DR. SAUTER: Were you responsible for the press policy of the Reich Government—and I stress: the Reich Government and not the Party?
FUNK: I have already said that I received my instructions for the press from the Führer; that went on for 6 weeks. Then Dr. Goebbels took charge of press policy.
DR. SAUTER: You have already said that the press reports to Reich President Von Hindenburg ended with his death in August 1934?
FUNK: Yes.
DR. SAUTER: And also, from the same date, your press reports to Hitler, who was then Reich Chancellor, is it not so?
FUNK: Yes, that is correct. Reich President Hindenburg had died in the meantime.
DR. SAUTER: And afterwards the Reich press chief, that is the Party official, Dr. Dietrich, tended more and more to occupy your place?
FUNK: Yes, Dr. Dietrich was one of the Führer’s closest collaborators; and through him the Führer gave his instructions to the press.
DR. SAUTER: Dr. Funk, the book by Dr. Oestreich, 3505-PS, Exhibit USA-653, which we have already dealt with, contains the following quotation on your press policy; and I quote:
“Many of the journalists who worked in Berlin and the provinces are grateful to Funk for the way in which he attended to their wishes and their complaints, especially during the transition period.