In the plan of reorganization itself, Krupp stated:
“The turn of political events is in line with the wishes which I myself and the board of directors have cherished for a long time. . . . In reorganizing the Reich Association of German Industry, I shall be guided by the idea of bringing the new organization into agreement with the political aims of the Reich Government.”
The ideas expressed by Krupp on behalf of the members of the Reich Association of German Industry for introducing the Leadership Principle into industry, were subsequently adopted.
I respectfully refer the Court to the Reichsgesetzblatt of 1934, Part I, Page 1194, Sections 11, 12, and 16.
Under the decree introducing the Leadership Principle into industry, each group of industry was required to have a leader who was to serve without compensation. The leaders were to be appointed and could be removed at the discretion of the Minister of Economics. The charter of each group was to be decreed by the leader, who was obligated to lead his group in accordance with the principles of the National Socialist State.
I think it is fair to argue that the introduction of the Leadership Principle into the organizations of business permitted the centralization of authority, and guaranteed the efficient execution of orders, which the Government issued to business, in the interest of a promotion of a war economy. And the overwhelming support given by German industrialists to the Nazi war program is very vividly described in a speech prepared by Gustav Krupp in January of 1944, for delivery at the University of Berlin; and I must again respectfully refer Your Honors to the document in your book bearing the identification Number D-317.
I shall not, of course, bore this court with a reading of that whole document, but I should like to quote from it without wrenching any of the material from its true context.
And this statement is found beginning in the third and the fourth paragraphs, being the first large paragraph on the first page:
“War material is lifesaving for one’s own people, and whoever works and performs in those spheres can be proud of it. Here, enterprise as a whole finds its highest justification of existence. This justification, I may inject this here, crystallized especially during the time of interregnum between 1919 and 1933, when Germany was dying down disarmed. . . .”
And further on: