“Existing reserves will have to be touched for the purpose of carrying us over this difficulty until the goal ordered by the Führer has been reached, and then in case of war, they are not a reliable backing in any case.”
And on the second page, the eighth paragraph down:
“If war should break out tomorrow, we would be forced to take measures from which we might possibly still shy away at the present moment. They are therefore to be taken.”
With reference to the assertion that the Defendant Schacht was advised that Hitler had ordered that all formations of the Air Force be ready by April 1, 1937, I respectfully refer to Document 1301-PS, dated 31 August 1936. I am advised that that document should bear an additional number. It should read 1301-PS-7. On the first page, if Your Honor pleases, the third paragraph, or the paragraph marked “3” and after the words “air force” . . . states that according to an order of the Führer, the setting up of all Air Force units had to be completed on April 1, 1937; and if Your Honors will turn the page to Page 20, about midway in the page, you will observe that a copy of this document was sent to the president of the Reichsbank, Dr. Schacht.
After their successes in Austria and in the Sudetenland, the Nazi conspirators redoubled their efforts to equip themselves for a war of aggression, and in a conference on October 14, 1938, shortly before the Nazi conspirators made their first demands on Poland, the Defendant Göring stated that the Führer had instructed him to carry out a gigantic program, by comparison with which the performances thus far were insignificant. This faced difficulties which he would overcome with the greatest energy and ruthlessness. And that statement may be found in the Document 1301-PS, on Page 25 of that document, and particularly the second sentence of the opening paragraph:
“Everybody knows from the press what the world situation looks like, and therefore the Führer has issued an order to him to carry out a gigantic program compared to which previous achievements are insignificant. There are difficulties in the way which he will overcome with the utmost energy and ruthlessness.”
The supply of foreign currency had shrunk because of preparations for the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and it was considered necessary to replenish it. “These”—and I am now referring to the third paragraph of that same Page 25 of Document 1301-PS:
“These gains made through the export are to be used for an increased armament. The armament should not be curtailed by the export activities. He received the order from the Führer to increase the armament to an abnormal extent, the Air Force having first priority. Within the shortest time, the Air Force is to be increased fivefold; also the Navy should get on more rapidly, and the Army should procure large amounts of offensive weapons at a faster rate, particularly heavy artillery pieces and heavy tanks. Along with this manufactured armaments must go, especially fuel, powder and explosives are to be moved into the foreground. It should be coupled with the accelerated construction of highways, canals, and particularly of the railroads.”
In the course of these preparations for war, a clash of wills ensued between two men, the Defendant Göring and the Defendant Schacht, as a result of which the Defendant Schacht resigned his position as head of the Ministry of Economics and plenipotentiary for the war economy in November of 1937 and was removed from the presidency of the Reichsbank in January of 1939. I do not propose, at this moment, to go into the details of this controversy. There will be more said on that subject at a later stage in these proceedings, but for the present, I should like to have it noted that it is our contention that Schacht’s departure in no way implied any disagreement with the major war aims of the Nazis. The Defendant Schacht took particular pride in his vast attainments in the financial and economic fields in aid of the Nazi war machine. And in the document bearing the number EC-257, which is a copy of a letter from the Defendant Schacht to General Thomas, in the first paragraph of the letter:
“I think back with much satisfaction to the work in the Ministry of Economics which afforded me the opportunity to assist in the rearmament of the German people in the most critical period, not only in the financial but also in the economic sphere. I have always considered a rearmament of the German people as conditio sine qua non of the establishment of a new German nation.”