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Partly-printed DS, in German, signed “J. v. Ribbentrop,” one page, 8 x 12.75, January 25, 1946. Document headed (translated), "The International Military Tribunal, Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness," made while preparing his defense for the Nuremberg trials. Ribbentrop and his defense lawyer request testimony from the "Duke of Buccleugh," citing his knowledge of these facts: "In the summer of 1939, on the occasion of a visit of the witness in Berlin, Von Ribbentrop, as a politician and diplomat, expressed deep regret over the increasing tension between Germany and England and pointed to the war promoting forces in England. He said the Fuehrer now as before desired an understanding with England, for 20 years, von Ribbentrop had pursued no other policy than that of an understanding with England, but now England was turning against Germany. But a friendship between England and Germany would also be the only way to maintain the British Empire. Now, under Hitler, the one-time-chance had come."
Ribbentrop states that the testimony will "disprove counts I and II of the General Indictment and the respective counts of the special indictments filed up to now." Signed at the conclusion in pencil by Joachim von Ribbentrop, and countersigned by his defense counsel. Backed by archival paper and in fine condition, with professional cleaning and some small restorations to tiny edge tears and losses.
Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch, was a prominent British peer and known sympathizer with appeasement policy who had hosted Ribbentrop at his Scottish estate before the war and was forced to resign as Lord Steward of the Royal Household in 1940 over his pro German sentiments and anti-war campaigning. Ribbentrop sought his testimony as part of the same broader strategy reflected in his applications for Lord Londonderry and Lord Derby, attempting to show his prewar diplomacy as a genuine, if failed, pursuit of Anglo-German friendship rather than preparation for aggressive war.
The application was ultimately dropped before Buccleuch took the stand, in part because his own controversial reputation would have drawn unwanted attention without meaningfully countering the documentary evidence against Ribbentrop. Ribbentrop was convicted on all four counts and executed in October 1946.
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