Berlin W.35 February 22, 1937
The Reichwehrminister
and Supreme Commander
of the Armed Forces.
WFStG.O. Nr. 599/37 g.K.IaF
SECRET COMMAND MATTER
My Fuehrer!
The plenipotentiary for war economy is to be considered under your instructions as laid down in the Reich Defense Law of May 21st 1935 a Supreme Government Authority. You have appointed Reichsbank President Dr. Schacht as head of that organization.
The President Dr. Schacht has notified me that he is not acting in his capacity as plenipotentiary for the time being since in his opinion there is existing a conflict between the powers conferred upon him and those of Col. General Goering. Because of this the preparatory mobilization steps in the economic field are delayed.
For purposes of clarification may I point out that in my opinion there is no overlapping in the realm of economic mobilization between the work of Col. General Goering as head of the Four Year Plan and that of the plenipotentiary for war economy.
The Four Year Plan has as its object, with regard to economic rearmament, to clear all bottlenecks within this program now, i.e. in time of peace. Especially the proposals to secure Germany's own needs for ore, fuel and rubber are of greatest significance from the point of view of a war economy.
The plenipotentiary on the other hand is entrusted with the task of preparing the existing economic forces of Germany for the event of war and to exploit these forces in the most useful way for the people and the army, should war break out. It is a matter of course that the two organizations should keep each other informed about all transactions made by either one of them. Since, moreover, the basic directives for the preparation of economic mobilization originate with my office, any controversy between the plenipotentiary and the head of the Four Year Plan can easily be avoided.
If you, my Fuehrer, agree with my view regarding these jurisdictional questions, it may be possible to induce Reichsbank President Dr. Schacht, whose co-operation as plenipotentiary for preparation of war is of great significance, to resume his former activity. Signed: von Blomberg
q. t. 1.
[signature illegible]
342
Letter to Hitler, on the roles of Schacht as plenipotentiary for war economy and Goering's Four Year Plan, requesting that Schacht resume his activities as plenipotentiary
Authors
Werner Blomberg, von (Minister of Defense)
Werner von Blomberg
German field marshal (1878-1946)
- Born: 1878-09-02 (Stargard)
- Died: 1946-03-14 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: military officer; military personnel; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party (series ordinal: 3.805.226; since: 1937-01-30)
- Military rank: general field marshal
- Military branch: German Army
- Position held: minister of war
Date: 22 February 1937
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-244
Citation: IMT (page 2561)
HLSL Item No.: 452730
Trial Issues
Administration & organization (all cases) Wars of aggression Conspiracy (and Common plan, in IMT) (IMT, NMT 1, 3, 4)
Document Summary
EC-244: Top Secret letter re competence of Goering's and Schacht's agencies for the economic preparation of the war
EC-244: Secret letter of Reich War Minister signed Blomberg to Hitler on delimitation of the jurisdictions of the Four Year Plan (Goering) and the Plenipotentiary General for War Economy, (Schacht) 22 February 1937.