“Although the demoniac can manifest itself in everything material and immaterial, and indeed be singularly apparent in beasts, it assumes its most extraordinary form when associated with man, and constitutes a power which if not contrary to is yet a disturbing element in the moral world order. There are innumerable names for the phenomena which are brought to light in this way. For all philosophies and religions have tried both in prose and in poetry to solve this riddle and to dispose of the matter once and for all, which they may well continue to do in the future. But the demoniac assumes its most dreadful form when it manifests itself preponderantly in any one human being. During my lifetime I have had occasion to observe several such persons, either closely or from afar. They are not always the most distinguished persons, either in intellect or in talent, and they rarely excel by their goodness of heart; yet a tremendous force emanates from them, and they exercise an incredible power over every creature and even over the elements, and none can tell how far such influence will extend. No coalition of moral forces can prevail against them; it is in vain that the better part of humanity attempts to put them in disrepute as victims of deception, or as impostors. The masses are attracted to them. They seldom or never find contemporary equals, and nothing short of the universe itself, against which they begin the fight, can overcome them; and these observations may perhaps have inspired that curious but monstrous saying: Nemo contra Deum, nisi Deus ipse.”
I think I have demonstrated that the fact that he served Hitler does not incriminate Schacht and that it can by no means be concluded from this act that at that time he embodied the criminal deeds of Hitler and his regime into his own intentions. He did not even think them possible. Therefore he followed no dolus eventualis either; on the contrary: Insofar as the violent character of the regime disturbed him he believed he would be able, through his appointment to an important post, to contribute to the abolition and prevention of those attendant phenomena of which he also disapproved, and to aid Germany’s recovery within his sphere of activity in a decent and peaceful manner.
That being the case, not the slightest reproach could be made against him for not only serving Hitler after the seizure of power, but also for helping him to gain control. This latter charge is, therefore, completely immaterial as evidence of criminal behavior or of criminal intent. However, there is no need for this argument at all, since as a matter of fact Schacht did not help Hitler to gain power. Hitler was in power when Schacht began to work for him. Hitler’s victory was already assured when the July elections of the Reichstag in 1932 brought him no less than 230 seats. These represented about 40 percent of the total votes. There had been no such election result for any party for decades. But the immediate political future was thereby established under a Government headed by Hitler, thanks to the very rules of the German democratic Constitution and every other democratic constitution. Any other path was beset with the danger of civil war.
It was only natural that Schacht, who at that time honestly believed in Hitler’s political mission, did not wish to take this path. It was likewise natural that he should take an active part whenever he believed that thereby he might be able to prevent harmful radicalism in the economic political domain. A wise French statesman says:
“Every epoch confronts us in some way with the task of creating benefits or preventing abuses. For this reason, in my opinion, a patriotic man can and must serve any government which his country appoints for itself.”
By serving Hitler, Schacht, in his opinion, was serving his country and not Hitler. This opinion may have been the greatest of mistakes, and it has subsequently revealed itself as completely erroneous as far as Hitler was concerned, yet Schacht can never be criminally charged for acting as he did at that time, neither directly nor circumstantially. And indeed we must not forget that the Hitler of 1933 not only seemed to be a different man from the Hitler of 1938 or even of 1941, but actually was different. Schacht has already referred during his interrogation to this transformation, which was caused by the poison of mass worship. Moreover, the transformation of such personalities is a psychological law. History proves this in Nero, Constantine the Great, and many others. In the case of Hitler there exist many irreproachable witnesses for the truth of this fact, irreproachable in the sense that a purpose or an intention to violate the law, to raise terrorism to a principle, and to attack mankind with a war of aggression, can never be imputed to them. I merely wish to quote a few of them. I could multiply the quotations a hundredfold. In 1934 Lord Rothermere wrote an article in the Daily Mail, entitled: “Adolf Hitler from Close By.” I quote only a few sentences:
“The most prominent figure in the world today is Adolf Hitler ... Hitler stands in direct line with those great leaders of mankind who seldom appear more than once in two or three centuries ... it is delightful to see that Hitler’s speech has considerably brightened his popularity in England.”
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Dix, I thought the Tribunal had refused to allow the writings of Lord Rothermere to be put in evidence or used.
DR. DIX: I interpreted the decision of the High Tribunal barring quotations from Lord Rothermere from the document book to mean—and this is also the reason given in the Indictment—that this was a matter for argument which should not be submitted in evidence as a fact, and that it would be irrelevant in the hearing of the evidence that Rothermere and others were of this opinion; and from this I drew the conclusion—and I am still of the opinion today that this conclusion is correct—that in the course of my argument, that is, in the course of my appraisal of the evidence, I could cite passages from the literature of the entire world, insofar as it is known, in order to support a line of thought. That Rothermere said that is not a fact which I want to submit to the Tribunal as evidence, but only in support of the assertion forming part of my argument that not only Schacht but also other intelligent and prominent people, even outside of Germany, at first had the same opinion of Hitler’s personality ...
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Dix, the Tribunal has already indicated its refusal to allow this to be used as evidence, because it does not pay any attention to the opinions expressed by this author. Therefore, we think it would be better if you went on to some other part of your argument.