KÖRNER: Yes, that was done.
DR. STAHMER: In what way?
KÖRNER: After the report of the Reich Marshal, the Führer himself issued an order that no further unauthorized action should take place, that the action was over, and if any guilty people were still found they should be brought before the ordinary courts which would decide whether or not proceedings should be brought against these people.
DR. STAHMER: Do you know whether the Reich Marshal had anything to do with the action against the Jews during the night of 9 November 1938?
KÖRNER: No, the Reich Marshal had definitely nothing to do with it and had no inkling of it.
DR. STAHMER: How do you know?
KÖRNER: Because I was with the Reich Marshal on 9 November in Munich—he was always there on that day. The same evening we went to Berlin. Had the Reich Marshal known anything about it, he would certainly have told me or those who were with him. He had no inkling.
DR. STAHMER: When did he find out about it?
KÖRNER: Shortly before he arrived in Berlin, or at the Anhalter Station in Berlin.
DR. STAHMER: Through whom?
KÖRNER: Through his adjutant.
DR. STAHMER: And how did he take the news?
KÖRNER: He was furious when he received the report, because he was strongly opposed to the whole action.
DR. STAHMER: And what did he do about it?
KÖRNER: He got in touch with the Führer immediately to ask for the action to be stopped at once.
DR. STAHMER: What were your tasks within the framework of the Four Year Plan?
KÖRNER: I was Chief of the Office of the Four Year Plan.
DR. STAHMER: What were your tasks?
KÖRNER: The management and supervision of that office.
DR. STAHMER: How did the Four Year Plan come about? When and how did it start?
KÖRNER: The official Four Year Plan was announced in October 1936, but its origin goes back to the food crisis of 1935. In the autumn of 1935 the Reich Marshal received the order from the Führer . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Witness, try not to go quite so fast. It is very difficult to get the translation.
KÖRNER: Yes, Sir.
In the autumn of 1935 the Reich Marshal received the order from the Führer to make the food for the German people secure, as the food situation was serious because of the bad harvests of 1934 and 1935. At the time we were short of at least 2 million tons of bread-grain and several hundred thousand tons of fat, which had to be procured by some means or other.
The Reich Marshal solved this problem satisfactorily, and this led the Führer to ask him for suggestions as to how the entire German economy could be made proof against crises. These suggestions were worked out in the first half of 1936 and by midsummer were submitted to the Führer.
These suggestions gave the Führer the idea of a Four Year Plan, which he announced on Party Day 1936. On 18 October 1936 the Führer issued a decree appointing the Reich Marshal Delegate of the Four Year Plan.
DR. STAHMER: What were the aims of the Four Year Plan?
KÖRNER: As I said before, to make [the] German economy proof against crises. The main tasks were to increase German exports to the utmost, and to cover any deficits as far as possible by increased production, particularly in the agricultural sphere.
DR. STAHMER: Did the Four Year Plan also serve rearmament?
KÖRNER: Of course it also served the rebuilding of the German Wehrmacht indirectly.
DR. STAHMER: Did the Four Year Plan also provide for the allocation of labor?
KÖRNER: Yes. The Four Year Plan provided for the appointment of a General Plenipotentiary for the Allocation of Labor. The former president of the Reich Labor Office, President Syrup, was appointed Plenipotentiary General.
DR. STAHMER: When was he appointed?
KÖRNER: That was at the beginning of the Four Year Plan, in the autumn of 1936.
DR. STAHMER: What were his particular tasks?
KÖRNER: He had to regulate the allocation of labor and thus put an end to the great muddle on the labor market.
DR. STAHMER: How long did Syrup remain in office?
KÖRNER: Syrup left in the spring of 1942 for reasons of health.
DR. STAHMER: Who became his successor?
KÖRNER: His successor was Gauleiter Sauckel.
DR. STAHMER: Who appointed Sauckel?
KÖRNER: Sauckel was appointed by the Führer.
DR. STAHMER: And what was his task?
KÖRNER: His main task as Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor was to regulate labor.
DR. STAHMER: Under whom did he work?
KÖRNER: He was formally under the Delegate of the Four Year Plan, but he received his instructions straight from the Führer.
DR. STAHMER: What was your part in it?
KÖRNER: In the spring of 1942 I ceased to have any influence over the allocation of labor, since Sauckel received his directions straight from the Führer and carried them out accordingly.
DR. STAHMER: Did you not have any more dealings with Sauckel?
KÖRNER: No; there were no more dealings as far as I remember, because he received his directions from the Führer.
DR. STAHMER: Who allocated the manpower?
KÖRNER: The labor exchanges allocated the manpower and were under Sauckel.
DR. STAHMER: What were the relations between the Reich Marshal and Himmler?
KÖRNER: They were not very cordial. There was frequent tension and mutual confidence was completely lacking.
DR. STAHMER: I have no further questions.
THE PRESIDENT: Do any other defendants’ counsel wish to ask any questions?
[There was no response.]
Do the Prosecution wish to ask any questions?
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: In your testimony you made some references to a conversation between Göring and Thälmann.
KÖRNER: Yes, I did.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Will you tell us when that occurred?
KÖRNER: That must have been in the summer of 1933.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: In the summer of 1933? Was that before or after the Reichstag fire?
KÖRNER: That was after the Reichstag fire.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And Thälmann was accused in the Reichstag fire trial and acquitted by the court, was he not?
KÖRNER: I cannot remember that very well.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Do you remember it at all? Do you remember that he was accused?
KÖRNER: I can no longer remember whether he was accused. It may be.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Do you know where he died?
KÖRNER: No, I do not know.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Do you know that he was interned in Buchenwald after the Reichstag fire and remained there until he died in 1944? Did you know that?
KÖRNER: Yes, I remember it was said he was a victim of an air attack.