PUHL: The decision would have been made by the Directorate of the Reichsbank as an executive group, as a corporate body, and then it would have been submitted to the President for countersignature.
DR. SAUTER: Earlier—I must fill in this gap in connection with your affidavit—you expressed yourself in a rather misleading way. You stated earlier: “This was brought to our knowledge, because the SS personnel attempted to convert this material into gold, into cash.” And today you say that you heard of it only after your arrest. Apparently, if I understand you correctly, there must be...
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Sauter, I do not understand why you say “earlier.” It is the sentence which followed the sentence which you put to him.
DR. SAUTER: Yes, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Why do you say “earlier” then? Why do you say “earlier”?
DR. SAUTER: In his affidavit—if the wording of the affidavit is correct and there is no misunderstanding—the witness said...
THE PRESIDENT: What I am pointing out to you is that the first sentence reads like this: “The material deposited by the SS included all these items taken from Jews, concentration camp victims, and other persons by the SS.” And it then goes on, “This was brought to our knowledge by the SS personnel who attempted to convert this material into cash.” What you are now putting to him is that that acceptance was put to him earlier. At least that is what I understood you to say.
DR. SAUTER: No; the witness said today that he was told only during his interrogations in Frankfurt-on-Main that these articles had been taken from concentration camp victims, et cetera. The affidavit, however, can and must be interpreted in my opinion as saying that he received this information, already before his arrest, through the SS personnel and that apparently is not true. For that reason I asked the witness whether this expression in the affidavit is not a misunderstanding.
Now, Witness, if I may repeat this: You first heard that these articles belonged to concentration camp victims at your interrogation?
PUHL: Yes.