Hjalmar Schacht bio.

The prosecution concedes, at the outset, that although Schacht believed that the Jews of Germany should be stripped of their rights as citizens, he was not in complete sympathy with that aspect of the Nazi Party's program which involved the wholesale extermination of the Jews, and that he was, for that reason, attacked from time to time by the more extreme elements of the Nazi Party. It further concedes that Schacht, on occasion, gave aid and comfort to individual Jews who sought to escape the indignities generally inflicted upon Jews in Nazi Germany Schacht's attitude towards the Jews is exemplified by his speech at the German Eastern Fair, Koenigsberg, on 18 August 1935, wherein he said:

"The Jew must realize that their influence is gone for all times. We desire to keep our people and our culture pure and distinctive, just as the Jews have always demanded this of themselves since the time of the prophet Ezra.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germa...

Mussolini (left) and Hitler sent their armies to N...

Adolf Hitler in Yugoslavia.

But the solution of these problems must be brought about under state leadership, and cannot be left to unregulated individual actions, which mean a disturbing influence on the national economy ***" (EC- 433).

The foregoing concessions should render it unnecessary for Schacht to produce evidence upon these matters.

The prosecution's case against Schacht is that he planned and prepared for wars of aggression and wars in violation of international treaties, agreements and assurances, and that he knowingly and willfully participated in the Nazi common plan or conspiracy to plan, prepare, initiate, and wage such wars. The evidence establishes that Schacht actively supported Hitler's accession to power; that he was the chief architect of the financial plans and devices which made possible the huge program of rearmament in Germany; that he played a dominant role in the economic planning of, and preparation...