, whom he described as an Austrian with a sense of responsibility. This Herr Wächter had tried to establish a connection with the Foreign Office and with Hitler in order to draw attention to the dangers arising from the growing radicalism of the Austrian Nazis. The head of the Political Department, Herr Köpke, identifies himself with Wächter regarding these apprehensions and agreed to make an oral report to that effect.

I do not think that anyone can doubt that my attitude was not quite the same as that of Herr Köpke and I passed this report on to Hitler in order to draw his attention to the matter.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: The Prosecution—or rather, Sir David—referred yesterday to reports which deal with the treatment of the Czech problem by you and Frank. This is Document 3859-PS, a letter which you sent to the Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Lammers, on 31 August 1940, for the preparation of your oral report to Hitler. Were these reports, that is, the one drafted by Frank, identical with the memorandum mentioned in the Friderici document of 15 October?

VON NEURATH: Yes, apparently these are the same reports.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Now, during your examination you spoke about the Friderici document, which you said was based on plans of the SS, various Party circles, and the Gauleiter of the Lower Danube district, regarding a deportation of Czechs to the Eastern Territories. You went on to say that in order to stop these plans, which you yourself described as nonsensical, you had Frank prepare this memorandum in which a less radical solution was recommended, which later had also been approved to a certain extent by Hitler; and that in reality nothing happened, which was what you intended, and that the idea of incorporation had practically been buried. Is that right?

VON NEURATH: Yes, that is true. This entire affair and the origin of these memoranda are extremely difficult to explain. It can be understood only from the entire domestic political development. The efforts of the Gauleiter of the surrounding districts to divide up the Protectorate had proceeded rather far. They had all submitted memoranda and Herr Himmler backed them up. All these memoranda envisaged a radical solution of these problems; that meant there was reason to fear that Hitler would comply with the wishes of these Gauleiter. In order to stop this I had to make several proposals which I myself had said were impracticable, and I identified myself with them primarily so as to declare them absurd later on.

That is the only explanation of the origin of these memoranda. I did not draft the memoranda myself, but that was done in my office, in accordance, to be sure, with instructions given by me.

This was, however, and I should like to emphasize this expressly, a purely tactical maneuver to get at Hitler, because I was afraid that he would follow the radical suggestions made by Himmler and his associates. I did actually manage to get Hitler to issue a strict order, which is what I had requested, to the effect that all these plans were no longer to be discussed, but that only the so-called assimilation plan was left, which could be carried out only over a period of years; and, as a matter of fact, nothing more happened, and that was exactly what I was aiming at.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: A decree was submitted by the Prosecution yesterday, which was issued to the German authorities in the Protectorate, regarding the treatment to be given of the German-Czech problem publicly. That is Document 3862-PS, dated 27 June 1941. Is that in any way connected with these memoranda or the discussion you had with Hitler about it?

VON NEURATH: Yes, it is most closely interconnected, and I think I said so yesterday. In the following year the same agitation started all over again for this Germanization and partitioning of the Protectorate, and I opposed it, and, once the question was decided, I prohibited it from being reopened.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: A document was submitted yesterday, USSR-487, the Chief of the Security Police, addressed to State Secretary Frank, dated 21 July 1943, that is to say, after you had resigned. From that document the Prosecution are attempting to draw the conclusion that, in accordance with a decree dated 5 May 1939, you appointed the leader of the SA and Security Police in Prague as your political expert.

In what way did the latter act in this capacity? Did he act at all?

VON NEURATH: No, he did not; that is just it. It is clearly apparent from this letter of reminder, dated 21 July 1943, that he never became at all active in this respect.

MR. COUNSELLOR RAGINSKY: Mr. President, I should like to state here that the question was incorrectly put. This document is not dated in the year 1943 or 1942, but it is dated 21 July 1939.

VON NEURATH: May I remark here that it makes no difference, as nothing had happened. I did not appoint any political expert.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: What measures followed Documents 3851-PS and 3858-PS, which were introduced yesterday by the Prosecution, and which were proposals submitted by various departments and department heads of your administration regarding the utilization for labor of the students who became unemployed through the closing down of the Czech universities?

VON NEURATH: I have already told you yesterday that this apparently concerned a proposal from an adviser which never even reached me, but was rejected by my State Secretary before it got to me. Just how I could possibly be held responsible for the contents of a draft submitted by an adviser, I cannot understand.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Now I should like to put one more question to you regarding the German-Austrian agreement of July 1936. As is mentioned in a report by Dr. Rainer to Bürckel which the Prosecution have already submitted—I refer to Document 812-PS—is it correct that Hitler, immediately after the signing of that agreement, had personally declared to Dr. Rainer and the Austrian Nazi Leader Globocznik that this agreement of 11 July 1936 was signed by him in all honesty and sincerity, and that the Austrian National Socialists, too, should under all circumstances adhere strictly to this agreement, and that they were to let themselves be guided by him in their conduct toward the Austrian Government?

VON NEURATH: Yes, that is correct. As I think I said to you yesterday, I believe I can also remember that Rainer actually confirmed it when he was here on the witness stand.

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Von Lüdinghausen.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: I would like to put a last question...

THE PRESIDENT: He answered these questions perfectly clearly, according to his view, yesterday.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Yes, I am all through now. I should like to ask him only one more question in conclusion of the entire examination of my client.

[_Turning to the defendant._] The Prosecution and also Sir David brought the following charge against you yesterday: They charged that although by your own admission you were not in agreement with the Nazi regime and its methods, and although you considered many of the things that occurred reprehensible and immoral and abhorred them, you did not resign, but remained in the Government. Will you please explain that to us once more?

VON NEURATH: I have already mentioned in the beginning that I had given my promise to Hindenburg to enter the Government and to remain there as long as it was at all possible for me to follow a course unfavorable to any use of violence and to protect Germany from warlike entanglements. That was my task and nothing else. But it was not only this promise I had given to Hindenburg, but also my sense of duty, and my feeling of responsibility toward the German people, to protect them from warlike entanglements as long as it was at all possible, which bound me to this office. Beside these considerations all my personal wishes, which were quite different, had to take second place.

Unfortunately, my power and influence as Foreign Minister did not reach far enough to enable me to prevent pernicious and immoral actions in other spheres, as for instance, that of domestic policy, although I did try in many cases, not least of all in the Jewish question itself.

However, I considered that my highest duty was to carry out the work assigned to me and not try to escape it, even if in another sphere where I had no influence, things occurred which hurt me and my opinions very deeply.

There may be many people who have different ideas and a different attitude than I. I experienced similar attacks when I placed myself at the disposal of a Social Democrat Cabinet in the year 1919 after the first revolution; at that time, too, the strongest attacks and the most serious accusations were made against me.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Yet you yourself have struggled hard with your conscience, you have often told me.

VON NEURATH: Yes, of course I have. It is not easy to belong to a government with whose tendencies you do not agree, and for which one is to be made responsible later on.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Mr. President, this completes my examination. I would suggest we adjourn now and then I might be permitted to begin the examination of my witnesses.

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will now adjourn.

[_A recess was taken._]

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Horn, you have some questions to ask?

DR. MARTIN HORN (Counsel for Defendant Von Ribbentrop): Mr. President, I ask permission for my client to be absent from the session this afternoon and tomorrow, because I have important questions to discuss with him.

THE PRESIDENT: The Defendant Von Ribbentrop?

DR. HORN: Von Ribbentrop, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, certainly.

DR. HORN: Thank you.

DR. ALFRED THOMA (Counsel for Defendant Rosenberg): Mr. President, yesterday afternoon General Raginsky asked whether Rosenberg interfered in Neurath’s foreign policy. The interpreter just told me that she translated it wrongly. She translated it “whether Ribbentrop interfered in Neurath’s policy.” This question, therefore, has not been answered yet; consequently, I ask permission to ask Baron von Neurath whether Rosenberg interfered in Neurath’s foreign policy.

VON NEURATH: No, in no way. I never talked to Rosenberg about matters of foreign policy.

DR. THOMA: Then I ask that the transcript be corrected accordingly, so it should not read “whether Ribbentrop interfered in Neurath’s policies,” but “whether Rosenberg interfered in Neurath’s policies.”

THE PRESIDENT: The record will be corrected.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Francis Biddle, Member for the United States): I want to ask you just a very few questions. You will remember that the Baroness von Ritter said that after the 5th of November 1937 you recognized—I want to read it exactly:

“When Herr Von Neurath had to recognize for the first time from
Hitler’s statement on 5 November 1937 that the latter wanted to
achieve his political aims by using force toward neighboring
states, this shook him so severely mentally that he suffered
severe heart attacks.”

That is a correct description, is it not, of what you then recognized?

[_The defendant nodded assent._]

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Now, you stated that you spoke immediately after that meeting to General Beck and General Von Fritsch. Do you remember?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And I think you said to Sir David that you did not speak to the Defendant Göring. What I am asking you now is whether you spoke of what Hitler had said to anyone else during the next 2 or 3 months. Did you speak to anyone in the Foreign Office?

VON NEURATH: I spoke to my State Secretary.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And with whom else from the Foreign Office?

VON NEURATH: No one, for Hitler had laid down the condition that silence should be preserved about all these meetings; and for that reason I did not speak with my officials about them. They knew nothing. They had learned nothing from the military men, either.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Did you speak to the Defendant Von Papen when you saw him next?

VON NEURATH: No. I believe I did not see him at all at that time.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): And did you discuss it with anybody else before your resignation?

VON NEURATH: No.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Now, I have only one other question. You recognized, did you not, that Himmler would use methods which you would not approve of; is that right?

VON NEURATH: Yes, but only gradually; that could not have been foreseen from the beginning.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): That is just what I wanted to know. When did you first realize that? When did you first begin, just as well as you could tell? About when did you realize what sort of man Himmler was?

VON NEURATH: That was very difficult to recognize, because Himmler had two faces; he was a perfect Janus; one could not see immediately what his real thoughts were at all.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): I am not asking you what he was like. If you would just try to remember, you certainly realized that at some time. Did you know it in 1937? You knew it in 1937 or 1938? Certainly in 1938, did you not?

VON NEURATH: Probably in 1938, but it is hard for me to give a date at the moment.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): I do not want a specific date. My point is that you knew it before you went to the Protectorate; you knew what Himmler was before you went to the Protectorate, of course? There is no question about that, is there?

VON NEURATH: Yes, certainly.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): That is all.

THE TRIBUNAL (Major General I. T. Nikitchenko, Member for the U.S.S.R.): Did you ever express yourself openly against the policy of the Hitlerite Government?

VON NEURATH: I am sorry, but the translation was not good.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): In your explanations made before the Tribunal you stated that you were not in agreement with the policy of Hitler’s Government, either on individual questions or taken as a whole, as well. Is that true?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): Did you ever express yourself openly with a statement of your disagreement with Hitler’s policy?

VON NEURATH: I did so more than once.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): In what manner was it, then? I am asking you about your public statements, either in the press or while addressing any meeting?

VON NEURATH: No. It was no longer possible either to have a voice in the press, or to hold a meeting. It was quite out of the question. I could only speak to Hitler personally or, at the beginning, in the Cabinet in protest against this policy. There was no freedom of the press any longer, any more than in Russia. In the same way no meeting was possible. Consequently...

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): I am not asking you about Russia; I am asking you about your expressing your views publicly. In other words, you never expressed them.

VON NEURATH: No.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And in that way nobody in Germany could know, or did know, about the fact that you were not in agreement with the policy on the part of Hitler’s Government?

VON NEURATH: I always expressed myself quite unmistakably about it, but not in articles, nor in meetings either; but otherwise I always expressed myself clearly about it.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): Yes, but only in your _tête-à-tête_ with Hitler, only personally to Hitler. You said so, did you not?

VON NEURATH: No; I tell you I said that to everyone who would listen, but I could not do so in public meetings, in speeches, or in articles.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And you remained a member of the Government in spite of the fact that you were not in agreement with the Government’s policy; is that so?

VON NEURATH: Yes, for that very reason.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): In order to counteract his policy?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): Do you know the results of Such counteracting?

VON NEURATH: I did not understand that.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): What were the results of counteracting the policy of Hitler’s Government?

VON NEURATH: Well, I am not in a position to give the details on that.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): In particular, as to the question of aggression, were you against the joining of Germany and Austria?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): The German Government, in spite of this, joined Austria to Germany; is that so?

VON NEURATH: I believe it has been clearly expressed here that at the last moment Hitler did that.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): You were against the seizing of Czechoslovakia?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And the German Government, in spite of this, seized Czechoslovakia?

VON NEURATH: I was no longer a member of the Government at that time.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): But as a statesman whose opinion should have been considered, you, of course, expressed your opinion against it, did you not?

VON NEURATH: Always.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): You were against the attack on Poland?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And in spite of that Germany did attack Poland.

VON NEURATH: I repeat, I was no longer a member of the Government. I learned of it only at the last moment.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): You were against the attack on the U.S.S.R.?

VON NEURATH: Yes, more so indeed; I always wanted the exact opposite. I wanted co-operation with the Soviet Union, I said that as early as 19...

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And still Germany attacked the Soviet Union?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): Judging from your explanations, Hitler must have known about your political opposition and your disagreement with his policy; is it correct?

VON NEURATH: He knew that very well, for I resigned in 1938 for that reason.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): Yes. And you know how Hitler made short work of his political opponents?

VON NEURATH: In the Reich, yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And so far as you were concerned, in spite of the fact that you sided with the opposition, nothing happened; that is true, is it not?

VON NEURATH: I did not understand.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): So far as you were concerned, in spite of the fact that you declared yourself for the opposition, nothing of the kind happened?

VON NEURATH: No, but I always expected it.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And could you not tell us whether Sir Nevile Henderson, in his book, the _Failure of a Mission_, expressed the facts concerning you personally correctly or not? Do you consider that Sir Nevile Henderson expressed the facts correctly concerning you personally? Does he express them correctly?

VON NEURATH: I must admit frankly that I read this book by Sir Nevile Henderson only once, 3 or 4 years ago. I cannot remember now what he said about me. I heard excerpts from it here once or twice but I cannot say what he writes about me.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): But I assume that you are familiar enough with the excerpts presented by your defense counsel in his document book?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): Now, for instance, that which is expressed in his excerpts so far as you are concerned, is it correct or not?

VON NEURATH: I assume so, yes.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): That is to say, it is correct. And is it quite correct what he writes in reference to your membership in the Party? He writes that “Baron von Neurath himself remained in the regime of Hindenburg, and he was not a member of the Nazi Party.”

VON NEURATH: Yes, I believe I have said so repeatedly here in the last few days.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And further on he informs us that “he (Neurath) became a member of the Party later.”

VON NEURATH: I have already explained how that happened. In 1937 I received a Golden Party Badge without my...

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): Yes, we have heard that before, but is it true or not that you became a member of the Nazi Party later, as Sir Nevile Henderson states?

VON NEURATH: No, I...

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): So this particular part is not correct, is it?

VON NEURATH: I received the Golden Party Badge with Hitler’s statement that this involved no obligations towards the Party.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): We have heard this already. That means that in Sir Nevile Henderson’s statements not everything is true as far as your person is concerned?

VON NEURATH: I do not know. With the best intentions I cannot remember what Sir Nevile Henderson wrote about me.

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): And the last question I have, which is in regard to your memorandum: I did not quite understand the explanations which were given by you to Sir David and later to your defense counsel. Now, in forwarding Frank’s memorandum, in the letter addressed to Lammers, you wrote that you considered this memorandum absolutely correct. Is that true?

VON NEURATH: Yes, that is true. I should also like to tell you the reasons. This memorandum...

THE TRIBUNAL (Gen. Nikitchenko): You already explained the reasons before. I just wanted to establish the fact that you really wrote this.

VON NEURATH: Up to now I have not told the reason why I wrote this to Lammers. The reason why I wrote to Lammers to this effect was that he was the one who submitted this memorandum to the Führer. So I had to write to the same effect.

THE PRESIDENT: There are two subjects I want to ask you about and the first relates to the letter that you wrote on the 31st of August 1940. That is the letter which General Nikitchenko has just referred to; you remember that?

VON NEURATH: Yes, indeed.

THE PRESIDENT: And you remember that you said in that letter that you fully agreed with the memorandum which your Secretary of State Frank had drawn up independently of you. He said that “Germanization provides for the changing of the nationality of racially suitable Czechs; and secondly, the expulsion of racially unassimilable Czechs and of the intelligentsia who are enemies of the Reich or special treatment for these and all destructive elements.” My question is: What did you understand by “special treatment”?

VON NEURATH: Well, as far as I read this extract at all at the time, I had in no way ever thought of the term “special treatment” as it has become known here during the Trial. I was certainly not at all in agreement with this attitude of Frank as represented in the report, and I only had the intention of frustrating this whole affair in order to sidetrack it. The content of these reports was only intended to present this to Hitler in Hitler’s language, or in the language of Himmler and others, in order to dissuade him from it later on.

THE PRESIDENT: Was it not misleading to write to Herr Lammers with the view that it should be put forward to Hitler, saying that you fully agreed with the memorandum with which you did not agree?

VON NEURATH: Mr. President, as things were, I could not write to Lammers. I did not intend to carry out anything which is written in there, but since Lammers was presenting this to Hitler, I first had to tell him I agreed with it. Afterward I reported to Hitler and gave him an explanation in a personal conference during the meeting with Frank and Gürtner which has been mentioned here.

THE PRESIDENT: Then your answer is that you do not know what was meant by “special treatment”?

VON NEURATH: No; in any case I did not know at the time.

THE PRESIDENT: Now, there is one other question that I should like to put to you. You remember when you were called on the 11th of March 1938, at the time of the Anschluss with Austria, and you wrote the letter of the 12th of March 1938, in answer to the memorandum which you received from the British Government through Sir Nevile Henderson. You knew Sir Nevile Henderson quite well, did you not?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: And in that letter you said this:

“It is untrue that the Reich used forceful pressure to bring
about this development; especially the assertion, which was
spread later by the former Chancellor, that the German
Government had presented the Federal President with a
conditional ultimatum, is pure invention. According to the
ultimatum, he had to appoint a proposed candidate as Chancellor
and form a Cabinet conforming to the proposals of the German
Government, otherwise the invasion of Austria by German troops
was held in prospect.”

And then you go on to say what you allege was the truth of the matter. You know now, do you not, that your statements in that letter were entirely untrue?

VON NEURATH: That did not come through.

THE PRESIDENT: Have you heard any part of the question that I was putting to you?

VON NEURATH: Unfortunately not.

THE PRESIDENT: It is a pity that you did not say so earlier. Do you remember the 11th of March 1938 and being called in to represent the Foreign Office, and you have told me just now that you knew Sir Nevile Henderson quite well?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: And you remember the letter which you wrote on the 12th of March 1938?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: And you admitted to Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe that the statements in that letter were untrue?

VON NEURATH: Untrue, yes—not entirely. They are presented incorrectly.

THE PRESIDENT: What steps did you take to find out whether or not they were true?

VON NEURATH: I did not learn of the incorrectness of this presentation until much later.

THE PRESIDENT: That is not an answer to my question. I said, “What steps did you take to find out whether the statement was correct?”

VON NEURATH: The statement which Hitler gave me I first simply presumed to be true. I certainly could not check up on it in any way.

THE PRESIDENT: Why should you assume it to be true when it was in contradiction of what the British Government had stated?

VON NEURATH: I had no other knowledge of the events which had occurred and therefore could only say what I knew.

THE PRESIDENT: You had the letter, the protest from the British Government, had you not?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: You knew Sir Nevile Henderson perfectly well?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: And you then wrote this letter contradicting the statements which had been made on behalf of the British Government; that is right, is it not?

VON NEURATH: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: And you took no steps to check the facts which had been stated to you by Hitler? Will you answer that, please?

VON NEURATH: Yes. Your Lordship, how was I to do that? There was no one else who knew about it. It was only what Hitler had commissioned me to tell the Foreign Office. The draft of this note was drawn up by the Foreign Office according to the information which I had received from Hitler. I had no other chance to clear this up.

THE PRESIDENT: There were all the other persons who were concerned with the matter whom you could have communicated with, but your statement is that you did nothing?

VON NEURATH: I can only repeat that I had no opportunity to procure any other information. No one knew about it except Hitler.

THE PRESIDENT: Are you telling the Tribunal that Göring did not know about it?

VON NEURATH: Perhaps Göring knew about it.

THE PRESIDENT: That is all. The defendant can return to the dock.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Mr. President, I ask permission to call the first witness, the former Ministerial Director, and head of the political section in the Foreign Ministry, Dr. Köpke.

[_The witness Köpke took the stand._]

THE PRESIDENT: Will you state your full name, please?

GERHARD KÖPKE (Witness): Gerhard Köpke.

THE PRESIDENT: Will you repeat the oath after me: I swear by God—the Almighty and Omniscient—that I will speak the pure truth—and will withhold and add nothing.

[_The witness repeated the oath._]

THE PRESIDENT: You may sit down.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Dr. Köpke, how long have you known Herr Von Neurath?

KÖPKE: I have known Herr Von Neurath for over 40 years. His career is well known. Therefore I can limit myself to stating that we worked together as vice consuls in London, as legation counsellors in the Foreign Office and later, after Herr Von Neurath became Minister in 1932, until my resignation in 1935. In the meantime Von Neurath was in Copenhagen, Rome, London, and for some time at his home, and finally in Prague. We met only occasionally when I was in Berlin, and we kept up a comparatively lively correspondence with each other as old friends. I myself was employed in the Foreign Office during the entire period. From 1921 on I was director of the Legal Department, and from 1923 I was director of the political, so-called Western Department, which I directed until I left the service. I voluntarily tendered my resignation at the end of 1935.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: What do you know about the attitude, the fundamental attitude of Herr Von Neurath on domestic and foreign policy, but only on broad lines?

KÖPKE: In domestic politics, Herr Von Neurath stood close to the conservative circles but he was never a member of the Conservative Party. From this basic conservative attitude and also because of his outstanding character traits of loyalty to duty and reliability, he had the confidence of Reich President Von Hindenburg, and retained it without interruption until the latter’s death. Herr Von Hindenburg esteemed Von Neurath as a prudent, moderate, reliable diplomat. Men of other party inclinations also had confidence in Von Neurath. I shall mention only the deceased Reich President, Ebert, who recalled Neurath to office during his term.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: What do you know about Von Neurath’s appointment as Reich Foreign Minister in the summer of 1932?

KÖPKE: The appointment of Herr Von Neurath as Reich Foreign Minister was based on a personal wish of President Von Hindenburg. Neurath did not become Foreign Minister within the Von Papen Cabinet, but became Foreign Minister as the special confidant of President Von Hindenburg.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Then how did it happen that Von Neurath remained Foreign Minister in the new Hitler Government also?

KÖPKE: Von Neurath did not participate so far as I know in the negotiations with Hitler about the assumption of power. If I can rely only on my memory, he was sick abed with a heart disease during the decisive days, but he remained Foreign Minister, again at the special wish of Von Hindenburg.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Can you tell us anything about the attitude, the relationship of Neurath to Hitler?

KÖPKE: I should like to remark by way of introduction that I cannot testify on this subject from my own immediate observation. I was never present at conferences which Herr Von Neurath held with Hitler. I myself never had any official conversation with Hitler whatsoever. But, according to Neurath’s own description, and according to the information which I received from other important personalities in the course of time, I had the impression that, especially in the first years, Hitler treated Herr Von Neurath carefully and politely. To what extent this was out of respect for the Reich President, whose regard for Von Neurath was, of course, known to Hitler, I cannot say. In any case, Neurath was never actually in the confidence of Hitler and was not in the small circle close to Hitler, the powerful men of the Party. After the death of President Von Hindenburg, Von Neurath remained because he had promised the Reich President to do so. During the following period also, Neurath repeatedly attempted to exercise his moderating and calming influence on the Party. However, I know that as disappointments and differences of opinion multiplied, Herr Von Neurath tried many times to separate from Hitler. In this connection I can recall two occasions on which he offered his resignation, and one of these appeals he showed me. It was in writing and must have been dated from the beginning of the year 1936. For at that time I had already resigned and visited Herr Von Neurath as a friend in a purely private capacity.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Now can you also give us a brief picture of Neurath’s attitude toward the National Socialist Party?

KÖPKE: At first Herr Von Neurath adopted an attitude of reserve toward the Party and in particular its leading men. To my knowledge he was personally acquainted with hardly any of these men, since, indeed, he had lived most of the time abroad. Neurath was convinced that by reason of his years of experience as an old diplomat and supported by his confidential position with the Reich President, and the latter’s moderating influence, he would succeed in working in accordance with his policy, which was directed toward compromise and understanding.

Before me, and I believe also before his other colleagues, Neurath frequently referred to experiences of this sort which he had had with Fascism in Rome. He occasionally said that such revolutionary elements should just be allowed to develop and that these hotheads would come to their senses if they were given time and opportunity to gather experience themselves in responsible positions.

By the way, Neurath also shared the opinions of State Secretary Von Bülow in this respect. He retained this State Secretary of Reich Chancellor Brüning, and also protected him until his death against repeated attempts of the Party to get rid of him.

Moreover, I should like to mention a small detail which was very valuable to us in the office at the time. When State Secretary Von Bülow, who was generally popular, died suddenly, Neurath managed to get Hitler to attend the funeral at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The old officials of the Foreign Office saw in that a gratifying and reassuring sign for the strong position of our Minister in relation to the Party. This event, which in itself is perhaps unimportant, happened exactly 10 years ago today.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: As head of the Political Department of the Foreign Office, you were one of Neurath’s foremost co-workers, and can surely tell us what was the dominant tendency of Neurath’s foreign policy.

KÖPKE: Neurath’s political attitude on the whole was, in accordance with his whole character and his years of experience in politics, inclined toward compromise, waiting, negotiation. Measures backed up by ultimatums and attempts at solution by violence did not suit Von Neurath’s temperament. Neurath was neither a gambler nor a fighter by nature.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Now I come to individual important foreign political events which occurred during the period in which you worked under Herr Von Neurath and were head of the political section.

In October 1933 Germany left the Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations. Now, I should like to ask you whether this step of Germany’s, leaving the Conference and the League of Nations, was based on any aggressive or belligerent tendencies for the moment or for the future?

KÖPKE: No. As far as the picture of the events mentioned by defendant’s counsel was clear to us, the experts, it was as follows: No one of us in the Foreign Office thought of warlike plans or preparations for war. It was only done to proclaim as impressively as possible that Germany would no longer allow herself to be considered a nation without the same rights and obligations as other peoples.

In the same way the militarization of the Rhineland was not based on any aggressive intention, either for the moment or for the future.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: In the next few years, in 1935, Germany’s military sovereignty was reintroduced, and a year later, the demilitarized Rhineland zone was remilitarized. I should like to read you one sentence from the affidavit of the former minister and interpreter Paul Schmidt of the Foreign Office. He says the following with regard to the events in the spring of 1935:

“The conclusion of a pact of mutual assistance between France
and Russia on 2 May 1935 followed the proclamation of the
establishment of a German Air Force and the introduction of
general compulsory military service in March 1935.”

Will you please give us a brief review of the historical development of these matters which led to the reintroduction of military sovereignty in 1935 and to the remilitarization of the Rhineland in March 1936?

KÖPKE: I believe...

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Von Lüdinghausen, we have had the historical development of these matters over and over again. Surely we do not want it from this witness.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Only very briefly, only the dates, in proper order, Mr. President; no explanations about it. I should only like to emphasize strongly once more how the individual events are connected with each other.

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal have the dates in their minds. We really have had these dates in our minds for some months.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Very well. If the Court believes that it does not need to be informed about it, I must, of course, dispense with it. Then I come to a last...

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you can put any question you really want to put about it, but you said, “Will you give us the historical developments from the 2d of May 1935?” We have heard that over and over again.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Yes, Mr. President. I was interested only in the following: From this affidavit of Herr Schmidt which I have just quoted, one could directly follow...

THE PRESIDENT: Ask the question, whatever you want to ask about this affidavit.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Then I shall formulate the question as follows:

[_Turning to the witness._] I have just read this sentence by Herr Schmidt, and I have also told you what can be read from it; namely, that the conclusion of the Franco-Russian Pact of 2 May 1935 was the result of the restoration of military sovereignty. Is that true or what was the case?

KÖPKE: That question is difficult to answer if one merely considers these two events in chronological order. The conclusion of the Franco-Russian Pact was on 2 May 1935; the restoration of military sovereignty was already in March 1935.

However, the negotiations for this treaty of assistance go back much farther, and I should like to recall the fact that the critical stage, into which these negotiations had entered before the restoration of military sovereignty, is shown very clearly in the report of the French Military Committee’s reporter in which the latter speaks quite openly of a close entente between the two nations. That was on 23 November 1934.

DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Now I come to another question and should like to ask you whether you know the opinions and attitude of Von Neurath concerning the Austrian question, at least during your time?

KÖPKE: I have known Herr Von Neurath’s attitude toward the Austrian question for a much longer time than the period when we worked together during his term as Minister, for as a southern German he was always particularly interested in the problem and I recall many conversations which I had with him even when I was still a vice consul. His attitude and intentions had always been to make the relations between Germany and Austria closer in the economic sphere, chiefly in the interests of Austria, and politically to guarantee a similar policy by treaties, but otherwise not to encroach on Austria’s independence; that is what we in the Foreign Office had already learned several years before he became Minister, from our experience with the customs union, which at that time was actually intended only in an economic sense. The fact that this attempt was quite generally considered as a political union gave pause for thought and should have warned everyone who had resolved to touch this hot iron again. Therefore, Neurath, during his period of office, whenever he discussed the problem with me and worked on it, thought along just these lines.

I should like to add here that the critical time on the Austrian question was probably after I left office. Moreover, even Hitler originally shared Neurath’s moderate conception, as was shown in his conversation with Mussolini in Venice in the summer of 1934. Especially interesting, however, are the remarks which Hitler made on the Anschluss problem to Sir John Simon during the negotiations in Berlin in March 1935. At that time Hitler expressed himself to the English statesman about that as follows:

If the people in London knew Austria as well as he did, they would believe his assurance that he could not want to increase our economic troubles by adding another field of economic difficulties. Germany did not want to interfere in this country at all. He was perfectly aware that any interference in Austrian affairs, even if it meant carrying out the wish of the Austrian people themselves for an Anschluss, could not be legalized. That was Hitler’s opinion at that time.