| Abstract |
This document is an English translation of Schacht's letter to Goering, who in 1942 ordered "the drafting of 15 year old students for auxiliary military service" (p.1). Schacht points out that he no longer possesses power within the government nor responsibility for its decrees, yet has written to caution Goering against this extension of the draft as a matter of "conscience and by the desire not to assume guilt by an act of omission" (p.1). Drafting 15-year-olds will, Schacht writes, "turn out to be a heavy burden on the trust in victory of the German population" (p.1), which has already witnessed the failure of many of Germany's war aims and expectations. Although he does not plainly state a moral opposition to drafting adolescents, Schacht's position seems to be that this practice will make a bad situation worse in the minds of the German people and, thus, "aggravate the misgivings as to how this war is to be ended" (p.2). It seems reasonable to assume that Schacht's guarded tone and circumspect language (one presumes the translation reflects qualities present in the original) are at least partially attributable to his awareness of his reader's identity, agenda, and prejudices. On this score, it is crucial to note that Goering's name appears nowhere in Schacht's text; rather, Goering is identified as the intended recipient by the handwritten notation, "Letter of Schacht to Goering," made in pencil on the top of the first page. It is apparent that this letter is the one mentioned in document 48.04 "Interrogation of Schacht by Capt. Nordon and Dr. von Schlabrendorff—31 October 1945," (.PDF) but the author of the identifying notation is not evident. This document is a typewritten original on good paper. |