Dr. Schilf (counsel for defendant Klemm): The prosecution in this connection submitted another document, Prosecution Exhibit 291, that is Document NG-770.[551] It deals with the problem whether church services could be held in penal institutions. I ask you whether you had anything to do with that matter?
Defendant Klemm: Yes, and I remember it quite well because I had a rather hot argument with Thierack about that matter.[552] Thierack, without informing me, prohibited that any church services could be held in penal institutions. I found out about that directive through the Deutsche Justiz—the periodical for German Justice—of 1944, on page 270. I immediately went to Thierack and referred to ethical reasons, but he did not abstain from his intentions. Then I used stronger arguments. I told him that I knew from the period of my work in the Party Chancellery that Hitler himself had issued a strict order that during the war all measures which might cause struggles with the church should be abstained from. Thierack doubted that. I offered that I would get a written confirmation from the Party Chancellery about that. He forbade that I write to the Party Chancellery. I told him in the course of the conversation that I was quite sure what the outcome of that matter would be. The moment one bishop would turn to Hitler, Hitler on account of his basic attitude would disavow Thierack.
A short time later when letters were received from German bishops, from the Protestant side as well as from the Catholic side, I went to Thierack and he became rather thoughtful and agreed to rescind the former order. That happened in a very carefully stated form, but it actually occurred. Especially for that matter, I claim a certain amount of credit.
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VI. FINAL STATEMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS[553]
Presiding Judge Brand: The record will show that the defendants have already had the opportunity to testify at length under oath, and they are now accorded the privilege, in each instance, of making an unsworn statement for the benefit of the Tribunal.
We will hear the first defendant, Dr. Schlegelberger.
Defendant Schlegelberger: These words of Pope Gregor VII are world-famous: “I loved justice and hated arbitrariness; therefore, I die in exile.”
I feel confident that your judgment will save me from that fate. But I, too, in imprisonment, could not overcome the bitterness of being rewarded for my hard struggle for justice by this period of shame and misery. The charges and insults of the prosecutor do not apply to me. My life is not compatible with the intention of crime. The attempt to destroy the alleged myth around my person by showering abuse at a man who has aged honorably was bound to fail. The Goering affair has been cleared up as completely unexceptionable. The connection between it, my draft of a law, and my resignation is based on a freely invented malicious construction which lacks all foundation. In spite of my advanced age my defense was easy for me. All I had to do was to tell the Tribunal the truth. I have done so in the firm conviction that truth will be victorious and with the undaunted pride of a clear conscience.
Presiding Judge Brand: The defendant Klemm may address the Court.