Schellenberg questioned at Nuremberg Trial by Defense Counsel, re. Kaltenbrunner and "the Jewish Question"

(Paris 476) War Crimes Trials, Nuremberg, Germany, January 4, 1946. Defense counselors for Baldur von Schirach, Franz von Papen, and Alfred Rosenberg question Walter Schellenberg, the Chief of Security Police and SD (in German). Schellenberg confirms that Kaltenbrunner was his immediate superior from January 1943 until the end of the war. Answering the question of the defense counsel, he says that he never talked to Kaltenbrunner about "the Jewish question" or important issues of Nazi doctrine, so he can only defer Kaltenbrunner's personal views on these from a few personal observations and some random remarks of Kaltenbrunner. With regard to concentration camps, Schellenberg is asked whether he can confirm that Kaltenbrunner asked Himmler to be released from his responsibilities in this respect so he could concentrate on the improvement of the secret police. Schellenberg does not confirm that, and adds that factual information to his disposal speak for the contrary. He specifies that in one instance, he himself had managed to get approval not to evacuate concentration camps, Kaltenbrunner turned to Hitler (bypassing Himmler) and effected a turn around in this policy, and thus also violated pledges to international diplomats (and thus binding declarations) given by Germany earlier. Von Papen's defense counsel asks Schellenberg concerning his visit to Ankara in 1943 (German embassy), his criticism of German foreign policy and his demand to have a closer link to the Catholic church. Schellenberg confirms this and von Papen's reaction at the time, that this would only be possible in the event of a complete revision of the German "Kirchenpolitik." He is then being questioned about the responsibilities and tasks of the SD [tape ends].