[Turning to the defendant.] Do you know for what reasons Hindenburg wanted you to remain, that is, to enter Hitler’s Cabinet as Foreign Minister?
VON NEURATH: To secure the continuation of a peaceful foreign policy, and to prevent Hitler from taking the rash steps which were so possible in view of his impulsive nature; in one word, to act as a brake.
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Did not Hindenburg make it an actual condition for Hitler’s appointment as Reich Chancellor that you should remain as Foreign Minister, that is, enter Hitler’s Cabinet?
VON NEURATH: Yes, he told me so later.
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: In this connection, I should like to refer to the affidavit of former Ambassador Curt Prüfer, Number Neurath-4 in my document book, and I should like to read a short excerpt from it: “Since Hindenburg was a conservative, his basic political attitude....”
THE PRESIDENT: What page is that?
DR. VON LÜDINGHAUSEN: Page 27, Exhibit Number 4.
“Since Hindenburg was a conservative, his political attitude was probably about the same as that of Baron Neurath. There was no doubt in the mind of anybody who was even slightly aware of the conditions that Hindenburg himself, in vesting power in Hitler, did this reluctantly and only under the heavy pressure of domestic political developments. If under such circumstances he insisted, and actually made it a condition, that Baron Neurath, his former foreign political adviser, should remain in office, this undoubtedly was due to the fact that he wanted to assure himself of at least one steady pillar for foreign policy, that is, for peace, in the midst of the seething new forces which certainly appeared sinister and displeasing to him personally.”
Did you talk to Hindenburg about this, and did you tell him of your reluctance, your misgivings, about joining the Hitler Cabinet?
VON NEURATH: Yes, I did not leave him in any doubt about that.