Now, Number 11. The Prosecution felt, with regard to the witness Zimmermann, that he was really speaking on the contents of the defendant’s mind. If I might read the first five lines:
“The witness is in a position to give information about the personality, the character, and the philosophy of the defendant, as well as about the fact that he entered the Cabinet only at the express request of the Reich President Von Hindenburg, and that he remained in the Cabinet after the latter’s death because he was a convinced friend of peace and an opponent of any policy pointing toward force or war, and that because of this reason he handed in his resignation as Reich Foreign Minister soon after 5 November 1937; also about the reasons because of which he declared himself ready to take over the office of Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia.”
It would appear that these are all matters which Dr. Zimmermann has heard from the defendant. I do not really think it helps the defendant’s case any further. The Prosecution therefore felt that that witness was irrelevant.
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: I should like to request that he be heard here. The witness has been a very intimate friend of Defendant Von Neurath for many, many years. The defendant considered him somewhat as a father confessor and informed him of everything which oppressed him. From this information the witness has a very clear impression of events and happenings. Thus this lawyer, Dr. Zimmermann, is very closely informed about the incidents that took place in September 1932, when Von Neurath entered the newly-formed Cabinet of Von Papen upon the express desire of the then Reich President Von Hindenburg. The witness is informed of the fact that Defendant Von Neurath did not wish to accept the call, and that it took very earnest persuasion on the part of the Reich President Von Hindenburg, concerning his patriotic and personal duty, before the defendant could be moved to assume the office of Reich Foreign Minister. This witness also knows the motives because of which the defendant after the death of the Reich President considered it his duty, in response to a wish expressed previously by the Reich President, to remain in office, and in that way to fulfill the wishes of the Reich President.
He also knows very well what a really devastating effect it had on Von Neurath when, on 5 November 1937, Hitler for the first time came to the fore with martial intent. Witness Zimmermann also knows very exactly the reasons which moved the defendant after very long deliberation to assume the office of Reich Protector. The witness also is very well informed not only about the difficulties confronting the position of Reich Protector, but also about the attitude of the defendant to the problems in the Reich Protectorate. These matters are all of decisive importance so far as a judgment of the defendant is concerned, and I do not believe that even an affidavit or minutes of interrogation which has been worked out with the greatest care can have the same weight as a personal hearing of the witness. For these reasons I request that this witness, who has already given me his assurance that he will be glad to come here from Berlin, be granted me. We do not have to find him; he is a practicing lawyer and notary in Berlin.
SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: I do not wish to add to that. That leaves one point, My Lord, the two witnesses, 13 and 14. The first one, Dr. Völkers, was the chief of the Cabinet of Defendant Von Neurath in Prague. He has not been located. The second, Von Holleben, was. . .
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: This witness is in an internment camp at Neumünster, and I indicated the exact address.
SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Then I think the submission of the Prosecution is that one of these witnesses is suitable, and that it would be unnecessary to call the second witness if Dr. Völkers is available. That is my point.
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: I quite agree, but I ask you to consent to witness Consul Von Holleben’s being heard by means of an interrogatory.
THE PRESIDENT: It is now a quarter to 1; we will adjourn until 2.