FRITZSCHE: In October 1939? During the whole of September and October untruthful statements about the Athenia were made in the German press as well as on the German radio.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. But on the 23d of October 1939 a particularly untruthful statement attributing the sinking of the Athenia to Mr. Winston Churchill was made in a German newspaper. You told us about it.
FRITZSCHE: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: And you continued to broadcast referring to those alleged facts for some time, did you not?
FRITZSCHE: Of course, because at the time I was still under the impression that they were true and my...
THE PRESIDENT: That is what I wanted to ask you about. You had a naval liaison officer in your office?
FRITZSCHE: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: What inquiries did you make?
FRITZSCHE: This naval officer was not actually the liaison officer between us and the High Command of the Navy. He was censorship officer for the entire Armed Forces. Nevertheless I naturally called on his services in connection with naval matters. And several times I ordered him, or rather, requested him to find out from the High Command of the Navy how the investigation of the Athenia case stood. The answer was always the same: “The position still is that no German submarine was near the place of the catastrophe.”
THE PRESIDENT: And are you saying that that liaison officer of the Navy told you that after the 23d of October 1939?