appropriate to a document which the Prosecution produced, together with nine other documents, so-called key documents, and which first of all serve the purpose of establishing the proof for existence of the common plan claimed in the Indictment. This is the written record on a discussion at the Reich Chancellery of 5 November 1937, USA-25, 386-PS.

As it is known to the court, this is not a literal reproduction of Adolf Hitler's statements, but a report of Colonel Hossbach which was drafted by the latter 5 days later, viz., on 10 November 1937. I have no intention of entering any further into the contents of this document. I refer here to the statements which other defense counsel have made on this question. I only mention that when addressing this speech to the Commanders-in-Chief and the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hitler had a chronological plan in view which reveals no conformity whatever with the subsequent events. In these circumstances the existence of a determined and well-outlined plan by Hitler himself even seems very unlikely. Only one conclusion can, with certainty, be drawn from the contents of this document; namely, that until 5 November 1937 Hitler himself only thought of an amicable settlement of the territorial problems raised by the Versailles Treaty. For this reason, therefore, there can have been no question of a common plan aiming at the launching of a war of aggression, at least, up to this time.

This document, however, is still worthy of notice for another reason: The report begins with the Fuehrer's assertion "that the subject of today's conference is of such importance that its discussion in other states should belong to the Forum of the Government Cabinet. He (The Fuehrer) however, considering the importance of the matter, refrained from making it the subject of discussion in a full session of the Reich Cabinet." First of all, it can be left undecided in how far other questions from 1937 on were still dealt with by the Reich Cabinet in Cabinet sessions, or in the so-called circulation procedure; in the administrative procedure or in the legislative way. The conclusion can, however, be drawn with certainty by reason of the total outcome of the presentation of evidence and in particular by reason of witness Dr. Lammers' statements and other witnesses, but also from a great number of documents submitted by the Prosecution itself that at the latest, from 5 November 1937 on, all problems concerning the question of war and peace were no longer dealt with by the Government as State Authority, nor by another larger circle of collaborators remaining almost the same, but exclusively by Adolf Hitler himself.

In all probability this situation already existed in the year 1933. In this connection, I should like to draw attention to the statements

the highest political leader for Party matters, did not contribute to nor take part in any of the conferences or any other important political or military decisions characterized by the Prosecution as being essential to prove the existence of a common plan, just as little as he contributed to or took part in the conference of the Fuehrer in the Reich Chancellery on 5 November 1937 (USA 25). The same holds good, for example, for the next exhibit USA 26 (388-PS) submitted by the Prosecution.

This is the case of the most important case "Gruen" Czechoslovakia. Without having to enter any further into the details of this document, it can be said without more ado that it deals only with what is entirely the work of the General Staff, which was originally intended as a draft, and afterwards elaborated into a real operational plan. This operational plan was not put into action, the documents referring to case Gruen, on the contrary, concluding with direction No. 1 of the Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht, which refers to the occupation of the Sudeten German areas separated from Czechoslovakia by virtue of the Munich Agreement of 29 September 1938. In these circumstances, it is superfluous to deal further with the letter of the Chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht to the Fuehrer's Deputy of 27 September 1938, which is also contained in the documents for the Gruen case and refers to the carrying out of mobilization measures which were to be effected without the issuing of a mobilization order or a corresponding code word.

What I have already said concerning Document USA 25 holds good in the same way for Document USA 27 (L-79). This is another so-called key document having as subject the instruction of the Commanders-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht Branches and the Chiefs of the General Staff by the Fuehrer in the new Reich Chancellery on 23 May 1939. Without intending to enter into the importance or the value of this document as evidence, the Fuehrer's speech closed with the order to set up a small Research Staff in the High Command of the Wehrmacht; this document shows clearly that no common plan in the shape asserted by the Prosecution can have existed, especially not between the defendants now facing their trial. Not a single Minister or official of civil administration took part in this conference at the Fuehrer's Headquarters, which in reality was not a conference but an instruction and issuance of orders.

The next three documents submitted by the Prosecution as key documents refer to one and the same subject, namely to Adolf Hitler's speech addressed to the Commanders - in - Chief of the Wehrmacht on 22 August 1939. The following documents are in