Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 2, p. 325
		27 Nov. 45 "Q. Do you know whether, before the work was published, a draft of it was circulated among the officers in the Admiralty for comment? "A. No, I don't think so. Not before it was published. I saw it only when it was published. "Q. Was it circulated freely after its publication? "A. It was a secret object. I think all upper commands in the Navy had knowledge of it. "Q. It was not circulated outside of Navy circles? "A. No. "Q. What then is your opinion concerning the comments contained in the work, regarding the circumventing of the provisions of Versailles? "A. I don't remember very exactly what is in here. I can only remember that the Navy had always the object to fulfill the word of the Versailles Treaty, but in order to have some advantages. But the flying men were exercised 1 year before they went into the Navy. Quite young men. So that the word of the Treaty of Versailles was filled. They did not belong to the Navy, as long as they were exercised in flying, and the submarines were developed, but not in Germany and not in the Navy, but in Holland. There was a civil bureau, and in Spain there was an industrialist; in Finland, too, and they were built only much later, when we began to act with the English Government about the Treaty of 35 to 100, because we could see that then the Treaty of Versailles would be destroyed by such a treaty with England, and so, in order to keep the word of Versailles, we tried to fulfill the word of Versailles, but we tried to have advantages. "Q. Would a fair statement be that the Navy High Command was interested in avoiding the limiting provisions of the Treaty of Versailles regarding personnel and the limits of armaments' but would attempt to fulfill the letter of the Treaty, although actually avoiding it? "A. That was our endeavor." MR. ALDERMAN Now the rest of this is the portion that Counsel for the defendant asked me to read: "Q. Why was such a policy adopted? "A. We were much menaced in the first years after the first war by the danger that the Poles would attack East Prussia, and so we tried to strengthen a little our very, very weak forces in this way; and so all our efforts were directed to 325
		Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 2, p. 325     Last modified: January 2, 1999 Copyright © 1998 The Mazal Library and The Holocaust History Project. All rights reserved. Technical/administrative contact: webmaster@holocaust-history.org Find a typo? Let us know.