BULLYING POLAND

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 December 1945, Page 7

BULLYING POLAND

TRIAL REVELATIONS MUSSOLINI OVER-RULED (Rec. 11.45 a.m.) " / NUREMBERG/ December 6. • A secret Nazi document, revealing that the Germans had drawn up plans for submarine operations in the Atlantic by August 1, 1939, in preparation for launching war ' against Poland on September 1, 1939, was submitted at the war criminals’ trial, to-day, when Lieut.-Col. Griffiths Jones resumed the British case. Twenty defendants listened with sour expressions to the prosecutor’s account of Diplomatic bullying to which the 5 Polish representatives were subjected in the war of nerves which preceded the attack of September, 1939. Lieut.-Colonel Jones disclosed that Mussolini, “surprised at the seriousness of the situation,” wanted to back out of Hitler’s plans only 19 days before the Germans attacked Poland, but was overruled by Hitler. The prosecution produced a letter from Funk to Hitler, in which he admitted that the Reichsbank had been prepared for war. It was the first occasion on which Funk’s name had been introduced at the trial. Lieut.-Colonel Jones said that it was difficult to say how defendants could claim to have no knowledge of the conspiracy to make war. Funk’s letter stated: “How happy and grateful we ought to be for the favour of experiencing these overwhelming and great world-changing times, and for joining in the mighty events of these days. I was deeply happy when Goering told me you, the Fuehrer, approved of the measures I had prepared for financing the war. I have inconspicuously changed into gold all foreign assets of the Reichsbank and of the whole of Germany’s economy, on which it is possible to lay hands.” Ribbentrop, who signed the SovietGerman agreement in 1939, was again taking copious notes during the hearing, but looked up for a moment when Lieut.-Col. Jones referred to the shock the pact gave the rest of the world in actual fact. ORDERS TO INVADE Poland were given immediately after the signing of the treaty. Another document introduced by the prosecution, disclosed that Goering told interrogators at Nuremberg that during the week before the outbreak, of war he was in secret communication wih Lord Halifax, then Foreign Secretary by special courier outside the regular diplomatic channels, “ to do everything to stop war with Britain.” Lieut.-Colonel Jones recalled the last-minute effort made by the Pope and Mr Roosevelt to avert war. If the Pope had realised that the, negotiations during the last days of August were completely bogus and simply an endeavour by Germany to dissuade England from meeting the obligations to Poland, then perhaps he would have saved himself the trouble of appealing to Hitler. The German Government were no longer concerned with negotiation, and only with not appearing to turn down appeals too blatantly. RIBBENTROP’S QUESTIONS NUREMBERG, December 5.. Ribbentrop’s counsel, Doctor Fritz Sauter, said that Ribbentrop was working overtime on a list of questions he hoped to send to Lords Beaverbrook and Kemsley. He added the questions were designed to elicit answers showing that Ribbentrop was guiltless of any charge of conspiring to wage an aggressive war. Reuter’s Nuremberg correspondent says: It is believed that Ribbentrop is framing a question on the “Daily Express’s” headline, soon before the outbreak, “There will be no war,” in the hope of proving his efforts to prevent war had been great enough to justify the headline. CHRISTMAS ADJOURNMENT NUREMBERG, December 6. Lord Justice Lawrence (President) announced that the War Crimes Tribunal was adjourned on December zi until January 2. . 1 , Lord Justice Lawrence said the decision to- adjourn the trial ovei Christmas was in response to an urgent request from defendants ' counsel. “As the trial must inevitably last for a considerable time the Tribunal considers that not only in the interests of the defendants and then counsel, but of everyone concerned in the trial there should be a recess. It seems best to take a recess at Christmas rather than at a later date when the prosecuting case has been completed.” The United States prosecuting team a«ked that a note be taken of their objection to an adjournment for the benefit of the defendants. DACHAU PILES OF CORPSES. (Rec. 10.50 a.m.) LONDON, December 6. Emil Jahl, the Dachau hangman, who in a written statement said he was concerned in 800 to .1000 executions, cried out at his trial to-day: “Morally my soul is ruined by what I had to do.” I He added this was the first time he had been able to speak freely for five years. He described how he stoked up the crematorium furnaces with thousands of corpses, which came in at the rate of 150 to 200 daily in the latter part of 1944 and early in 1945, and were piled up to the ceiling in every room. KALTENBRUNNER’S HEALTH NUREMBERG, Dec. 5. Kaltenbrunner, who was stricken with brain haemorrhage two clays, before the opening of the war crimes trial, is being transferred from an army hospital to the prison infirmary this week. The Associated Press correspondent says he will probably be well enough to appear in Court in about a month’s time. UNITY MITFORD. LONDON, December 5. The Solicitor-General ’ (Sir A. Soskice) stated in the Commons the Government had no intention of prosecuting Miss Unity Mitford, who returned to England from Germany in 1940. There was no evidence in possession of the authorities to justify criminal proceedings. Miss Mitford was once the associate of leading Nazis and was entertained in Germany by Hitler.