Schacht did both. As far as the latter is concerned, scientific theory on conspiracy also recognizes that he is not guilty who has withdrawn from the conspiracy by a positive act before attainment of the goal of the conspiracy, even in case he cooperated previously in the preparation of the plan for conspiracy as was not done by Schacht.

In this connection, I also consider in my favor Mr. Justice Jackson's answer when I put up for discussion within the compass Schacht's interrogation whether the persecution of the Jews is also charged to Schacht. Mr. Justice Jackson affirmed this in case Schacht had helped prepare the war of aggression before he withdrew from this plan for aggression and its group of conspirators and went over unreservedly to the opposition group, that is to the conspiracy against Hitler. This desertion would then be the positive act mentioned by me above whereby a person at first participating in a conspiracy could separate himself from it. But in the person of Schacht it is not a question at all of this legal problem because the evidence has shown that he never desired to participate in the preparation for a war of aggression. As already explained, this accusation of the subjective fact of the conspiracy has been proved neither by direct nor by indirect evidence. For the events until the year 1938, I can point to the statements made previously. From 1938 on at the latest, it has been proved that from this time on Schacht waged the most conceivably severe battle against any possibility of war in such a form that he attempted to overthrow the carrier of this danger of war, the carrier of the will for aggression and thereby the regime.

It is here completely irrelevant and is beside the point whether or not these putsch attempts which continued during the war at shorter or longer intervals were suitable to achieve for Germany a better conclusion of the peace.

suc

This is absolutely meaningless for the evaluation as a crime of Schacht's course of action. It is beyond doubt that, according to human reckoning to a successful putsch before the outbreak of war would have prevented the outbreak of war, and that a cessful putsch after the outbreak of war would at least have shortened the duration of the war. Therefore, such sceptical considerations about the political value of these putsch attempts do not render any proof against the seriousness of putsch plans and intentions. These are all that counts. For they prove first of all that one who has been pursuing them since 1938 and (if one thinks of the attempt with Kluge), even since 1937, could impossibly have had warlike intentions. One does not try to overthrow a regime, because it involves danger of war, if one has oneself worked for

fore must deal briefly with this photographic argument anyhow. Mr. Justice Jackson has related this accusation with another one in quoting speeches which show superficially even during the putsch period a great devotion toward Adolf Hitler. This accusation is on the same level. I believe that this argument can stand up neither before the experience of life nor before the observation of history. History teaches us that conspirators in particular, especially if they belong to the closer circle of dignitaries of the threatened head of state, show for purposes of camouflage a special devotion. Nor has it ever been observed that such people show their intentions to the threatened victim in a contradictory loyalty. One could here accumulate examples from history.

There is a really effective German drama by a certain Neumann which concerns itself with the murder of Czar Paul by his first minister Count Palen. The Czar trusts to the very end the devotion of Count Palen which is shown ostentatiously even at the time when the latter is already sharpening the murder knife. And in the historical documents left behind, there is an instruction by Count Palen to the Russian Ambassador in Berlin, very shortly before the attempt, in which Count Palen cannot do enough to speak about "Notre auguste Empereur." Significantly, this drama bears the title "The Patriot."

Thus there is a higher patriotism than purely formal loyalty of the servant of the nation. It approaches the psychological truth much more if one would utilize a presumptive devotion assumed for the sake of appearances and assurances of loyalty during this period, more in favor of the objective credibility of the description of Schacht than vice versa. As a conspirator, he had to camouflage himself especially well; to a certain degree, this had to be done by practically everyone who lived under this regime in Germany. As far as these photographs are now concerned, then these are easily a compulsory consequence of every social and thereby also socially representative membership in a body (Gremium) so that for better or for worse one becomes a victim of the camera with the members of it. When I am once a member of a government, then I cannot avoid being photographed with these people on the occasion of their meetings. Thus such pictures result as Schacht between Ley and Streicher. Viewing such pictures ex post, these pictures are not a joy to the observer; certainly not to Schacht either. But they do not prove anything. In a natural evaluation of a normal, average experience of life I consider these pictures without any value as evidence either pro or contra. redt anikning

The foreign countries, too, had through their prominent repre

(Charaktermajor), that means a major without a battalion and command authority, a sham-major. Schacht could not get rid of the position without scandal, the same as with the position of Reichsbank President. Schacht therefore had to maneuver in such a way that he would be thrown out. He succeeded in this, as I explained, as Reichsbank President, through the well-known memorandum of the Board of Directors of the Reichsbank and the réfusal of credits by the Reichsbank in November 1938, contained therein. As far as his position of Minister without portfolio was concerned, he succeeded through his defeatist letter of November 1942. In the meantime he made use of the time for the attempted "coup d'etat" in autumn 1938 and for the various other attempted "coups d'etat" until 20 July 1944, the last one landing him in a concentration camp.

A criminal reproach can on no account be made him in his position as Minister without portfolio. For his proved conspirational activity against Hitler during all this time, eliminates offhand and logically the supposition that he had furthered Hitler's war plans and war strategy during this time. There remains only space, and this also only in the vacuum of abstraction, for a political reproach against the Schacht of the years 1933-1937. But this, too, is compensated by the extraordinarily courageous ' attitude of Schacht after this period. In order to obtain the just appreciation for fact, may I remind you of the interesting statement of Gisevius, that he, who had looked with a certain scepticism upon Schacht's original attitude, not in a criminal but political sense, had then been completely reconciled with Schacht by the extraordinary courage which Schacht displayed as opponent and conspirator against Hitler since 1938. I mean therefore that the fact of Schacht remaining as Minister without portfolio does not incriminate him directly or indirectly not according to penal law anyhow, right from the start, but also not morally, if one takes into consideration his behavior as a whole, his motives and the accompanying circumstances and conditions.

If the Prosecution now finally argues, on the basis of the text of the aforementioned memorandum of the Board of Directors of the Reichsbank, an opposition to war is not evident from the Memorandum, but only technical currency reflections, then I have only to refer in this respect to my previous statements and the testimony of von Vocke. And the presentation of facts by Schacht himself would not even be necessary to refute this argumentation. Vocke declared quite unequivocally in his capacity as closest collaborator that Schacht wished to limit and sabotage rearmament from the moment when he recognized its dimensions as a danger