DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Did he make the decision to form this Cabinet readily?
VON PAPEN: I imagine that Herr Von Neurath also had the same inner reservations I had at that time.
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Now, according to your knowledge, as far as you could learn from statements of Hitler’s, what were Hitler’s foreign political aims and efforts at that time?
VON PAPEN: Hitler’s foreign political aims at that time were quite limited: Abolition of discrimination by peaceful means and by strengthening Germany’s position in the world.
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Until the end of 1937, did you ever hear any statements from Hitler indicating that he might be determined to use armed force if his peaceful efforts did not have the desired result?
VON PAPEN: I never heard from Hitler of any such intentions.
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: And then it is always asserted that in leading Party circles he expressed such sanguinary intentions?
VON PAPEN: I never heard that in the Party, even among the most radical National Socialists, anyone ever spoke of the idea of a war.
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Then to sum up, you agreed fully with the aims of a peaceful policy that were intended and advocated by Herr Von Neurath?
VON PAPEN: Absolutely.