(Neumann rough dr'a,ft, unedited)

Von Neurath joined the cabinet of the defendant von after a long diplomatic career and, on 2 / was ma d< Foreign Minister at the ap;e of 59« Re retained this pbsitib * . until2 when he was appointed President of thev Geheime Kabinettsrat (Secret Cabinet Council), a newly create . institution, which he headed until the downfall of Nazism» \ As a member of the von Pap en cabinet and later under the. Hitler regime, the defendant was -one of the foremost protagonil of Germany's aggressive foreign policy the main points of whic were : 1) The abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles y, 2) ' The incorporation of all "racial" Germans living outs: German sovereignty into the German Reich, specifically the' incorporation of Austria» The defendant's greatest contribution to" the victory of Nazism and the preparation for aggressive war was the'large pa# he played, as one of Germany's most outstanding representative of the aristocracy and of the high civil service, in bringing:'. about the alliance between the new ruling groups represented the Nazi Party and the old reactionary ruling groups composed I of Junkers, aristocrats, generalsand industrialists and high

Noivll servants. He sealed this union by accepting on Hitler^sjj reqaest the position of a Re ichsprotektor of Czechoslovakia after the conquest of that country (18 ). On 22 , Hitler awarded him the War Merit Cross Is t Claä •

BPSWRF^:

)gnitu' t'aichprbtektor. Ho received the . Party's Golden Honor Badgey Hitler personnally made him y ?norary SS Gruppenfuehrer on , and SS ' iqr gruppenfuehrer on 21 June 1943. On 30 Ja uary 1937, when it he Reich Cabinet celebrated its 4th anniversary, the defendant [frnanked Hitler "on behalf of those cabinet members who up till 'now had not yet belonged to the ^azi Party" for having been 2/ .ma'cle a Party member» On his 70th birthday (2 February 1943), he •

• • 4consistently deceived German and foreign public opinion about 3/ ' ^Germany's true aims and in many memoranda and speeches f ,dist ortcd the intont ions of the Na z i government. He stated, on ynany-'occas ions, that the sole aim of his government was to attain "Gleichberechtigung" <- equal rights - with other nations. The defendant was thus responsbile for the Wehrgesetz of 21

•.••••••'• y jMay '.1935 (introducing compulsory military service). He was responsible for the-memorandum of 25 May'1935 adoresscd to the i/ /•''liooarno Powers" which prepared Germany's breach of the •>,

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Dokumente 'II, 86. •

;'.;R G Bl I,v609 Dokumente III, 109/111 - 3 ~ Locarno pact. In'coxajunction with the defendant RIB} engineered the German-English riaval Agreement of 18 June which was a piece of deliberate deception. He laid, the politicalgroundwork for the re-militarization of' the RhinclaridJ on 7 and, in a memorandum of the same'date rcpudiaf the Locarno Pact» He continued to justify 'Nazi policy and to deceive public opinion, notably through the "Peace Plan' of ••thai 1/ German Reich Governme nt" of 31 %rch 1936. The defendant was particuk rly active in the preparation t • • i the conquest of Austria. Ho was responsible•for the German- i Austrian agreement of'11 in which the "German . Re:

; • • Government recognizes the full sovereignty of Austria." It:was

he who deceived foreign countries about the size and sign if ican c of Gorman intervention inthc Spanish Civil War. Violating

Articles 531-362 and 380-336, the defendant caused Germany to'r unilaterally abrogate internationaleontrol of • ccrtai n German rivers. '-L'hroughout his career,the defendant's primary aim was to organize the so-called Western Powers against the USSR and to . isolate the USSR. During his term of- office, Germany concluded t/ • the "Anti-Commintcrn Pact" with Japan " and actively propagatcc

_l/ Dokumente IV, 1.7-155

';l 2/ .Dokumente IV, 157/ 158 3/ Note'to Francois Poncet 17 and the Law for' Preventing the Participation Inthe Spanish Qivil War, 18 II 1937 R G Bl I, 241 and German notes of 7 , c 25 , 16 February 1937 and others ,Dokumente-. V pp. 105^8 » 4/ 25 . of Italy 'and Germany as "conmunity.. .solemnly affirmed. the • ]|.aadcrship-and the people". During his terra of office, ;taly joined the Anti-Commintern Pact, and his policy was nstrumental. Ininducing Italy to lc avc the Leagc of Nations. The defendant was also Instrumental in drawing the Balkan tat os into the German orbit having visited Belgrade (7-9 June), Sofia ,,(9-11 June ) and Budapest (11-14 ). The-Defendant, deceived Belgium about Germany's future .policy inordor to strcnthen the new Neutrality policy of the Belgian government. The defendant, caused the Chief of the Forcigj .Organization of the Party (AQ); Gauleiter E.W.Bohlo, to be brought into the Foreign Office on 3^ January 1937 to take charge * of all Germans living abroad. Bohle was placed ''personally and immediately'' under the Defendant* so that the defendant may be .hold responsible for the subversive activities carried out by the' A 0. On 18 March 1939, the defendant acceded to Hitler's request become REICHSPROTEKTOR in Bohemia and Moravia. According to il/ ' Article in New York Journal American, 25 , Dpkumentc V, 170-2 ; ' 1 2/ Ncurath's order of 33 October 1937 Dokumente V, 198. 3/, Hitler Decree o'f 30 January 1937, R G Bl I, 187. ~ 5 ~ the Hitler Edict of 16 March i939, the defendant's as follows:

• The defendant was the sole representative of Hitler and the Reich Government. He could confirm and'revoke appointment) to the "autonomous" government at his discretion. The autonomous government was obliged to keep the defendant-fully- informed. The defendant could veto all decisions ^fchich he believed to be damaging to the interests of the Reich» , He\coü - if necessary, issue orders to the "autonomous" government and .53 could, inemergency situations, act with complcte.independence. defendant operated through the OBERLANDRAETE, and the Gorman Security Police then organized into two State Police Directora A decree of 1 authorized the defendant and the 'Re Leader SS and Chief of the Gorman Police "to take if necessary such (police) measures which ,go boyond the limits usually, validjf for police measures". ,; ,' |.. The defendant, as the supreme German authority in the s-o^| called Protectorate from 18 March 1939 until 27 ' thus has full responsibility for allcriminal acts committed' in| that area during this terra of office.