International Military Tribunal - The Nuremberg Trials - Complete Tribunal Proceedings (V. 6)

“Following the events of March 1938, which caused Austria’s incorporation into the German Reich, Von Papen had the satisfaction of being present at the Führer’s side when the entry into Vienna took place, after the Führer, in recognition of his valuable collaboration, had on 14 February 1938, admitted him to the Party and had bestowed upon him the Golden Party Badge.”

And the biography continues:

“At first Von Papen retired to his estate Wallerfangen in the Saar district, but soon the Führer required his services again and on the 18 April 1939 appointed Von Papen German Ambassador in Ankara.”

Thus the fascination of serving Hitler triumphed once again, and this time it was at a date when the seizure of Czechoslovakia could have left no shadow of doubt in Papen’s mind that Hitler was determined to pursue his program of aggression.

One further quotation from the biography on Page 66, the last sentence of the last paragraph but one:

“After his return to the Reich”—that was in 1944—“Von Papen was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the War Merit Order with Swords.”

In conclusion, I draw the Tribunal’s attention again to the fulsome praises which Hitler publicly bestowed upon Von Papen for his services, especially in the earlier days. I have given two instances where Hitler said “His collaboration is infinitely valuable,” and again “You possess my most complete and unlimited confidence.”

Papen, the ex-Chancellor, the soldier, the respected Catholic, Papen the diplomat, Papen the man of breeding and culture—there was the man who could overcome the hostility and antipathy of those respectable elements who barred Hitler’s way. Papen was—to repeat the words of Sir Hartley Shawcross in his opening speech—“one of the men whose co-operation and support made the Nazi Government of Germany possible.”

That concludes my case. Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe will now follow with the case of Von Neurath.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: May it please the Tribunal, the presentation against the Defendant Von Neurath falls into five parts, and the first of these is concerned with the following positions and honors which he held.

He was a member of the Nazi Party from 30 January 1937 until 1945, and he was awarded the Golden Party Badge on 30 January 1937. He was general in the SS. He was personally appointed Gruppenführer by Hitler in September 1937 and promoted to Obergruppenführer on 21 June 1943. He was Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs under the Chancellorship of the Defendant Von Papen from 2 June 1932 and under the Chancellorship of Hitler from 30 January 1933 until he was replaced by the Defendant Von Ribbentrop on 4 February 1938. He was Reich Minister from 4 February 1938 until May 1945. He was President of the Secret Cabinet Council, to which he was appointed on 4 February 1938, and he was a member of the Reich Defense Council. He was appointed Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia from 18 March 1939 until he was replaced by the Defendant Frick on 25 August 1943.

He was awarded the Adler Order by Hitler at the time of his appointment as Reich Protector. The Defendant Ribbentrop was the only other German to receive this decoration.

If the Tribunal please, these facts are collected in Document 2973-PS, which is Exhibit USA-19, and in that document, which is signed by the defendant and his counsel, the defendant makes comments on certain of these matters with which I should like to deal.

He says that the award of the Golden Party Badge was made on 30 January 1937 against his will and without his being asked.

I point out that this defendant not only refrained from repudiating the allegedly unwanted honor, but after receiving it, attended meetings at which wars of aggression were planned, actively participated in the rape of Austria, and tyrannized Bohemia and Moravia.

The second point is that his appointment as Gruppenführer was also against his will and without his being asked. On that point, the Prosecution submits that the wearing of the uniform, the receipt of the further promotion to Obergruppenführer and the actions against Bohemia and Moravia must be considered when the defendant’s submission is examined.

He then says that his appointment as Foreign Minister was by Reich President Von Hindenburg. We submit we need not do more than draw attention to the personalities of the Defendant Von Papen and Hitler and to the fact that President Von Hindenburg died in 1934. This defendant continued as Foreign Minister until 1938.

He then says that he was an inactive Minister from the 4th of February 1938 until May 1945. At that moment attention is drawn to the activities which will be mentioned below and to the terrible evidence as to Bohemia and Moravia which will be forthcoming from our friend the Soviet prosecutor.

This defendant’s next point is that the Secret Cabinet Council never sat nor conferred.

I point out to the Tribunal that that was described as a select committee of the Cabinet for the deliberation of foreign affairs; and the Tribunal will find that description in Document 1774-PS, which I now put in as Exhibit GB-246. This is an extract from a book by a well-known author, and on Page 2 of the document book, the first page of that document, in about the seventh line from the bottom of the page, they will see that among the bureaus subordinated to the Führer for direct counsel and assistance, number four is the Secret Cabinet Council; President: Reich Minister Baron Von Neurath.

And if the Tribunal will be kind enough to turn over to Page 3, about ten lines from the top, they will see the paragraph beginning:

“A Secret Cabinet Council to advise the Führer in the basic problems of foreign policy has been created by the decree of 4 February 1938”—and a reference is given.

“This Secret Cabinet Council is under the direction of Reich Minister Von Neurath, and includes the Foreign Minister, the Air Minister, the Deputy of the Führer, the Propaganda Minister, the Chief of the Reich Chancellery, the Commanders-in-Chief of the Army and Navy and the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. The Secret Cabinet council constitutes a closer staff of collaborators of the Führer which consists exclusively of members of the Government of the Reich; strictly speaking it represents a select committee of the Reich Government for the deliberation on foreign affairs.”

In order to have the formal composition of the body, that is shown in Document 2031-PS, which is Exhibit GB-217. I believe that has been put in. I need not read it again.

The next point that the defendant makes as to his offices is that he was not a member of the Reich Defense Council.

If I may very shortly take that point by stages, I remind the Tribunal that the Reich Defense Council was set up soon after Hitler’s accession to power on 4 April 1933; and the Tribunal will find a note of that point in Document 2261-PS, Exhibit USA-24; and they will find that on the top of Page 12 of the document book there is a reference to the date of the establishment of the Reich Defense Council.

The Reich Defense Council is also dealt with in Document 2986-PS, Exhibit USA-409, which is the affidavit of the Defendant Frick, which the Tribunal will find on Page 14. In the middle of that short affidavit, Defendant Frick says:

“We were also members of the Reich Defense Council which was supposed to plan preparations in case of war which later on were published by the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich.”

Now, that the membership of this Council included the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who was then the Defendant Von Neurath, is shown by Document EC-177, Exhibit USA-390. If the Tribunal will turn to Page 16 of the document book, they will find that document and, at the foot of the page, the composition of the Reich Defense Council, the permanent members including the Minister for Foreign Affairs. That document is dated “Berlin, 22 May 1933” which was during this defendant’s tenure of that office. That is the first stage.