Archive/File: imt/nca/nca-02/nca-02-16-responsibility-03-05
Last-Modified: 1996/12/19

Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Vol. II, Chapter XVI

                                                  [Page 505]

Within a month after the German armies invaded the Soviet
Union on 22 June 1941, Ribbentrop was urging Ott, his
ambassador in Tokyo, to do his utmost to cause the Japanese
Government to attack the Soviet in Siberia .(2896-PS; 2897-
PS).

A message, intercepted, which was sent by the Japanese
Ambassador in Berlin on 29 November 1941, a week before the
attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor, reports the
coaxings of Ribbentrop:

     "Ribbentrop opened our meeting by again inquiring
     whether I had received any reports regarding the
     Japanese-United States negotiations. I replied that I
     had received no official word.
     
     "Ribbentrop: 'It is essential that Japan effect the New
     Order in East Asia without losing this opportunity.
     There never has been and probably never will be a time
     when loser cooperation under the Tripartite Pact is so
     important. If Japan hesitates at this time, and Germany
     goes ahead and establishes her European New Order, all
     the military might of Britain and the United States
     will be concentrated against Japan.
     
     " 'As Fuehrer Hitler said today, -there are fundamental
     differences in the very right to exist between Germany
     and Japan, and the United States. We have received
     advice to the effect that there is practically no hope
     of the Japanese-United States negotiations being
     concluded successfully because of the fact that the
     United States is putting up a stiff front.
     
     " 'If this is indeed the fact of the case, and if Japan
     reaches a decision to fight Britain and the United
     States, I am confident that that will not only be to
     the interest of Germany and Japan jointly, but would
     bring about favorable results for Japan and herself.' "

Then the Japanese Ambassador replied:

     " 'I can make no definite statement as I am not aware
     of any concrete intentions of Japan. Is Your Excellency
     indicating that a state of actual war is to be
     established between Germany and the United

     "Ribbentrop: 'Roosevelt's a fanatic, so it is
     impossible to tell what he would do.' " (D-656).

The Japanese Ambassador thereupon concludes:

     "Concerning this point, in view of the fact that
     Ribbentrop has said in the past that the United States
     would undoubtedly try to avoid meeting German troops,
     and from the tone of Hitler's recent speech, as well as
     that of Ribbentrop's, I feel that German attitude
     toward the United States is being considerably
     stiffened. There are indications at present that
     Germany would not refuse to fight the United States if
     necessary." (D-656).

Part 3 of the Japanese message quotes Ribbentrop as follows:

                                                  [Page 506]

     "In any event, Germany has absolutely no intention of
     entering into any peace with England. We are determined
     to remove all British influence from Europe. Therefore,
     at the end of this war, England will have no influence
     whatsoever in international affairs. The Island Empire
     of Britain may remain, but all of her other possessions
     throughout the world will probably be divided three
     ways by Germany, the United States, and Japan. In
     Africa, Germany will be satisfied with, roughly, those
     parts which were formerly German colonies. Italy will
     be given the greater share of the African Colonies.
     Germany desires, above all else, to control European
     Russia." (D-656)

In reply the Japanese Ambassador said:

     " 'I am fully aware of the fact that Germany's war
     campaign is progressing according to schedule smoothly.
     However, suppose that Germany is faced with the
     situation of having not only Great Britain as an actual
     enemy, but also having all of those areas in which
     Britain has influence and those countries which have
     been aiding Britain as actual enemies as well. Under
     such circumstances, the war area will undergo
     considerable expansion, of course. What is your opinion
     of the outcome of the war under such an eventuality?'
     
     "Ribbentrop: 'We would like to end this war during next
     year [1942]. However, under certain circumstances, it
     is possible that it will have to be continued on to the
     following year.
     
     'Should Japan become engaged in war against the United
     States, Germany, of course, would join the war
     immediately. There is absolutely no possibility of
     Germany's entering into a separate peace with the
     United States under such circumstances. The Fuehrer is
     determined on that point.' " (I-656)

Ribbentrop was thus associated in the closest possible way,
with the aggression by Japan against the United States.

                                                  [Page 507]
                                                            
Another intercepted diplomatic message from the Japanese
Ambassador in Berlin states (D-657):
     
     "At 1 p.m. today [8 December 1941] I called on Foreign
     Minister Ribbentrop and told him our wish was to have
     Germany and Italy issue formal declarations of war on
     America at once. Ribbentrop replied that Hitler was
     then in the midst of a conference at general
     headquarters discussing how the formalities of
     declaring war could be carried out so as to make a good
     impression on the German people, and that he would
     transmit your wish to him at once and do whatever he
     was able to have it carried out promptly. At that time
     Ribbentrop told me that on the morning of the 8th
     Hitler issued orders to the entire German Navy to
     attack American ships whenever and wherever they might
     meet
     
     "It goes without saying that this is only for your
     secret information.'' (D-657)

Thus, Hitler ordered attacks on American ships before the
German declaration of war.

Then on 11 December 1941 Ribbentrop, in the name of the
German Government, announced a state of war between Germany
and United States.

Ribbentrop also made attempts to get Japan to attack the
Soviet Union. In his conversations with Oshima, the Japanese
Ambassador, in July 1942 and in March and April 1943,
Ribbentrop continued to urge Japanese participation and
aggression against the Soviet Union (2911-PS; 2954-PS). The
report of discussion between Ribbentrop and Ambassador
Oshima reads:

     "Ambassador Oshima declared that he has received a
     telegram from Tokyo, and he is to report, by order of
     his Government to the Reich Minister for Foreign
     Affairs the following:

     "The suggestion of the German Government to attack
     Russia was the object of a common conference between
     the Japanese Government and the Imperial headquarters,
     during which the question was discussed in detail and
     investigated exactly. The result is the following: The
     Japanese Government absolutely recognizes the danger
     which threatens from Russia and completely understands
     the desire of its German ally that Japan on her part
     will also enter the war against Russia. However, it is
     not possible for the Japanese Government, considering
     the present war situation, to enter into the war. It is
     rather of the conviction that it would be in the common
     interest not to start the war against Russia now. On
     the other
     
                                                  [Page 508]
                                                            
     hand, the Japanese Government would never disregard the
     Russian question." (2954-PS)

Whereupon Ribbentrop returned to the attack:

     "However, it would be more correct that all powers
     allied in the Three Power Pact would combine their
     forces to defeat England and America, but also Russia,
     together. It is not good when one part must fight
     alone." (2954-PS)

Ribbentrop's pressure on Japan to attack Russia is shown in
an other report of Japanese-German discussions on 4/18/1943
(2929-PS):

     "The Reichsminister for Foreign Affairs then stressed
     again that without any doubt this year presented the
     most favorable opportunity for Japan, if she felt
     strong enough and had sufficient anti-tank weapons at
     her disposal, to attack Russia, which certainly would
     never again be as weak as she is at the moment ***."
     (2929-PS)

C. RIBBENTROP'S PART IN THE CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT WAR CRIMES
AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

(The following discussion concerns only the planning of
these crimes. The execution of the crimes was left to the
French and Soviet prosecuting staffs for proof.)

(1) The Killing of Allied Aviators. With the increasing air
raids on German cities in 1944 by the Allied Air Forces, the
German Government proposed to undertake a plan to deter
Anglo-American fliers from further raids on Reich cities. In
a report of a meeting at which a definite policy was to be
established, there is stated the point of view that
Ribbentrop had been urging (735-PS). The meeting took place
at the Fuehrer's headquarters on 6 June 1944, and proceeded
in part as follows:

     "Obergruppenfuehrer Kaltenbrunner informed the Deputy
     Chief of WFST in Klessheim, on the afternoon of the 6th
     of June, that a conference on this question had been
     held shortly before between the Reich Marshal
     [Goering], the Reich Foreign Minister [Ribbentrop], and
     the Reichsfuehrer SS [Himmler]. Contrary to the
     original suggestion made by the Reich Foreign Minister,
     who wished to include every type of terror attack on
     the German civilian population, that is, also bombing
     attacks on cities, it was agreed in the above
     conference that merely those attacks carried out with
     aircraft armament, aimed directly at the civilian
     population and their property, should be taken as the
     standard for the evidence of a criminal action in this
     sense. Lynch law would
     
                                                  [Page 509]
                                                            
     have to be the rule. On the contrary, there has been no
     question of court martial sentence or handing over to
     the police." (735-PS)

That is, Ribbentrop was pressing that even where there was
an attack on a German city, the airmen who crash-landed
should be handed over to be lynched by the crowd.

The minutes of the conference report further as follows:

     "Deputy Chief of the WFST mentioned that apart from
     lynch law, a procedure must be worked out for
     segregating those enemy aviators who are suspected of
     criminal action of this kind until they 'are received
     into the reception camp for aviators at Oberursel; if
     the suspicion was confirmed, they would be handed over
     to the SD for special treatment." (735-PS)

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