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ALS in German, signed “Hermann Göring,” one page, 7.75 x 12.5, no date but circa 1945–1946. Handwritten letter to the General Secretary of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, in full (translated): "I request for my defense in addition to the official interpreter another interpreter of my confidence and a countryman of mine. Reasons: I must be certain that my statements are correctly expressed in spirit as well as in word and would like to be sure that the interpreter is accurately interpreting what I say. I consider the interpreter as important in my defense as the lawyer. As interpreter I should like to have Minister Paul Schmidt (well-known interpreter and at present in American imprisonment)." Backed by lightweight cardstock and in fine condition.
Paul Otto Schmidt was one of Nazi Germany’s most experienced diplomatic interpreters, having served the German Foreign Office since the 1920s and translated at high-level meetings involving Hitler, Ribbentrop, Neville Chamberlain, and other European leaders. Göring’s request therefore sought not merely a familiar German speaker, but a seasoned interpreter with intimate knowledge of diplomatic language and the terminology of the regime—someone he believed could preserve the exact “spirit” of his testimony as well as its literal wording. Schmidt was himself in Allied custody after the war and later appeared as a witness before the International Military Tribunal, testifying about prewar diplomatic meetings and the conduct of German foreign policy.
The letter is especially revealing of Göring’s concern with controlling how his words reached the court: translation was central to the unprecedented multilingual proceedings at Nuremberg, and he plainly regarded the interpreter as an essential member of his defense team, effectively on a level with his attorney.
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