This is an excerpt from "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. I, pp. 184-252, which outlines the charges in the International Military Tribunal (IMT) indictment relating to the Nazi establishment of a totalitarian state in Germany.
This document may be found on line at:
Shofar FTP Archives: imt//nca/nca-01/nca-01-07-means-01
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Chapter VII
MEANS USED BY THE NAZI CONSPIRATORS IN GAINING
CONTROL OF THE GERMAN STATE
I. COMMON OBJECTIVES, METHODS, AND DOCTRINES OF
THE CONSPIRACY
In 1921 Adolf Hitler became the supreme leader or Fuehrer of the Nationalsozistishe Deutsche arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party), also known as the Nazi Party, which had been founded in Germany in 1920. He continued as such throughout the period covered by the Indictment. As will be shown, the Nazi Party, together with certain of its subsidiary organizations, became the instrument of cohesion among the defendants and their co-conspirators and an instrument for the carrying out of the aims and purposes of the conspiracy. And as will also be shown, each defendant became a member of the Nazi Party and of the conspiracy, with knowledge of their alms and purposes, or, with such knowledge, became an accessory to their aims and purposes at some stage of the development of the conspiracy.
A. Aims and Purposes. The aims and purposes of the Nazi conspirators were:
(1) To abrogate and overthrow the Treaty of Versailles and its restrictions upon the military armament and activity of Germany. The first major public meeting of the NSDAP took place in Munich on 24 February 1920. At that meeting Hitler publicly announced the Program of the Party. That program, consisting of 25 points (annually reprinted in the National Socialist Yearbook), was referred to as "The political foundation of the NSDAP and therewith the fundamental political law of the state, and "has remained unaltered" since the date of its promulgation. Section 2 of the Program provided as follows:
"We demand equality of rights for the German people with respect to other nations, and abolition of the Peace Treaties of Versailles and St. Germain." (1708-PS)
In a speech at Munich on 13 April 1923, Hitler said:
"It was no Peace Treaty which they have signed, but a betrayal of Peace. So long as this Treaty stands there can be no resurrection of the German people: no social reform of any kind is possible. The Treaty was made in order to bring 20 million Germans to their deaths and to ruin the German nation. But those who made the Treaty cannot set it aside. At its foundation our movement formulated three demands:
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1. Setting aside of the Peace Treaty
2. Unification of all Germans
3. Land and soil (Grund und Boden) to feed our nation."
(2405-PS)
On August 1, 1923 Hitler declared:
"The day must come when a German government shall summon up the courage to declare to the foreign powers: 'The Treaty of Versailles is founded on a monstrous lie.' We fulfill nothing more. Do what you will! If you want battle, look for it! Then we shall see whether you can turn 70 million Germans into serfs and slaves!" (2405-PS; see also additional statements of Hitler contained in 2405-PS castigating those Germans who shared responsibility for the Treaty of Versailles, viz; the "November criminals.")
In his speech of 30 January 1941 Hitler alluded to the consistency of his record concerning the aims of National Socialist foreign policy: "My foreign policy had identical aims. My program was to abolish the Treaty of Versailles. It is futile nonsense for the rest of the world to pretend today that I did not reveal this program until 1933 or 1935 or 1937. Instead of listening to the foolish chatter of emigres, these gentlemen would have been wiser to read what I have written thousands of times. "No human being has declared or recorded what he wanted more than I. Again and again I wrote these words- 'The abolition of the Treaty of Versailles'. *******" (2541-PS)
Similar views were expressed by other Nazi conspirators. Rosenberg stated that the lie of Germany's war guilt was the basis of the Treaties of Versailles and St. Germain. He rejected the idea of a "revision" of those Treaties and demanded outright cancellation. (243-PS)
Hess, in advocating rearmament in violation of treaty restrictions, stated in 1936 that "guns instead of butter" were necessary lest "one day our last butter be taken from us." (2426-PS)
(2) To acquire the territories lost by Germany as the result of World War of 1914-1918, and other territory in Europe asserted to be occupied by so-called "racial Germans." Section I of thee Nazi Party Platform gave advance notice of the intentions of the Nazi conspirators to claim territories occupied by so-called racial Germans. It provided:
"We demand the unification of all Germans in the Greater Germany on the basis of the right of self-determination of people." (1708-PS)
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While Rosenberg pointed out in 1922 that it was not possible at that time to designate "such European and non-European territories which would be taken into consideration for colonization" he nevertheless stated that the following could be laid down as a basic objective, namely that "*******German Foreign Policy must make its most important primary goal the consolidation of all Germans living closely together in Europe in one state and to secure the territory of what today is the Polish-Czech East." (2433-PS)
In his Reichstag speech of 20 February 1928 Hitler said:
"The claim, therefore, for German colonial possession will be voiced from year to year with increasing vigor, possessions which Germany did not take away from other countries, and which today are virtually of no value to these powers, but appear indispensable for our own people." (2772-PS)
Again, in his Reichstag speech of 30 January 1939 Hitler declared:
"The theft of the German colonies was morally unjustified. Economically, it was utter insanity. The political motives advanced were so mean that one is tempted to call them silly. In 1918, after the end of the war, the victorious Powers really would have had the authority to bring about a reasonable settlement of international problems. *******
"The great German colonial possessions, which the Reich once acquired peacefully by treaties and by paying for them, have been stolen contrary indeed to the solemn assurance given by President Wilson, which was the basic condition on which Germany laid down her arms. The objection that these colonial possessions are of no importance in any case should only lead to their being returned to us with an easy mind." (2773-PS)
(3) To acquire further territories in colonial Europe and elsewhere claimed to be required by "racial Germans" as "Lebensraum" or living space, at the expense of neighboring and other countries. Hitler made it clear that the two objectives of the Nazi conspirators set forth above were only preliminary steps in a more ambitious plan of territorial aggrandizement. Thus he stated:
"One must take the point of view, cooly and soberly, that it certainly cannot be the intention of Heaven to give one people fifty times as much space (Grund und Boden) on this earth as to another. One should not permit himself to be diverted
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in this case by political boundaries from the boundaries of eternal justice.
"The boundaries of 1914 do not mean anything for the future of the German nation. They did not represent either a defense of the past nor would they represent a power in the future. The German people will not obtain either its inner compactness by them, nor will its nutrition be secured by them, nor do these boundaries appear from a military standpoint as appropriate or even satisfactory. *******" (2760. A-PS)
While the precise limits of German expansion were only vaguely defined by the Nazi conspirators, they clearly indicated that the Lebensraum to which they felt they were entitled would be acquired primarily in the East. Rosenberg was particularly insistent in his declarations that Russia would have to "move over" to make way for German living space. He underlined this demand as follows:
"The understanding that the German nation, if it is not to perish in the truest sense of the word, needs ground and soil for itself and its future generations, and the second sober perception that this soil can no more be conquered in Africa, but in Europe and first of all in the East-these organically determine the German foreign policy for centuries. (2777-PS)
"The Russians *******will have to confine themselves so as to remove their center of gravity to Asia." (2426-PS)
A similar view was expressed by Hitler in Mein Kampf:
"If one wanted territory in Europe, this could be done on the whole at the expense of Russia, and the new Reich would have to set out to march over the road of the former Knights, in order to give soil to the German plow by means of the German sword, and to give daily bread to the nation."
In Mein Kampf Hitler threatened war as a means of attaining additional space:
"If this earth really has space (Raum) for all to live in, then we should be given the territory necessary. Of course, one will not do that gladly. Then, however, the right of self-preservation comes into force; that which is denied to kindness, the fist will have to take. If our forefathers had made their decisions dependent on the same pacifistic nonsense as the present, then we would possess only a third of our present territory.
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"In contrast, we, National Socialists, have to hold on steadily to our foreign political goals, namely, to secure on this earth the territory due to the German people. And this action is the only one which will make bloody sacrifice before God and our German posterity appear justified." (2760-A-PS)
B. Methods. The Nazi conspirators advocated the accomplishment of the foregoing aims and purposes by any means deemed opportune, including illegal means and resort to threat of force, force, and aggressive war. The use of force was distinctly sanctioned, in fact guaranteed, by official statements and directives of the conspirators which made activism and aggressiveness a political quality obligatory for Party members.
Hitler stated in Mein Kampf:
"*******The lack of a great creative idea means at all times an impairment of the fighting spirit. The conviction that it is right to use even the most brutal weapons is always connected with the existence of a fanatical belief that it is necessary that a revolutionary new order of this earth should become victorious. A movement which does not fight for these highest aims and ideals will therefore never resort to the ultimate weapon."
"*******It is not possible to undertake a task half-heartedly or hesitatingly if its execution seems to be feasible only by expending the very last ounce of energy . . . One had to become clear in one's mind that this goal [i.e. acquisition of new territory in Europe] could be achieved by fight alone and then had to face this armed conflict with calmness and composure." (2760-A-PS)
In 1934 Hitler set out the duties of Party members in the following terms:
"Only a part of the people will be really active fighters. But they were the fighters of the National Socialist struggle. They were the fighters for the National Socialist revolution, and they are the millions of the rest of the population. For them it is not sufficient to confess: 'I believe,' but to swear: I fight'." (2775-PS)
This same theme is expressed in the Party Organization Book:
"The Party includes Only fighters who are ready to accept and sacrifice everything in order to carry through the National Socialist ideology." (2774-PS)
At the trial of Reichswehr officers at Leipzig in September 1930 Hitler testified:
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"Germany is being strangled by Peace Treaties. ******* The National Socialists do not regard the Treaty as a law, but as something forced upon us. We do not want future generations, who are completely innocent, to be burdened by this. When we fight this with all means at our disposal, then we are on the way to a revolution.
President of the Court: 'Even by illegal means?'
Hitler: "I will declare here and now, that when we have become powerful (gesiegt haben), then we shall fight against the Treaty with all the means at our disposal, even from the point of view of the world, with illegal means." (251-PS)
Moreover, Hitler stated the true reason for rearmament as follows:
"It is impossible to build up an army and give it a sense of worth if the object of its existence is not the preparation for war. Armies for the preservation of peace do not exist; they exist only for the triumphant exertion of war." (2541''' PS)
C. Doctrines. The Nazi conspirators adopted and published the following doctrines:
1) That persons of so-called "German blood" were a master-race and were accordingly entitled to subjugate, dominate, or exterminate other "races" and "people..." The Nazi doctrine of racial supremacy was incorporated as Point 4 in the Party Program of 24 February 1920, which provided as follows:
"Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is of German blood, without consideration of creed. Consequently no Jew can be a member of the race." (1708-S)
The Nazi conspirators' dogma of the racial supremacy of the Germanic peoples was fully elucidated in the writings of Rosenberg:
"The meaning of world history has radiated out from the north over the whole world, borne by a blue-eyed blond race which in several great waves determined the spiritual face of the world *******
"We stand today before a definitive decision. Either through a new experience and cultivation of the old blood, coupled with an enhanced fighting will, we will rise to a purificatory action, or the last Germanic- western values of morality and state-culture shall sink away in the filthy human masses of the big cities, become stunted on the sterile burning asphalt of a bestialized inhumanity, or trickle away as a morbific
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agent in the form of emigrants bastardizing themselves in South America, China, Dutch East India, Africa.
"A new faith is arising today: the myth of the blood, the faith, to defend with the blood the devine essence of man. The faith, embodied in clearest knowledge that the Nordic blood represents that mysterium which has replaced and overcome the old sacraments." (2771-PS)
Thus, the Nazi conspirators acclaimed the "master race" doctrine as a new religion-the faith of the blood-superseding in individual allegiance all other religions and institutions. According to Rosenberg:
"The new thought puts folk and race higher than the state and its forms. It declares protection of the folk more important than protection of a religious denomination, a class, the monarchy, or the republic; it sees in treason against the folk a greater crime than treason against the state." (2771-PS; see also further excerpts from Rosenbergs writings contained in 2405-PS.)
Illustrative of the Nazi conspirators continued espousal and exploitations of racial dogmas following their accession to power was the discriminatory legislation which they caused to be enacted. These laws, with particular reference to Jews, are set forth in Section 7 of this Chapter on the Program for Persecution of Jews.
The logical consequence of the "master race" dogma, in its bearing on the right of Germany to dominate other "inferior" peoples and to acquire such of their territory as was considered necessary for German living space, was disclosed by the Nazi conspirators. In a speech concluding the Reichsparteitag at Nurnberg on 3 September 1933 Hitler said:
"But long ago man has proceeded in the same way with his fellow man. The higher race -- at first "higher" in the sense of possessing a greater gift for organization-subjects to itself a lower race and thus constitutes a relationship which now embraces races of unequal value. Thus there results the subjection of a number of people under the will often of only a few persons, a subjection based simply on the right of the stronger, a right which, as we see it in Nature, can be regarded as the sole conceivable right because founded on reason. The wild mustang does not take upon itself the yoke imposed by man either voluntarily or joyfully; neither does one people welcome the violence of another." (2584-PS)
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(2) The Fuehrerprinzip (Fuehrer Principle).
(a) Essential elements.
1. Complete and total authority is vested in the Fuehrer.
"The Fuehrer Principle requires a pyramidal organization structure in the details as well as in its entirety.
"The Fuehrer is at the top.
"He nominates the necessary leaders for the various spheres of work of the Reichs direction, the Party apparatus and the State administration." (1814-PS)
"He shapes the collective will of the people within himself and he enjoys the political unity and entirety of the people in opposition to individual interests.
"The Fuehrer unites in himself all the sovereign authority of the Reich; all public authority in the state as well as in the movement is derived from the authority of the Fuehrer. We must speak not of the states authority but of the Fuehrers authority if we wish to designate the character of the political authority within the Reich correctly. The state does not hold political authority as an impersonal unit but receives it from the Fuehrer as the executor of the national will. The authority of the Fuehrer is complete and all-embracing; it unites in itself all the means of political direction; it extends into all fields of national life; it embraces the entire people, which is bound to the Fuehrer in loyalty and obedience. The authority of the Fuehrer is not limited by checks and controls, by special autonomous bodies or individual rights, but it is free and independent, all-inclusive and unlimited.
"The Fuehrer-Reich of the (German) people is founded on the recognition that the true will of the people cannot be disclosed through parliamentary votes and plebiscites but that the will of the people in its pure and uncorrupted form can only be expressed through the Fuehrer." (2771-PS)
"Thus at the head of the Reich, stands a single Fuehrer, who in his personality embodies the idea which sustains all and whose spirit and will therefore animate the entire community." (2780-PS)
As stated in the Organization Book of the Nazi Party:
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"The will of the Fuehrer is the Party's law." (1814-PS)
The first commandment for the Party members declares
"The Fuehrer is always right." (1814-PS)
"He (the Fuehrer) is responsible only to his conscience and the German people." (1814-PS)
Hess, in a speech broadcast at Cologne on 25 June 1934, characterized the position of the Fuehrer as follows:
"It is with pride that we see that one man is kept above all criticism -- that is the Fuehrer.
"The reason is that everyone feels and knows: he was always right and will always be right. The National Socialism of us all is anchored in the uncritical loyalty, in the devotion to the Fuehrer that does not ask for the wherefore in the individual case, in the tacit performance of his commands. We believe that the Fuehrer is fulfilling a divine mission to German destiny! This belief is beyond challenge." (2426-PS; see also additional statements of the Nazi conspirators designed to condition the German people to blind acceptance of the decisions of the Fuehrer and his co-conspirators, as translated in 237-PS.)
2. The Fuehrer's power descends to subleaders in a hierarchical order. In the words of the Organization Book of the NSDAP:
"The Party is the order of fuehrers.
"All political directors (Politische Leiter) stand as appointed by the Fuehrer and are responsible to him. They possess full authority towards the lower echelons. (1893-PS)
"He (The Fuehrer) nominates the necessary leaders for the various spheres of work of the Reichs' direction, the Party apparatus, and the State administration." (1814-PS)
The effect of this was aptly expressed by Hitler in 1933:
"When our opponents said, 'It is easy for you: you are a dictator' We answer them, 'No, gentlemen, you are wrong; there is no single dictator, but ten thousand, each in his own place.' And even the highest authority in the hierarchy has itself only one wish, never to transgress against the supreme authority to which it, too, is responsible." (2771-PS)
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3. Each subleader is bound to unconditional obedience to his immediate superior and to the Fuehrer. As Hitler said,
"We have in our movement developed this loyalty in following the leader, this blind obedience of which all the others know nothing and which gave to us the power to surmount everything." (2771-PS)
The duty of obedience is so fundamental that it is incorporated as the second of the NSDAP commandments for party members:
"Never go against discipline !" (2771-PS)
As Ley said:
"Our conscience is clearly and exactly defined. Only what Adolf Hitler, our Fuehrer, commands, allows, or does not allow is our conscience." (2771-PS)
The obedience required was not the loyalty of a soldier to the Fatherland, as was the case prior to the Nazi regime. On the contrary, the obedience exacted was unconditional and absolute, regardless of the legality or illegality of the order. The oath taken by political leaders (Poltische Leiter) yearly was as follows:
"I pledge eternal allegiance to Adolf Hitler. I pledge unconditional obedience to him and the Fuehrers appointed by him." (1893-PS)
4. Each subleader is absolute in his own sphere of jurisdiction. The Nazi Party Organization Book lays down the same principle with respect to the successive tiers of its leaders:
"The Fuehrer Principle represented by the Party imposes complete responsibility on all party leaders for their respective spheres of activity *******The responsibility for all tasks within a major sphere of jurisdiction rests with the respective leader of the NSDAP: i.e., with the Fuehrer for the territory of the Reich, the Gauleiter for the territory of the Gau, the district leader for the territory of the district, the local leader for the territory of the local group, etc.
"The Party leader has responsibility for the entire territory under his jurisdiction on the one hand, and on the other hand, his own political fields of activity appertaining thereto.
"This responsibility for the complete or partial performance of task entails a relationship of subordina-
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tion of the leaders among themselves, corresponding to the fuehrer principle." (2771-PS)
(3) Glorification of War as a noble and necessary activity of Germans. The Nazi conspirators disseminated dogmas designed to engender in the masses a deep reverence for the vocation of the warrior and to induce acceptance of the postulate that the waging of war was good and desirable per se. The motive underlying the concerted program of the Nazis to glorify war was disclosed by Hitler in Mein Kampf:
"Thus the question of how to regain German power is not: How shall we manufacture arms?, but: How do we create the spirit which enables a nation to bear arms ? If this spirit governs a people, the will finds thousands of ways, each of which ends with a weapon!"
"*******Oppressed countries are led back into the lap of a common Reich by a mighty sword and not by flaming protests. It is the task of the inner political leaders of a people to forge this sword; to safeguard the work of the smith and to seek comrades in arms in the task of the foreign policy." (2760-A-PS)
Hitler's writings and public utterances are full of declarations rationalizing the use of force and glorifying war. The following are typical:
"Always before God and the world, the stronger has the right to carry through his will. History proves it: He who has no might, has no use for might. (2405-PS)
"The political testament of the German People for its foreign policy should and must always follow this line of thought: Never tolerate the rise of two continental powers in Europe. See in every attempt to organize a second military power, *******an attack against Germany and take therefrom not only the right but the duty to prevent by all means, including the use of arms, the rise of such a state, respectively to destroy such a state if it has already arisen. Take care that the strength of our people should have its foundation not in colonies but in the soil of the home country in Europe. Never consider the Reich as secured as long as it cannot give to every descendant of our people his own bit of soil for centuries to come; never forget that the most sacred right on this earth is the right to own the soil which one wants to cultivate and the most sacred sacrifice, the blood which is shed for this soil." (2760-A-PS)
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(4) The leadership of the Nazi Party.
(a) The Nazi Party leadership was the sole bearer of the doctrines of the Nazi Party. The Party Organization Book declares: "The Party as an instrument of ideological education, must grow to be the Leader Corps (Fuehrer Korps) of the German Nation.
"This Leader Corps is responsible for the complete penetration of the German Nation with the National Socialist spirit *******" (1893-PS)
"The Party is the order of fuehrers. It is furthermore responsible for the spiritual ideological National Socialist direction of the German people." (1814-PS)
Referring to the mission of the Ortsgruppenleiter (local chapter leader) of the NSDAP, the Party Organization Book states:
"As Hoeheitstraeger (bearer of sovereignty) all expressions of the party will emanate from him; he is responsible for the political and ideological leadership and organization within his zone of sovereignty." (1893-PS)
Similar statements are made with regard to the Kreisleiter (county leader) and the Gauleiter (Gau leader) and the Reich Directorate (1893-PS).
(b The Nazi Party leadership was entitled to control and dominate the German state and all related institutions and all individuals therein. Hitler said at the 1935 Nurnberg Party Congress:
"It is not the State which gives orders to us, it is we who give orders to the State." (2775-PS)
Frick declared in a similar vein:
"In National Socialist Germany, leadership is in the hands of an organized community, the National Socialist Party; and as the latter represents the will of the nation, the policy adopted by it in harmony with the vital interests of the nation is at the same time the policy adopted by the country. *******" (2771-PS)
Goebbels declared:
"The Party must always continue to represent the hierarchy of National Socialist leadership. This minority must always insist upon its prerogative to control the state. *******It is responsible for the leadership of the state and it solemnly relieves the people of this responsibility." (2771-PS)
Hess remarked that the Party was a "necessity" in the German State and constituted the cohesive mechanism with which to "or-
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ganize and direct offensively and defensively the spiritual and political strength of the people." (2426-PS)
Nazi interpreters of constitutional law expressed the same idea:
"The NSDAP is not a structure which stands under direct state control, to which single tasks of public administration are entrusted by the state, but it holds and maintains its claim to totality as the 'bearer of the German state-idea' in all fields relating to the community -- regardless of how various single functions are divided between the organization of the Party and the organization of the State." (2771-PS)
This doctrine was incorporated into laws which established the NSDAP as "the only political party in Germany" and declared the NSDAP "The bearer of the German state idea" and "indissolubly linked to the state." (1388-A-PS; 195-PS)
(c) The Nazi Party leadership was entitled to destroy all opponents. Reference is made generally to Sections 2 and 3 on the Acquisition and Consolidation of Political Control of Germany for proof of this allegation.
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LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO COMMON OBJECTIVES, METHODS,
AND DOCTRINES OF THE CONSPIRACY
Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6 (a). Vol I Page 5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Sections IV (B, C). Vol I Page 16, 17
Note: A single asterisk (*) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (**) before a document number indicates that the document was referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court.
1388-A-PS; Law against the establishment of Parties, 14 July 1933.1933
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. Vol III, Page 962
*1395-PS; Law to insure the unity of Party and State, 1 December 1933. -1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1016. (GB-252). Vol III Page 978
*1708-PS; The Program of the NSDAP. National Socialistic Yearbook, 1941, p. 153. (USA-255; USA-324). Vol IV Page 208
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*1814-PS; The Organization of the NSDAP and its affiliated associations, from Organization book of the NSDAP, editions of 1936, 1938, 1940 and 1943,
pp. 8688. (USA-328). Vol IV Page 411
*1893-PS; Extracts from Organization Book of the NSDAP, 1943 edition. (USA-823) Vol IV Page 529
2373-PS; Extracts from German Publications Vol IV Page 1106
2405-PS; Extracts from German Publications. Vol V Page 79
*2426-PS; Extracts from Speeches, by Hess. (GB 253). Vol V Page 90
*2433-PS; Extracts from "Nature, Foundation and Aims of NSDAP" by Rosenberg, 1934. (USA 596) Vol V Page 93
2512-PS; Hitler's Testimony Before the Court for High Treason, published in Frankfurter
Zeitung, 26 September 1931. Vol V Page 246
2541-PS; Extracts from German Publications. Vol V Page 285
2584-PS; Hitler's speech concluding the Reichsparteitag, 3 September 1933. The First Reichstag of the United German Nation, 1933. Vol V Page 311
2760-A-PS; Extract from Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, 41st edition, 1933. Vol V Page 407
2771-PS; US State Department, National Socialism, published by US GPO, 1943. Vol V Page 417
2772-PS; Speech of Hitler, published in Documents of German Politics, Vol. IV, Part I, p. 37. Vol V Page 417
2773-PS; Speech of Hitler, published in Documents of German Politics, Vol. VII, 1939, pp. 466-7. Vol V Page 417
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2774-PS; Extract from Organization Book of the NSDAP, 1937, 4th Edition, p. 86. Vol V Page 418
*2775-PS; Hitler's speech, published in Nurnberg Party Congress, 1934. (USA 330). Vol V Page 418
*2777-PS; Article: Space Policy by Rosenberg, published in National Socialist Monthly, May 1932, p. 199. (USA 594).Vol V Page 418
2780-PS; Extract from Constitution and Administration in the Third Reich, by Paul Schmidt, Berlin, 1937. Vol V Page 419
*3863-PS; Extracts from Operations in the Third Reich by Lammers. (GB 320). Vol VI Page 786
2. ACQUISITION OF TOTALITARIAN POLITICAL CONTROL
A. First Steps in Acquiring Control of State Machinery.
(1) The Nazi conspirators first sought control of State machinery by force. The Munich Putsch of 1923, aimed at the overthrow of the Weimar Republic by direct action, failed. On 8 November 1923 the so-called Munich Putsch occurred. During the evening, von Kahr, State Commissioner General of Bavaria, was speaking at the Buergerbraeukeller in Munich. Hitler and other Nazi leaders appeared, supported by the Sturmabteilungen (Storm Troops) and other fighting groups. Hitler fired a shot and announced that a Nationalist Revolution setting up a dictatorship had taken place. There followed a conference after which von Kahr, von Lossow, and Colonel of Police von Seisser, announced they would cooperate with Hitler and that a "Provisional National Government" was established, as follows:
Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
Leader of the National Army Gen. von Ludendorff
Reich Minister of War von Lossow
Reich Minister of Police von Seisser
Reich Finance Minister Feder
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It was also announced that Kahr would be State Administrator for Bavaria, Poehner would be Bavarian Prime Minister, and Frick would be Munich Police President. Kahr, Lossow and Seisser then departed. During the night the latter group alerted the police, brought troops to Munich, and announced that their consent to the Putsch had been obtained by force. On the afternoon of the next day, Hitler, Ludendorff, and their supporters attempted to march into the center of Munich. At the Feldherrnhalle the procession met a patrol of police, shots were exchanged, and men on both sides were killed. Hermann Goering was wounded, the Putsch was broken up, the Party and its organization were declared illegal, and its leaders, including Hitler, Frick, and Streicher were arrested. Rosenberg, together with Amann and Drexler, tried to keep the Party together after it had been forbidden. Hitler and others later were tried for high treason. At the trial Hitler admitted his participation in the foregoing attempt to seize control of the State by force. He was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. (252-PS; 2404-PS)
(2) The Nazi Conspirators then set out through the Nazi Party to undermine and capture the German Government by "legal" forms supported by terrorism.
(a) In 1925, the conspirators reorganized the Nazi Party and began a campaign to secure support from Germany voters throughout the nation. On 26 February 1925, the Voelkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP) appeared for the first time after the Munich Putsch, and on the following day Hitler made his first speech after his release from prison. He then began to rebuild the Party organization. The conspirators, through the Nazi Party, participated in election campaigns and other political activity throughout Germany and secured the election of members of the Reichstag. (252-PS)
As a reflection of this activity the Nazi Party in May 1928, received 2.6% of the total vote and obtained 12 out of 491 seats in the Reichstag. In September 1930, the Nazi Party polled 18.3% of the total vote and won 107 out of 577 seats in the Reichstag. In July 1932, it received 37.3% of the total vote cast and won 230 out of 608 seats. In November 1932, it polled 33.1% of the vote and won 196 out of 584 seats in the Reichstag. (2514-PS)
(b) The Nazi conspirators asserted they sought power only by legal forms. In November 1934, Hitler, speaking of the Munich Putsch of 1923 said:
"It gave me the opportunity to lay down the new tactics of the Party and to pledge it to legality". (2741-PS)
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In September 1931, three officers of the Reichswehr were tried at Leipzig for high treason. At the request of Hans Frank, Hitler was invited to testify at this trial that the NSDAP was striving to attain its goal by purely legal means. He was asked: "How do you imagine the setting up of a Third Reich?" His reply was, "This term only describes the basis of the struggle but not the objective. We will enter the legal organizations and will make our Party a decisive factor in this way. But when we do possess constitutional rights then we will form the State in the manner which we consider to be the right one." The President then asked: "This too by constitutional means ?" Hitler replied: "Yes." (612-PS)
(c) The purpose of the Nazi conspirators in participating in elections and in the Reichstag was to undermine the parliamentary system of the Republic and to replace it with a dictatorship of their own. This the Nazi conspirators themselves made clear. Frick wrote in 1927:
"There is no National Socialist and no racialist who expects any kind of manly German deed from that gossip club on the Koenigsplatz and who is not convinced of the necessity for direct action by the unbroken will of the German people to bring about their spiritual and physical liberation. But there is a long road ahead.
After the failure of November, 1923, there was no choice but to begin all over again and to strive to bring about a change in the spirit and determination of the most valuable of our racial comrades, as the indispensable prerequisite for the success of the coming fight for freedom. Our activities in parliament must be evaluated as merely part of this propaganda work.
"Our participation in the parliament does not indicate a support, but rather an undermining of the parliamentarian system. It does not indicate that we renounce our anti-parliamentarian attitude, but that we are fighting the enemy with his own weapons and that we are fighting for our National Socialist goal from the parliamentary platform." (2742-PS)
On 30 April 1928, Goebbels wrote in his paper "Der Angriff";
"We enter parliament in order to supply ourselves, in the arsenal of democracy, with its own weapons. We become members of the Reichstag in order to paralyze the Weimar sentiment with its own assistance. If democracy is so stupid as to give us free tickets and per diem for the this "blockade" (Barendienst), that is its own affair."
Later in the same article he continued:
"We do not come as friend nor even as neutrals. we come
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as enemies: As the wolf bursts into the flock, so we come." (2500-PS)
In a pamphlet published in 1935, Goebbels said:
"When democracy granted democratic methods for us in the times of opposition, this was bound to happen in a democratic system. However, we National Socialists never asserted that we represented a democratic point of view, but we have declared openly that we used democratic methods only in order to gain the power and that, after assuming the power, we would deny to our adversaries without any consideration the means which were granted to us in the times of opposition. (2412-PS)
A leading Nazi writer on Constitutional Law, Ernst Rudolf Huber, later wrote of this period:
"The parliamentary battle of the NSDAP had the single purpose of destroying the parliamentary system from within through its own methods. It was necessary above all to make formal use of the possibilities of the party-state system but to refuse real cooperation and thereby to render the parliamentary system, which is by nature dependent upon the responsible cooperation of the opposition, incapable of action." (2633-PS)
The Nazi members of the Reichstag conducted themselves as a storm troop unit. Whenever representatives of the government or the democratic parties spoke, the Nazi members marched out in a body in studied contempt of the speaker, or entered in a body to interrupt the speaker, thus making it physically impossible for the Reichstag President to maintain order. In the case of speakers of opposition parties, the Nazi members constantly interrupted, often resorting to lengthy and spurious parliamentary maneuvers, with the result that the schedule of the session was thrown out of order. The tactics finally culminated in physical attacks by the Nazis upon members of the house as well as upon visitors. (L-83)
In a letter of 24 August 1931 to Rosenberg, Hitler deplored an article in "Voelkischer Beobachter" the effect of which was to prevent undermining of support for the then existing form of government, and said: "I myself am travelling all over Germany to achieve exactly the opposite." (047-PS)
(d) The Nazi conspirators supported their "legal" activities by terrorism.
1. The Nazi conspirators created and utilized as a Party formation the Sturmabteilungen (SA) a semi-military voluntary organization of young men trained for and com-
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mitted to the use of violence, whose mission was to make the Party the master of the streets. The SA was organized in 1921. As indicated by its name, it was a voluntary organization of young men trained for and committed to the use of violence. To quote from a pamphlet compiled on order of the Supreme SA Headquarters:
"The SA was not founded as one forms just any sort of club. It was born in midst of strife and received from the Fuehrer himself the name "Storm Troops" after that memorable hall battle in Hofbrauhaus at Munich on 4 November 1921. *******Blood and sacrifice were the most faithful companions of the young SA on its hard path to power. The Storm Troops were and still are today the fist and propaganda arm of the movement". (2168-PS)
It was organized along semi-military lines from the beginning. To quote again from the same official pamphlet:
"It is one of the greatest historical services of the SA that at the time when the German People's Army had to undergo a dissolution, it held high those virtues which marked the German soldier: personal courage, idealism, willingness to sacrifice, consciousness of responsibility, power to decide, and leadership. Thus, the SA became among the people the messenger and bearer of German armed strength and German armed spirit.
"The 4th of November 1921 was not only the birth hour of the SA by itself, but was the day from which the young fighting troop of the Movement took its stand at the focal point of political events. With the clear recognition that now the unity (Geschlossenheit) of a troop led to victory, the SA was systematically reorganized and so-called "Centuries" (undertschaften) were established *******" (2168-PS)
In March 1923, Goering took command of the entire SA. In November 1923, SA units were used in the Munich Putsch. When the Party was reorganized in 1925, the SA continued to be the fighting organization of the Party. Again to quote the official pamphlet on the SA:
"And now a fight for Germany began of such a sort as was never before fought. What are names, what are words or figures which are not indeed able to express the magnitude of belief and of idealism on one side and the magnitude of hate on the other side.
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1925: the Party lives again, and its iron spearhead is the SA. With it the power and meaning of the National Socialist movement grows. Around the central events of the whole Movement, the Reich Party Days, dates, decisions, fights and victory roll themselves into a long list of German men of undenying willingness to sacrifice."
Mastery of the streets was at all times the mission of the SA. While discussing his ideas as to the part which this organization should play in the political activity of his Party, Hitler stated:
"What we needed and still need were and are not a hundred or two hundred reckless conspirators, but a hundred thousand and a second hundred thousand fighters for our philosophy of life. We should not work in secret conventicles, but in mighty mass demonstrations, and it is not by dagger and poison or pistol that the road can be cleared for the movement but by the conquest of the streets. We must teach the Marxists that the future master of the streets is National Socialism, just as it will some day be the master of the State." (404-PS)
To quote again from the official SA pamphlet:
"Possession of the streets is the key to power in the state -- for this reason the SA marched and fought. The public would have never received knowledge from the agitative speeches of the little Reichstag faction and its propaganda or from the desires and aims of the Party, if the martial tread and battle song of the SA companies had not beat the measure for the truth of a relentless criticism of the state of affairs in the governmental system. *******
"The SA conquered for itself a place in public opinion and the leadership of the National Socialist Movement dictated to its opponents the law for quarrels. The SA was already a state within a state; a part of the future in a sad present." (2168-PS; for further material concerning the SA, see Section 4 of Chapter XV.)
2. The Nazi conspirators constantly used physical violence and terror to break up meetings of political opponents, and to suppress opposition in their own meetings. The following facts are indicative of the methods constantly used by the Nazi conspirators during this period: On numerous occasions meetings of the Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft
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(Peace Society) were broken up and terrorized by shock troops and SA units. Groups of National Socialists invaded meetings of the society, interrupted the speaker, attempted to attack him, and endeavored to make sufficient disturbance so that the meetings would have to be cancelled. (L-83)
To quote once again from the official SA pamphlet:
"*******As an example of a seemingly impossible deed, the 11th of February 1927 should be firmly preserved. It is the day on which the SA broke the Red Terror, with heavy sacrifice, in the hall battle at the Pharaoh's Hall (Pharussaelen) in Berlin, the stronghold of the Communists, and thereby established itself decisively in the capitol city of the Reich. In considering the badly wounded SA men, Dr. Goebbels coined the phrase "unknown SA Man", who silently fights and bleeds, obeying only his duty." (2168-PS)
In Berlin, under the leadership of Goebbels, so-called Rollkommandos were organized for the purpose of disrupting political meetings of all non-Nazi groups. These Roll kommandos were charged with interrupting, making noise, and unnerving the speaker. Finally the Nazis broke up meetings by Rollkommando raids. In many cases, fights resulted, during which furniture was destroyed and a number of persons hurt. The Nazis armed themselves with blackjacks, brass knuckles, rubber truncheons, walking sticks, and beer bottles. After the Reichstag election of 1930, Nazi terrorism became more overt, and from then on scarcely a day went by when the Chief of the Security Police in Berlin did not receive a minimum of five to ten reports, and often more, of riots instigated by Nazis. (2955-PS)
During the campaign for the Reichstag election of 14 September 1930, Nazi conspirators made it a practice to send speakers accompanied by many Storm Troopers to meetings of other political parties, often physically taking over the meetings. On one such occasion a large detachment of Storm Troopers, some of whom were armed with pistols and clubs, attended a meeting called by the Social Democratic Party, succeeded in forcibly excluding everybody not in sympathy with their views, and concluded the meeting as their own. Such violent tactics, repeated many times, were an integral part of the political creed of the Nazi. (L-83)
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Ultimately, in Berlin, just before the Nazis seized power, it was necessary to devote the entire Police Force to the job of fighting the Nazis, thus leaving little time for other Police duties. (2955-PS)
The Nazi conspirators constantly threatened their opponents with organized reprisals and terror. During the course of the trial of three officers of the Reichswehr for high treason in Leipzig in September 1931, Hitler said:
"But I may assure you that if the Nazi movement's struggle is successful, then there will be a Nazi Court of Law too, the November 1918 revolution will be atoned, and there'll be some heads chopped off." (2512-PS)
Frick wrote in the National Socialist Yearbook for 1930:
"No wonder that as the situation of the entire German people, as well as that of the individual racial comrade, grows rapidly worse, increased numbers are realizing the incompetence of the parliamentarian system, and no wonder that even some who are responsible for the present system desperately cry for a dictatorship. This however, will not save them from their fate of one day being called to account before a German State Tribunal." (274-PS)
On 7 October 1929, the National Socialist District leader Terboven said in a meeting in Essen:
"This weakness is especially known to Severing, who symbolizes the present State, and he intends to render a service to the State, which is breathing its last; but this too will no longer save the present corrupt parliamentarian system. *******But I give such a dictatorship only four weeks. Then the people will awaken, then the National Socialists will come to power, and then there will not be enough lamp posts in Germany.
"The National Socialists will march into the new Reichstag with thirty members; then there will be black eyes every day in this Reichstag; thus this corrupt parliamentarian system will be further discredited; disorder and chaos will set in, and then the National Socialists will judge the moment to have arrived in which they are to seize the political power." (2513-PS)
On 18 October 1929, Frick, while discussing the Young Plan in a meeting in Pyritz said:
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"This fateful struggle will first be taken up with the ballot, but this cannot continue indefinitely, for history has taught us that in a battle, blood must be shed, and iron broken. The ballot is the beginning of this fateful struggle. We are determined to promulgate by force that which we preach. Just as Mussolini exterminated the Marxists in Italy, so must we also succeed in accomplishing the same through dictatorship and terror." (2513-PS)
In December 1932, Frick, at that time Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Reichstag, stated to a fellow member of that committee:
"Don't worry, when we are in power we shall put all of you guys into concentration camps." (L-83)
4. The Nazi conspirators openly approved acts of terrorism committed by their subordinates. On 22 August 1932, five National Socialists were condemned to death for a murder in the town of Potempa. Hitler wired to the condemned men:
"My Comrades! Faced with this terrible blood sentence, I feel myself bound to you in unlimited faithfulness. Your liberty is from this moment a question of our honor. To fight against a Government under which such a thing could happen is our duty." (2532-PS; 2511-PS)
Goering, two days later sent the following telegram to the condemned men:
"In nameless embitterment and rage against the terror sentence which has struck you, I promise you, My Comrades, that our whole fight from now on will be for your freedom. You are no murderers. You have defended the life and the honor of your Comrades. I send to your families today 1,000 Marks which I have received from your friends. Be courageous. More than 14,000,000 of the best Germans have made your interest their own." (2634-PS)
On 2 September 1932, the death sentences were commuted to imprisonment for life. In 1933, after the Nazis came into power, the five were set free (2532-PS)
Soon after coming to power the Nazi conspirators took steps to grant a general amnesty for all unlawful acts, including acts of violence, committed by their adherents in the course of their struggle for power. On 21 March 1933 a decree was promulgated, signed by von Hindenburg,
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Hitler, Frick, and von Papen granting amnesty "For penal acts committed in the national revolution of the German People, in its preparation or in the fight for the German soil". (059-PS)
B. Control Acquired
(1) On 30 January 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of the German Republic.
(2) After the Reichstag fire of 28 February 1933, clauses of the Weimar Constitution guaranteeing personal liberty and freedom of speech, of the press, of association and assembly, were suspended. The Weimar Constitution contained certain guarantees as to personal freedom (Article 114), as to inviolability of the home (Article 115), and as to the secrecy of letters and other communications (Article 117). It also had provisions safeguarding freedom of speech and of the press (Article 118), and of assembly (Article 123), and of association (Article 124). The Reich President was authorized, "if public safety and order in the German Reich are considerably disturbed or endangered," to take steps to suspend "the Fundamental Rights" established in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153. (Article 48 (2) ). (2050-PS)
On 28 February 1933, the Nazi conspirators, taking as their excuse a fire which had just destroyed the Reichstag building, caused to be promulgated a Decree of the Reich President suspending the constitutional guarantee of freedom. This decree, which purported to be an exercise of the powers of the Reich President under Article 48 (2) of the Constitution, and which was signed by the Reich President, Hindenburg, the Reich Chancellor, Hitler, the Reich Minister of the Interior, Frick, and the Reich-Minister of Justice, Guertner, provided in part:
"Sections 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. Thus, restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press, on the right of assembly and the right of association, and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications, and warrants for house-searchers, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed."
(3) The Nazi conspirators secured the passage by the Reichstag of a "Law for the Protection of the People and the Reich",
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giving Hitler and the members of his then Cabinet plenary powers of legislation. At the first meeting of Hitler's Cabinet on 30 January 1933, passage of an Enabling Law (Ermaechtigungsgesetz) was discussed, and suppression of the Communist Party was considered as a means for securing the majority requisite for this and other purposes. (351-PS) Since such a law involved a change in the Constitution it was governed by Article 76 of the Weimar Constitution which provided: "The Constitution may be amended by law. The acts of the Reichstag amending the Constitution can only take effect if two-thirds of the regular number of members are present and at least two-thirds of those present consent." (2050-PS) At the first meeting of the Hitler Cabinet on 30 January 1933, both Hitler and Goering favored early dissolution of the Reichstag and new elections in an effort to achieve a. majority for the new Cabinet. (51-PS) This course was followed and new elections for the Reichstag were held on March 1933, at which 288 Nazis were elected out of 647 members (2514-PS).
Taking advantage of the Presidential decree of 28 February 1933 suspending constitutional guarantees of freedom, Goering and other Nazi conspirators immediately caused a large number of Communists, including party officials and Reichstag deputies, and a smaller number of Social Democratic officials and deputies to be placed in "protective custody". (2324-PS; 2573-PS; L-83) thus all Communist deputies and a number of Social Democratic deputies were prevented from attending the new session of the Reichstag. On 9 March 1933, Frick announced that the Communists would be prevented from participating in the first session of the Reichstag on March 21st, because of their being more usefully occupied. (240-PS) As Frick cynically stated:
"When the Reichstag meets the 21st of March, the Communists will be prevented by urgent labor elsewhere from participating in the session. In concentration camps they will be re-educated for productive work. We will know how to render harmless permanently sub-humans who do not want to be re-educated." (2651-PS)
At a meeting of the Reich Cabinet on 15 March 1933, the problem of securing the necessary two-thirds majority in favor of an Enabling Act was again considered. Frick stated his belief that the Act would have to be broadly conceived, in a manner to allow for any deviation from the clauses of the Constitution of the Reich. Goering thought the two-thirds majority would be forthcoming and that if necessary some of the Social Democrats could be excluded from the room during the voting. (2962-PS)
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At a meeting of the Cabinet on 20 March 1933, there was further discussion of means for securing the majority and quorum necessary to secure passage of the Act (2963-PS). On 23 March, Hitler spoke in favor of an Enabling Law proposed by the Nazi conspirators and in the course of the debate said:
"The Government insists on the passage of this law. It expects a clear decision in any case. It offers to all the Parties in the Reichstag the possibility of a peaceful development and a possible conciliation in the future. But it is also determined to consider a disapproval of this law as a declaration of resistance. It is up to you, gentlemen, to make the decision now.
It will be either peace or war." (2652-PS)
Thus subject to the full weight of Nazi pressure and terror, the Reichstag passed the proposed law, 441 deputies voting in its favor, and 94 Social Democrats being opposed (2579-PS). The following day, the law was promulgated. It provided:
"The Reichstag has resolved the following law, which is, with the approval of the Reichsrat, herewith promulgated, after it has been established that the requirements have been satisfied for legislation altering the Constitution.
"SECTION 1. Reich laws can be enacted by the Reich Cabinet as well as in accordance with the Procedure established in the Constitution. This applies also to the laws referred to in article 85, paragraph 2, and in article 87 of the Constitution.
"SECTION 2. The national laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet may deviate from the Constitution so far as they do not affect the position of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The powers of the President remain undisturbed.
"SECTION 3. The national laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet are prepared by the Chancellor and published in the Reichsgesetzblatt. They come into effect, unless otherwise specified, upon the day following their publication. Articles 68 to 77 of the Constitution do not apply to the laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet.
"SECTION 4. Treaties of the Reich with foreign states which concern matters of national legislation do not require the consent of the bodies participating in legislation. The Reich Cabinet is empowered to issue the necessary provisions for the execution of these treaties.
"SECTION 5. This law becomes effective on the day of its publication. It becomes invalid on April 1, 1937; it further
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becomes invalid when the present Reich Cabinet is replaced by another." (2001-PS)
The time limit stated in the law was twice extended by action of the Reichstag and once by decree of Hitler. (2047-PS; 2048-PS; 2103-PS)
On 29 June 1933, Dr. Hugenberg resigned as Reich Minister of Economy and as Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture (51-PS). Thereafter, other members of the Cabinet resigned from time to time, and new members were added. The Reich Cabinet continued to exercise, on numerous occasions the plenary powers conferred on it by the law of 24 March 1933. (See Section 3 of Chapter XV for further material on the Reich Cabinet.)
(4) The Nazi conspirators caused all political parties, except the Nazi Party, to be prohibited. After the Reichstag fire of 27 February 1933, the organization of the Communist Party was destroyed. On 9 March 1933, the Reich Minister of the Interior, Frick, announced that the Communists would be prevented from taking part in the opening of the Reichstag on 21 March 1933, because of their seditious activity. On 26 May 1933, a law was promulgated, signed by Hitler and Frick, providing for the confiscation of Communist property. (2403-PS; 1396-PS)
After suspension of the Constitutional guarantees of freedom on 28 February 1933, numerous restraints were imposed on the Social Democratic Party, including the arrest of a number of its leaders and Reichstag deputies. The backbone of this Party was broken by the occupation of the trade union buildings and the smashing of free trade unions in May 1933. On 22 June 1933, the Social Democratic Party was suppressed in Prussia (2403-PS). On 7 July 1933 a Reich decree eliminated Social Democrats from the Reichstag and from the governing bodies of Provinces and Municipalities. (2058-PS)
On 14 July 1933, provisions of the Law of 26 May 1933 confiscating Communist property were made applicable to assets and interests of the Social Democratic Party and its affiliated organizations, "and also to assets and interests which are used or destined to promote Marxist or other activities found by the Reich Minister of the Interior to be subversive to people and state." (1388-PS) Faced with similar pressure, the other German Parties either dissolved or combined with the Nazis (2403-PS).
The Nazi conspirators then promulgated a law declaring the Nazi Party to be the only political party in Germany and making it criminal to maintain any other political party or to form a new
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political party. This law, which was signed by Hitler, Frick and Guertner, Provided in part:
The National Socialist German Workers Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) constitutes the only political party in Germany.
Whoever undertakes to maintain the organizational structure of another political party or to form a new political party will be punished with penal servitude up to three years or with imprisonment of from six months to three years, if the deed is not subject to a greater penalty according to other regulations." (1388-PS)
In a speech on 6 July 1933 Hitler stated:
"The political parties have finally been abolished. This is a historical occurance, the meaning and implication of which one cannot yet be fully conscious of. Now, we must set aside the last vestige of democracy, particularly the methods of voting and making majority decisions which today are used in local governments, in economic organizations and in labor boards; in its place we must validate the responsibility of the individual. The achievement of external power must be followed by the inner-education of the people *******"
Later in the same speech:
"The Party has become the State. All power lies with the Reich Authorities." (2632-PS)
(5) The Nazi conspirators caused the Nazi Party to be established as a para-governmental organization with extensive and extraordinary privileges. On 1 December 1933 the Reich Cabinet promulgated a law designed for "Securing the Unity of the Party and State". It was signed by Hitler and Frick, and provided:
"Art 1
1. After the victory of the National Socialist Revolution, the National Socialistic German Labor Party is the bearer of the concept of the German State and is inseparably the state.
2. It will be a part of the public law. Its organization will be determined by the Fuehrer.
"Art 2
The deputy of the Fuehrer and the Chief of Staff of the SA will become members of the Reichs government in order to
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The Nazi Dictatorship
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insure close cooperation of the offices of the party and SA with the public authorities.
"Art 3
1. The members of the National Socialistic German Labor Party and the SA (including their subordinate organizations) as the leading and driving force of the National Socialist State will bear greater responsibility toward Fuehrer, people and state.
2. In case they violate these duties, they will be subject to special jurisdiction by party and state.
3. The Fuehrer may extend these regulations in order to include members of other organizations.
"Art 4
Every action or neglect on the part of members of the SA (including their subordinate organizations) attacking or endangering the existence, organization, activity or reputation of the National Socialistic German Labor Party, in particular any infraction against discipline and order, will be regarded as a violation of duty.
"Art 5
Custody and arrest may be inflicted in addition to the usual penalties.
"Art 6
The public authorities have to grant legal and administrative assistance to he offices of the Party and the SA which are entrusted with the execution of the jurisdiction of the Party and SA.
"Art. 7
The law regarding the authority to inflict penalties on members of the SA and SS, of the 28 April 1933 (RGBl, p. 230), will be invalidated.
"Art. 8
The Reichs Chancellor, as Fuehrer of the National Socialistic German Labor Party and as the supreme commander of SA will issue the regulation necessary for the execution and augmentation of this law, particularly with respect to the organization and procedure of the Jurisdiction of the Party and SA. He will determine the time at which the regulations concerning this jurisdiction will be effective." (1395-PS)
Thus the Nazi Party became a para-governmental organization in Germany. The Nazi conspirators granted the Nazi Party and its components extensive and extraordinary privileges. On 19 May 1933,
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they passed a law to protect and insure respect for Party symbols (2759-PS). On 20 December 1934 the Nazi conspirators caused a law to be promulgated, signed by Hitler, Guertner, Hess, and Frick, making it a crime to make false or grievous statements to injure the prestige of the Government of the Reich, the NSDAP, or its agencies. This law also declared it to be a crime to wear the uniform or the insignia of the NSDAP without authority to do so, and controlled the manufacture and sale of Party uniforms, flags, and insignia (1393-PS). A decree of 29 March 1935, defining the legal status of the NSDAP and of its components and affiliated organizations, is a further indication of the extraordinary privileges enjoyed by the Nazi Party. (1725-PS)
LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO ACQUISITION OF TOTALITARIAN
POLITICAL CONTROL
Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6 (a). Vol I Page 5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Sections IV (D) 1, 2.. Vol I Pages 17, 18
[Note: A single asterisk (*) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (**) before a document number indicates that the document was referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court.]
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*047-PS; Letter to Rosenberg signed by Hitler, 24 August 1931. (USA 725) Vol III Pg 82
*351-PS; Minutes of First Meeting of Cabinet of Hitler, 30 January 1933. (USA 389) Vol III Pg 270
*404-PS; Excerpts from Hitler, Mein Kampf, pp. 456, 475. (USA 256) Vol III Pg 385
1388-PS; Law concerning confiscation of Property subversive to People and State, 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. Vol III Pg 962
1388-A-PS; Law against the establishment of Parties, 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. Vol III Pg. 962
1390-PS; Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State, 28
February 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 83 Vol III Pg 968
1393-PS; Law on treacherous attacks against State and Party, and for the Protection of Party Uniforms, 20 December 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1269
*1395-PS; Law to insure the unity of Party and State, 1 December 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1016. (GB 252) Vol III Pg 978
1396-PS; Law concerning the confiscation of Communist property, 26 May 1933. 1933
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 293. Vol III Pg 979
17250-PS; Decree enforcing law for securing the unity of Party and State, 29 March 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 502. Vol IV Pg 224
2001-PS; Law to Remove the Distress of People and State, 24 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 141. Vol IV Pg 638
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2047-PS; Law for the extension of the law concerning the removal of the distress of People and Reich, 30 January 1937. 1937 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 105. Vol IV Pg. 660
2048-PS; Law for the extension of the law concerning the removal of the distress of the People and Reich, 30 January 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 95. Vol IV Pg 660
2050-PS; The Constitution of the German Reich, 11 August 1919. 1919 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1383. Vol. IV Pg. 662
2058-PS; Decree for the securing of the State Leadership, 7 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 462. Vol. IV Pg. 669
2059-PS; Decree of the Reich President relating to the granting of Amnesty, 21 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 134. Vol. IV Pg. 701
2103-PS; Decree of Fuehrer on Cabinet Legislation, 10 May 1943. 1943 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 295. Vol IV Pg. 729
*2168-PS; Book by SA Sturmfuehrer Dr. Ernst Bayer, entitled "The SA", depicting the history, work, aim and organization of the SA. (USA 411) Vol .IV Pg. 772
*2324-PS; Extracts from Reconstruction of a Nation, by Hermann Goering, 1934. (USA
233) Vol. IV Pg. 1033
2403-PS; The End of the Party State, from Documents of German Politics, Vol. I, pp. 55-56. Vol. V Pg. 71
2404-PS; Report of Hitler's speech in his own defense, published in The Hitler Trial (1934) Vol V Pg. 73
2405-PS; Extracts from German. Publications. Vol V Pg. 79
2412-PS; Extracts from Nature and Form of National Socialism pamphlet by Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Berlin, 1935. Vol V Pg 88
2500-PS; "What do we want in the Reichstag?" one of Goebbels' newspaper articles. Vol V Pg 237
2511-PS; Statement by Hitler from Voelkischer Beobachter, 24 August 1932. Vol. V Pg. 246
2512-PS; Hitler's Testimony Before the Court for High Treason, published in Frankfurter
Zeitung, 26 September 1931. Vol. V Pg. 246
*2513-PS; Extract from The National Socialist Workers' Party as an Association Hostile to State and to Republican Form of Government and Guilty of Treasonable Activity. (USA 235) Vol. V Pg. 252
2514-PS; Extract from Statistical Yearbook of the German Reich 1933, concerning elections in the Reichstag. Vol. V. Pg. 253
2532-PS; Extract from The Third Reich, by Gerd Ruehle. Vol. V. Pg. 268
2573-PS; Announcement of Official Prussian Press Office, in Frankfurter Zeitung, 1 March 1933. Vol. V. Pg. 303
2579-PS; Extracts from the Frankfurter Zeitung, 24 March 1933, concerning happenings 23 March. Vol. V. Pg. 303
2632-PS; Extracts from The National Socialist Revolution 1933, published in Berlin 1935. Vol V. Pg 343
2633-PS; Extracts from Constitutional Law of the Greater German Reich, 1939. Vol. V Pg. 344
2634-PS; Goering to the Condemned, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, 26 August 1932. Vol. V. Pg. 344
2651-PS; Statement by Frick from Voelkischer Beobachter, 14 March 1933. Vol. V Pg. 359
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2652-PS; Speech of Hitler to Reichstag, 23 March 1933, from Voelkischer Beobachter, 24 March 1933. Vol. V Pg. 359
2741-PS; Speech by Hitler on 9 November 1934, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, 10 November 1934. Vol. V. Pg. 382
2742-PS; Passage written by Frick in National Socialist Yearbook, 1927, p. 124. Vol. V. Pg. 833
2743-PS; Passage written by Frick in National Socialist Yearbook, 1930, p. 178. Vol. V Pg. 383
2759-PS; Law for the protection of Nationalist Symbols, 19 May 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 285. Vol. V. Pg. 394
*2955-PS; Affidavit of Magnus Heimannsberg, 14 November 1945, referring to SA and other Nazi groups posted at polling places. (USA 755) Vol. V Pg. 659
*2962-PS; Minutes of meeting of Reich Cabinet, 15 March 1933. (USA 578). Vol. V Pg. 669
*2963-PS: Minutes of meeting of Reich Cabinet, 20 March 1933. (USA 656). Vol. V Pg. 670
*3054-PS; "The Nazi Plan", script of a motion picture composed of captured German film. (USA 167) Vol. V Pg 801
*3740-PS; Affidavit of Franz Halder, 6 March 1946. (USA 779). Vol. VI Pg. 635
*L-83; Affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, 21 July 1945. (USA 234) Vol. VII Pg. 859
3. CONSOLIDATION OF TOTALITARIAN POLITICAL CONTROL
Between the Accession to Power (early 1933) and the Outbreak of the War (late 1939) the Nazi Conspirators Consolidated Their Control of Germany by Utilizing and Molding Its Political machinery to Their Own Ends.
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A. The Nazi conspirators reduced the Reichstag to an impotent body of their of appointees. Under the Weimar Constitution of the German Reich, adopted by the German people on 11 August 1919, the Reichstag was a representative parliamentary body with broad legislative powers. Article 20 provided that the Reichstag should be "composed of the delegates of the German people." Article 68 of the Chapter on Legislation provided that:
"Bills are introduced by the government of the Reich or by members of the Reichstag. Reich laws shall be enacted by the Reichstag." (2050-PS)
In Mein Kampf Hitler stated the conspirators' purpose to undermine the Reichstag:
"Our young movement in essence and structure is anti-parliamentarian, i.e., it rejects majority voting as a matter of principle as well as in its own organization *******Its participation in the activities of a parliament has only the purpose to contribute to its destruction, to the elimination of an institution which we consider as one of the gravest symptoms of decay of mankind *******" (288-PS).
With the passage of the Law for the Protection of the People and the Reich (also known as the Enabling Act) the Nazi succeeded, in effect, in depriving the Reichstag of its legislative functions. The legislative as well as the executive powers of the government were concentrated in Hitler and the Cabinet (2001-PS; the legislative activities of the Cabinet (Reichsregierung) and its power to contravene constitutional limitations are treated in Section 3 of Chapter XV).
During the period from March 1933 until the beginning of 1937, the Reichstag enacted only four laws: The Reconstruction Law of 30 January 1934 and the three Nurnberg laws of 15 September 1935. The Reichstag was retained chiefly as a sounding board for Hitler's speeches. All other legislation was enacted by the Cabinet, by the Cabinet ministers, or by decree of the Fuehrer (2481-PS). Hess has admitted the lack of importance of the Reichstag in the legislative process after 1933. (2426-PS)
Hitler indicated in a 1939 decree that the Reichstag would be permitted to enact only such laws as he, in his own judgment, might deem appropriate for Reichstag legislation. (2018-PS)
Immediately after the Nazis acquired the control of the central government they proceeded systematically to eliminate their opponents. First they forced all other political parties to dissolve, and on 14 July 1933 issued a decree making illegal the existence of any political party except the Nazi Party. (1388-PS)
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In early 1935 there were 661 delegates in the Reichstag. Of this number 641 were officially registered as Nazi party members and the remaining 20 were classified as "guests" (Gaeste). (2384-PS; 2380-PS)
B. The Nazi conspirators curtailed the freedom of popular elections throughout Germany. Under the Weimar Republic there existed constitutional and legislative guarantees of free popular elections. The Weimar Constitution guaranteed the universal, equal and secret ballot and proportional representation. (2050-PS) These general principles were implemented by the provisions of the Reich Election Law of 1924, particularly with respect to the multiple party system and the functioning of proportional representation. (2382-PS)
In Mein Kampf Hitler stated the conspirators' purpose to subvert the system of popular election:
"Majority can never replace men. *******The political understanding of the masses is not sufficiently developed to produce independently specific political convictions and to select persons to represent them." (2883-PS)
The occasional national elections after 1933 were formalities devoid of freedom of choice. Bona fide elections could not take place under the Nazi system. The basic ideological doctrine of the Fuehrerprinzip (Leadership Principle) dictated that all subordinates must be appointed by their superiors- in the governmental hierarchy. In order to insure the practical application of this principle the Nazis immediately liquidated all other political parties and provided criminal sanctions against the formation of new parties. (For further discussion see Section 2 on the Acquisition of Totalitarian Political Control.)
Although the Reichstag, unlike all other elective assemblies in Germany, was allowed to continue in existence, elections no longer involved a free choice between lists or candidates. At these elections there were usually large bands of uniformed Nazis surrounding the polls and intimidating the voters. (2955-PS)
The surreptitious marking of ballots (e.g. with skimmed milk) wa also customary, to ascertain the identity of the persons who cast "No" or invalid votes. (R-142)
Although it had already become practically impossible to have more than one list of candidates, it was specifically provided by law in 1938 that only one list was to be submitted to the electorate: (2355-PS)
By the end of this period, little of substance remained in the election law. In an official volume published during the war there
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are reprinted the still effective provisions of the law of 1924. The majority of the substantive provisions have been marked "obsolete" (gegenstandslos) (2381-PS).
The comprehensive Nazi program for the centralization of German government included in its scope the whole system of regional and local elections, which soon ceased to exist. Article 17 of the Weimar Constitution had required a representative form of government and universal, secret elections in all Laender and municipalities (2050-PS). Yet in early 1934, the sovereign powers (Hoheitsrechte) of the Laender were transferred by law to the Reich, and the Land governments were placed under the Reich control:
"The popular assemblies (Volksvertretngen) of the Laender shall be abolished." (2006-PS)
Pursuant to the German Communal Ordinance of 30 January 1935, the mayors and executive officers of all municipalities received their appointments "through the confidence of Party and State" (Article 6 (2)). Appointments were made by Reich authorities from lists prepared by the Party delegates (Article 41). City councillors were selected by the Party delegates in agreement with the mayors (Article 51 (1)). (2008-PS)
C. The Nazi conspirators transformed the states, provinces, and municipalities into what were, in effect, mere administrative organs of the central government. Under the Weimar Constitution of the pre-Nazi regime, the states, provinces, and municipalities enjoyed considerable autonomy in the exercise of governmental functions -- legislative, executive and judicial. (2050-PS)
Hitler, in Mein Kampf, stated the conspirators' purpose to establish totalitarian control of local government:
"National Socialism, as a matter of principle, must claim the right to enforce its doctrines, without regard to present federal boundaries, upon the entire German nation and to educate it in its ideas and its thinking. *******The National Socialist doctrine is not the servant of political interests of individual federal states but shall become the ruler of the German nation." (2883-PS)
These views were echoed by Rosenberg:
"In the midst of the great power constellations of the globe t here must be, for foreign as well as for internal political reasons, only one strong central national authority, if one wants Germany to regain a position which makes it fit for alliance with other countries." (2882-PS)
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By a series of laws and decrees, the Nazi conspirators reduced the powers of the regional and local governments and substantially transformed them into territorial subdivisions of the Reich government. The program of centralization began almost immediately after the Nazis acquired the chief executive posts of the government. On 31 March 1933, they promulgated the provisional Law integrating the Laender with the Reich (2004-PS). This law called for the dissolution of all state and local self governing bodies and for their reconstitution according to the number of votes cast for each party in the Reichstag election of 5 March 1933. The Communists and their affiliates were expressly denied representation.
A week later there followed the Second Law Integrating the Laender with the Reich (2005-PS). This Act established the position of Reich Governor. He was to be appointed by the President upon the proposal of the Chancellor, and was given power to appoint the members of the Land governments and the higher Land officials and judges, the authority to reconstruct the Land legislature according to the law of 31 March 1933 (2004-PS, supra), and the power of pardon.
On 31 January 1934, most of the remaining vestiges of Land independence were destroyed by the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich:
"The popular referendum and the Reichstag election of 12 November 1933, have proved that the German people have attained an indestructible internal unity (unloesliche mere Enheit) superior to all internal subdivisions of political character. Consequently, the Reichstag has enacted the following law which is hereby promulgated with the unanimous vote of the Reichstag after ascertaining that the requirements of the Reich Constitution have been met:
Article I. Popular assemblies of the Laender shall be abolished.
Article II.
(1) The sovereign powers (Hohetsrechte) of the Laender are transferred to the Reich.
(2) The Laender governments are placed under the Reich government.
Article III. The Reich governors are placed under the administrative supervision of the Reich Minister of Interior.
Article IV. The Reich Government may issue new constitutional laws."
This law was implemented by a regulation, issued by Frick, providing that all Land laws must have the assent of the competent
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Minister of the Reich, that the highest echelons of the Land Government were to obey the orders of the competent Reich Minister, and that the employees of the Laender might be transferred into the Reich Civil Service. (1653-PS)
The Reichsrat (Reich Council) was abolished by law on 14 February 1934, and all official representation on the part of the Laender in the administration of the central government was at an end (2647-PS). The legislative pattern was complete with the enactment of the Reich Governor Law on 30 January 1935, which solidified the system of centralized control. The Reich Governor was declared to be the official representative of the Reich government, who was to receive orders directly from Hitler (Reichstatthaltergesetz (Reich Governor Law), 30 January 1935, 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 65). The same development was apparent in the provinces, the territorial subdivisions of Prussia. All local powers were concentrated in the Provincial Presidents, who acted solely as representatives of the national administration (2049-PS). Similarly, in the case of the municipalities local self-government was quickly reduced to a minimum and communal affairs were placed under central Reich control.
The Nazi Party Delegate was given special functions:
"*******in order to insure harmony between the communal administration and the Party." (Art. 6 (2)).
The Reich was given supervision over the municipalities: "*******in order to insure that their activities conform with the laws and the aims of national leadership." (2008-PS)
The Nazi conspirators frequently boasted of their comprehensive program of government centralization. Frick, Minister of the Interior throughout this period, wrote:
"The reconstruction law abolished the sovereign rights and the executive powers of the Laender and made the Reich the sole bearer of the rights of sovereignty. The supreme powers of the Laender do not exist any longer. The natural result of this was the subordination of the Land governments to the Reich government and the Land Ministers to the corresponding Reich Ministers. On 30 January 1934, the German Reich became one state. (2481-PS)
In another article Frick indicated even more clearly the purposes which underlay this program of centralization:
"In the National Socialist revolution of 1933, it was stipulated for the first time in the history of the German nation that the erection of a unified state (Einhetsstaat) would be accomplished. From the early days of his political activity,
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Adolf Hitler never left a doubt in the mind of anyone that he considered it the-first duty of National Socialism to create a German Reich in which the will of the people would be led in a single direction and that the whole strength of the nation, at home and abroad, would be placed on the balance scale." (2380-PS; 2378-PS.)
D. The Nazi conspirators united the offices of President and Chancellor in the person of Hitler. The merger of the two offices was accomplished by the law of 1 August 1934, signed by the entire cabinet (2003-PS). The official Nazi statement concerning the effect of this statute contains this observation:
"Through this law, the conduct of Party and State has been combined in one hand. *******He is responsible only to his own conscience and to the German nation." (1893-PS)
One of the significant consequences of this law was to give to Hitler the supreme command of the German armed forces, always a prerequisite of the Presidency (2050-PS).
Accordingly, every soldier was immediately required to take an oath of loyalty and obedience to Hitler. (2061-PS)
E. The Nazi conspirators removed great numbers of civil servants on racial and political grounds and replaced them with party members and supporters.
Hitler publicly announced the conspirator's purpose:
"We know that two things alone will save us: the end of internal corruption and the cleaning out of all those who owe their existence simply to the protection of members of the same political parties. Through the most brutal ruthlessness towards all officials installed by those political parties we must restore our finances. *******The body of German officials must once more become what it was." (2881-PS)
The Nazi legislative machine turned to the task of purging the civil service soon after the accession to power. On 7 April 1933, the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service was promulgated (1397-PS). Article 3 of this law applies the Nazi blood theories:
"(1) Officials who are not of Aryan descent are to be retired (See Section 8); where honorary officials are concerned, they are to be discharged from office.
(2) (1) Does not apply to officials who have been in service since 1 August 1914, or who fought in the World War at the front for the German Reich or for its allies or whose fathers or sons were killed in the World War.
The Reich Minister
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of the Interior after consultation with the competent Minister or with the highest state authorities may permit further exceptions in the case of officials who are in foreign countries."
Article 8 provides that retirement does not carry a pension unless the official has served at least ten years. The political purge provision of this law is contained in Article 4:
"Officials who because of their previous political activity do not offer security that they will exert themselves for the national state without reservations, may be discharged. For three months after dismissal, they will be paid their former salary. From this time on they receive three-quarters of their pensions (see 8) and corresponding annuities for their heirs.''
The provisions of the Act apply to all Reich, Land, and Communal officials (Art. 1 (2) ). Civil Servants may be placed on the retired list without any reason, "for the purpose of simplifying the administration" (Art. 6). Discharges and transfers, once decided on by the appropriate administrative chief, are final and are not subject to appeal (Art. 7 (1)).
This basic enactment was followed by a series of decrees, regulations, and amendments. For example, on 11 April 1933, the term "non-Aryan" was defined to include persons with only one non-Aryan grandparent (2012-PS). An amendatory law of 30 June ruled out all civil servants married to non-Aryans. (1400-PS)
The political standards of the "Purge Law" were made more explicit by the supplementary law of 20 July 1933. Officials who belonged to any party or organization which, in the opinion of the Nazis, furthered the aims of Communism, Marxism, or Social Democracy were summarily to be discharged (1398-PS). In the later years, these earlier provisions were enlarged and codified, No longer solely for the purposes of affecting the existing civil service, but rather to set out the qualifications for the appointment of new applicants and for their promotion. Proof of devotion to National Socialism and documentary proof of acceptable "blood" were prescribed as conditions to promotion. (2326-PS)
The comprehensive German Civil Service Law of 26 January 1937 included the discriminatory provisions of the earlier legislation, and prevented the appointment of any applicants opposed r suspected of being opposed to the Nazi program and policy (2340-PS). The legislation dealing with the training and education of civil servants provided that no person can be accepted for
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an official position unless he is a member of the Nazi Party or one of its formations (Glederungen). (2341-PS)
The total subjugation of the German civil servant was ultimately accomplished by the following resolution passed by the Reichstag at the request of the Fuehrer.
"*******without being bound by existing legal provisions, the Fuehrer must
therefore in his capacity as Fuehrer of the nation, as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, as Head of the Government and as the highest bearer of all power, as highest Law Lord and as Fuehrer of the Party, always be in a position to require every German -- whether a simple soldier or officer, subordinate or higher official, or judge, supervisory or operating functionary of the Party, laborer or employer to carry out his duties with all the means available to him and to discharge these duties according to a conscientious examination without reference to so-called vested rights, especially without the preambles of pre-existing procedure, by removal of any man from his office, rank or position." (2755-PS)
F. The Nazi conspirators restricted the independence of the judiciary and rendered it subservient to their ends.
The independence of judges, before the Nazi regime, was guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution. The fundamental principle was stated briefly in Article 102:
"Judges are independent and subject only to the law." (2050-PS)
Article 104 contained a safeguard against the arbitrary removal or suspension of judges, while Article 105 prohibited "exceptional courts". The fundamental rights of the individual are set out in Article 109 and include equality before the law. (2050-PS)
Like all other public officials, German judges who failed to meet Nazi racial and political requirements became the subject of a wide-spread purge. Non-Aryans, political opponents of the Nazis, and all persons suspected of antagonism to the aims of the Party were summarily removed (2967-PS). The provisions of the Law for the Restoration of Professional Civil Service of 7 April 1933 applied to all judges. This was declared expressly in the third regulation for the administration of the law. (2867-PS)
To make certain that cases with political ramifications would be dealt with acceptably and in conformity with Party principles, the Nazis granted designated areas of criminal jurisdiction to the so-called Special Courts (Sondergerichte).
These constituted
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a new system of special criminal courts, independent of the regular judiciary and directly subservient to the Party (2076-PS). A later decree considerably broadened the jurisdiction of these -courts. (2056-PS)
In 1934, the People's Court was set up as a trial court "in cases of high treason and treason" (2014-PS). This action was a direct result of the dissatisfaction of the Nazi rulers with the decision of the Supreme Court (Rechsgericht) in the Reichstag fire trial. Three of the four defendants were acquitted although the Nazi conspirators had expected convictions in all cases (2967-PS). The law which created this new tribunal contained a wide definition of treason which would include most of what were regarded by the Nazis as "political" crimes (Art. 3 (1)). The express denial of any appeal from the decisions of the People's Court (Art. (2)) was a further indication of the intention of the Nazis to set up a criminal law system totally outside of accepted judicial pattern. The substantive organization of the People's Court was later established by law in 1936. (2342-PS)
These new tribunals were staled almost exclusively with Nazis and were used to tighten the Party's grip on Germany. This control became progressively stronger, due first, to the power of the prosecutor to pick the appropriate court; second, to the restriction of defense counsel in these courts to specially admitted attorneys; and finally, to the absence of appeal from the decisions of these judges. Moreover, there developed along side of the entire judicial system the increasingly powerful police administration, under which persons opposed to the regime were regularly imprisoned in concentration camps without any type of hearing, even after acquittal by the courts. (2967-PS)
Still another group of courts was established within the Party itself. These Party Courts heard cases involving internal party discipline and infractions of the rules of conduct prescribed for members of formations and affiliated organizations. The published rules for the Party judges emphasized the complete dependence of these judges upon the directions and supervision of their Party superiors. (2402-PS)
The Nazi legal theorists freely admitted that there was no place in their scheme of things for the truly independent judge. They controlled all judges through special directives and orders from the central government. Frank underscored the role of the judge as a political functionary and as an administrator in the National Socialist state (2378-PS). Two case histories of this period serve to illustrate the manner in which criminal proceedings were directly suppressed or otherwise affected by order of the Reich government.
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In 1935, the Reich Governor of Saxony, Mutschmann, attempted to quash criminal proceedings which, in this exceptional instance, had been brought against officials of the
Hohnstein concentration camp for a series of extremely brutal attacks upon inmates. The trial was held and the defendants convicted, but during the trial the governor inquired of the presiding judge whether he did not think the penalty proposed by the prosecutor too severe and whether an acquittal was not indicated. After the conviction, two jurymen were ousted from the NSDAP and the prosecutor was advised by his superior to withdraw from the SA. Although Guertner, the then Minister of Justice, strongly recommended against taking any action to alter the decision, Hitler pardoned all the accused. (783-PS; 784-PS; 785-PS; 786-PS)
In another similar case, Guertner wrote directly to Hitler narrating the horrible details of maltreatment and advising that the case be regularly prosecuted. Nevertheless, Hitler ordered complete suppression of the proceedings. (787-PS; 788-PS)
Under the Nazi regime, it was part of the official duty of many Party functionaries to supervise the administration of justice. The official papers of Hess contain detailed statements concerning his own functions and those of the Gauleiter in deciding criminal cases. (2639-PS)
Another type of governmental interference in judicial matters is evidenced by the confidential letter which the Ministry of Justice sent in early 1938 to the Chief Justices of the Regional Supreme Courts (Oberlandesgerichtspraesidenten). The judges were instructed to submit lists of lawyers who would be sufficiently able and trustworthy to represent in court persons who had been taken into "protective custody". The main requirement was absolute political reliability. Simple Party membership was not enough; to be selected, the lawyer had to enjoy the confidence of the "Gestapo". (651-PS)
After the war began, Thierack, Minister of Justice, revealed the low state to which the judiciary had fallen under Nazis rule. He argued that the judge was not the "supervisor" but the "assistant" of the government. He said that the word "independent", as applied to the judge, was to be eliminated from the vocabulary and that although the judge should retain a certain freedom of decision in particular cases, the government "can and must" give him the "general line" to follow.
For this purpose, Thierack decided in 1942 to send confidential Judge's Letters (Richterbriefe) to all German judges and prosecutors, setting forth the political principles and directives with which all judicial personnel
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were obligated to comply (2482-PS). The first of these Judge's Letters clearly expresses the complete subordination of the judges to the Fuehrer and his government. (D-229)
G. The Nazi conspirators greatly enlarged existing State and Party organizations and established an elaborate network of new formations and agencies.
The totalitarian character of the Nazi regime led to the establishment of a great number of new official and semi-official agencies and organizations in the various fields of life which were permeated by Nazi doctrine and practice, including culture, trade, industry, and agriculture.
New agencies had to be created to handle the large number of additional administrative tasks taken over from the Laender and the municipalities. Moreover, the mobilization of the political, economic, and military resources of Germany required the formation of such coordinating "super-agencies" as the Four Year Plan, the Plenipotentiary for Economics. the Plenipotentiary for Administration? and the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich. At the time of the launching of war, the central Reich government was an extremely complicated structure held together under strict Nazi dictatorship. (See Chart Number 18; also 2261-PS; 2194-PS; 2018-PS.)
Simultaneously, in the Party, the growth of agencies and or organizations proceeded rapidly. The Party spread, octopus-like, throughout all Germany and into many foreign lands. (See Chart Number 1; also 1725-PS.)
This process of growth was summed up late in 1937 in an official statement of the Party Chancellery:
"In order to control the whole German nation in all spheres of life, the NSDAP, after assuming power, set up under its leadership the new Party formations and affiliated organizations." (2383-PS)
H. The Nazi conspirators created a dual system of government controls, set up Party agencies to correspond with State agencies, and coordinated their activities, often by uniting corresponding State and Party offices in a single person.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler announced the conspirators' purpose:
"Such a revolution can and will only be achieved by a movement which itself is already organized in the spirit of such ideas and thus in itself already bears the coming state. Therefore, the National Socialist movement may today become imbued with these ideas and put them into practice in its own
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organization so that it not only may direct the state according to the same principles, but also may be in a position to put at the state's disposal the finished organizational structure of its own state." (2883-PS)
The Nazis attempted to achieve a certain degree of identity between the Party and the State and, at the same time, to maintain two separate organizational structures. After the rise to power, the fundamental principle of unity was translated into "law":
"Article 1. After the victory of the National Socialistic Revolution, the National Socialistic German Labor Party is the bearer of the concept of the German State and is inseparably the state." (1395-PS)
The manner in which the Nazis retained a duality of organization despite the theory of unity is graphically portrayed in the charts of the Party and the State (Charts Number 1 and 18). These visual exhibits demonstrate the comprehensive character of the Party organization, which was established on parallel lines with the corresponding government structure. The Party structure remained at all times technically separate and could be used for non-governmental purposes whenever such use best served the needs of the conspirators. In innumerable instances, the corresponding Party and State offices were, in fact, held by the same person. For example, the Gauleiter of the Party in most instances also held the post of Reich Governor (or, in Prussia, that of Provincial President). (2880-PS)
The coordination of the Party and State functions started at the top. The Chief of the Party Chancellery was designated a Reich Minister and endowed with plenary powers in the preparation and approval of legislation. He acted as liaison officer at the highest level between Party officials and cabinet ministers. He was given also the duty of passing on the appointment of all the more important civil servants. (2787-PS)
Many of the same powers were bestowed upon the other Reichsleiter (Leaders composing the Party Directorate). The official Nazi exposition of their position is as follows:
"It is in the Reich Directorate where the strings of the organization of the German people and the State meet. By endowment of the Chief of the Party Chancellery with the powers of a Reich Minister, and by special administrative directives, the penetration of the State apparatus with the political will of the Party is guaranteed. It is the task of the separate organs of the Reich Directorate to maintain as close a contact as possible with the life of the nation through their
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sub-offices in the Gaus. Observations at the front are collected and exploited by the offices of the Reich Directorate." (1893-PS)
On the regional and local levels, the Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, were also empowered to control the purely governmental authorities on political matters. Hess issued the following order shortly after the war began:
"I, therefore order that the bearer of sovereignty (Hoheitstraeger) of the NSDAP (Gauleiter, Kreisleter, Ortsgruppenleiter) in the scope of his authority is responsible for the political leadership and the frame of mind (Stimmung) of population. It is his right and his duty to take or to cause to be taken any measures necessary for the expeditious fulfillment of his political duties and for the elimination of wrong within the Party. He is exclusively responsible to his superior bearers of sovereignty (Hoheitstraeger)." (2383-PS)
In the later years, the functional coordination of Party and State offices became much more common. The appointment of Himmler as Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police is a typical example of the way in which State and Party functions became inextricably merged so as to render any clean lines of demarcation impossible.
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Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6(a). Vol I Pg 5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Section IV(D)3(a). Vol I Pg 18
[Note: A single asterisk (***) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (******) before a document number indicates that the document was referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court.]
***651-PS; Confidential circular signed by Schlegeberger, 31 January 1938, concerning representation by Counsel of Inmates of concentration camps. (USA 730) Vol III P. 466
***783-PS; Letter from Guertner to Mutschmann, 18 January 1935, concerning charges against members of camp personnel of protective custody Camp Hahnstein. (USA 731) Vol III P 558
***784-PS; Letters from Minister of Justice to Hess and SA Chief of Staff, 5 June 1935,
concerning penal proceedings
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against merchant and SA leader and 22 companions because of inflicting bodily injury on duty. (USA 732) Vol III P 559
***785-PS; Memorandum of Guertner concerning legal proceedings against the camp personnel of concentration camp Hahnstein. (USA 733) V III P 564
***786-PS; Minister of Justice memorandum, 29 November 1935, concerning pardon of those sentenced in connection with mistreatment in Hohnstein concentration camp. (USA-734) V III P 568
***787-PS; Memorandum to Hitler from Public Prosecutor of Dresden, 18 June 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel on account of bodily injury while in office. (USA 421) V III P 568
***788-PS; Letters from Secretary of State to the Minister of Justice, 25 June 1935 and 9 September 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel. (USA 735) V. III P. 571
1388-PS; Law concerning confiscation of Property subversive to People and State, 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. V. III P. 962
***1395-PS; Law to insure the unity of the Party and State, 1 December 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1016. V. III P. 978 1397-PS; Law for the Reestablishment of the Professional Civil Service, 7 April 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 175. V. III P. 981
1398-PS; Law to supplement the Law for the Restoration of the Professional
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Civil Service, 20 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 518. V. III P.986
1400-PS; Law changing the regulations in regard to public officer, 30 June 1933. 1933
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 433. V. III P.987
1653-PS; First regulation concerning the reconstruction of the Reich, 2 February 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 81. V. IV P. 162
1725-PS; Decree enforcing law for securing the unity of Party and State, 29 March 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 502. V. IV P. 224
***1893-PS; Extracts from Organization Book of the NSDAP, 1943 edition. (USA 323) V. IV P. 529
2001-PS; Law to Remove the Distress of People and State, 24 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 141. V. IV P.638
2003-PS; Law concerning the Sovereign Head of the German Reich, 1 August 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 747. V. IV P.639
2004-PS; Preliminary law for the coordination of Federal States under the Reich, 31 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 153. V. IV P.640
2005-PS; Second law integrating the "Laender" with the Reich, 7 April 1933. 1933
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 173. V. IV P.641
2006-PS; Law for the reconstruction of the Reich, 30 January 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 75. V. IV P. 642
2008-PS; German Communal Ordinance, 30 January 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 49. V. IV P. 643
[Page 235]
2012-PS; First regulation for administration of the law for the restoration of
professional Civil Service, 11 April 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 195. V. IV P.647
2014-PS; Law amending regulations of criminal law and criminal procedure, 24 April 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 341. V. IV P. 648
***2018-PS; Fuehrer's decree establishing a Ministerial Council for Reich Defense, 30
August 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1539. (GB 250) V. IV P. 650
2049-PS; Second Decree concerning the reconstruction of the Reich, 27 November 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1189. V. IV P. 661
2050-PS; The Constitution of the German Reich, 11 August 1919. 1919 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1383. V. IV P. 662
2056-PS; Decree concerning the extension of the Jurisdiction of Special Courts, 20 November 1938. 1938 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1632. V. IV P. 698
2061-PS; Oath of Reich Officials and of German Soldiers, 20 August 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 785. V. IV P. 702
2073-PS; Decree concerning the appointment of a Chief of German Police in the Ministry of the Interior, 17 June 1936. 1936 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I,
p. 487. V. IV P. 703
2076-PS; Decree of the Government concerning formation of Special Courts, 21 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, pp. 136-137. V. IV P.705
[Page 236]
***2194-PS; Top secret letter from Ministry for Economy and Labor, Saxony, to Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia, enclosing copy of 1938 Secret Defense Law of 4 September 1938. (USA 36). V. IV P. 843
***2261-PS; Directive from Blomberg to Supreme Commanders of Army, Navy and Air Forces, 24 June 1935; accompanied by copy of Reich Defense Law of 21 May 1935 and copy of Decision of Reich Cabinet of 12 May 1935 on the Council for defense of the Reich. (USA 24). V. IV P.934
2326-PS; Reich Principles Regarding recruiting appointment and promotion of Reich and Provincial Officials, 14 October 1936. 1936 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 893. V. IV P. 1034
2340-PS; German public officials law of 27 January 1937. 1937 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 41. V. IV P. 1058
2341-PS; Decree on Education and Training of German officials, 28 February 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 371. V. IV P. 1062
2342-PS; Law on People's Court and on 25th Amendment to Salary Law of 18 April 1936. 1936 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 369. V. IV P.1062
2355-PS; Second Law relating to right to vote for Reichstag, 18 March 1938. 1938
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 258. V. IV P.1098
2378-PS; Extracts from Documents of German Politics, Vol. 4, pp. 207, 337. Vol. V P. 4
***2380-PS; Articles from National Socialist Yearbook, 1935. (USA 396) Vol V P. 6
[Page 237]
***2381-PS; Extracts from The Greater German Diet, 1943. (USA 476) Vol. V P. 7
2382-PS; Law relating to the Reich Election, 8 March 1924. 1924 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, pp. 159-162. Vol. V P. 8
***2383-PS; Ordinance for execution of decree of Fuehrer concerning position of the Head of Party Chancellery of 16 January 1942, published in Decrees, Regulations, Announcements. (USA 410) Vol. V Pg. 9
2384-PS; The Delegates of the German People, published in Movement, State and People in their Organizations, 1935, p. 161. Vol. V Pg. 23
2402-PS; Guide for Party Courts, 17 February 1934. Vol. V Pg. 70
***2426-PS; Extracts from Speeches, by Hess. (GB 253) Vol. V Pg. 90 Documents: 2481-PS; Extracts from Four Years of the Third Reich, by Frick, published in Magazine of the Academy for German Law, 1937. Vol. V Pg. 231
2482-PS; Extract from German Justice, a legal periodical, 11th Year, Edition A, No. 42, 16 October 1942. Vol. V Pg. 233
2639-PS; Ordinances of the Deputy of the Fuehrer, published in Munich 1937. Vol. V Pg. 345
2647-PS; Law relating to the abolition of the Reichsrat, 14 February 1934. 1934
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 89. Vol. V Pg.358
2755-PS; Resolution of the Greater German Reichstag, 26 April 1942. 1942 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 247. Vol. V Pg.393
2787-PS; Excerpt from Order of the Deputy of the Fuehrer. Vol. V Pg.420
[Page 238]
2867-PS; Third Decree relating to Implementation of Law for restoration of Professional Civil Service, 6 May 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 245. Vol. V Pg. 327
2880-PS; Extracts from Handbook for Administrative Officials, 1942. Vol. V Pg. 547
2881-PS; Hitler's speech of 12 April 1922, quoted in Adolf Hitler's Speeches, published by Dr. Ernst Boepple Munich, 1934, pp. 20-21, 72. Vol. V Pg.548
2882-PS; The Party Program of 1922, by Rosenberg, 25th edition, 1942, p. 60. Vol. V Pg.548
2883-PS; Extracts from Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, 41st edition, 1933. Vol. V Pg.549
***2955-PS; Affidavit of Magnus Heimannsberg, 14 November 1945, referring to SA and other Nazi groups posted at polling places. (USA 755) Vol. V Pg.659
2957-PS; Extract from German Civil Servants Calendar, 1940, p. 111. Vol. V Pg.663
***2967-PS; Affidavit of Dr. Hans Anschuetz, 17 November 1945. (USA 756). Vol. V Pg.673
***3054-PS; "The Nazi Plan", script of a motion picture composed of captured German film. (USA 167). Vol. V Pg.801
D-229; Extract from pamphlet "Judges Letters" concerning judgment of Lower Court, 24 April 1942, on concealment of Jewish identification. V. VI Pg.1091
***R-142; Memoranda to Koblenz District Headquarters, 22 April 1938 and 7 May 1938, relating to the plebiscite of 10 April 1938. (USA 481). V. VIII Pg. 243
[Page 239]
Statement X; The Relationship of Party and State, As It Existed in Reality, by Wilhelm
Stuckhart, Nurnberg, 1 December 945. V. VIII Pg. 736
***Chart No.1; National Socialist German Workers' Party. (2903-PS; USA 2) V. VIII Pg. 770
***Chart No. 18; Organization of the Reich Government. (2905-PS; USA 3) End of Volume VIII
4. Purge of Political Opponents and Terrorization
A. The Nazi conspirators ruthlessly purged their political opponents. Soon after the Nazi conspirators had acquired political control, the defendant Goering, 3 March 1933, stated:
"Fellow Germans, my measures will not be crippled by any judicial thinking. My measures will not be crippled by any bureaucracy. Here, I don't have to give justice, my mission is only to destroy and exterminate, nothing more ! This struggle, fellow Germans, will be a struggle against chaos and such a struggle, I shall not conduct with the power of any police. A bourgeoisie state might have done that. Certainly, I shall use the power of the State and the police to the utmost, my dear Communists! So you won't draw any false conclusions; but the struggle to the death, in which my fist will grasp your necks, I shall lead with those down there those are the Brown Shirts." (1856-PS)
In 1934 Heinrich Himmler, the Deputy Leader of the Prussian Secret State Police, stated:
"We are confronted with a very pressing duty -- both the open and secret enemies of the Fuehrer and of the National Socialist movement and of our National Revolution must be discovered, combatted and exterminated. In this duty we are agreed to spare neither our own blood nor the blood of anyone else when it is required by our country." (25-PS)
Raymond H. Geist, former American Counsel and First Secretary of the Embassy in Berlin, Germany 1929-1939, has stated:
[Page 240]
"Immediately in 1933, the concentration camps were established and put under charge of the Gestapo. Only 'political' prisoners were held in concentration camps *******.
"The first wave of terroristic acts began in 6 March 1933 -- 13 March 1933, accompanied by unusual mob violence. When the Nazi Party won the elections in March 1933 -- on the morning of the 6th -- the accumulated passion blew off in wholesale attacks on the Communists, Jews, and others suspected of being either. Mobs of SA men roamed the streets, beating up, looting, and even killing persons *******.
"For Germans taken into custody by the Gestapo ******* there was a regular pattern of brutality and terror. Victims numbered in the hundreds of thousands all over Germany." (1759-PS)
The Sturmabteilung (SA) had plans for the murder of former Prime Minister Bruening, but his life was spared through the negotiations and activities of the defendant Hess and Dr. Haushofer, President of the Geopolitic Institute of Munich, because they feared his death might result in serious repercussions abroad. (1669-PS)
From March until October 1933 the Nazi conspirators arrested, mistreated and killed numerous politicians, Reichstag members, authors, physicians, and lawyers. Among the persons killed were the Social Democrat Stolling; Ernst Heilman, Social Democrat and member of the Prussian Parliament; Otto Eggerstadt, the former Police President of Altona; and various other persons. The people killed by the Nazis belonged to various political parties and religious faiths, such as Democrats, Catholics, Communist, Jews, and pacifists. The killings were usually camouflaged by such utterances as "killed in attempting to escape" or "resisting arrest." It is estimated that during this first wave of terror conducted by the Nazi conspirators, between 500 and 700 persons died. (2544-PS; see also 2460-PS and 2472-PS.)
On 30 June 1934 and 1 July 1934, 2 July 1934, the Nazi conspirators proceeded to destroy opposition within their own ranks by wholesale murder (2545-PS). In making a formal report of these murders to the Reichstag on 13 July 1934, Hitler stated:
"The punishment for these crimes was hard and severe. There were shot 19 higher SA leaders, 31 SA leaders and SA members and also 3 SS leaders as participants in the plot. Also 13 SA leaders and civilians who tried to resist arrest and were killed in the attempt. 3 others committed suicide. 5 members of the Party who were not members of the SA were shot because of their participation. Finally, 3 SS
[Page 241]
members were at the same time exterminated because they had maltreated concentration camp inmates." (2572-PS)
In this same speech Hitler proudly boasted that he gave the order to shoot the principal traitors and that he had prosecuted thousands of his former enemies on account of their corruption. He justified this action by saying,
"In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people." (Voelkischer Beobachter (People's Observer), Berlin ed., issue 195, 14 July 1934, Beiblatt, p. 2.)
The conspirators took advantage of this occasion to eliminate many opponents indiscriminately.
In discussing the Roehm purge, the defendant Frick stated:
"On account of this order, many, many people were arrested *******something like a hundred, even more, were even killed who were accused of high treason. All of this was done without resort to legal proceedings. They were just killed on the spot. Many people were killed -- I don't know how many who actually did not have anything to do with the putsch. People who just weren't liked very well, as, for instance, SCHLEICHER, the former Reich Chancellor, were killed. SCHLEICHER's wife was also killed as was GREGOR STRASSER, who had been the Reich organization leader and second man in the Party after Hitler. STRASSER, at the time he was murdered, was not active in political affairs anymore. However, he had separated himself from the Fuehrer in November or December of 1932." (2950-PS)
Such a large scale of extermination could not be carried out without errors. Shortly after the event, the Nazi conspirators arranged for a Government pension to be paid to one of its citizens, because "by mistake" the political police had murdered her husband, Willi Schmidt, who had never engaged in any kind of political activity. It was believed at the time that the man intended was Willi Schmidt, an SA leader in Munich, who was later shot on the same day. (135)
The Nazi conspirators formally endorsed their murderous purge within their own ranks by causing the Reichstag to pass a law declaring that all measures taken in carrying out the purge on 30 June 1934 and 1 July 1934 -- 2 July 1934 were legal as a measure of State necessity (2057-PS). Referring to this act of approval on the part of the Nazi-controlled Reichstag, Goering stated:
"The action of the Government in the days of the Roehm revolt was the highest realization of the legal consciousness of the people. Later the action which itself was justified, now has been made legal by the passage of a law." (2496-PS)
[Page 242]
insure close cooperation of the offices of the party and SA with the public authorities.
"Art 3
1. The members of the National Socialistic German Labor Party and the SA (including their subordinate organizations) as the leading and driving force of the National Socialist State will bear greater responsibility toward Fuehrer, people and state.
2. In case they violate these duties, they will be subject to special jurisdiction by party and state.
3. The Fuehrer may extend these regulations in order to include members of other organizations.
"Art 4
Every action or neglect on the part of members of the SA (including their subordinate organizations) attacking or endangering the existence, organization, activity or reputation of the National Socialistic German Labor Party, in particular any infraction against discipline and order, will be regarded as a violation of duty.
"Art 5
Custody and arrest may be inflicted in addition to the usual penalties.
"Art 6
The public authorities have to grant legal and administrative assistance to he offices of the Party and the SA which are entrusted with the execution of the jurisdiction of the Party and SA.
"Art. 7
The law regarding the authority to inflict penalties on members of the SA and SS, of the 28 April 1933 (RGBl, p. 230), will be invalidated.
"Art. 8
The Reichs Chancellor, as Fuehrer of the National Socialistic German Labor Party and as the supreme commander of SA will issue the regulation necessary for the execution and augmentation of this law, particularly with respect to the organization and procedure of the Jurisdiction of the Party and SA. He will determine the time at which the regulations concerning this jurisdiction will be effective." (1395-PS)
Thus the Nazi Party became a para-governmental organization in Germany. The Nazi conspirators granted the Nazi Party and its components extensive and extraordinary privileges. On 19 May 1933,
[Page 214]
they passed a law to protect and insure respect for Party symbols (2759-PS). On 20 December 1934 the Nazi conspirators caused a law to be promulgated, signed by Hitler, Guertner, Hess, and Frick, making it a crime to make false or grievous statements to injure the prestige of the Government of the Reich, the NSDAP, or its agencies. This law also declared it to be a crime to wear the uniform or the insignia of the NSDAP without authority to do so, and controlled the manufacture and sale of Party uniforms, flags, and insignia (1393-PS). A decree of 29 March 1935, defining the legal status of the NSDAP and of its components and affiliated organizations, is a further indication of the extraordinary privileges enjoyed by the Nazi Party. (1725-PS)
LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO ACQUISITION OF TOTALITARIAN
POLITICAL CONTROL
Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6 (a). Vol I Page 5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Sections IV (D) 1, 2.. Vol I Pages 17, 18
[Note: A single asterisk (*) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (**) before a document number indicates that the document was referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court.]
[Page 215]
*047-PS; Letter to Rosenberg signed by Hitler, 24 August 1931. (USA 725) Vol III Pg 82
*351-PS; Minutes of First Meeting of Cabinet of Hitler, 30 January 1933. (USA 389) Vol III Pg 270
*404-PS; Excerpts from Hitler, Mein Kampf, pp. 456, 475. (USA 256) Vol III Pg 385
1388-PS; Law concerning confiscation of Property subversive to People and State, 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. Vol III Pg 962
1388-A-PS; Law against the establishment of Parties, 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. Vol III Pg. 962
1390-PS; Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State, 28
February 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 83 Vol III Pg 968
1393-PS; Law on treacherous attacks against State and Party, and for the Protection of Party Uniforms, 20 December 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1269
*1395-PS; Law to insure the unity of Party and State, 1 December 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1016. (GB 252) Vol III Pg 978
1396-PS; Law concerning the confiscation of Communist property, 26 May 1933. 1933
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 293. Vol III Pg 979
17250-PS; Decree enforcing law for securing the unity of Party and State, 29 March 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 502. Vol IV Pg 224
2001-PS; Law to Remove the Distress of People and State, 24 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 141. Vol IV Pg 638
[Page 216]
2047-PS; Law for the extension of the law concerning the removal of the distress of People and Reich, 30 January 1937. 1937 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 105. Vol IV Pg. 660
2048-PS; Law for the extension of the law concerning the removal of the distress of the People and Reich, 30 January 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 95. Vol IV Pg 660
2050-PS; The Constitution of the German Reich, 11 August 1919. 1919 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1383. Vol. IV Pg. 662
2058-PS; Decree for the securing of the State Leadership, 7 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 462. Vol. IV Pg. 669
2059-PS; Decree of the Reich President relating to the granting of Amnesty, 21 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 134. Vol. IV Pg. 701
2103-PS; Decree of Fuehrer on Cabinet Legislation, 10 May 1943. 1943 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 295. Vol IV Pg. 729
*2168-PS; Book by SA Sturmfuehrer Dr. Ernst Bayer, entitled "The SA", depicting the history, work, aim and organization of the SA. (USA 411) Vol .IV Pg. 772
*2324-PS; Extracts from Reconstruction of a Nation, by Hermann Goering, 1934. (USA
233) Vol. IV Pg. 1033
2403-PS; The End of the Party State, from Documents of German Politics, Vol. I, pp. 55-56. Vol. V Pg. 71
2404-PS; Report of Hitler's speech in his own defense, published in The Hitler Trial (1934) Vol V Pg. 73
2405-PS; Extracts from German. Publications. Vol V Pg. 79
2412-PS; Extracts from Nature and Form of National Socialism pamphlet by Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Berlin, 1935. Vol V Pg 88
2500-PS; "What do we want in the Reichstag?" one of Goebbels' newspaper articles. Vol V Pg 237
2511-PS; Statement by Hitler from Voelkischer Beobachter, 24 August 1932. Vol. V Pg. 246
2512-PS; Hitler's Testimony Before the Court for High Treason, published in Frankfurter
Zeitung, 26 September 1931. Vol. V Pg. 246
*2513-PS; Extract from The National Socialist Workers' Party as an Association Hostile to State and to Republican Form of Government and Guilty of Treasonable Activity. (USA 235) Vol. V Pg. 252
2514-PS; Extract from Statistical Yearbook of the German Reich 1933, concerning elections in the Reichstag. Vol. V. Pg. 253
2532-PS; Extract from The Third Reich, by Gerd Ruehle. Vol. V. Pg. 268
2573-PS; Announcement of Official Prussian Press Office, in Frankfurter Zeitung, 1 March 1933. Vol. V. Pg. 303
2579-PS; Extracts from the Frankfurter Zeitung, 24 March 1933, concerning happenings 23 March. Vol. V. Pg. 303
2632-PS; Extracts from The National Socialist Revolution 1933, published in Berlin 1935. Vol V. Pg 343
2633-PS; Extracts from Constitutional Law of the Greater German Reich, 1939. Vol. V Pg. 344
2634-PS; Goering to the Condemned, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, 26 August 1932. Vol. V. Pg. 344
2651-PS; Statement by Frick from Voelkischer Beobachter, 14 March 1933. Vol. V Pg. 359
[Page 218]
2652-PS; Speech of Hitler to Reichstag, 23 March 1933, from Voelkischer Beobachter, 24 March 1933. Vol. V Pg. 359
2741-PS; Speech by Hitler on 9 November 1934, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, 10 November 1934. Vol. V. Pg. 382
2742-PS; Passage written by Frick in National Socialist Yearbook, 1927, p. 124. Vol. V. Pg. 833
2743-PS; Passage written by Frick in National Socialist Yearbook, 1930, p. 178. Vol. V Pg. 383
2759-PS; Law for the protection of Nationalist Symbols, 19 May 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 285. Vol. V. Pg. 394
*2955-PS; Affidavit of Magnus Heimannsberg, 14 November 1945, referring to SA and other Nazi groups posted at polling places. (USA 755) Vol. V Pg. 659
*2962-PS; Minutes of meeting of Reich Cabinet, 15 March 1933. (USA 578). Vol. V Pg. 669
*2963-PS: Minutes of meeting of Reich Cabinet, 20 March 1933. (USA 656). Vol. V Pg. 670
*3054-PS; "The Nazi Plan", script of a motion picture composed of captured German film. (USA 167) Vol. V Pg 801
*3740-PS; Affidavit of Franz Halder, 6 March 1946. (USA 779). Vol. VI Pg. 635
*L-83; Affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, 21 July 1945. (USA 234) Vol. VII Pg. 859
3. CONSOLIDATION OF TOTALITARIAN POLITICAL CONTROL
Between the Accession to Power (early 1933) and the Outbreak of the War (late 1939) the Nazi Conspirators Consolidated Their Control of Germany by Utilizing and Molding Its Political machinery to Their Own Ends.
[Page 219]
A. The Nazi conspirators reduced the Reichstag to an impotent body of their of appointees. Under the Weimar Constitution of the German Reich, adopted by the German people on 11 August 1919, the Reichstag was a representative parliamentary body with broad legislative powers. Article 20 provided that the Reichstag should be "composed of the delegates of the German people." Article 68 of the Chapter on Legislation provided that:
"Bills are introduced by the government of the Reich or by members of the Reichstag. Reich laws shall be enacted by the Reichstag." (2050-PS)
In Mein Kampf Hitler stated the conspirators' purpose to undermine the Reichstag:
"Our young movement in essence and structure is anti-parliamentarian, i.e., it rejects majority voting as a matter of principle as well as in its own organization *******Its participation in the activities of a parliament has only the purpose to contribute to its destruction, to the elimination of an institution which we consider as one of the gravest symptoms of decay of mankind *******" (288-PS).
With the passage of the Law for the Protection of the People and the Reich (also known as the Enabling Act) the Nazi succeeded, in effect, in depriving the Reichstag of its legislative functions. The legislative as well as the executive powers of the government were concentrated in Hitler and the Cabinet (2001-PS; the legislative activities of the Cabinet (Reichsregierung) and its power to contravene constitutional limitations are treated in Section 3 of Chapter XV).
During the period from March 1933 until the beginning of 1937, the Reichstag enacted only four laws: The Reconstruction Law of 30 January 1934 and the three Nurnberg laws of 15 September 1935. The Reichstag was retained chiefly as a sounding board for Hitler's speeches. All other legislation was enacted by the Cabinet, by the Cabinet ministers, or by decree of the Fuehrer (2481-PS). Hess has admitted the lack of importance of the Reichstag in the legislative process after 1933. (2426-PS)
Hitler indicated in a 1939 decree that the Reichstag would be permitted to enact only such laws as he, in his own judgment, might deem appropriate for Reichstag legislation. (2018-PS)
Immediately after the Nazis acquired the control of the central government they proceeded systematically to eliminate their opponents. First they forced all other political parties to dissolve, and on 14 July 1933 issued a decree making illegal the existence of any political party except the Nazi Party. (1388-PS)
[Page 220]
In early 1935 there were 661 delegates in the Reichstag. Of this number 641 were officially registered as Nazi party members and the remaining 20 were classified as "guests" (Gaeste). (2384-PS; 2380-PS)
B. The Nazi conspirators curtailed the freedom of popular elections throughout Germany. Under the Weimar Republic there existed constitutional and legislative guarantees of free popular elections. The Weimar Constitution guaranteed the universal, equal and secret ballot and proportional representation. (2050-PS) These general principles were implemented by the provisions of the Reich Election Law of 1924, particularly with respect to the multiple party system and the functioning of proportional representation. (2382-PS)
In Mein Kampf Hitler stated the conspirators' purpose to subvert the system of popular election:
"Majority can never replace men. *******The political understanding of the masses is not sufficiently developed to produce independently specific political convictions and to select persons to represent them." (2883-PS)
The occasional national elections after 1933 were formalities devoid of freedom of choice. Bona fide elections could not take place under the Nazi system. The basic ideological doctrine of the Fuehrerprinzip (Leadership Principle) dictated that all subordinates must be appointed by their superiors- in the governmental hierarchy. In order to insure the practical application of this principle the Nazis immediately liquidated all other political parties and provided criminal sanctions against the formation of new parties. (For further discussion see Section 2 on the Acquisition of Totalitarian Political Control.)
Although the Reichstag, unlike all other elective assemblies in Germany, was allowed to continue in existence, elections no longer involved a free choice between lists or candidates. At these elections there were usually large bands of uniformed Nazis surrounding the polls and intimidating the voters. (2955-PS)
The surreptitious marking of ballots (e.g. with skimmed milk) wa also customary, to ascertain the identity of the persons who cast "No" or invalid votes. (R-142)
Although it had already become practically impossible to have more than one list of candidates, it was specifically provided by law in 1938 that only one list was to be submitted to the electorate: (2355-PS)
By the end of this period, little of substance remained in the election law. In an official volume published during the war there
[Page 221]
are reprinted the still effective provisions of the law of 1924. The majority of the substantive provisions have been marked "obsolete" (gegenstandslos) (2381-PS).
The comprehensive Nazi program for the centralization of German government included in its scope the whole system of regional and local elections, which soon ceased to exist. Article 17 of the Weimar Constitution had required a representative form of government and universal, secret elections in all Laender and municipalities (2050-PS). Yet in early 1934, the sovereign powers (Hoheitsrechte) of the Laender were transferred by law to the Reich, and the Land governments were placed under the Reich control:
"The popular assemblies (Volksvertretngen) of the Laender shall be abolished." (2006-PS)
Pursuant to the German Communal Ordinance of 30 January 1935, the mayors and executive officers of all municipalities received their appointments "through the confidence of Party and State" (Article 6 (2)). Appointments were made by Reich authorities from lists prepared by the Party delegates (Article 41). City councillors were selected by the Party delegates in agreement with the mayors (Article 51 (1)). (2008-PS)
C. The Nazi conspirators transformed the states, provinces, and municipalities into what were, in effect, mere administrative organs of the central government. Under the Weimar Constitution of the pre-Nazi regime, the states, provinces, and municipalities enjoyed considerable autonomy in the exercise of governmental functions -- legislative, executive and judicial. (2050-PS)
Hitler, in Mein Kampf, stated the conspirators' purpose to establish totalitarian control of local government:
"National Socialism, as a matter of principle, must claim the right to enforce its doctrines, without regard to present federal boundaries, upon the entire German nation and to educate it in its ideas and its thinking. *******The National Socialist doctrine is not the servant of political interests of individual federal states but shall become the ruler of the German nation." (2883-PS)
These views were echoed by Rosenberg:
"In the midst of the great power constellations of the globe t here must be, for foreign as well as for internal political reasons, only one strong central national authority, if one wants Germany to regain a position which makes it fit for alliance with other countries." (2882-PS)
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By a series of laws and decrees, the Nazi conspirators reduced the powers of the regional and local governments and substantially transformed them into territorial subdivisions of the Reich government. The program of centralization began almost immediately after the Nazis acquired the chief executive posts of the government. On 31 March 1933, they promulgated the provisional Law integrating the Laender with the Reich (2004-PS). This law called for the dissolution of all state and local self governing bodies and for their reconstitution according to the number of votes cast for each party in the Reichstag election of 5 March 1933. The Communists and their affiliates were expressly denied representation.
A week later there followed the Second Law Integrating the Laender with the Reich (2005-PS). This Act established the position of Reich Governor. He was to be appointed by the President upon the proposal of the Chancellor, and was given power to appoint the members of the Land governments and the higher Land officials and judges, the authority to reconstruct the Land legislature according to the law of 31 March 1933 (2004-PS, supra), and the power of pardon.
On 31 January 1934, most of the remaining vestiges of Land independence were destroyed by the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich:
"The popular referendum and the Reichstag election of 12 November 1933, have proved that the German people have attained an indestructible internal unity (unloesliche mere Enheit) superior to all internal subdivisions of political character. Consequently, the Reichstag has enacted the following law which is hereby promulgated with the unanimous vote of the Reichstag after ascertaining that the requirements of the Reich Constitution have been met:
Article I. Popular assemblies of the Laender shall be abolished.
Article II.
(1) The sovereign powers (Hohetsrechte) of the Laender are transferred to the Reich.
(2) The Laender governments are placed under the Reich government.
Article III. The Reich governors are placed under the administrative supervision of the Reich Minister of Interior.
Article IV. The Reich Government may issue new constitutional laws."
This law was implemented by a regulation, issued by Frick, providing that all Land laws must have the assent of the competent
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Minister of the Reich, that the highest echelons of the Land Government were to obey the orders of the competent Reich Minister, and that the employees of the Laender might be transferred into the Reich Civil Service. (1653-PS)
The Reichsrat (Reich Council) was abolished by law on 14 February 1934, and all official representation on the part of the Laender in the administration of the central government was at an end (2647-PS). The legislative pattern was complete with the enactment of the Reich Governor Law on 30 January 1935, which solidified the system of centralized control. The Reich Governor was declared to be the official representative of the Reich government, who was to receive orders directly from Hitler (Reichstatthaltergesetz (Reich Governor Law), 30 January 1935, 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 65). The same development was apparent in the provinces, the territorial subdivisions of Prussia. All local powers were concentrated in the Provincial Presidents, who acted solely as representatives of the national administration (2049-PS). Similarly, in the case of the municipalities local self-government was quickly reduced to a minimum and communal affairs were placed under central Reich control.
The Nazi Party Delegate was given special functions:
"*******in order to insure harmony between the communal administration and the Party." (Art. 6 (2)).
The Reich was given supervision over the municipalities: "*******in order to insure that their activities conform with the laws and the aims of national leadership." (2008-PS)
The Nazi conspirators frequently boasted of their comprehensive program of government centralization. Frick, Minister of the Interior throughout this period, wrote:
"The reconstruction law abolished the sovereign rights and the executive powers of the Laender and made the Reich the sole bearer of the rights of sovereignty. The supreme powers of the Laender do not exist any longer. The natural result of this was the subordination of the Land governments to the Reich government and the Land Ministers to the corresponding Reich Ministers. On 30 January 1934, the German Reich became one state. (2481-PS)
In another article Frick indicated even more clearly the purposes which underlay this program of centralization:
"In the National Socialist revolution of 1933, it was stipulated for the first time in the history of the German nation that the erection of a unified state (Einhetsstaat) would be accomplished. From the early days of his political activity,
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Adolf Hitler never left a doubt in the mind of anyone that he considered it the-first duty of National Socialism to create a German Reich in which the will of the people would be led in a single direction and that the whole strength of the nation, at home and abroad, would be placed on the balance scale." (2380-PS; 2378-PS.)
D. The Nazi conspirators united the offices of President and Chancellor in the person of Hitler. The merger of the two offices was accomplished by the law of 1 August 1934, signed by the entire cabinet (2003-PS). The official Nazi statement concerning the effect of this statute contains this observation:
"Through this law, the conduct of Party and State has been combined in one hand. *******He is responsible only to his own conscience and to the German nation." (1893-PS)
One of the significant consequences of this law was to give to Hitler the supreme command of the German armed forces, always a prerequisite of the Presidency (2050-PS).
Accordingly, every soldier was immediately required to take an oath of loyalty and obedience to Hitler. (2061-PS)
E. The Nazi conspirators removed great numbers of civil servants on racial and political grounds and replaced them with party members and supporters.
Hitler publicly announced the conspirator's purpose:
"We know that two things alone will save us: the end of internal corruption and the cleaning out of all those who owe their existence simply to the protection of members of the same political parties. Through the most brutal ruthlessness towards all officials installed by those political parties we must restore our finances. *******The body of German officials must once more become what it was." (2881-PS)
The Nazi legislative machine turned to the task of purging the civil service soon after the accession to power. On 7 April 1933, the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service was promulgated (1397-PS). Article 3 of this law applies the Nazi blood theories:
"(1) Officials who are not of Aryan descent are to be retired (See Section 8); where honorary officials are concerned, they are to be discharged from office.
(2) (1) Does not apply to officials who have been in service since 1 August 1914, or who fought in the World War at the front for the German Reich or for its allies or whose fathers or sons were killed in the World War.
The Reich Minister
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of the Interior after consultation with the competent Minister or with the highest state authorities may permit further exceptions in the case of officials who are in foreign countries."
Article 8 provides that retirement does not carry a pension unless the official has served at least ten years. The political purge provision of this law is contained in Article 4:
"Officials who because of their previous political activity do not offer security that they will exert themselves for the national state without reservations, may be discharged. For three months after dismissal, they will be paid their former salary. From this time on they receive three-quarters of their pensions (see 8) and corresponding annuities for their heirs.''
The provisions of the Act apply to all Reich, Land, and Communal officials (Art. 1 (2) ). Civil Servants may be placed on the retired list without any reason, "for the purpose of simplifying the administration" (Art. 6). Discharges and transfers, once decided on by the appropriate administrative chief, are final and are not subject to appeal (Art. 7 (1)).
This basic enactment was followed by a series of decrees, regulations, and amendments. For example, on 11 April 1933, the term "non-Aryan" was defined to include persons with only one non-Aryan grandparent (2012-PS). An amendatory law of 30 June ruled out all civil servants married to non-Aryans. (1400-PS)
The political standards of the "Purge Law" were made more explicit by the supplementary law of 20 July 1933. Officials who belonged to any party or organization which, in the opinion of the Nazis, furthered the aims of Communism, Marxism, or Social Democracy were summarily to be discharged (1398-PS). In the later years, these earlier provisions were enlarged and codified, No longer solely for the purposes of affecting the existing civil service, but rather to set out the qualifications for the appointment of new applicants and for their promotion. Proof of devotion to National Socialism and documentary proof of acceptable "blood" were prescribed as conditions to promotion. (2326-PS)
The comprehensive German Civil Service Law of 26 January 1937 included the discriminatory provisions of the earlier legislation, and prevented the appointment of any applicants opposed r suspected of being opposed to the Nazi program and policy (2340-PS). The legislation dealing with the training and education of civil servants provided that no person can be accepted for
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an official position unless he is a member of the Nazi Party or one of its formations (Glederungen). (2341-PS)
The total subjugation of the German civil servant was ultimately accomplished by the following resolution passed by the Reichstag at the request of the Fuehrer.
"*******without being bound by existing legal provisions, the Fuehrer must
therefore in his capacity as Fuehrer of the nation, as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, as Head of the Government and as the highest bearer of all power, as highest Law Lord and as Fuehrer of the Party, always be in a position to require every German -- whether a simple soldier or officer, subordinate or higher official, or judge, supervisory or operating functionary of the Party, laborer or employer to carry out his duties with all the means available to him and to discharge these duties according to a conscientious examination without reference to so-called vested rights, especially without the preambles of pre-existing procedure, by removal of any man from his office, rank or position." (2755-PS)
F. The Nazi conspirators restricted the independence of the judiciary and rendered it subservient to their ends.
The independence of judges, before the Nazi regime, was guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution. The fundamental principle was stated briefly in Article 102:
"Judges are independent and subject only to the law." (2050-PS)
Article 104 contained a safeguard against the arbitrary removal or suspension of judges, while Article 105 prohibited "exceptional courts". The fundamental rights of the individual are set out in Article 109 and include equality before the law. (2050-PS)
Like all other public officials, German judges who failed to meet Nazi racial and political requirements became the subject of a wide-spread purge. Non-Aryans, political opponents of the Nazis, and all persons suspected of antagonism to the aims of the Party were summarily removed (2967-PS). The provisions of the Law for the Restoration of Professional Civil Service of 7 April 1933 applied to all judges. This was declared expressly in the third regulation for the administration of the law. (2867-PS)
To make certain that cases with political ramifications would be dealt with acceptably and in conformity with Party principles, the Nazis granted designated areas of criminal jurisdiction to the so-called Special Courts (Sondergerichte).
These constituted
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a new system of special criminal courts, independent of the regular judiciary and directly subservient to the Party (2076-PS). A later decree considerably broadened the jurisdiction of these -courts. (2056-PS)
In 1934, the People's Court was set up as a trial court "in cases of high treason and treason" (2014-PS). This action was a direct result of the dissatisfaction of the Nazi rulers with the decision of the Supreme Court (Rechsgericht) in the Reichstag fire trial. Three of the four defendants were acquitted although the Nazi conspirators had expected convictions in all cases (2967-PS). The law which created this new tribunal contained a wide definition of treason which would include most of what were regarded by the Nazis as "political" crimes (Art. 3 (1)). The express denial of any appeal from the decisions of the People's Court (Art. (2)) was a further indication of the intention of the Nazis to set up a criminal law system totally outside of accepted judicial pattern. The substantive organization of the People's Court was later established by law in 1936. (2342-PS)
These new tribunals were staled almost exclusively with Nazis and were used to tighten the Party's grip on Germany. This control became progressively stronger, due first, to the power of the prosecutor to pick the appropriate court; second, to the restriction of defense counsel in these courts to specially admitted attorneys; and finally, to the absence of appeal from the decisions of these judges. Moreover, there developed along side of the entire judicial system the increasingly powerful police administration, under which persons opposed to the regime were regularly imprisoned in concentration camps without any type of hearing, even after acquittal by the courts. (2967-PS)
Still another group of courts was established within the Party itself. These Party Courts heard cases involving internal party discipline and infractions of the rules of conduct prescribed for members of formations and affiliated organizations. The published rules for the Party judges emphasized the complete dependence of these judges upon the directions and supervision of their Party superiors. (2402-PS)
The Nazi legal theorists freely admitted that there was no place in their scheme of things for the truly independent judge. They controlled all judges through special directives and orders from the central government. Frank underscored the role of the judge as a political functionary and as an administrator in the National Socialist state (2378-PS). Two case histories of this period serve to illustrate the manner in which criminal proceedings were directly suppressed or otherwise affected by order of the Reich government.
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In 1935, the Reich Governor of Saxony, Mutschmann, attempted to quash criminal proceedings which, in this exceptional instance, had been brought against officials of the
Hohnstein concentration camp for a series of extremely brutal attacks upon inmates. The trial was held and the defendants convicted, but during the trial the governor inquired of the presiding judge whether he did not think the penalty proposed by the prosecutor too severe and whether an acquittal was not indicated. After the conviction, two jurymen were ousted from the NSDAP and the prosecutor was advised by his superior to withdraw from the SA. Although Guertner, the then Minister of Justice, strongly recommended against taking any action to alter the decision, Hitler pardoned all the accused. (783-PS; 784-PS; 785-PS; 786-PS)
In another similar case, Guertner wrote directly to Hitler narrating the horrible details of maltreatment and advising that the case be regularly prosecuted. Nevertheless, Hitler ordered complete suppression of the proceedings. (787-PS; 788-PS)
Under the Nazi regime, it was part of the official duty of many Party functionaries to supervise the administration of justice. The official papers of Hess contain detailed statements concerning his own functions and those of the Gauleiter in deciding criminal cases. (2639-PS)
Another type of governmental interference in judicial matters is evidenced by the confidential letter which the Ministry of Justice sent in early 1938 to the Chief Justices of the Regional Supreme Courts (Oberlandesgerichtspraesidenten). The judges were instructed to submit lists of lawyers who would be sufficiently able and trustworthy to represent in court persons who had been taken into "protective custody". The main requirement was absolute political reliability. Simple Party membership was not enough; to be selected, the lawyer had to enjoy the confidence of the "Gestapo". (651-PS)
After the war began, Thierack, Minister of Justice, revealed the low state to which the judiciary had fallen under Nazis rule. He argued that the judge was not the "supervisor" but the "assistant" of the government. He said that the word "independent", as applied to the judge, was to be eliminated from the vocabulary and that although the judge should retain a certain freedom of decision in particular cases, the government "can and must" give him the "general line" to follow.
For this purpose, Thierack decided in 1942 to send confidential Judge's Letters (Richterbriefe) to all German judges and prosecutors, setting forth the political principles and directives with which all judicial personnel
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were obligated to comply (2482-PS). The first of these Judge's Letters clearly expresses the complete subordination of the judges to the Fuehrer and his government. (D-229)
G. The Nazi conspirators greatly enlarged existing State and Party organizations and established an elaborate network of new formations and agencies.
The totalitarian character of the Nazi regime led to the establishment of a great number of new official and semi-official agencies and organizations in the various fields of life which were permeated by Nazi doctrine and practice, including culture, trade, industry, and agriculture.
New agencies had to be created to handle the large number of additional administrative tasks taken over from the Laender and the municipalities. Moreover, the mobilization of the political, economic, and military resources of Germany required the formation of such coordinating "super-agencies" as the Four Year Plan, the Plenipotentiary for Economics. the Plenipotentiary for Administration? and the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich. At the time of the launching of war, the central Reich government was an extremely complicated structure held together under strict Nazi dictatorship. (See Chart Number 18; also 2261-PS; 2194-PS; 2018-PS.)
Simultaneously, in the Party, the growth of agencies and or organizations proceeded rapidly. The Party spread, octopus-like, throughout all Germany and into many foreign lands. (See Chart Number 1; also 1725-PS.)
This process of growth was summed up late in 1937 in an official statement of the Party Chancellery:
"In order to control the whole German nation in all spheres of life, the NSDAP, after assuming power, set up under its leadership the new Party formations and affiliated organizations." (2383-PS)
H. The Nazi conspirators created a dual system of government controls, set up Party agencies to correspond with State agencies, and coordinated their activities, often by uniting corresponding State and Party offices in a single person.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler announced the conspirators' purpose:
"Such a revolution can and will only be achieved by a movement which itself is already organized in the spirit of such ideas and thus in itself already bears the coming state. Therefore, the National Socialist movement may today become imbued with these ideas and put them into practice in its own
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organization so that it not only may direct the state according to the same principles, but also may be in a position to put at the state's disposal the finished organizational structure of its own state." (2883-PS)
The Nazis attempted to achieve a certain degree of identity between the Party and the State and, at the same time, to maintain two separate organizational structures. After the rise to power, the fundamental principle of unity was translated into "law":
"Article 1. After the victory of the National Socialistic Revolution, the National Socialistic German Labor Party is the bearer of the concept of the German State and is inseparably the state." (1395-PS)
The manner in which the Nazis retained a duality of organization despite the theory of unity is graphically portrayed in the charts of the Party and the State (Charts Number 1 and 18). These visual exhibits demonstrate the comprehensive character of the Party organization, which was established on parallel lines with the corresponding government structure. The Party structure remained at all times technically separate and could be used for non-governmental purposes whenever such use best served the needs of the conspirators. In innumerable instances, the corresponding Party and State offices were, in fact, held by the same person. For example, the Gauleiter of the Party in most instances also held the post of Reich Governor (or, in Prussia, that of Provincial President). (2880-PS)
The coordination of the Party and State functions started at the top. The Chief of the Party Chancellery was designated a Reich Minister and endowed with plenary powers in the preparation and approval of legislation. He acted as liaison officer at the highest level between Party officials and cabinet ministers. He was given also the duty of passing on the appointment of all the more important civil servants. (2787-PS)
Many of the same powers were bestowed upon the other Reichsleiter (Leaders composing the Party Directorate). The official Nazi exposition of their position is as follows:
"It is in the Reich Directorate where the strings of the organization of the German people and the State meet. By endowment of the Chief of the Party Chancellery with the powers of a Reich Minister, and by special administrative directives, the penetration of the State apparatus with the political will of the Party is guaranteed. It is the task of the separate organs of the Reich Directorate to maintain as close a contact as possible with the life of the nation through their
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sub-offices in the Gaus. Observations at the front are collected and exploited by the offices of the Reich Directorate." (1893-PS)
On the regional and local levels, the Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, were also empowered to control the purely governmental authorities on political matters. Hess issued the following order shortly after the war began:
"I, therefore order that the bearer of sovereignty (Hoheitstraeger) of the NSDAP (Gauleiter, Kreisleter, Ortsgruppenleiter) in the scope of his authority is responsible for the political leadership and the frame of mind (Stimmung) of population. It is his right and his duty to take or to cause to be taken any measures necessary for the expeditious fulfillment of his political duties and for the elimination of wrong within the Party. He is exclusively responsible to his superior bearers of sovereignty (Hoheitstraeger)." (2383-PS)
In the later years, the functional coordination of Party and State offices became much more common. The appointment of Himmler as Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police is a typical example of the way in which State and Party functions became inextricably merged so as to render any clean lines of demarcation impossible.
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Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6(a). Vol I Pg 5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Section IV(D)3(a). Vol I Pg 18
[Note: A single asterisk (***) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (******) before a document number indicates that the document was referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court.]
***651-PS; Confidential circular signed by Schlegeberger, 31 January 1938, concerning representation by Counsel of Inmates of concentration camps. (USA 730) Vol III P. 466
***783-PS; Letter from Guertner to Mutschmann, 18 January 1935, concerning charges against members of camp personnel of protective custody Camp Hahnstein. (USA 731) Vol III P 558
***784-PS; Letters from Minister of Justice to Hess and SA Chief of Staff, 5 June 1935,
concerning penal proceedings
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against merchant and SA leader and 22 companions because of inflicting bodily injury on duty. (USA 732) Vol III P 559
***785-PS; Memorandum of Guertner concerning legal proceedings against the camp personnel of concentration camp Hahnstein. (USA 733) V III P 564
***786-PS; Minister of Justice memorandum, 29 November 1935, concerning pardon of those sentenced in connection with mistreatment in Hohnstein concentration camp. (USA-734) V III P 568
***787-PS; Memorandum to Hitler from Public Prosecutor of Dresden, 18 June 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel on account of bodily injury while in office. (USA 421) V III P 568
***788-PS; Letters from Secretary of State to the Minister of Justice, 25 June 1935 and 9 September 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel. (USA 735) V. III P. 571
1388-PS; Law concerning confiscation of Property subversive to People and State, 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. V. III P. 962
***1395-PS; Law to insure the unity of the Party and State, 1 December 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1016. V. III P. 978 1397-PS; Law for the Reestablishment of the Professional Civil Service, 7 April 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 175. V. III P. 981
1398-PS; Law to supplement the Law for the Restoration of the Professional
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Civil Service, 20 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 518. V. III P.986
1400-PS; Law changing the regulations in regard to public officer, 30 June 1933. 1933
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 433. V. III P.987
1653-PS; First regulation concerning the reconstruction of the Reich, 2 February 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 81. V. IV P. 162
1725-PS; Decree enforcing law for securing the unity of Party and State, 29 March 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 502. V. IV P. 224
***1893-PS; Extracts from Organization Book of the NSDAP, 1943 edition. (USA 323) V. IV P. 529
2001-PS; Law to Remove the Distress of People and State, 24 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 141. V. IV P.638
2003-PS; Law concerning the Sovereign Head of the German Reich, 1 August 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 747. V. IV P.639
2004-PS; Preliminary law for the coordination of Federal States under the Reich, 31 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 153. V. IV P.640
2005-PS; Second law integrating the "Laender" with the Reich, 7 April 1933. 1933
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 173. V. IV P.641
2006-PS; Law for the reconstruction of the Reich, 30 January 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 75. V. IV P. 642
2008-PS; German Communal Ordinance, 30 January 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 49. V. IV P. 643
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2012-PS; First regulation for administration of the law for the restoration of
professional Civil Service, 11 April 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 195. V. IV P.647
2014-PS; Law amending regulations of criminal law and criminal procedure, 24 April 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 341. V. IV P. 648
***2018-PS; Fuehrer's decree establishing a Ministerial Council for Reich Defense, 30
August 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1539. (GB 250) V. IV P. 650
2049-PS; Second Decree concerning the reconstruction of the Reich, 27 November 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1189. V. IV P. 661
2050-PS; The Constitution of the German Reich, 11 August 1919. 1919 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1383. V. IV P. 662
2056-PS; Decree concerning the extension of the Jurisdiction of Special Courts, 20 November 1938. 1938 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1632. V. IV P. 698
2061-PS; Oath of Reich Officials and of German Soldiers, 20 August 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 785. V. IV P. 702
2073-PS; Decree concerning the appointment of a Chief of German Police in the Ministry of the Interior, 17 June 1936. 1936 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I,
p. 487. V. IV P. 703
2076-PS; Decree of the Government concerning formation of Special Courts, 21 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, pp. 136-137. V. IV P.705
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***2194-PS; Top secret letter from Ministry for Economy and Labor, Saxony, to Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia, enclosing copy of 1938 Secret Defense Law of 4 September 1938. (USA 36). V. IV P. 843
***2261-PS; Directive from Blomberg to Supreme Commanders of Army, Navy and Air Forces, 24 June 1935; accompanied by copy of Reich Defense Law of 21 May 1935 and copy of Decision of Reich Cabinet of 12 May 1935 on the Council for defense of the Reich. (USA 24). V. IV P.934
2326-PS; Reich Principles Regarding recruiting appointment and promotion of Reich and Provincial Officials, 14 October 1936. 1936 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 893. V. IV P. 1034
2340-PS; German public officials law of 27 January 1937. 1937 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 41. V. IV P. 1058
2341-PS; Decree on Education and Training of German officials, 28 February 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 371. V. IV P. 1062
2342-PS; Law on People's Court and on 25th Amendment to Salary Law of 18 April 1936. 1936 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 369. V. IV P.1062
2355-PS; Second Law relating to right to vote for Reichstag, 18 March 1938. 1938
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 258. V. IV P.1098
2378-PS; Extracts from Documents of German Politics, Vol. 4, pp. 207, 337. Vol. V P. 4
***2380-PS; Articles from National Socialist Yearbook, 1935. (USA 396) Vol V P. 6
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***2381-PS; Extracts from The Greater German Diet, 1943. (USA 476) Vol. V P. 7
2382-PS; Law relating to the Reich Election, 8 March 1924. 1924 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, pp. 159-162. Vol. V P. 8
***2383-PS; Ordinance for execution of decree of Fuehrer concerning position of the Head of Party Chancellery of 16 January 1942, published in Decrees, Regulations, Announcements. (USA 410) Vol. V Pg. 9
2384-PS; The Delegates of the German People, published in Movement, State and People in their Organizations, 1935, p. 161. Vol. V Pg. 23
2402-PS; Guide for Party Courts, 17 February 1934. Vol. V Pg. 70
***2426-PS; Extracts from Speeches, by Hess. (GB 253) Vol. V Pg. 90 Documents: 2481-PS; Extracts from Four Years of the Third Reich, by Frick, published in Magazine of the Academy for German Law, 1937. Vol. V Pg. 231
2482-PS; Extract from German Justice, a legal periodical, 11th Year, Edition A, No. 42, 16 October 1942. Vol. V Pg. 233
2639-PS; Ordinances of the Deputy of the Fuehrer, published in Munich 1937. Vol. V Pg. 345
2647-PS; Law relating to the abolition of the Reichsrat, 14 February 1934. 1934
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 89. Vol. V Pg.358
2755-PS; Resolution of the Greater German Reichstag, 26 April 1942. 1942 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 247. Vol. V Pg.393
2787-PS; Excerpt from Order of the Deputy of the Fuehrer. Vol. V Pg.420
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2867-PS; Third Decree relating to Implementation of Law for restoration of Professional Civil Service, 6 May 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 245. Vol. V Pg. 327
2880-PS; Extracts from Handbook for Administrative Officials, 1942. Vol. V Pg. 547
2881-PS; Hitler's speech of 12 April 1922, quoted in Adolf Hitler's Speeches, published by Dr. Ernst Boepple Munich, 1934, pp. 20-21, 72. Vol. V Pg.548
2882-PS; The Party Program of 1922, by Rosenberg, 25th edition, 1942, p. 60. Vol. V Pg.548
2883-PS; Extracts from Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, 41st edition, 1933. Vol. V Pg.549
***2955-PS; Affidavit of Magnus Heimannsberg, 14 November 1945, referring to SA and other Nazi groups posted at polling places. (USA 755) Vol. V Pg.659
2957-PS; Extract from German Civil Servants Calendar, 1940, p. 111. Vol. V Pg.663
***2967-PS; Affidavit of Dr. Hans Anschuetz, 17 November 1945. (USA 756). Vol. V Pg.673
***3054-PS; "The Nazi Plan", script of a motion picture composed of captured German film. (USA 167). Vol. V Pg.801
D-229; Extract from pamphlet "Judges Letters" concerning judgment of Lower Court, 24 April 1942, on concealment of Jewish identification. V. VI Pg.1091
***R-142; Memoranda to Koblenz District Headquarters, 22 April 1938 and 7 May 1938, relating to the plebiscite of 10 April 1938. (USA 481). V. VIII Pg. 243
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Statement X; The Relationship of Party and State, As It Existed in Reality, by Wilhelm
Stuckhart, Nurnberg, 1 December 945. V. VIII Pg. 736
***Chart No.1; National Socialist German Workers' Party. (2903-PS; USA 2) V. VIII Pg. 770
***Chart No. 18; Organization of the Reich Government. (2905-PS; USA 3) End of Volume VIII
4. Purge of Political Opponents and Terrorization
A. The Nazi conspirators ruthlessly purged their political opponents. Soon after the Nazi conspirators had acquired political control, the defendant Goering, 3 March 1933, stated:
"Fellow Germans, my measures will not be crippled by any judicial thinking. My measures will not be crippled by any bureaucracy. Here, I don't have to give justice, my mission is only to destroy and exterminate, nothing more ! This struggle, fellow Germans, will be a struggle against chaos and such a struggle, I shall not conduct with the power of any police. A bourgeoisie state might have done that. Certainly, I shall use the power of the State and the police to the utmost, my dear Communists! So you won't draw any false conclusions; but the struggle to the death, in which my fist will grasp your necks, I shall lead with those down there those are the Brown Shirts." (1856-PS)
In 1934 Heinrich Himmler, the Deputy Leader of the Prussian Secret State Police, stated:
"We are confronted with a very pressing duty -- both the open and secret enemies of the Fuehrer and of the National Socialist movement and of our National Revolution must be discovered, combatted and exterminated. In this duty we are agreed to spare neither our own blood nor the blood of anyone else when it is required by our country." (25-PS)
Raymond H. Geist, former American Counsel and First Secretary of the Embassy in Berlin, Germany 1929-1939, has stated:
[Page 240]
"Immediately in 1933, the concentration camps were established and put under charge of the Gestapo. Only 'political' prisoners were held in concentration camps *******.
"The first wave of terroristic acts began in 6 March 1933 -- 13 March 1933, accompanied by unusual mob violence. When the Nazi Party won the elections in March 1933 -- on the morning of the 6th -- the accumulated passion blew off in wholesale attacks on the Communists, Jews, and others suspected of being either. Mobs of SA men roamed the streets, beating up, looting, and even killing persons *******.
"For Germans taken into custody by the Gestapo ******* there was a regular pattern of brutality and terror. Victims numbered in the hundreds of thousands all over Germany." (1759-PS)
The Sturmabteilung (SA) had plans for the murder of former Prime Minister Bruening, but his life was spared through the negotiations and activities of the defendant Hess and Dr. Haushofer, President of the Geopolitic Institute of Munich, because they feared his death might result in serious repercussions abroad. (1669-PS)
From March until October 1933 the Nazi conspirators arrested, mistreated and killed numerous politicians, Reichstag members, authors, physicians, and lawyers. Among the persons killed were the Social Democrat Stolling; Ernst Heilman, Social Democrat and member of the Prussian Parliament; Otto Eggerstadt, the former Police President of Altona; and various other persons. The people killed by the Nazis belonged to various political parties and religious faiths, such as Democrats, Catholics, Communist, Jews, and pacifists. The killings were usually camouflaged by such utterances as "killed in attempting to escape" or "resisting arrest." It is estimated that during this first wave of terror conducted by the Nazi conspirators, between 500 and 700 persons died. (2544-PS; see also 2460-PS and 2472-PS.)
On 30 June 1934 and 1 July 1934, 2 July 1934, the Nazi conspirators proceeded to destroy opposition within their own ranks by wholesale murder (2545-PS). In making a formal report of these murders to the Reichstag on 13 July 1934, Hitler stated:
"The punishment for these crimes was hard and severe. There were shot 19 higher SA leaders, 31 SA leaders and SA members and also 3 SS leaders as participants in the plot. Also 13 SA leaders and civilians who tried to resist arrest and were killed in the attempt. 3 others committed suicide. 5 members of the Party who were not members of the SA were shot because of their participation. Finally, 3 SS
[Page 241]
members were at the same time exterminated because they had maltreated concentration camp inmates." (2572-PS)
In this same speech Hitler proudly boasted that he gave the order to shoot the principal traitors and that he had prosecuted thousands of his former enemies on account of their corruption. He justified this action by saying,
"In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people." (Voelkischer Beobachter (People's Observer), Berlin ed., issue 195, 14 July 1934, Beiblatt, p. 2.)
The conspirators took advantage of this occasion to eliminate many opponents indiscriminately.
In discussing the Roehm purge, the defendant Frick stated:
"On account of this order, many, many people were arrested *******something like a hundred, even more, were even killed who were accused of high treason. All of this was done without resort to legal proceedings. They were just killed on the spot. Many people were killed -- I don't know how many who actually did not have anything to do with the putsch. People who just weren't liked very well, as, for instance, SCHLEICHER, the former Reich Chancellor, were killed. SCHLEICHER's wife was also killed as was GREGOR STRASSER, who had been the Reich organization leader and second man in the Party after Hitler. STRASSER, at the time he was murdered, was not active in political affairs anymore. However, he had separated himself from the Fuehrer in November or December of 1932." (2950-PS)
Such a large scale of extermination could not be carried out without errors. Shortly after the event, the Nazi conspirators arranged for a Government pension to be paid to one of its citizens, because "by mistake" the political police had murdered her husband, Willi Schmidt, who had never engaged in any kind of political activity. It was believed at the time that the man intended was Willi Schmidt, an SA leader in Munich, who was later shot on the same day. (135)
The Nazi conspirators formally endorsed their murderous purge within their own ranks by causing the Reichstag to pass a law declaring that all measures taken in carrying out the purge on 30 June 1934 and 1 July 1934 -- 2 July 1934 were legal as a measure of State necessity (2057-PS). Referring to this act of approval on the part of the Nazi-controlled Reichstag, Goering stated:
"The action of the Government in the days of the Roehm revolt was the highest realization of the legal consciousness of the people. Later the action which itself was justified, now has been made legal by the passage of a law." (2496-PS)
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David Thompson
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Part 3:
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Furthermore, the leader of the Nazi conspiracy on 25 July 1934 issued a decree which stated that because of the meritorious service of the SS, especially in connection with the events of 30 June 1934, the organization was elevated to the standing of an independent organization within the NSDAP. (1857-PS)
B. The Nazi conspirators used the legislative and judicial powers of the German Reich to terrorize all political opponents.
(1) They created a great number of new political crimes. The decree of 28 February 1933 punished the inciting of disobedience to orders given out by State or Reich Government authorities or the provocation of acts "contrary to public welfare." (1390-PS) A month later, in order to give themselves legal justification for murdering by judicial process their political enemies, the Nazi conspirators passed a law making the provisions of the above decree applicable retroactively to acts committed during the period from 31 January 1933 to 28 February 1933. (2654-PS)
Referring to these laws, the defendant Goering stated:
"Whoever in the future raises a hand against a representative of the National Socialist movement or of the State, must know that he will lose his life in a very short while. Furthermore, it will be entirely sufficient, if he is proven to have intended the act, or, if the act results not in a death, but only in an injury." (2494-PS)
On 21 March 1933 a decree was issued which provided for penitentiary imprisonment up to two years for possessing a uniform of an organization supporting the government of the Nationalist movement without being entitled thereto, or circulating a statement which was untrue or greatly exaggerated, or which was apt to seriously harm the welfare of the Reich or the reputation of the Government, or of the Party or organizations supporting the Government. (1652-PS)
The Nazi conspirators caused a law to be enacted punishing whoever undertook to maintain or form a political party other than the NSDAP. (1388-PS)
The Nazi conspirators enacted a law which made it a crime deliberately to make false or grave statements calculated to injure the welfare or the prestige of the Reich, or to circulate a statement manifesting a malicious or low-minded attitude toward leading personalities of the State or the Party. The law also applied to statements of this kind which were not made in public, provided the offender counted on his statements being eventually circulated in public. (1393-PS)
[Page 243]
In commenting on the above law, one of the leading Nazi conspirators, Martin Bormann, stated:
"Although it must absolutely be prevented that martyrs are created, one must take merciless action against such people, in whose attacks a bad character or attitude, decisively inimical to the State, can be recognized. For this purpose, I request the Gauleiters to report here briefly all crimes, which must absolutely be punished, and which have become known to the districts, regardless of the report to be made to the district attorney's office *******.
"The district and local leaderships are to be notified accordingly. However, if it should be decided from wherein this or that punishable case, that the miscreant is to be given a simple or strong reprimand by the court, I shall give the directive for the future, that the Districts are informed of the names of the persons.
"I therefore request, to see to it, that these compatriots be especially watched by the Ortsgruppen, and that it be attempted, to influence them in the National Socialist sense. Otherwise, it will be necessary to place the activities of such persons, who do not want to be taught, under exact control. In these cases, it will eventually be necessary, to notify the Secret State Police." (2639-PS)
On 24 April 1934 the Nazi conspirators passed a law imposing the death penalty for "any treasonable act." Included in the law was a declaration to the effect that the creating or organizing of a political party, or continuing of an existing one was a treasonable act. (2548-PS)
(2) By their interpretation and changes of the penal law, the Nazi conspirators enlarged their terroristic methods. After the enactment of these new political crimes, the Nazi conspirators introduced into the penal law the theory of punishment by analogy. This enabled them legally to punish any act injurious to their political interests even if no existing statute forbade it. The culpability of the act and the punishment was determined by the law most closely relating to or covering the act which was in force at the time. (1962-PS)
In interpreting this law, Dr. Guertner, Reich Minister of Justice, stated:
"National Socialism substitutes for the idea of formal wrong, the idea of factual wrong. *******Even without the threat of punishment, every violation of the goals toward which the community is striving is a wrong per se. As a
[Page 244]
result, the law ceases to be an exclusive source for the determination of right or wrong." (2549-PS)
Referring to the penal code of Nazi Germany, the defendant Frank stated in 1935:
"the National Socialist State is a totalitarian State, it makes no concessions to criminals, it does not negotiate with them; it stamps them out." (2552-PS)
The Nazi conspirators also revised the criminal law so that the State could, within one year after a decree in a criminal case had become final, apply for a new trial, and the application would be decided by members of a Special Penal Chamber appointed by Hitler personally. Thus, if a defendant should be acquitted in a lower court, the Nazi conspirators could rectify the situation by another trial. (2550-PS)
In direct contrast to the severity of the criminal law as it affected the general population of Germany, the Nazi conspirators adopted and endorsed a large body of unwritten laws exempting the police from criminal liability for illegal acts done under higher authority. This principle was described by Dr. Werner Best, outstanding Nazi lawyer, in the following terms:
"The police never act in a lawless or illegal manner as long as they act according to the rules laid down by their superiors up to the highest governing body. According to its nature, the police must only deal with what the government wants to know is being dealt with. What the Government wants to know is being dealt with by the police is the essence of the police law and is that which guides and restricts the actions of the police. As long as the police carry out the will of the Government, it is acting legally." (1852-PS)
C. The Nazi conspirators created a vast system of espionage into the daily lives of all parts of the population.
(1) They destroyed the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications. They enacted a law in February of 1933 providing that violations of privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications were permissible beyond legal limitations. (1390-PS)
Dr. Hans Anschuetz, the present District Court Director (Landgerichtsdirektor) at Heidelberg, Germany, recently stated:
"Subsequently, the system of spying upon and supervising the political opinions of each citizen which permeated the entire people and private life of Germany, was, of course, also extended to judges." (2967-PS)
[Page 245]
(2) They used the Secret State Police (Gestapo) and Security Service (SD) for the purpose of maintaining close surveillance over the daily activities of all people in Germany. The Gestapo had as its primary preventive activity the thorough observation of all enemies of the state, in the territory of the Reich. (1956-PS)
The SD was an intelligence organization which operated out of various regional offices. It consisted of hundreds of professional SD members who were assisted by thousands of honorary members and informers. These people were placed in all fields of business, education, State and Party administration, and frequently performed their duties secretly in their own organization. This information service reported on the activities of the people. (2614-PS)
D. Without judicial process, the Nazi conspirators imprisoned, held in protective custody and sent to concentration camps opponents and suspected opponents.
They authorized the Gestapo to arrest and detain without recourse to any legal proceeding. Officially, this power was described as follows:
"The Secret State Police takes the necessary police preventive measures against the enemies of the State on the basis of the results of the observation. The most effective preventive measure is without doubt the withdrawal of freedom which is covered in the form of protective custody. ******* While protective arrests of short duration are carried out in police and court prisons, the concentration camps under the Secret State Police admit those taken into protective custody who have to be withdrawn from public life for a longer time." (1956-PS)
The Nazi conspirators issued their own orders for the taking of people into protective custody and these orders set forth no further details concerning the reasons therefore, except a statement such as "Suspicion of activities inimical to the State." (2499-PS)
The Defendant Frank stated:
"To the world we are blamed again and again because of the concentration camps. We are asked, "Why do you arrest without a warrant of arrest? I say, put yourselves into the position of our nation. Dont forget that the very great and still untouched world of Bolshevism cannot forget that we have made final victory for them impossible in Europe, right here on German soil." (2533-PS)
[Page 246]
The defendant Goering said in 1934:
"Against the enemies of the State, we must proceed ruthlessly. It cannot be forgotten that at the moment of our rise to power, according to the official election figures of March 1933, six million people still confess their sympathy for Communism and eight million for Marxism. *******Therefore, the concentration camps have been created, where we have first confined thousands of Communists and Social Democrat functionaries. *******" (2344-PS)
US Ambassador George S. Messersmith, former Counsel General in Berlin, Germany, 1930-34, and Raymond H. Geist, former American Counsel and First Secretary of the Embassy in Berlin, Germany, 1929-1939, have recently stated:
"Independent of individual criminal acts committed by high functionaries of the German government or the Nazi Party, such as the murders ordered by Hitler, Himmler and Goering, all high functionaries of the German government and of the Nazi Party *******are guilty in the highest degree of complicity in and furtherance of the cardinal crimes of oppression against the German people, persecution and destruction of the Jews and all of their political opponents." (2386-PS)
Commenting further on the Nazi conspirators' use of concentration camps to destroy political opposition, Raymond H. Geist stated:
"The German people were well acquainted with the goings on in concentration camps and it was well known that the fate of anyone too actively opposed to any part of the Nazi program was liable to be one of great suffering. Indeed, before the Hitler regime was many months old, almost every family in Germany had had first hand accounts of the brutalities inflicted in the concentration camps from someone either in the relationship or in the circle of friends who had served a sentence there; consequently the fear of such camps was a very effective brake on any possible opposition." (1759-PS)
The Nazi conspirators confined, under the guise of "protective custody" Reichstag members, Social Democrats, Communists, and other opponents or suspected opponents. (2544-PS; L-73; L-83; 1430-PS.)
E. The Nazi conspirators created and utilized special agencies for carrying out their system of terror.
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(See Chapter XV, Sections 5 and 6, on the Gestapo, SS, and SD)
F. The Nazi conspirators permitted organizations.and individuals to carry out this system of terror without restraint of law.
(1) Acts of the Gestapo were not subject to review by the courts. In 1935 the Prussian Supreme Court of Administration held that the orders of the Gestapo were not subject to judicial review; and that the accused person could appeal only to the next higher authority within the State Police itself. (2347-PS)
In 1936 a law was passed concerning The Gestapo in Prussia which provided that orders in matters of the Gestapo were not subject to review of the Administrative Courts. (2107-PS)
On the same subject, the following article appeared in the official German Lawyers Journal, 1935:
"Once again the court had to decide on the question of whether political measures could be subjected to the review of the ordinary courts. *******The case in question concerned the official performance of his duty by an official of the NSDAP.
*******The principle of the importance and the mission of the Party and its 'Sovereign Functionaries' cannot be overlooked. Therefore, the plaintiff should have been denied the right to be in court." (2491-PS)
(2) Where no definite law protected terroristic acts of Nazi conspirators and their accomplices, proceedings against them were in the first instance suppressed or thereafter their acts were pardoned. In 1935, proceedings against an employee of the Gestapo accused of torturing, beating, and killing of inmates of a concentration camp were suppressed (787-PS; 788-PS). In June 1935 twenty-three SA members and policemen convicted of the beating and murder of inmates of the Hohnstein concentration camp were pardoned (786-PS). The prosecutor was forced to resign from the SA. (784-PS)
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Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6(a). Vol. I Pg.5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Section IV(D)3(b). Vol. I Pg.19
[Note: A single asterisk (***) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (******) before a document number indicates that the document was referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court.]
***784-PS; Letters from Minister of Justice to Hess and SA Chief of Staff, 5 June 1935, concerning penal proceedings against merchant and SA leader and 22 companions because of inflicting bodily injury on duty. (USA 732) Vol. III Pg.559
Document ***786-PS; Minister of Justice memorandum, 29 November 1935, concerning pardon of those sentenced in connection with mistreatment in Hohenstein concentration camp. (USA 734) Vol. III Pg. 568
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***787-PS; Memorandum to Hitler from Public Prosecutor of Dresden, 18 June 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel on account of bodily injury while in office. (USA 421) Vol. III Pg.568
***788-PS; Letters from Secretary of State to Minister of Justice, 25 June 1935 and 9 September 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel. (USA 735) Vol. III Pg.571
1388-PS; Law concerning confiscation of Property subversive to People and State 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. Vol. III Pg.962
1390-PS; Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State 28
February 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt Part I, p. 83. Vol.III Pg.968
1393-PS; Law on treacherous attacks against State and Party, and for the Protection of Party Uniforms, 20 December 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt Part I, p. 1269. Vol. III Pg.973
1430-PS; Compilation of Leading Men of the System Era, June 1939. Vol. IV Pg.15
1652-PS; Decree of the Reich President for protection against treacherous attacks on the
government of the Nationalist movement, 21 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p 135. Vol. IV Pg.160
***1669-PS; Correspondence between Dr. Haushofer and Hess, 24 August 1933 and 28 August 1933. (USA 741) Vol.IV Pg.184
***1759-PS; Affidavit of Raymond H Geist. (USA 420) Vol. IV Pg.288
***1852-PS; "Law" from The German Police, 1941, by Dr. Werner Best. (USA 449). (See Chart No. 16) Vol. IV Pg.490
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***1856-PS; Extract from book entitled "Hermann Goering - Speeches and Essays", 3rd edition 1939, p. 27. (USA 437) Vol. IV Pg. 496
***1857-PS; Announcement of the creation of the SS as independent formation of the NSDAP. Voelkisher Beobachter, 26 July 1934, p. 1. (USA 412) Vol. IV Pg. 496
1956-PS; Meaning and Tasks of the Secret State Police, published in The Archives, January 1936, Vol. 22-24, p. 1342. Vol. IV Pg. 598
1962-PS; Law to change the Penal Code of 28 June 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 839. Vol. IV Pg.600
2057-PS; Law relating to National Emergency Defense Measures of 3 July 1934. 1934
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 529. Vol. IV Pg.699
2107-PS; Law on the Secret State Police of 10 October 1936. 1936 Preussiche Gesetzsammlung, pp. 21-22. Vol. IV Pg.732
2344-PS; Reconstruction of a Nation by Goering, 1934, p. 89. Vol. IV Pg.1065
2347-PS; Court decisions from 1935 Reichsverwaltungsblatt, Vol. 56, pp. 577-578, 20 July 1935. Vol. IV Pg. 1066
***2386-PS; Joint affidavit of George S. Messersmith and Raymond H. Geist, 29 August 1945. (USA 750) Vol. V Pg. 39
***2460-PS; Affidavit of Rudolf Diels. (USA 751) Vol. V Pg.205
***2472-PS; Affidavit of Rudolf Diels, 31 October 1945. (USA 752) Vol. V Pg. 224
2491-PS: Extract from Legal Review, published in Lawyers Journal, 1935. Vol. V Pg. 235
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2494-PS: Prime Minister Goering's Press Conference, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, Berlin edition, 23 July 1933 -- 24 July 1933, p. 1. Vol. V Pg. 236
2496-PS; Extract from Goerings address to Public Prosecutors of Prussia on 12 July 1934, from the Archive, 1934, Vols. IV-VI, p. 495. Vol. V Pg. 236
***2499-PS; Original Protective Custody Order served on Dr. R. Kempner, 15 March 1935. (USA 232) Vol. V Pg.236
2533-PS; Extract from article "Legislation and Judiciary of the Third Reich", from Journal of the Academy for German Law, 1936, pp. 141-142. Vol. V Pg.277
2543-PS; Extract from The Mission of the SS, published in The National Socialist Magazine, Issue 46, January 1934. Vol. V Pg.288
***2544-PS; Affidavit of Rudolf Dies, former Superior Government Counsellor of the Police Division of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. (USA 753) Vol. V Pg.288
2545-PS; Extract from Hitler's cleaning up act in Reich, published in Voelkischer
Beobachter, Berlin edition, No. 182-183, 1 July 1934 -- 2 July 1934, p. 1. Vol. V Pg.290
2548-PS; Law about changing rules of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure of 24 April 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 34. Vol. V Pg.291
2549-PS; Extract from Germanys Road to Freedom" as published in Documents of German Politics, Vol. 3.
2550-PS; Law on the modification of rules of general criminal procedure, 16 September 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, P. 1841. Vol. V Pg.293
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2552-PS; Excerpt concerning criminals, published in Journal of the Academy for German Law, No. 3, March 1935. Vol. V Pg 293
2554-PS; Law concerning adjudication and execution of the death penalties of 29 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 151. Vol. V Pg.294
2572-PS; Hitler's speech to the Reichstag on 13 July 1934, printed in The Third Reich, Vol. II, p. 27. Vol. V Pg.302
***2614-PS; Affidavit of Dr. Wilhelm Hoettl, 5 November 1945. (USA 918). Vol. V Pg.337
2639-PS; Ordinances of the Deputy of the Fuehrer, published in Munich 1937. Vol. V Pg.345
***2950-PS; Affidavit of Frick, 19 November 1945. (USA 448). Vol. V Pg.654
***2967-PS; Affidavit of Dr. Hans Anschuetz, 17 November 1945. (USA 756) Vol. V Pg.693
***L-73; Affidavit of Bruno Bettelheim, 10 July 1945. (USA 746) Vol. VII Pg.818
***L-83; Affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, 21 July 1945. (USA 234) Vol. VII Pg.859
***L-135; Affidavit of Kate Eva Hoerlin, 9 July 1945. (USA 747)Vol. VII Pg.883
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Furthermore, the leader of the Nazi conspiracy on 25 July 1934 issued a decree which stated that because of the meritorious service of the SS, especially in connection with the events of 30 June 1934, the organization was elevated to the standing of an independent organization within the NSDAP. (1857-PS)
B. The Nazi conspirators used the legislative and judicial powers of the German Reich to terrorize all political opponents.
(1) They created a great number of new political crimes. The decree of 28 February 1933 punished the inciting of disobedience to orders given out by State or Reich Government authorities or the provocation of acts "contrary to public welfare." (1390-PS) A month later, in order to give themselves legal justification for murdering by judicial process their political enemies, the Nazi conspirators passed a law making the provisions of the above decree applicable retroactively to acts committed during the period from 31 January 1933 to 28 February 1933. (2654-PS)
Referring to these laws, the defendant Goering stated:
"Whoever in the future raises a hand against a representative of the National Socialist movement or of the State, must know that he will lose his life in a very short while. Furthermore, it will be entirely sufficient, if he is proven to have intended the act, or, if the act results not in a death, but only in an injury." (2494-PS)
On 21 March 1933 a decree was issued which provided for penitentiary imprisonment up to two years for possessing a uniform of an organization supporting the government of the Nationalist movement without being entitled thereto, or circulating a statement which was untrue or greatly exaggerated, or which was apt to seriously harm the welfare of the Reich or the reputation of the Government, or of the Party or organizations supporting the Government. (1652-PS)
The Nazi conspirators caused a law to be enacted punishing whoever undertook to maintain or form a political party other than the NSDAP. (1388-PS)
The Nazi conspirators enacted a law which made it a crime deliberately to make false or grave statements calculated to injure the welfare or the prestige of the Reich, or to circulate a statement manifesting a malicious or low-minded attitude toward leading personalities of the State or the Party. The law also applied to statements of this kind which were not made in public, provided the offender counted on his statements being eventually circulated in public. (1393-PS)
[Page 243]
In commenting on the above law, one of the leading Nazi conspirators, Martin Bormann, stated:
"Although it must absolutely be prevented that martyrs are created, one must take merciless action against such people, in whose attacks a bad character or attitude, decisively inimical to the State, can be recognized. For this purpose, I request the Gauleiters to report here briefly all crimes, which must absolutely be punished, and which have become known to the districts, regardless of the report to be made to the district attorney's office *******.
"The district and local leaderships are to be notified accordingly. However, if it should be decided from wherein this or that punishable case, that the miscreant is to be given a simple or strong reprimand by the court, I shall give the directive for the future, that the Districts are informed of the names of the persons.
"I therefore request, to see to it, that these compatriots be especially watched by the Ortsgruppen, and that it be attempted, to influence them in the National Socialist sense. Otherwise, it will be necessary to place the activities of such persons, who do not want to be taught, under exact control. In these cases, it will eventually be necessary, to notify the Secret State Police." (2639-PS)
On 24 April 1934 the Nazi conspirators passed a law imposing the death penalty for "any treasonable act." Included in the law was a declaration to the effect that the creating or organizing of a political party, or continuing of an existing one was a treasonable act. (2548-PS)
(2) By their interpretation and changes of the penal law, the Nazi conspirators enlarged their terroristic methods. After the enactment of these new political crimes, the Nazi conspirators introduced into the penal law the theory of punishment by analogy. This enabled them legally to punish any act injurious to their political interests even if no existing statute forbade it. The culpability of the act and the punishment was determined by the law most closely relating to or covering the act which was in force at the time. (1962-PS)
In interpreting this law, Dr. Guertner, Reich Minister of Justice, stated:
"National Socialism substitutes for the idea of formal wrong, the idea of factual wrong. *******Even without the threat of punishment, every violation of the goals toward which the community is striving is a wrong per se. As a
[Page 244]
result, the law ceases to be an exclusive source for the determination of right or wrong." (2549-PS)
Referring to the penal code of Nazi Germany, the defendant Frank stated in 1935:
"the National Socialist State is a totalitarian State, it makes no concessions to criminals, it does not negotiate with them; it stamps them out." (2552-PS)
The Nazi conspirators also revised the criminal law so that the State could, within one year after a decree in a criminal case had become final, apply for a new trial, and the application would be decided by members of a Special Penal Chamber appointed by Hitler personally. Thus, if a defendant should be acquitted in a lower court, the Nazi conspirators could rectify the situation by another trial. (2550-PS)
In direct contrast to the severity of the criminal law as it affected the general population of Germany, the Nazi conspirators adopted and endorsed a large body of unwritten laws exempting the police from criminal liability for illegal acts done under higher authority. This principle was described by Dr. Werner Best, outstanding Nazi lawyer, in the following terms:
"The police never act in a lawless or illegal manner as long as they act according to the rules laid down by their superiors up to the highest governing body. According to its nature, the police must only deal with what the government wants to know is being dealt with. What the Government wants to know is being dealt with by the police is the essence of the police law and is that which guides and restricts the actions of the police. As long as the police carry out the will of the Government, it is acting legally." (1852-PS)
C. The Nazi conspirators created a vast system of espionage into the daily lives of all parts of the population.
(1) They destroyed the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications. They enacted a law in February of 1933 providing that violations of privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications were permissible beyond legal limitations. (1390-PS)
Dr. Hans Anschuetz, the present District Court Director (Landgerichtsdirektor) at Heidelberg, Germany, recently stated:
"Subsequently, the system of spying upon and supervising the political opinions of each citizen which permeated the entire people and private life of Germany, was, of course, also extended to judges." (2967-PS)
[Page 245]
(2) They used the Secret State Police (Gestapo) and Security Service (SD) for the purpose of maintaining close surveillance over the daily activities of all people in Germany. The Gestapo had as its primary preventive activity the thorough observation of all enemies of the state, in the territory of the Reich. (1956-PS)
The SD was an intelligence organization which operated out of various regional offices. It consisted of hundreds of professional SD members who were assisted by thousands of honorary members and informers. These people were placed in all fields of business, education, State and Party administration, and frequently performed their duties secretly in their own organization. This information service reported on the activities of the people. (2614-PS)
D. Without judicial process, the Nazi conspirators imprisoned, held in protective custody and sent to concentration camps opponents and suspected opponents.
They authorized the Gestapo to arrest and detain without recourse to any legal proceeding. Officially, this power was described as follows:
"The Secret State Police takes the necessary police preventive measures against the enemies of the State on the basis of the results of the observation. The most effective preventive measure is without doubt the withdrawal of freedom which is covered in the form of protective custody. ******* While protective arrests of short duration are carried out in police and court prisons, the concentration camps under the Secret State Police admit those taken into protective custody who have to be withdrawn from public life for a longer time." (1956-PS)
The Nazi conspirators issued their own orders for the taking of people into protective custody and these orders set forth no further details concerning the reasons therefore, except a statement such as "Suspicion of activities inimical to the State." (2499-PS)
The Defendant Frank stated:
"To the world we are blamed again and again because of the concentration camps. We are asked, "Why do you arrest without a warrant of arrest? I say, put yourselves into the position of our nation. Dont forget that the very great and still untouched world of Bolshevism cannot forget that we have made final victory for them impossible in Europe, right here on German soil." (2533-PS)
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The defendant Goering said in 1934:
"Against the enemies of the State, we must proceed ruthlessly. It cannot be forgotten that at the moment of our rise to power, according to the official election figures of March 1933, six million people still confess their sympathy for Communism and eight million for Marxism. *******Therefore, the concentration camps have been created, where we have first confined thousands of Communists and Social Democrat functionaries. *******" (2344-PS)
US Ambassador George S. Messersmith, former Counsel General in Berlin, Germany, 1930-34, and Raymond H. Geist, former American Counsel and First Secretary of the Embassy in Berlin, Germany, 1929-1939, have recently stated:
"Independent of individual criminal acts committed by high functionaries of the German government or the Nazi Party, such as the murders ordered by Hitler, Himmler and Goering, all high functionaries of the German government and of the Nazi Party *******are guilty in the highest degree of complicity in and furtherance of the cardinal crimes of oppression against the German people, persecution and destruction of the Jews and all of their political opponents." (2386-PS)
Commenting further on the Nazi conspirators' use of concentration camps to destroy political opposition, Raymond H. Geist stated:
"The German people were well acquainted with the goings on in concentration camps and it was well known that the fate of anyone too actively opposed to any part of the Nazi program was liable to be one of great suffering. Indeed, before the Hitler regime was many months old, almost every family in Germany had had first hand accounts of the brutalities inflicted in the concentration camps from someone either in the relationship or in the circle of friends who had served a sentence there; consequently the fear of such camps was a very effective brake on any possible opposition." (1759-PS)
The Nazi conspirators confined, under the guise of "protective custody" Reichstag members, Social Democrats, Communists, and other opponents or suspected opponents. (2544-PS; L-73; L-83; 1430-PS.)
E. The Nazi conspirators created and utilized special agencies for carrying out their system of terror.
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(See Chapter XV, Sections 5 and 6, on the Gestapo, SS, and SD)
F. The Nazi conspirators permitted organizations.and individuals to carry out this system of terror without restraint of law.
(1) Acts of the Gestapo were not subject to review by the courts. In 1935 the Prussian Supreme Court of Administration held that the orders of the Gestapo were not subject to judicial review; and that the accused person could appeal only to the next higher authority within the State Police itself. (2347-PS)
In 1936 a law was passed concerning The Gestapo in Prussia which provided that orders in matters of the Gestapo were not subject to review of the Administrative Courts. (2107-PS)
On the same subject, the following article appeared in the official German Lawyers Journal, 1935:
"Once again the court had to decide on the question of whether political measures could be subjected to the review of the ordinary courts. *******The case in question concerned the official performance of his duty by an official of the NSDAP.
*******The principle of the importance and the mission of the Party and its 'Sovereign Functionaries' cannot be overlooked. Therefore, the plaintiff should have been denied the right to be in court." (2491-PS)
(2) Where no definite law protected terroristic acts of Nazi conspirators and their accomplices, proceedings against them were in the first instance suppressed or thereafter their acts were pardoned. In 1935, proceedings against an employee of the Gestapo accused of torturing, beating, and killing of inmates of a concentration camp were suppressed (787-PS; 788-PS). In June 1935 twenty-three SA members and policemen convicted of the beating and murder of inmates of the Hohnstein concentration camp were pardoned (786-PS). The prosecutor was forced to resign from the SA. (784-PS)
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Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6(a). Vol. I Pg.5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Section IV(D)3(b). Vol. I Pg.19
[Note: A single asterisk (***) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (******) before a document number indicates that the document was referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court.]
***784-PS; Letters from Minister of Justice to Hess and SA Chief of Staff, 5 June 1935, concerning penal proceedings against merchant and SA leader and 22 companions because of inflicting bodily injury on duty. (USA 732) Vol. III Pg.559
Document ***786-PS; Minister of Justice memorandum, 29 November 1935, concerning pardon of those sentenced in connection with mistreatment in Hohenstein concentration camp. (USA 734) Vol. III Pg. 568
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***787-PS; Memorandum to Hitler from Public Prosecutor of Dresden, 18 June 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel on account of bodily injury while in office. (USA 421) Vol. III Pg.568
***788-PS; Letters from Secretary of State to Minister of Justice, 25 June 1935 and 9 September 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel. (USA 735) Vol. III Pg.571
1388-PS; Law concerning confiscation of Property subversive to People and State 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. Vol. III Pg.962
1390-PS; Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State 28
February 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt Part I, p. 83. Vol.III Pg.968
1393-PS; Law on treacherous attacks against State and Party, and for the Protection of Party Uniforms, 20 December 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt Part I, p. 1269. Vol. III Pg.973
1430-PS; Compilation of Leading Men of the System Era, June 1939. Vol. IV Pg.15
1652-PS; Decree of the Reich President for protection against treacherous attacks on the
government of the Nationalist movement, 21 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p 135. Vol. IV Pg.160
***1669-PS; Correspondence between Dr. Haushofer and Hess, 24 August 1933 and 28 August 1933. (USA 741) Vol.IV Pg.184
***1759-PS; Affidavit of Raymond H Geist. (USA 420) Vol. IV Pg.288
***1852-PS; "Law" from The German Police, 1941, by Dr. Werner Best. (USA 449). (See Chart No. 16) Vol. IV Pg.490
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***1856-PS; Extract from book entitled "Hermann Goering - Speeches and Essays", 3rd edition 1939, p. 27. (USA 437) Vol. IV Pg. 496
***1857-PS; Announcement of the creation of the SS as independent formation of the NSDAP. Voelkisher Beobachter, 26 July 1934, p. 1. (USA 412) Vol. IV Pg. 496
1956-PS; Meaning and Tasks of the Secret State Police, published in The Archives, January 1936, Vol. 22-24, p. 1342. Vol. IV Pg. 598
1962-PS; Law to change the Penal Code of 28 June 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 839. Vol. IV Pg.600
2057-PS; Law relating to National Emergency Defense Measures of 3 July 1934. 1934
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 529. Vol. IV Pg.699
2107-PS; Law on the Secret State Police of 10 October 1936. 1936 Preussiche Gesetzsammlung, pp. 21-22. Vol. IV Pg.732
2344-PS; Reconstruction of a Nation by Goering, 1934, p. 89. Vol. IV Pg.1065
2347-PS; Court decisions from 1935 Reichsverwaltungsblatt, Vol. 56, pp. 577-578, 20 July 1935. Vol. IV Pg. 1066
***2386-PS; Joint affidavit of George S. Messersmith and Raymond H. Geist, 29 August 1945. (USA 750) Vol. V Pg. 39
***2460-PS; Affidavit of Rudolf Diels. (USA 751) Vol. V Pg.205
***2472-PS; Affidavit of Rudolf Diels, 31 October 1945. (USA 752) Vol. V Pg. 224
2491-PS: Extract from Legal Review, published in Lawyers Journal, 1935. Vol. V Pg. 235
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2494-PS: Prime Minister Goering's Press Conference, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, Berlin edition, 23 July 1933 -- 24 July 1933, p. 1. Vol. V Pg. 236
2496-PS; Extract from Goerings address to Public Prosecutors of Prussia on 12 July 1934, from the Archive, 1934, Vols. IV-VI, p. 495. Vol. V Pg. 236
***2499-PS; Original Protective Custody Order served on Dr. R. Kempner, 15 March 1935. (USA 232) Vol. V Pg.236
2533-PS; Extract from article "Legislation and Judiciary of the Third Reich", from Journal of the Academy for German Law, 1936, pp. 141-142. Vol. V Pg.277
2543-PS; Extract from The Mission of the SS, published in The National Socialist Magazine, Issue 46, January 1934. Vol. V Pg.288
***2544-PS; Affidavit of Rudolf Dies, former Superior Government Counsellor of the Police Division of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. (USA 753) Vol. V Pg.288
2545-PS; Extract from Hitler's cleaning up act in Reich, published in Voelkischer
Beobachter, Berlin edition, No. 182-183, 1 July 1934 -- 2 July 1934, p. 1. Vol. V Pg.290
2548-PS; Law about changing rules of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure of 24 April 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 34. Vol. V Pg.291
2549-PS; Extract from Germanys Road to Freedom" as published in Documents of German Politics, Vol. 3.
2550-PS; Law on the modification of rules of general criminal procedure, 16 September 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, P. 1841. Vol. V Pg.293
[Page 252]
2552-PS; Excerpt concerning criminals, published in Journal of the Academy for German Law, No. 3, March 1935. Vol. V Pg 293
2554-PS; Law concerning adjudication and execution of the death penalties of 29 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 151. Vol. V Pg.294
2572-PS; Hitler's speech to the Reichstag on 13 July 1934, printed in The Third Reich, Vol. II, p. 27. Vol. V Pg.302
***2614-PS; Affidavit of Dr. Wilhelm Hoettl, 5 November 1945. (USA 918). Vol. V Pg.337
2639-PS; Ordinances of the Deputy of the Fuehrer, published in Munich 1937. Vol. V Pg.345
***2950-PS; Affidavit of Frick, 19 November 1945. (USA 448). Vol. V Pg.654
***2967-PS; Affidavit of Dr. Hans Anschuetz, 17 November 1945. (USA 756) Vol. V Pg.693
***L-73; Affidavit of Bruno Bettelheim, 10 July 1945. (USA 746) Vol. VII Pg.818
***L-83; Affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, 21 July 1945. (USA 234) Vol. VII Pg.859
***L-135; Affidavit of Kate Eva Hoerlin, 9 July 1945. (USA 747)Vol. VII Pg.883
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Scott Smith
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Democracy Conspiracy & Aggression...
Hmmm, the Democracies deciding what form of government other people should chose. Pretty much Chutzpah to say that the Germans opting for a Führer is itself a warcrime. You can have no other government but a Democracy, preferably one directly underwritten by the Intertnational counting-houses. Sounds about like a Henry Ford automobile: any color you want, so long as it's black. And sounds like totalitarian-liberalism to me.
The whole basis of Democracy-Capitalism is the fraudulent premise that the people rule themselves. One of the reasons the establishment wants to go to war in Iraq is because we have long had government by public-opinion poll and it just plain feels-good, a sort of CNN bread-and circuses. The System only has to manufacture or mass-market its Imperialist/Internventionist agenda to justify its actions democratically, the tail wagging the dog.
The whole basis of Democracy-Capitalism is the fraudulent premise that the people rule themselves. One of the reasons the establishment wants to go to war in Iraq is because we have long had government by public-opinion poll and it just plain feels-good, a sort of CNN bread-and circuses. The System only has to manufacture or mass-market its Imperialist/Internventionist agenda to justify its actions democratically, the tail wagging the dog.
Re: Democracy Conspiracy & Aggression...
Scott, your whole post makes me wonder what you think about a Democratic-Non Capitalist political regime.Scott Smith wrote: (...)
The whole basis of Democracy-Capitalism is the fraudulent premise that the people rule themselves.(...)
Regards.
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David Thompson
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Scott --
(1) You said: "Hmmm, the Democracies deciding what form of government other people should chose. Pretty much Chutzpah to say that the Germans opting for a Führer is itself a warcrime."
The Nazis only had 33% of the vote when they formed their government on 30 Jan 1933, which, at least in my opinion, is not the same as "the Germans opting for a Führer."
Furthermore, no one ever said that "the Germans opting for a Führer" was a war crime. It would be interesting to find out how many of the 33% who voted Nazi thought that the form of government was going to change.
(2) You said: "The whole basis of Democracy-Capitalism is the fraudulent premise that the people rule themselves. One of the reasons the establishment wants to go to war in Iraq is because we have long had government by public-opinion poll and it just plain feels-good, a sort of CNN bread-and circuses. The System only has to manufacture or mass-market its Imperialist/Internventionist agenda to justify its actions democratically, the tail wagging the dog."
In this regard you might find the attached cartoon by David Law interesting.
(1) You said: "Hmmm, the Democracies deciding what form of government other people should chose. Pretty much Chutzpah to say that the Germans opting for a Führer is itself a warcrime."
The Nazis only had 33% of the vote when they formed their government on 30 Jan 1933, which, at least in my opinion, is not the same as "the Germans opting for a Führer."
Furthermore, no one ever said that "the Germans opting for a Führer" was a war crime. It would be interesting to find out how many of the 33% who voted Nazi thought that the form of government was going to change.
(2) You said: "The whole basis of Democracy-Capitalism is the fraudulent premise that the people rule themselves. One of the reasons the establishment wants to go to war in Iraq is because we have long had government by public-opinion poll and it just plain feels-good, a sort of CNN bread-and circuses. The System only has to manufacture or mass-market its Imperialist/Internventionist agenda to justify its actions democratically, the tail wagging the dog."
In this regard you might find the attached cartoon by David Law interesting.
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Scott Smith
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Re: Democracy Conspiracy & Aggression...
Well, I'm no fan of Capitalism but I think Marxism is unworkable. I think that Socialism (for lack of a better term) brings some good ideas to the table--if their was a table to bring things to, that is. Essentially both American parties stand for the same things but employ slightly-different rhetoric to capture different interest groups. In general, I would say that I am in favor of democratic ideals, particularly regarding civil liberties. But to answer your question, I feel that Democracy and Capitalism are essentially two sides of the same coin. Both are products of classical-liberalism from circa the 17th century; it may be impossible to extricate the two as these traditions are embodied deepy inside Bourgoeis-Law. Btw, just because one is a liberal does not mean that they cannot be a totalitarian-liberal. New Deal Interventionists are their patron-saints. Both parties embrace Internationalism but the Republicans more from the standpoint of Imperialism, and the Democrats from messianic Interventionism--crusades by any other name. They would think nothing of a quasi-legal measure to save Capitalism from itself or "save Democracy" by putting groups into concentration camps. Thoughtcrimes laws are just around the corner, first with unpopular ideas that only weirdo iconoclasts would defend, and then who knows? The bottom-line is that we should rethink globalization and Interventionism (especially American) and the premise that Capitalism will automatically make all boats float (socially and economically) if only private enterprise is left alone to its own ill-gotten profits and kept sheltered from the tax-burden. In addition, technological advancement should benefit the people not megacorporations and their earnings. "Corporate welfare" from the government sinks tons of money to research and develop profitable drugs and not necessarily "appropriate" medicine. The goal is to assist businesses to make money not to develop technology for the public interest. A society and government based on nothing more than individual economic-rationalism may be in the final accounting not so rational after all, but it is a durable system in any case.chalutzim wrote:Scott, your whole post makes me wonder what you think about a Democratic-Non Capitalist political regime.Scott Smith wrote: (...)
The whole basis of Democracy-Capitalism is the fraudulent premise that the people rule themselves.(...)
Just my two-cents.
Last edited by Scott Smith on 01 Feb 2003, 06:18, edited 1 time in total.
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Scott Smith
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Bush, Jr. didn't have a majority either but the legal political machinery doesn't exactly work that way. When the NSDAP had gained the majority of the Reichstag seats Hitler should have been made Chancellor. Trying to freeze him out only enabled the Nazis to hold out for the whole enchildada. When they got it they legally established a dictatorship on the tried-and-true Weimar precedent of "emergency decree."David Thompson wrote:Scott --
(1) You said: "Hmmm, the Democracies deciding what form of government other people should chose. Pretty much Chutzpah to say that the Germans opting for a Führer is itself a warcrime."
The Nazis only had 33% of the vote when they formed their government on 30 Jan 1933, which, at least in my opinion, is not the same as "the Germans opting for a Führer."
Personally, I think dictatorship was too much power because it put all of Germany's eggs into one basket. But someone had to have enough power lead--to hitch all Germans to pull the wagon in the same direction, and Hitler did that.
Well, the "Democracies" and their Bolshevik ally did, as they made an issue out of Germany's form of government in their propaganda, which was none of their business.Furthermore, no one ever said that "the Germans opting for a Führer" was a war crime. It would be interesting to find out how many of the 33% who voted Nazi thought that the form of government was going to change.
It is a hard spin to make that the Austrians didn't want to be Germans, and that the Sudeten Germans and Danzigers didn't want to be Germans again. In that respect, Hitler had crossed an imaginary line with the Allies by what he represented, long before he tried to make Czechs and Poles part of his German Empire. The fact that he commanded popular appeal scared the plutocratic demagogues of the Democracies to death. Hitler was dangerous. Stalin was just another brutal Muzhik who could be "managed" by the West.(2) You said: "The whole basis of Democracy-Capitalism is the fraudulent premise that the people rule themselves. One of the reasons the establishment wants to go to war in Iraq is because we have long had government by public-opinion poll and it just plain feels-good, a sort of CNN bread-and circuses. The System only has to manufacture or mass-market its Imperialist/Internventionist agenda to justify its actions democratically, the tail wagging the dog."
In this regard you might find the attached cartoon by David Law interesting.
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David Thompson
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Scott --
(1) "Bush, Jr. didn't have a majority either but the legal political machinery doesn't exactly work that way. When the NSDAP had gained the majority of the Reichstag seats Hitler should have been made Chancellor. Trying to freeze him out onlyt enabled the Nazis to hold out for the whole enchildada. when they got it they legally established a dictatorship on the tried-and-true Weimar precedent of "emergency decree." Personally, I think dictatorship was too much power because it put all of Germany's eggs in one basket. But someone have to have enough power to hitch all Germans to pull the wagon in the same direction and Hitler did that."
My point was that it cannot fairly be said that the Germans opted for a Fuehrer.
(2) "Well, the "Democracies" and their Bolshevik ally did, as they made an issue out of Germany's form of government, which was none of their business."
If you can show me where the allies ever charged "opting for a Fuehrer" as a war crime, I'd appreciate it.
(3) "It is a hard spin to make that the Austrians didn't want to be Germans, and that the Sudeten Germans and Danzigers didn't want to be Germans again. In that respect Hitler had crossed an imaginary line with the Allies long before he tried to make Czechs and Poles part of his German Empire."
The Low cartoon was in regard to your statement: "The System only has to manufacture or mass-market its Imperialist/Internventionist agenda to justify its actions democratically, the tail wagging the dog."
(1) "Bush, Jr. didn't have a majority either but the legal political machinery doesn't exactly work that way. When the NSDAP had gained the majority of the Reichstag seats Hitler should have been made Chancellor. Trying to freeze him out onlyt enabled the Nazis to hold out for the whole enchildada. when they got it they legally established a dictatorship on the tried-and-true Weimar precedent of "emergency decree." Personally, I think dictatorship was too much power because it put all of Germany's eggs in one basket. But someone have to have enough power to hitch all Germans to pull the wagon in the same direction and Hitler did that."
My point was that it cannot fairly be said that the Germans opted for a Fuehrer.
(2) "Well, the "Democracies" and their Bolshevik ally did, as they made an issue out of Germany's form of government, which was none of their business."
If you can show me where the allies ever charged "opting for a Fuehrer" as a war crime, I'd appreciate it.
(3) "It is a hard spin to make that the Austrians didn't want to be Germans, and that the Sudeten Germans and Danzigers didn't want to be Germans again. In that respect Hitler had crossed an imaginary line with the Allies long before he tried to make Czechs and Poles part of his German Empire."
The Low cartoon was in regard to your statement: "The System only has to manufacture or mass-market its Imperialist/Internventionist agenda to justify its actions democratically, the tail wagging the dog."
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Scott Smith
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I think it can. It was legal and Hitler was wildly popular before 1939. Even during the war, which was not popular, Hitler still had the support of the people.David Thompson wrote:Scott --
(1) "Bush, Jr. didn't have a majority either but the legal political machinery doesn't exactly work that way. When the NSDAP had gained the majority of the Reichstag seats Hitler should have been made Chancellor. Trying to freeze him out onlyt enabled the Nazis to hold out for the whole enchildada. when they got it they legally established a dictatorship on the tried-and-true Weimar precedent of "emergency decree." Personally, I think dictatorship was too much power because it put all of Germany's eggs in one basket. But someone have to have enough power to hitch all Germans to pull the wagon in the same direction and Hitler did that."
My point was that it cannot fairly be said that the Germans opted for a Fuehrer.
Bush has the support of the people largely because they want Beer-and-Circuses. A lack of a national-crisis would leave Junior struggling to establish a legacy, no small statement for a dynasty. But it nevertheless cannot be said that Bush was not democratically elected.
You just posted it. But it wasn't a charge, just more atrocity-propaganda, like everything else at Nuremberg--like Human Soap, steaming Jews to death like lobsters, and tossing babies alive into crematoria ovens. No, no charges filed, just newspaper yellow-copy printed in legal texts for all to refer to.(2) "Well, the "Democracies" and their Bolshevik ally did, as they made an issue out of Germany's form of government, which was none of their business."
If you can show me where the allies ever charged "opting for a Fuehrer" as a war crime, I'd appreciate it.
Well, I think that is the pot calling the kettle black, as nearly every German could agree on the perfidy of the Versailles treaty and its War-Guilt clause. That is hardly a case of the tail wagging the dog, as we see in the news today. The Democracies wanted/needed peace about as much as an addict really wants to quit a profitable drug-habit; it is no less true today.(3) "It is a hard spin to make that the Austrians didn't want to be Germans, and that the Sudeten Germans and Danzigers didn't want to be Germans again. In that respect Hitler had crossed an imaginary line with the Allies long before he tried to make Czechs and Poles part of his German Empire."
The Low cartoon was in regard to your statement: "The System only has to manufacture or mass-market its Imperialist/Internventionist agenda to justify its actions democratically, the tail wagging the dog."
Re: Democracy Conspiracy & Aggression...
Thank you for your two-cents.Scott Smith wrote:Just my two-cents.
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Scott Smith
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For this ?witness wrote:Yeah ..That's what I would give...
I'd say you should get paid for the patience of reading such nonsense over and over again, every time Smith dishes up his cherished articles of faith.Smith wrote:You just posted it. But it wasn't a charge, just more atrocity-propaganda, like everything else at Nuremberg--like Human Soap, steaming Jews to death like lobsters, and tossing babies alive into crematoria ovens. No, no charges filed, just newspaper yellow-copy printed in legal texts for all to refer to.
But believe it or not, there are actually people who pay for reading this kind of manure on the world's most expensive toilet paper:
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/jhrindex.html
Source of quote:Yale Edeiken wrote:[...]A second core constituency, one more directly interested in the denial of the Holocaust, were pro-Nazi and neo-Nazi activists whose primary interestis rehabilitating the reputation of the Third Reich. One of the publishing houses catering to these Nazi sympathizers state "It is also Castle Hill Publisher’s goal to correct unjust reporting or accounts of events of the 20th century. It is also the Foundation's goal to further public debate about the subject generally described as 'Holocaust'." . . . . Lastly, it is Castle Hill Publisher’s goal to restore, with all available legal means, the honor and reputation of all persons and/or organizations who are found to have been unjustly accused or even convicted of criminal acts, especially such as were allegedly committed during World War Two." ("About Castle Hill Publishers") For many of these people, their admiration for Hitler and their fidelity to the ideals of National Socialism have become an obsession which defines their lives. To these fanatics the Nazis were "the good guys" (denier and neo-Nazi Alex Vange) following a "beautiful dream" that is "worth dying for." (denier and neo-Nazi David Michael). This attitude is typified up by the British denier and neo-Nazi David Michael who summed up World War II with the statement "There was a war. Your side won. Our side lost." Just as they identify with the Nazis in the war, they idealize Adolf Hitler as Greg Raven, CEO of the IHR. did:
My only concern is in going after the facts. As such, I am not interested in defending Adolf Hitler to my dying breath. I will say, however, that he was a great man . . . certainly greater than Churchill and FDR put together, and possibly the greatest leader of our century, if not longer. This is not to say that he was perfect, but he [sic] about the best thing that could have happened to Germany." (March 13, 1992)
Or romanticize his rule as did David Irving who, just a week after the attack on the World Trade Center, wrote:
A wail of sirens draws our attention to the window: A glistening cavalcade of black, armour plated, overlong stretch limousines with police outriders is sweeping up Connecticut Avenue: Tony Blair has arrived, and is enjoying American hospitality on his way up to the embassy. I again draw the comparison with Hitler's cavalcade in Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will: The Fuhrer stands upright in an open car, greeted by cheering crowds. Neither Bush nor Blaircan afford such luxuries now -- an ugly product of their policies."("Radical's Diary"; September 20, 2001).
As can be expected, anti-American sentiments are, of course, as ubiquitous in denier circles as ants at a picnic. Whether it is David Michael exulting that September 11 was a "glorious day" (September 11, 2001) or David Irving chortling about "the possible collapse of the United States' economy"(Radical's Diary; September 17, 2001), the hatred of the United States is as clear and as fervent as their love of Nazi Germany.[...]
http://www.holocaust-history.org/ihr/
Who does this remind me of ?
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Scott Smith
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