“It is not possible for me to be a mere agent for German
measures of coercion.”
That is the document which I submit to you, Defendant, and I ask you two
questions concerning it.
The first question is: What did you answer to Laval when he made this
statement to you?
The second one is: Do you not think that here there is proof of the
pressure which you dispute?
SAUCKEL: To begin with, if the Tribunal would permit it, I should have
to read my reply to Premier Laval. The document proves, and this has
been confirmed to me by Premier Laval on various occasions, that I
conducted my negotiations with him in a proper manner; and in spite of
the fact that I had orders not to conduct political conversations but
only to deal with my actual task, I always reported to the Führer about
these matters. But I think that the tone of my reply was definitely
beyond reproach. These negotiations which I conducted...
M. HERZOG: That is not the question that I asked you. I asked you what
you answered him when he made that statement to you, when he said to
you, for instance, that it was not possible for him to be a mere agent
for German measures of coercion.
SAUCKEL: I would have to read my answer. I cannot remember it now.
M. HERZOG: Do you therefore dispute the fact that this represents
pressure?
SAUCKEL: Premier Laval did not complain about me in this connection. He
complained about general conditions in France, because this was the time
of occupation. The situation was that there was a German occupation. It
was war.