Extracts from a letter to Georg Thomas on their work in the financial and economic aspects of the rearmament of Germany

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Authors

Hjalmar Schacht (Dr., Reichsbank president, Minister of Economics, plenipotentiary for war economy)

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Hjalmar Schacht

German politician and economist

Image of Hjalmar Schacht
  • Born: 1877-01-22 (Tinglev Municipality)
  • Died: 1970-06-03 (Munich)
  • Country of citizenship: Germany
  • Occupation: banker; economist; politician
  • Member of political party: German Democratic Party (period: 1918-01-01 through 1926-01-01); Nazi Party (period: 1934-01-01 through 1943-01-01; role: honorary member)
  • Member of: German Archaeological Institute
  • Participant in: Secret Meeting of 20 February 1933
  • Educated at: Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums; Humboldt University of Berlin; Leipzig University; Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Date: 29 December 1937

Literal Title: Copy of a personal letter dated 29 December 1937 from Schacht to Thomas thanking him for his New Year's greetings and then stating verbatum:

Defendant: Hjalmar Schacht

Total Pages: 1

Language of Text: English

Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)

Evidence Code: EC-257

Citations: IMT (page 303), IMT (page 5124)

HLSL Item No.: 450572

Notes:Another copy of this document was also used in the case against Schacht.

Trial Issues

Conspiracy (and Common plan, in IMT) (IMT, NMT 1, 3, 4) IMT count 1: common plan or conspiracy (IMT) Nazi regime (rise, consolidation, economic control, and militarization) (I…

Document Summary

Staff Evidence Analyses

EC-257: Letter by Schacht to Gen. Thomas, re: Thomas' faithful service in helping the rearmament

[Personal letter dated 29 December 1937 from Schacht to
Thomas.]
I think back with much satisfaction to the work in the Ministry of Economics which afforded me the opportunity to assist in the rearmament of the German people in the most critical period, not only in the financial but also in the economic sphere. I have always considered a rearmament of the German people as conditio sine qua non of the establishment of a new German nation.
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I particularly enjoyed the cooperation with your staff and particularly with you personally. In the past four years I have met with all kinds of opportunism and only rarely met with true and sincere friendship. I have no regrets in forgetting about opportunists with the resignation from the Ministry of Economics but the friends have remained. I thank you that you have afforded me such unreserved assistance in our mutual work and ask you to convey this message to your assistant.