. NMT05-T0683
Volume V · Page 683
| the Reich. From the beginning, I found that
Frank shared my views concerning the carrying out of such a transaction on a
generous basis only, and on the condition that the Oppenheim family would
benefit by reliable and valuable countermeasures. From this time onward, I
reported continually the progress of the negotiations to Gruppenfuehrer Frank
and got his sanction and endorsement. It was extremely difficult for me to negotiate as, already prior to me, an intimate friend of Hitler's, Christian Weber, had had dealings with them, using blackmail methods of the worst possible kind, not even in order to incorporate the stud farm Schlenderhan into the Reich, but only to enlarge his private property as cheaply as possible. I reported to Frank that my fellow negotiator, Baron Waldemar von Oppenheim wanted, as a main condition, to obtain guarantees that nothing detrimental would happen to himself, his wife, his children, and the remainder of his family because they were not of pure Aryan descent. While Fegelein scoffed at me for my endeavors in this connection, Frank not only showed a complete understanding for these matters, but also supported and spoke for me in these very difficult but as far as the family Oppenheim was concerned most important questions. The contract was signed later by Frank for the Reich Waffen SS, in the Reich Chancellery in Berchtesgaden. Subsequently a dinner was given by Lammers,* chief of the Reich Chancellery. Frank, as representative of the Waffen SS, participated in this, as well as in a subsequent dinner for the purchasers, given by Baron Waldemar von Oppenheim, on the occasion of a visit to the stud farm situated in the grounds of castle Schlenderhan. At that time, I was on the eastern front, but learned that Baron von Oppenheim and SS Gruppenfuehrer Frank had, on the occasion of the last dinner, exchanged cordial toasts, which characterized Frank's attitude. As far as I know, Frank also succeeded, by personal representations to the Ministry of Finance, in getting an exemption of tax for the purchase price which, according to my knowledge, benefited the family of von Oppenheim to the tune of over two million marks. Contrary to the demands made by Fegelein and later by Himmler, and in spite of various other reproaches, Frank always stood by me when I carried out the conditions of the contract in a fair and decent manner and did, in addition, support me when I further assisted the Oppenheims. I very much doubt, whether, without Frank's support and protection I would have been suffi- […ciently] |
* Defendant in case of United States vs. Ernst von Weizsaecker, et al., vols. XII, XIII, and XIV.
