Ninth interrogation of Willi Graf

II A – Sond. / Mo. [Special Commission / Mohr]
Munich, March 7, 1943

Led forth from police custody, Graf Wilhelm (personal data already known) appeared. Exhorted to tell the truth, he made the following statements upon inquiry:

During my Christmas vacation from December 22, 1942 to January 6, 1943, which I spent in my homeland in Saarbrücken, I got together with an old classmate Dr. Heinrich Bollinger, whose parents also live in Saarbrücken. I already had planned to travel to Bonn during my Christmas vacation to visit acquaintances there.

I told Bollinger of my plans. He asked me to give his greetings to Chaplain Tack when I had the opportunity. Tack is the student body chaplain I believe at the Academy of Music in Cologne, I am not exactly sure where. Chaplain Tack is between 30 – 35 years old, about 1.75 m [5’8”], and is employed by a parish in Cologne, the one that is fairly centrally located, close to the Gürzenich banquet hall. If I recall correctly, this is the “St. Gereon” parish. Tack is the chaplain’s surname. Bollinger wrote down the address for me (already seized), which must still be on a scrap of paper in my notebook.

Since I was not able to go to Bonn as planned over Christmas – for lack of time – I used my trip to Bonn from January 20 through 23, 1943 to pass along Bollinger’s greeting to Chaplain Tack. I took an express train from Munich to Cologne via Dortmund, that is, along the right-hand side of the Rhine River; that train did not go through Bonn, which is why I went all the way to Cologne.

I arrived there before noon, maybe around 10 am. I walked from the main train station in Cologne to Tack’s residence and arrived maybe 10 minutes later. I visited Tack for about half an hour. I passed along Bollinger’s greetings, told him how I knew Bollinger, how he was doing, and what he was doing these days.

Tack himself told me about a massive air raid on Cologne, whereby the parsonage and the church went up in flames and how he had helped to put the fire out. Tack also told me about his responsibilities counseling students, how much joy it brought him, especially when the students participated actively in the matter. Since Tack had so little time, he had to take his leave from me after about half an hour.

I assure you that I did not tell Tack one word about our propaganda operation (production and distribution of leaflets). I did not stay in Cologne for very long after that. I took a short walk through the city; from the main train station, I wrote Dr. Bollinger a postcard addressed to him in Freiburg i.Br. announcing my arrival there on January 23, 1943.

I left Cologne around noon on January 21, 1943 and arrived in Bonn about three-quarters of an hour later. [Illegible – about 1/3 of a page.]

I spent the evening of January 23, 1943 with the medical student Helmut Bauer from Saarbrücken, currently a student at the University of Freiburg, since Dr. Bollinger (whom I wanted to visit) was not in town at the time. Once again, I assure you that I did not initiate Bauer in any way into our plans and intentions of producing and distributing leaflets.

I never even considered such a thing with Bauer, especially since he told me that he was currently busy studying for his State exams. Finally, I knew that Bauer is not in good health and that the least excitement causes him to be nervous and panicky. If Bauer is said to know details about our propaganda operations, I cannot explain that. It is however possible that Dr. Bollinger told him something.

Upon further remonstrance, I now admit that shortly before my train left the night of January 24/25, 1943, while we were waiting at the platform, I gave Dr. Bollinger a leaflet entitled “Leaflet of the Resistance Movement in Germany”. When I gave Dr. Bollinger the leaflet, I told him he should look at the content of the leaflet that I had told him about on the way to the train station, and then either destroy or dispose of the leaflet.

The other statements I made concerning the meeting with Müller and Dr. Bollinger in Ulm are correct. I stand by my original statement, that Max Müller had no idea about our seditious propaganda, at least that he did not hear of it from me. If he should know anything about it, then it would only be if Dr. Bollinger told him about it.

Recorded by: /Signature: Mohr/, Chief Crim. Secr.

Read, approved, and signed by: /Signature: Wilhelm Graf/

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Source: NJ1704 (145 – 146)