“ ‘That is when I should have resigned, in 1938. I am guilty. I am guilty. I admit that I am a guilty party here.’ ”
In the Propaganda Ministry, Defendant Funk, as we have seen, helped solidify the German people in favor of war. When he moved on to his position as Minister of Economics, and to other positions which will appear, he used his talents even more directly for the conspirators’ main task: preparation for war. Immediately before Defendant Funk took over the Ministry of Economics from Defendant Schacht in 1938, there was a major reorganization of that ministry’s functions which integrated it with the Four Year Plan as the supreme command of the German military economy. This reorganization was effected by a decree, dated 4 February 1938, signed by Göring as Commissioner of the Four Year Plan. This decree is set forth in an official monthly bulletin issued by Göring and entitled, in the English translation, The Four Year Plan, Volume II, 1938, Page 105. It is requested that the Tribunal take judicial notice of this publication.
At this point I would simply note that that decree makes it clear that Defendant Funk assumed a critical role in the task of economic mobilization during a decisive period. Indeed, in 1938 he was directly charged with the task of preparing the German economy for war. By a secret decree he was made Plenipotentiary General for Economics and assumed the duties which once had been discharged by Defendant Schacht. In this connection I refer to Document 2194-PS, which has already been placed in evidence. This document, which is found on Page 111 of Your Honors’ document books, consists of a letter dated 6 September 1939, and that letter transmitted a copy of the Reich Defense Law of 4 September 1938. It is this enclosure that we wish to deal with now. I wish to quote from Page 4 of the translation, Paragraphs 2 to 4:
“It is the task of the GBW”—that is the Plenipotentiary General for Economics—“to put all economic forces into the service of the Reich defense and to safeguard economically the life of the German nation. To him are subordinated: the Reich Minister of Economics, the Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture, the Reich Minister of Labor. . .” and so on.—“He is furthermore responsible for directing the financing of the Reich defense within the realm of the Reich Finance Ministry and the Reichsbank.”
To quote one more paragraph:
“The GBW must fulfill the demands of the OKW which are of essential importance for the Armed Forces and must ensure the economic conditions necessary for the production of the armament industry directly managed by the OKW, according to the requirements of the latter.”
This law, in essence, re-enacted the provisions previously passed in the Reich Defense Law of 1935, and I will not trouble the Tribunal with further reading. I do wish to note, however, that the law was, at the specific direction of Hitler, kept secret and that it was signed by Defendant Funk, among others, as Plenipotentiary General for Economics. Your Honors will find Defendant Funk’s signature on the next to the last page of the document, and I invite your attention to the names of his co-signers.
Defendant Funk, in a speech which he delivered on 14 October 1939, explained how, as Plenipotentiary General for Economics, he had for a year and a half prior to the launching of the aggression against Poland, advanced Germany’s economic preparations for war. I offer into evidence Document Number 3324-PS as Exhibit USA-661. This document is a German book by Berndt and Von Wedel entitled, in the English translation, Germany in the Fight. That book reprints the defendant’s speech. I quote now from Page 2 of the translation of Document Number 3324-PS, which is found on Page 116 of the document book. The translation of this speech is somewhat awkward, and with the Tribunal’s permission I would rephrase it somewhat without changing its substance in the slightest.
“Although all economic and financial departments were harnessed to the task of the Four Year Plan under the leadership of General Field Marshal Göring, Germany’s economic preparation for war was also secretly advanced in another sector for well over a year, namely, through the formation of a national guiding apparatus for special war economy tasks which would have to be accomplished the moment that war became a fact. For this work all economic departments were combined into one administrative authority, the Plenipotentiary General for Economics, to which position the Führer appointed me one and a half years ago.”