All German diplomats abroad were informed of Hitler’s plans for the mass extermination of European Jews before they were carried out, it was revealed here yesterday by Dr. Paul Schmidt, former press chief of the Nazi Foreign Ministry.
Testifying as a defense witness for Franz Rademacher, former Foreign Ministry counsellor charged with complicity in the mass deportation of Jews and in the annihilation of 1,500 Jews in Belgrade, Dr. Schmidt said that the infamous Wannsee Protocol of January, 1942, to “achieve a final solution of the Jewish question” by forced labor and “special treatment” was circulated through the Foreign Office to all German diplomats.
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