WWII - Primary Source Readings

8/6/2019 WWII - Primary Source Readings

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Document #1

The Munich Pact

Agreement concluded at Munich, September 29, 1938, between Germany, Great Britain, France

and Italy

GERMANY, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, taking into consideration the agreement, which has

been already reached in principle for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, have agreed on

the following terms and conditions governing the said cession and the measures consequent thereon, and by

this agreement they each hold themselves responsible for the steps necessary to secure its fulfilment:

(1) The evacuation will begin on 1st October.

(2) The United Kingdom, France and Italy agree that the evacuation of the territory shall be completed

by the 10th October, without any existing installations having been destroyed, and that the Czechoslovak

Government will be held responsible for carrying out the evacuation without damage to the said installations.

(3) The conditions governing the evacuation will be laid down in detail by an international commission

composed of representatives of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia.

(4) The occupation by stages of the predominantly German territory by German troops will begin on 1stOctober. The four territories marked on the attached map will be occupied by German troops in the following

order:

The territory marked No. I on the 1st and 2nd of October; the territory marked No. II on the 2nd and 3rd

of October; the territory marked No. III on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of October; the territory marked No. IV on the

6th and 7th of October. The remaining territory of preponderantly German character will be ascertained by the

aforesaid international commission forthwith and be occupied by German troops by the 10th of October.

(5) The international commission referred to in paragraph 3 will determine the territories in which a

plebiscite is to be held. These territories will be occupied by international bodies until the plebiscite has been

completed. The same commission will fix the conditions in which the plebiscite is to be held, taking as a basis

the conditions of the Saar plebiscite. The commission will also fix a date, not later than the end of November,

on which the plebiscite will be held.

(6) The final determination of the frontiers will be carried out by the international commission. The

commission will also be entitled to recommend to the four Powers, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and

Italy, in certain exceptional cases, minor modifications in the strictly ethnographical determination of the zones

which are to be transferred without plebiscite.

(7) There will be a right of option into and out of the transferred territories, the option to be exercised within

six months from the date of this agreement. A German-Czechoslovak commission shall determine the details

of the option, consider ways of facilitating the transfer of population and settle questions of principle arising out

of the said transfer.

(8) The Czechoslovak Government will within a period of four weeks from the date of this agreement

release from their military and police forces any Sudeten Germans who may wish to be released, and theCzechoslovak Government will within the same period release Sudeten German prisoners who are serving

terms of imprisonment for political offences.

Munich, September 29, 1938.

ADOLF HITLER,

NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN,

EDOUARD DALADIER,

BENITO MUSSOLINI.
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Document #2

Text of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

The Government of the German Reich and The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

desirous of strengthening the cause of peace between Germany and the U.S.S.R., and proceeding from

the fundamental provisions of the Neutrality Agreement concluded in April, 1926 between Germany and the

U.S.S.R., have reached the following Agreement:

Article I. Both High Contracting Parties obligate themselves to desist from any act of violence, any aggressive

action, and any attack on each other, either individually or jointly with other Powers.

Article II. Should one of the High Contracting Parties become the object of belligerent action by a third Power,

the other High Contracting Party shall in no manner lend its support to this third Power.

Article III. The Governments of the two High Contracting Parties shall in the future maintain continual contact

with one another for the purpose of consultation in order to exchange information on problems affecting their

common interests.

Article IV. Should disputes or conflicts arise between the High Contracting Parties shall participate in any

grouping of Powers whatsoever that is directly or indirectly aimed at the other party.

Article V. Should disputes or conflicts arise between the High Contracting Parties over problems of one kind or

another, both parties shall settle these disputes or conflicts exclusively through friendly exchange of opinion or,

if necessary, through the establishment of arbitration commissions.

Article VI. The present Treaty is concluded for a period of ten years, with the proviso that, in so far as one of

the High Contracting Parties does not advance it one year prior to the expiration of this period, the validity of

this Treaty shall automatically be extended for another five years.

Article VII. The present treaty shall be ratified within the shortest possible time. The ratifications shall be

exchanged in Berlin. The Agreement shall enter into force as soon as it is signed.

[The section below was not published at the time the above was announced.]

Secret Additional Protocol.

Article I. In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement in the areas belonging to the Baltic States

(Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the northern boundary of Lithuania shall represent the boundary of the

spheres of influence of Germany and U.S.S.R. In this connection the interest of Lithuania in the Vilna area is

recognized by each party.

Article II. In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement of the areas belonging to the Polish state, the

spheres of influence of Germany and the U.S.S.R. shall be bounded approximately by the line of the rivers

Narev, Vistula and San.

The question of whether the interests of both parties make desirable the maintenance of an independent Polish

States and how such a state should be bounded can only be definitely determined in the course of further

political developments.

In any event both Governments will resolve this question by means of a friendly agreement.


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Article III. With regard to Southeastern Europe attention is called by the Soviet side to its interest in

Bessarabia. The German side declares its complete political disinteredness in these areas.

Article IV. This protocol shall be treated by both parties as strictly secret.

Moscow, August 23, 1939.

For the Government of the German Reich v. Ribbentrop

Plenipotentiary of the Government of the U.S.S.R. V. Molotov


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Document #3

Adolf Hitler: The Obersalzberg Speech

Decision to attack Poland was arrived at in spring. Originally there was fear that because of the politicalconstellation we would have to strike at the same time against England, France, Russia and Poland. This risk

too we should have had to take. Goring had demonstrated to us that his Four-Year Plan is a failure and that we

are at the end of our strength, if we do not achieve victory in a coming war.

Since the autumn of 1938 and since I have realised that Japan will not go with us unconditionally and that

Mussolini is endangered by that nitwit of a King and the treacherous scoundrel of a Crown Prince, I decided

to go with Stalin. After all there are only three great statesmen in the world, Stalin, I and Mussolini. Mussolini

is the weakest, for he has been able to break the power neither of the crown nor of the Church. Stalin and 1

are the only ones who visualise the future. So in a few weeks hence I shall stretch out my hand to Stalin at the

common German-Russian frontier and with him undertake to re-distribute the world.

Our strength lies in our quickness and in our brutality; Genghis Khan has sent millions of women and children

into death knowingly and with a light heart. History sees in him only the great founder of States. As to what

the weak Western European civilisation asserts about me, that is of no account. I have given the command

and I shall shoot everyone who utters one word of criticism, for the goal to be obtained in the war is not that

of reaching certain lines but of physically demolishing the opponent. And so for the present only in the East 1

have put my death-head formations' in place with the command relentlessly and without compassion to send

into death many women and children of Polish origin and language. Only thus we can gain the living space

[lebensraum] that we need. Who after all is today speaking about the destruction of the Armenians?

Colonel-General von Brauchitsch has promised me to bring the war against Poland to a close within a fewweeks. Had he reported to me that he needs two years or even only one year, I should not have given the

command to march and should have allied myself temporarily with England instead of Russia for we cannot

conduct a long war. To be sure a new situation has arisen. I experienced those poor worms Daladier and

Chamberlain in Munich. They will be too cowardly to attack. They won't go beyond a blockade. Against that we

have our autarchy and the Russian raw materials.

Poland will be depopulated and settled with Germans. My pact with the Poles was merely conceived of as

a gaining of time. As for the rest, gentlemen, the fate of Russia will be exactly the same as 1 am now going

through with in the case of Poland. After Stalin's death-he is a very sick man-we will break the Soviet Union.

Then there will begin the dawn of the German rule of the earth.

The little States cannot scare me. After Kemal's [i.e. Ataturk] death Turkey is governed by cretins and half

idiots. Carol of Roumania is through and through the corrupt slave of his sexual instincts. The King of Belgium

and the Nordic kings are soft jumping jacks who are dependent upon the good digestions of their over-eating

and tired peoples.

We shall have to take into the bargain the defection of Japan. I save Japan a full year's time. The Emperor is a

counterpart to the last Czar - weak, cowardly, undecided. May he become a victim of the revolution. My going

together with Japan never was popular. We shall continue to create disturbances in the Far East and in Arabia.

Let us think as "gentlemen" and let us see in these peoples at best lacquered half maniacs who are anxious to


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experience the whip.

The opportunity is as favourable as never before. 1 have but one worry, namely that Chamberlain or some

other such pig of a fellow (Saukerl) will come at the last moment with proposals or with ratting (Umfall). He will

fly down the stairs, even if I shall personally have to trample on his belly in the eyes of the photographers.

No, it is too late for this. The attack upon and the destruction of Poland begins Saturday early. 1 shall let a

few companies in Polish uniform attack in Upper Silesia or in the Protectorate. Whether the world believes it is

quite indifferent (scheissegal). The world believes only in success.

For you, gentlemen, fame and honour are beginning as they have not since centuries. Be hard, be without

mercy, act more quickly and brutally than the others. The citizens of Western Europe must tremble with horror.

That is the most human way of conducting a war. For it scares the others off.

The new method of conducting war corresponds to the new drawing of the frontiers. A war extending from

Reval, Lublin, Kaschau to the mouth of the Danube. The rest will be given to the Russians. Ribbentrop has

orders to make every offer and to accept every demand. In the West I reserve to myself the right to determine

the strategically best line. Here one will be able to work with Protectorate regions, such as Holland, Belgium

and French Lorraine.

And now, on to the enemy, in Warsaw we will celebrate our reunion.The speech was received with enthusiasm. Gring jumped on a table, thanked blood-thirstily and made blood-

thirsty promises. He danced like a wild man. The few that had misgivings remained quiet.


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Document #4

US Declaration of War against Germany

December 11, 1941

The President's Message

To the Congress of the United States:

On the morning of Dec. 11 the Government of Germany, pursuing its course of world conquest,

declared war against the United States. The long-known and the long-expected has thus

taken place. The forces endeavoring to enslave the entire world now are moving toward this

hemisphere. Never before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty and civilization.

Delay invites great danger. Rapid and united effort by all of the peoples of the world who are

determined to remain free will insure a world victory of the forces of justice and of righteousness

over the forces of savagery and of barbarism. Italy also has declared war against the United

States.

I therefore request the Congress to recognize a state of war between the United States andGermany, and between the United States and Italy.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

The War Resolution

Declaring that a state of war exists between the Government of Germany and the government

and the people of the United States and making provision to prosecute the same.

Whereas the Government of Germany has formally declared war against the government and the

people of the United States of America:

Therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Statesof America in Congress assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the

Government of Germany which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally

declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and

military forces of the government to carry on war against the Government of Germany; and

to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby

pledged by the Congress of the United States


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Document #5

]

Molotov: Reaction to German Invasion of 1941

Vyacheslav Molotov (1889-1986), Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, had signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-

aggression Pacton August23, 1939. This bought the USSR two years in which to prepare for the Nazi attack,

but in the meantime encouraged Hitler's aggression against Poland. By 1941 it was the Soviet Union's turn.

For years, Hitler had claimed that Germany's future living space, or lebensraum, existed to Germany's east,namely Russia. He then turned his attention toward the Soviet Union and launched a massive attack on June

22, 1941. Below is the initial Soviet reaction, broadcast to the people by Molotov.

Citizens of the Soviet Union:

The Soviet Government and its head, Comrade Stalin, have authorized me to make the following statement:

Today at 4 o'clock a.m., without any claims having been presented to the Soviet Union, without a declaration

of war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders at many points and bombed from their

airplanes our cities; Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others, killing and wounding over two

hundred persons.

There were also enemy air raids and artillery shelling from Rumanian and Finnish territory.

This unheard of attack upon our country is perfidy unparalleled in the history of civilized nations. The attack on

our country was perpetrated despite the fact that a treaty of non-aggression had been signed between the U.

S. S. R. and Germany and that the Soviet Government most faithfully abided by all provisions of this treaty.

The attack upon our country was perpetrated despite the fact that during the entire period of operation of this

treaty, the German Government could not find grounds for a single complaint against the U.S.S.R. as regards

observance of this treaty.

Entire responsibility for this predatory attack upon the Soviet Union falls fully and completely upon the German

Fascist rulers.

At 5:30 a.m. -- that is, after the attack had already been perpetrated, Von der Schulenburg, the German

Ambassador in Moscow, on behalf of his government made the statement to me as People's Commissar of

Foreign Affairs to the effect that the German Government had decided to launch war against the U.S.S.R. in

connection with the concentration of Red Army units near the eastern German frontier.

In reply to this I stated on behalf of the Soviet Government that, until the very last moment, the German

Government had not presented any claims to the Soviet Government, that Germany attacked the U.S.S.R.

despite the peaceable position of the Soviet Union, and that for this reason Fascist Germany is the aggressor.

On instruction of the government of the Soviet Union I also stated that at no point had our troops or our air

force committed a violation of the frontier and therefore the statement made this morning by the Rumanian

radio to the effect that Soviet aircraft allegedly had fired on Rumanian airdromes is a sheer lie and provocation.

Likewise a lie and provocation is the whole declaration made today by Hitler, who is trying belatedly to concoct

accusations charging the Soviet Union with failure to observe the Soviet-German pact.

Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already been committed, the Soviet Government has ordered our

troops to repulse the predatory assault and to drive German troops from the territory of our country.

This war has been forced upon us, not by the German people, not by German workers, peasants and

intellectuals, whose sufferings we well understand, but by the clique of bloodthirsty Fascist rulers of Germany

who have enslaved Frenchmen, Czechs, Poles, Serbians, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece and

other nations.
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The government of the Soviet Union expresses its unshakable confidence that our valiant army and navy and

brave falcons of the Soviet Air Force will acquit themselves with honor in performing their duty to the fatherland

and to the Soviet people, and will inflict a crushing blow upon the aggressor.

This is not the first time that our people have had to deal with an attack of an arrogant foe. At the time of

Napoleon's invasion of Russia our people's reply was war for the fatherland, and Napoleon suffered defeat and

met his doom.

It will be the same with Hitler, who in his arrogance has proclaimed a new crusade against our country. The

Red Army and our whole people will again wage victorious war for the fatherland, for our country, for honor, for

liberty.

The government of the Soviet Union expresses the firm conviction that the whole population of our country,

all workers, peasants and intellectuals, men and women, will conscientiously perform their duties and do their

work. Our entire people must now stand solid and united as never before.

Each one of us must demand of himself and of others discipline, organization and self-denial worthy of real

Soviet patriots, in order to provide for all the needs of the Red Army, Navy and Air Force, to insure victory over

the enemy.

The government calls upon you, citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally still more closely around our glorious

Bolshevist party, around our Soviet Government, around our great leader and comrade, Stalin. Ours is a

righteous cause. The enemy shall be defeated. Victory will be ours.

Vyacheslav Molotov - June 22, 1941


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Document #6

Nuremberg Trial Witnesses: Zelewski, Erich Von Dem Bach

7 Jan. 46

Afternoon Session

COL. TAYLOR: Will Your Lordship swear the witness?

THE PRESIDENT: What is his name?COL. TAYLOR: Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.

[The witness, Von dem Bach-Zelewski, took the stand.]

THE PRESIDENT: What is your name?

ERICH VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI (Witness): Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.

THE PRESIDENT: Will you take this oath: "I swear by God-the Almighty and Omniscient-that I will speak

the pure truth-and will withhold and add nothing."

[The witness repeated the oath.]

COL. TAYLOR: May I remind the witness to speak very slowly, and to keep his answers as short as

possible? Can you hear me?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Yes.

COL. TAYLOR: Were you a member of the SS?VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Yes.

COL. TAYLOR: What was the last rank you held in the SS?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: SS Obergruppenfuehrer and General of the Waffen-SS.

COL. TAYLOR: Did you serve in the 1914-18 war?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Yes. I was at the front from 1914 to 1918, was wounded twice, and received

the Iron Cross, First and Second Class.

COL. TAYLOR: Did you remain in the army after the end of the last war?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Yes, I stayed in the 100,000-man army.

COL. TAYLOR: How long did you remain in the army?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Till 1924, when I took my discharge.COL. TAYLOR: Did your military activities then stop?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: No, I was battalion leader in the Border Defense, and subsequently I took

part in maneuvers with the Wehrmacht until the campaign against Poland.

COL. TAYLOR: Did you join the Nazi Party?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Yes.

COL. TAYLOR: In what year?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: In the year 1930.

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7 Jan. 46

COL. TAYLOR: What branch of the party did you join?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: The Allgemeine-SS.COL. TAYLOR: What were your activities in the SS prior to the outbreak of the war?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: I established the Allgemeine-SS Border Defense in the districts of

Schneidemuhl and Frankfurt-ander-Oder, and from, 1934 I was Oberabschnittsfuehrer in East Prussia and

afterwards in Silesia.

COL. TAYLOR: Were you a member of the Reichstag during this period?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Yes, I was a member of the Reichstag from 1932 right up to the end.

COL. TAYLOR: Did you take any active part during this war, before the campaign against the Soviet

Union?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: No, not before the campaign against Russia.


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COL. TAYLOR: What was your rank at the beginning of the war?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: At the beginning of the war I was SS Gruppenfuehrer and lieutenant

general.

COL. TAYLOR: And when were you promoted?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: I was promoted on 9 November 1941 to SS Obergruppenfuehrer and

general of the Waffen-SS.

COL. TAYLOR: What was your position after the beginning of the campaign against the Soviet Union?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Would you please repeat the question; it was not quite clear.

COL. TAYLOR: What was your position, your function, at the beginning of the war against the Soviet

Union?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: At the beginning of the campaign against Russia I served as Higher SS and

Police Leader in the central sector of the Russian Front, in the rear zone of Army Group Center.

COL. TAYLOR: Was there a similar SS official in the rear zone of each army group?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: Yes, in each army group, North, Center, and South, there was a Higher SS

and Police Leader.

COL. TAYLOR: Who was the commander of Army Group Center?

VON DEM BACH-ZELEWSKI: The commander of Army Group Center was, in the beginning, General Field

Marshal Von Bock, and later General Field Marshal Kluge.

COL. TAYLOR: Who was the Armed Forces commander in the rear zone of Army Group Center?

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WWII - Primary Source Readings