I realize that the International Military Tribunal came to the conclusion that the Schmundt protocol is correct. All defendants and witnesses who were heard at that time declared that the contents of the speech were not of so aggressive a nature as it is laid down in the minutes. The defense counsel made a mistake at that time of not calling all the witnesses which I requested. Nobody went to the trouble of critically examining the text of the record. I can understand why the IMT reached a different conclusion, having heard only the defendants’ general objection, which remained unsubstantiated in detail. Nowhere is it yet permissible in law to maintain the verdict of a previous court when new and better evidence has been submitted.
The witnesses Warlimont, Schniewind, Engel, and Raeder stated that several passages of the Schmundt record contained a number of false assertions regarding Hitler’s words. Warlimont testified that he was not present, although he is listed as among those present. Milch’s testimony made it absolutely definite that Goering was not present. If there were only so few persons present and there were mistakes made concerning the presence of persons, the record must have been made up a long time after the event, otherwise no faults of that kind would have been possible. Schniewind testified that a number of points contained in the Schmundt record were never discussed at that time at all. He had the opinion that many ideas laid down in the record were borne out at a later period, that is to say, 1940. These ideas concerned, for example, the use which could be made of war production after the defeat of France, the importance of aircraft carriers for convoys, the collaboration of Italy, and the break-through of the Maginot Line by this force, about Japan, and last but not least, the so-called Fuehrer Decree. By the statement of Felmy it is proved forever that the so-called Fuehrer order was given only on 12 December 1940. Even Raeder stated that the principles of the Fuehrer order were laid down at another occasion and that they were accordingly carried out afterwards. This other occasion was given by the statement of Felmy. Also Raeder did not hear anything about Japan; he considered it impossible that Italy and the break-through of the Maginot Line were discussed and he also states that nobody mentioned a better production of cruisers. He also testified that in that meeting a two-front war was not mentioned because he, as an officer, would have noticed that. Furthermore, he testified that Belgium and Holland were not referred to and that after the speech Goering did not open a debate. Even though the witness was not present at all times, it is rather strange that he should not have heard mention of any of the very points not heard by the other witnesses. The defendant Milch gave you the precise details of those points of the speech which were not mentioned at the time, and he was even in a position to tell you when these various points were first conceived.
Who, assuming responsibility for justice, can still seriously maintain the findings of the IMT now that these precise statements have shown us the errors of the Schmundt record? A record containing so many grave mistakes is no longer of probative value and can never be made the basis for any judgment. I am convinced that after this trial the historians of the whole world will regard the Schmundt record as the product of a later period, i.e., between the fall of 1940 and the spring of 1941 and that they will regard it as the result of time, drawn up to make Hitler, then regarded as the victor, seem possessed of a prophetic gift which in reality he never had.
The conference did take place on 23 May 1939; that is true. Its real topics, however, can no longer be stated on the basis of the Schmundt record. Thus, the statements made in the first Nuernberg trial gain a different and greater significance. Never again, therefore, will it be possible for anyone to say that on that occasion Hitler preached war and the enslavement of Europeans.
There is yet another argument possible against this record, which, it is alleged, also contains the plan for slave labor. Document EC-194, Exhibit 8, and 016-PS, Exhibit 13, submitted by the prosecution, show in all clarity that the use of European peoples in German armament works was a measure forced by the emergencies of the war and that the idea was born and realized only by the military difficulties resulting from the war with Russia.
With clean hands and a pure heart, Milch entered the war in August 1939 having previously advised Goering to fly to Britain to prevent the war. He himself became the victim of Hitler’s deception, and he himself believed that the war had been forced upon Hitler. Who can disregard justice to such an extent as to reproach Milch with having held that belief? It is his misfortune, but not his guilt, to have been deflected from the truth by misleading propaganda. Who would so misinterpret patriotism, heretofore regarded as one of man’s noblest instincts, as to reproach Milch for having done in 1939 his duty as a soldier?
He never prepared any aggressive wars. In every case he was informed shortly before the event, and nothing is more typical of the opinion his superiors held of him than the fact that he chanced to hear about the preparations for the war against Russia through a subordinate, who had been told of Hitler’s plan before the field marshal was told. The first Nuernberg trial has already shown that Milch saw Goering at once in an effort to prevent that war. Goering himself admitted this. Milch’s good intentions were of no avail because Goering turned him down. As Milch’s superior officer, he even went so far as to forbid Milch to see Hitler and to tell him that he, Goering, would prevent Milch from being admitted to Hitler’s presence.
One of your Honors, in putting questions to the defendant, aimed to show that it might be regarded as incriminating to the defendant that he did not resign in 1941 or at least in 1943. Your Honors, only if one has lived in Germany these last years is it possible truly to judge that problem. As I said in my opening speech, one can judge the man only against his background, through his upbringing, from which usually nobody can escape no matter in what country he lives. Milch was brought up as a soldier. He absorbed ideas which for centuries were regarded as true and inviolate laws. It is no guilt for him not to have freed himself from them. I have said this once before.
At that time nobody in Germany was in a position to protest against certain events, against certain aims of the Party. All that one could do was to criticize things within one’s own immediate circle and tell one’s intimate collaborators how to improve matters. If in Germany anybody had attempted at any time to express criticism publicly, either by word or by publicly resigning, nobody would have been the wiser for it. This system was so ruthless and its stranglehold over public opinion so great that it would and could suppress anything.
You need only remember that during the first IMT trial it was shown that von Papen’s criticism in his Marburg speech was completely withheld from the German public. Had Milch done anything, nobody would have heard about it, and his action would have been useless, perhaps senseless, as nothing would have been changed for the better. Your Honors may not know that six to eight generals, including General von Falkenhausen, once Commander in Chief in Belgium, and Colonel General Halder, one of Germany’s highest and best leaders, were thrown into concentration camps because they had deviated from Hitler’s line. This is not connected with 20 July 1944. Nobody in Germany knew about this. Pictures of General Count Sponeck were sold as of a hero two years after this man had vanished into a concentration camp. Such were the lies and the deceptions of Goebbels’ propaganda. We have learned since the end of the war that prior to 20 July 1944, there were 50 to 60 generals in Moabit prison, without anyone in Germany knowing anything about that. You will understand the full falsehood of propaganda when you recall the base distortions by which the dismissals of Generals von Blomberg and von Fritsch were announced to the German public.