then one’s belief in foreign broadcasts would necessarily be minimized.
“If you then refer to the Versailles Treaty, 4 to the theory of the necessity for living space, to the false propaganda that the Nazis spread about the persecution of Germans in the Sudetenland, and the border incidents which were supposed to have taken place before the attack on Poland or on Russia — then one can understand how we Germans, even we who were doing the propaganda, became affected and began to believe these things ourselves. You can see, too, how the effect of a sensational news broadcast from England or America, though it might have been true, would be as nothing. This is the satanic triumph of propaganda. It simply closes one’s ears to what is right or what is wrong.
“My beliefs because of these facts are simple. I could dismiss as unimportant any discussion about what happens to the twenty men now here on trial as responsible for the horrors of the past war. But I should like to demand that an American Senate investigating committee, similarly created before this war, make an investigation of the conduct of the war by the Allies. Then the blame or guilt would clearly be shown as not being all Germany’s but at least in part an Allied guilt. I don’t mean that one can in any way justify Hitler’s betrayal of the innocent German people by his aggression which led to war, or Hitler and Himmler’s criminal extermination of innocent millions of men, women, and children. But if a United States Senate investigating committee would have the courage after these trials to try to ascertain honestly the guilt on both sides — then it would be proven that the Germans, disregarding for a moment the pure murders which were committed, did try to bring about a decent administration in conquered occupied countries. Such a Senate investigating committee, if it had the courage to acknowledge that, would be a great help to the present unfortunate plight of the German people. Such a committee would soon find that it was only after partisan warfare began in the occupied territories through the murder of German soldiers, et cetera, that German reprisals, shooting of hostages, and other crimes were set in motion, which brought about ever-increasing warfare and atrocities. 5
“Then you will get to the result that in the German people there are also not only black-and-white colorations but also shades of guilt just as among the Allies. Then you will realize that the responsibility for the war, as seen by a sane man with two eyes, does not really exist. That it is the only way in which some advantage for all people can be gained from all these tragic events.
“I know that what I am saying is somewhat confusing, but I have a clear aim in mind. I mean that one cannot blame one man or one state for the war guilt. Other states and other men also bear a share of the guilt.” I asked Fritzsche whether he meant any particular Allied nation was guilty along with Germany. He replied, “Almost all of the Allies. Hitler could not have waged this war if there had not been a constellation of guilt. The result is, of course, that the German people was betrayed and lied to by its own leader. But that this could be done is the fault, at least partly, of the rest of the world. I know. An understanding like this can only be brought out in a religious sense. But if you think of the possibilities for the advance of civilization, then at least one has to stand up and say so. In my defense, whether it be for my good or for my disadvantage, I shall make these statements in order to clarify the guilt of the world. I am not minimizing the guilt of the Nazi leaders. I am merely trying to show that the Allies bear their burden of guilt too and that in order for civilization to advance, mutual guilt must be recognized and errors corrected.
“Really, I come to this conclusion through personal suffering, such as no human being has ever suffered. It is the result of my
“If you then refer to the Versailles Treaty, 4 to the theory of the necessity for living space, to the false propaganda that the Nazis spread about the persecution of Germans in the Sudetenland, and the border incidents which were supposed to have taken place before the attack on Poland or on Russia — then one can understand how we Germans, even we who were doing the propaganda, became affected and began to believe these things ourselves. You can see, too, how the effect of a sensational news broadcast from England or America, though it might have been true, would be as nothing. This is the satanic triumph of propaganda. It simply closes one’s ears to what is right or what is wrong.
“My beliefs because of these facts are simple. I could dismiss as unimportant any discussion about what happens to the twenty men now here on trial as responsible for the horrors of the past war. But I should like to demand that an American Senate investigating committee, similarly created before this war, make an investigation of the conduct of the war by the Allies. Then the blame or guilt would clearly be shown as not being all Germany’s but at least in part an Allied guilt. I don’t mean that one can in any way justify Hitler’s betrayal of the innocent German people by his aggression which led to war, or Hitler and Himmler’s criminal extermination of innocent millions of men, women, and children. But if a United States Senate investigating committee would have the courage after these trials to try to ascertain honestly the guilt on both sides — then it would be proven that the Germans, disregarding for a moment the pure murders which were committed, did try to bring about a decent administration in conquered occupied countries. Such a Senate investigating committee, if it had the courage to acknowledge that, would be a great help to the present unfortunate plight of the German people. Such a committee would soon find that it was only after partisan warfare began in the occupied territories through the murder of German soldiers, et cetera, that German reprisals, shooting of hostages, and other crimes were set in motion, which brought about ever-increasing warfare and atrocities. 5
“Then you will get to the result that in the German people there are also not only black-and-white colorations but also shades of guilt just as among the Allies. Then you will realize that the responsibility for the war, as seen by a sane man with two eyes, does not really exist. That it is the only way in which some advantage for all people can be gained from all these tragic events.
“I know that what I am saying is somewhat confusing, but I have a clear aim in mind. I mean that one cannot blame one man or one state for the war guilt. Other states and other men also bear a share of the guilt.” I asked Fritzsche whether he meant any particular Allied nation was guilty along with Germany. He replied, “Almost all of the Allies. Hitler could not have waged this war if there had not been a constellation of guilt. The result is, of course, that the German people was betrayed and lied to by its own leader. But that this could be done is the fault, at least partly, of the rest of the world. I know. An understanding like this can only be brought out in a religious sense. But if you think of the possibilities for the advance of civilization, then at least one has to stand up and say so. In my defense, whether it be for my good or for my disadvantage, I shall make these statements in order to clarify the guilt of the world. I am not minimizing the guilt of the Nazi leaders. I am merely trying to show that the Allies bear their burden of guilt too and that in order for civilization to advance, mutual guilt must be recognized and errors corrected.
“Really, I come to this conclusion through personal suffering, such as no human being has ever suffered. It is the result of my
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