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IV

930

IV

934

of Austrian government to arm.
(USA 64)....

Directive from Blomberg to Su-
preme Commanders of Army,
Navy and Air Forces, 24 June
1935; accompanied by copy of
Reich Defense Law of 21 May 1935
and copy of Decision of Reich
Cabinet of 12 May 1935 on
the Council for defense of the
Reich. (USA 24).....
Adolf Hitler's speech before the
Reichstag, published in Voelk-
ischer Beobachter, Southern Ger-
many Special Edition, No. 142a,
22 May 1935. (USA 38).
Hitler's speech in the Reichstag,
7 March 1936, published in Voelk-
ischer Beobachter, Berlin Edition,
No. 68, 8 March 1936. (USA 56).. IV
Extracts from General Thomas'

Basic Facts for History of German
War and Armament Economy.
(USA 35)..

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IV

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994

IV

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Document

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Description

trated edition of Mein Kampf.
(GB 128).....

Minutes of second session of Work-
ing Committee of the Reich De-
fense held on 26 April 1933. (USA
390)...

Minutes of Twelfth Meeting of
Reichs Defense Council, 14 May
1936. (GB 247)....
Memorandum of conversation be-
tween Ambassador Bullitt and von
Neurath, German Minister for
Foreign Affairs, 18 May 1936.
(USA 65)....

Agreement between Austria and
German Government and Govern-
ment of Federal State of Austria,
11 July 1936. (GB 20).......
Non-aggression Treaty between
Germany and USSR and announce-
ment of 25 September 1939 re-
lating to it. (GB 145).............
German assurance to Austria, 21
May 1935, from Documents of
German Politics, Part III, p. 94.
(GB 19).

German assurances to Czechoslo-
vakia, 11 and 12 March 1938, as
reported by M. Masaryk, the
Czechoslovak Minister to London
to Viscount Halifax. (GB 21)...
German Declaration to the Bel-
gian Minister of 13 October 1937.
(GB 100)....

Notice by German government of
existence of German Air Force,
9 March 1935. (GB 11)...
Proclamation of the Fuehrer to
the German people and Order of

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A. POSITIONS HELD BY FRITZSCHE IN THE NAZI STATE.

Fritzsche's Party membership and his various positions in the propaganda apparatus of the Nazi State are shown in two affidavits made by himself (2976-PS; 3469-PS). Fritzsche became a member of the Nazi Party on 1 May 1933, and continued to be a member until Germany's collapse in 1945.

Fritzsche began his service with the staff of the Reich Ministry for People's Enlightenment and Propaganda (hereinafter referred to as the Propaganda Ministry) on 1 May 1933, he remained within the Propaganda Ministry until the Nazi downfall in the spring of 1945.

Before the Nazis seized political power in Germany, and beginning in September 1932, Fritzsche was head of the Wireless News Service (Drahtloser Dienst), an agency of the Reich Government, which at that time was the government of von Papen. After the Wireless News Service was incorporated into Dr. Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry in May 1933, Fritzsche continued as its head until 1938. Upon entering the Progapanda Ministry in May ́1933, Fritzsche also became head of the news section of the Press Division of the Propaganda Ministry. He continued in this position until 1937. In the summer of 1938 Fritzsche was appointed deputy to Alfred Ingemar Berndt, who was then head of the German Press Division. (The German Press Division, in the Indict

ment, is called the "Home Press Division." Since "German Press Division" seems to be a more literal translation, it is referred to as the German Press Division throughout this section. It is sometimes otherwise known as the Domestic Press Division.) This Division, as will be later shown, was the major section of the Press Division of the Reich Cabinet.

In December 1938 Fritzsche succeeded Berndt as the head of the German Press Division. Between 1938 and November 1942, Fritzsche was promoted three times. He advanced in title from Superior Government Counsel to Ministerial Counsel, then to Ministerialdirigent, and finally to Ministerialdirektor.

In November 1942 Fritzsche was relieved of his position as head of the German Press Division by Dr. Goebbels. In its place he accepted from Dr. Goebbels a newly created position in the Propaganda Ministry, that of Plenipotentiary for the Political Organization of the Greater German Radio. At the same time he also became head of the Radio Division of the Propaganda Ministry. He held both these positions in radio until the Nazi downfall.

There are two allegations in the Indictment concerning Fritzsche's positions for which no proof is available. The first unsupported allegation states that Fritzsche was Editor-in-Chief of the official German News Agency, Deutsche Nachrichten Buero. The second unsupported allegation states that Fritzsche was head of the Radio Division of the Propaganda Department of the Nazi Party. Fritzsche, in his affidavit, denies having held either of these positions, and these two allegations must fall for want of other proof.

B. FRITZSCHE'S PART IN THE CONSPIRACY TO CONSOLIDATE NAZI CONTROL OVER GERMANY AND TO LAUNCH WARS OF AGGRESSION.

In one of his affidavits (3469-PS), which contains numerous statements in the nature of self-serving declarations, Fritzsche states that he first became a successful journalist in the service of the Hugenberg Press, the most important chain of newspaper enterprises in pre-Nazi Germany. The Hugenberg concern owned papers of its own, but it was important primarily because it served newspaper which principally supported the so-called "national" parties of the Reich, including the NSDAP.

In paragraph 5 of this affidavit (3469-PS), Fritzsche relates that in September 1932, when von Papen was Reich Chancellor, he was made head of the Wireless News Service, replacing an of

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