NAZI DOCUMENTS PRODUCED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 278, 24 November 1945, Page 5

NAZI DOCUMENTS PRODUCED

THE NUREMBERG TRIALS BOAST BY SCHACHT AS TO ARMAMENTS Reed. 11.10 p.m. London, Nov. 23. The trial of the leading 20 members of the Nazi party alive and in Allied hands, on charges of promoting’ a world war to gain their ends, entered its fourth day at Nuremberg to-day. .More documents were produced to-day from a file of more than 2500 which the prosecution has available -as evidence. Among those presented to the Court to-day was a letter from the Nazi Finance Minister (Dr. Schacht) boasting as to what he had done to re-arm the German nation, at a time when, after the last war. armament was forbidden.

Defence counsel objected to some of the documents to-day, claiming that they were not admissible as evidence. The presiding Judge (Lord Justice Lawrence, of Britain) admitted the docu-

nients. pointing out that the defence had access to them and could call evidence as to the question of their validity.

Most of the prisoners apparently were in high spirits when they tooK their places at yesterdays session of tne trial. Goering chatted with counsel, smiling ail the time. Hess smiled lor the first time since the trial oegan.

Lord Lawrence opened proceedings by rejecting a plea of insanity on be-' half of Streicher, and an application for a postponement of Bormann's trial. I Colonel Robert Storey, a member of the American prosecuting team, in-| formed the court that the United i States was submitting several hun-| dred German documents from a file I of more than 2500. They ranged from Rosenberg's diary and letters discovered behind a false wall in a castle in eastern Bavaria, to Luft-I waffe records secreted in Hitler's proposed alpine redoubt. Colonel Storey described how special intelligence! teams scoured Germany for Nazi documenta. !

All the prisoners except Hess put on earphones and listened intently as Colonel Storey told tne court that he hoped to expedite the usual laborious, tedious method of introducing documentary evidence, after which a second member of the American prosecuting team, Mr. Ralph Albrecht, presented a chart of the construction of the Nazi Party. Mr. Albrecht drew attention to the fact that Goering and Hess were Hitler's chosen successors, at which Hess learned forward and stared inquiringly at Goering. All gazed coldly at Frick when Mr. Albrecht stated that he had certified to the accuracy of the chart of the German Government organisation, which was the next document presented. Mr, Albrecht, in the course of a detailed description of the manner in which the Nazis took over all Government posts, corrected his earlier statement ard pointed out that Goering was always first successor designate to the Fuhrer, to which Goering nodded emphatic agreement.

Large charts with which Mr. Albrecht illustrated how the Nazis

blended Government party organisations interested Hess more than anything in the trial. Mr. Albrecht said the Reich Defence Council was established not later them May, 1935. This was a war-planning body, of which Hitler was chairman. Gueiing nodded vigorously.

Goering nodded about 20 times and smiled broadly when Mr. Albredht mentioned the four year plan for which he was responsible, but most of the prisoners gave up trying to follow the prosecutor through a maze of names bn the chart.

Hess conversed lengthily with Ribbentrop, frequently laughing. Major Frank Wallis continued the prosecution’s case after the luncheon adjournment. He explained that was presenting documents covering 1 the history of Nazi attempts before the war to achieve four main objec-' fives—firstly, to overthrow the Treaty of Versailles; secondly, to acquire territory lost by Germany in the first world war: thirdly, to acquire territory inhabited by Germans; fourthly/ to acquire other territory for living space. The Nazis were determined to 1

achieve these objectives by legal or illegal means, including war defendants. Rosenberg and btreicher were pai Licularly prominent in spreading the master race doctrine. Rosenberg nodded his head slightly at mention of the master race. At tlie direction of Lord Lawrence, Major Wallis agreed to provide the defence with copies of all documents. The defendants appeared surprised when Major Wallis produced the minutes of the first Hitler Cabinet, and even more surprised when he produced lhe minutes of meeting after meeting. The minutes gave the defendants’ own words in discussing ways and means of setting aside Germany’s constitution and persuading' the Reichstag to pass an enabling Act I giving the Nazis unlimited power. The minutes of the second meeting.

of Hiller’s Cabinet showed that Goering suggested that a majority in the Reichstag could be achieved by preventing the Social Democrats from attending. Von Neurath offered to arrest the Communists and re-educate them. Major Wallis produced records shewing that 150 members of the Reichstag were absent when the decision was made to suppress the Communists. The Cabinet minutes showed that these were already in concentration camps. Major Wallis read a secret decree issued by Bormann. “Until the people are separated from the church, the National Socialist Party cannot gain control,” said the decree. “No one

would know anything about Christianity unless dulled by pastors. If youth was not introduced to Christianity, Christianity would disappear of itself." The Associated Press Nuremberg correspondent says that von Papons last act before entering the Nuremberg Courtroom to fight for his life was the reconstruction of Hindenburg’s will. He adds that von Papen, as Hindenburg’s Vice-Chancellor, prepared a testament in April, 1934. and handed it to Hitler after Hindenburg's death. The Nazis later in 1934 published a purported Hindenburg testament, in which he called on Hitler to concentrate the power of Germany in a single hand and deliver the German people from disorders disunity and unrest which threatened the Reich's existence.

Von Papen, reconstructing the will from memory, revealed that, the Nazi version was spurious, and states that Hindenburg actually wanted a restoration of the monarchy when order was restored. Hitler agreed to this stipulation.

The Court then adjourned until today.