THE PRESIDENT: Very well, if you say there is nothing in these offices which covered the matter you are going to deal with; well and good.
LT. MELTZER: Defendant Funk, in an interrogation conducted on 4 June 1945, admitted, as I said a minute ago, that he helped to finance this highly critical campaign.
THE PRESIDENT: You see, Lieutenant Meltzer, the heading that you have so conveniently given to us is that he contributed to the seizure of power. Well now, nearly every one of the headings A to U on Page 1, which he admits, is evidence that he contributed to seizure of power. Is it your object to propose that he also helped to raise funds? The contribution to the seizure of power is not in itself a crime; it is only a step.
LT. MELTZER: Very well, Your Honor. There is one aspect, however, of his activity in that regard which I should like to mention; that is, in connection with his fund-raising activities, he was present at a meeting in Berlin early in 1933.
I am referring to the document which records what went on in that meeting in order to point out that in the course of the meeting Hitler and Göring submitted an exposition of certain basic elements of the Nazi program. The reference to this meeting is found in Document 2828-PS, which Your Honors will find on Page 28 of the document book. I wish to quote the following question and answer:
“Q: ‘About 1933, we have been informed, certain industrialists attended a meeting in the home of Göring before the election in March. Do you know anything about this?’
“A: ‘I was at the meeting. Money was not demanded by Göring but by Schacht. Hitler left the room, then Schacht made a speech asking for money for the election. I was there as an impartial observer, since I was friendly with the industrialists.’ ”
The character and importance of Funk’s work with the large industrialists is emphasized in the biography of Funk, which I referred to earlier, and I will simply invite Your Honors’ attention to the relevant pages of that book, which are 83 and 84.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t understand why you read that passage. If you wanted to show that he was at the meeting, it would be merely sufficient to say that he was at the meeting. I don’t think those two sentences that you read help us in the very least.