27 Feb. 1946 heard about it a few minutes before and knew no more than he had recounted. He then requested me to come right over to his home and while I had not yet even had my dinner I went on over. He once again asked me if I knew anything further and I answered in the negative. Ribbentrop then told me that as a matter of fact he had received a telephone call from Supreme Headquarters in which they said that they had heard this over the radio, but did he, Ribbentrop, know anything more about it. I then asked him whether, having been able to contact Hitler, he had spoken about the matter of Germany’s entry into the war and Ribbentrop answered that Hitler had stated he was in accord with Japan’s wishes, but wished to wait until an official confirmation of the start of hostilities was received from Japan. Ribbentrop and I broke off the conversation at this point and I returned home. The next day I received the official report from Japan and communicated this fact to Ribbentrop. We then began drawing up the pact. This pact has been made public, but as I recall the main points were that no cessation of hostilities or a separate peace would be entered into by any of the signatories without prior discussion. There was another point to the effect that after the war the three nations would continue to cooperate, but this is simply an addendum, and of very little importance. This pact has absolutely no secret or extra provisions which were not made public. Q. What date was it signed? A. December 11, 1941. Now, in so far as this treaty goes, while I may have been off slightly on dates, the actual facts leading up to it are as I have recounted it and I believe that both Ribbentrop and Gaus would know of it also. Q. The actual drafting of the pact then, according to your statement, started on December 9, and it was signed on December 11. Is that correct? A. The drafting of the pact began on the 8th and the pact was signed on the 11th. Q. When did you get some instructions and from whom did you get them as to what was to go into the pact? A. The draft was made in Germany and communication with the Japanese Government was not only carried on through me and from me to the Japanese Government, but also from the German Government to the German Embassy in Tokyo and from the Embassy to the Japanese Government - the reason for this being that communications at the time were extremely difficult. Q. When did that series of communications start? A. On the 8th. Because of the great hurry normal procedure and red tape were done away with, and we proceeded at a great pace. Q. Are you telling us that this circle of communications, relative to what was to go into this pact, between you and Tokyo and between the German Embassy in Tokyo and the Foreign Office all started on the 8th of December and you had that pact concluded and signed by December 11th? A. It was a very simple pact and did not necessitate detailed discussions. Q. But you have just indicated to us that you had some detailed dispatches. You have told us that you sent dispatches to Tokyo, Tokyo sent dispatches to you, that the German Foreign Office sent dispatches to its Embassy in Tokyo and they communicated with your Foreign Office in Tokyo, and in turn messages came back from the German Embassy in Tokyo to the Foreign Office in Berlin. How in the world did you ever send those messages so fast and decode them and accomplish this task in three days’ time? 157