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Partly-printed DS, in German, signed “A. Rosenberg,” one page, 8 x 11.75, November 13, 1945. Document headed (translated), "The International Military Tribunal, Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness," made while preparing his defense for the Nuremberg trials. Rosenberg and his defense lawyer request testimony from "Major (1939) Winterbotham," citing his knowledge of these facts: "1) That for long years (1931–1939) I endeavored personally in an enlightening manner and sincerely to bring about a German-British understanding. 2) That he knows of my trips to London (1931 and 1933) undertaken for his purpose." Rosenberg asserts that the testimony will "prove that I did not aim at a conspiracy against peace." Signed at the conclusion in pencil by Alfred Rosenberg, and countersigned by his defense counsel. Backed by lightweight cardstock and in fine condition.
This request was the centerpiece of a two-part defense. Rosenberg wanted Winterbotham to back up a claim of peaceful intent, that his outreach to Britain in the 1930s was genuine diplomacy rather than cover for war planning. At the same time he tried to shift responsibility onto Hitler's inner circle, naming Hitler himself, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Martin Bormann as the men who had actually bypassed and sidelined his Office of Foreign Affairs, arguing the real conspiracy ran through them, not him.
Both arguments were hollow. Winterbotham had cultivated Rosenberg through the 1930s not as a sympathetic contact but as a working MI6 officer, extracting intelligence on German rearmament for the British government the entire time, so the 'peace outreach' Rosenberg pointed to was a channel the British were exploiting against him. The Tribunal denied the witness request outright, ruling Winterbotham could offer nothing relevant to Rosenberg's later wartime conduct, and the prosecution's documentary evidence tied his Eastern Ministry directly to plunder and mass murder. Rosenberg was convicted on all four counts, including conspiracy and crimes against peace, and hanged October 16, 1946.
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