“The General Secretariat of Youth has informed us by letter of
11 November 1941 of its intention to establish so-called social
youth centers whose aim shall be to give to youth a civic
education and to safeguard it from the moral degeneracy which
threatens it. The creation of these social youth centers, as
well the establishment of youth camps, must be sanctioned by the
Commander-in-Chief of the Military Forces in France. Before
being able to make a final decision as to the creation of these
social centers, it appears indispensable that greater details
should be furnished, particularly about the persons responsible
for these centers in the various communes, the points of view
which will prevail when selecting the leaders of these centers,
the principal categories of youth to be recruited and detailed
plans for the intended instruction and education of these young
people.”
I shall now produce Document Number RF-1102. This document is a note,
dealing with . . .
THE PRESIDENT: [_Interposing_] M. Faure, could you tell us how long you
think you will be on this subject of propaganda?
M. FAURE: I expect to speak for about two hours, or two and a half
hours.
THE PRESIDENT: What is the program after you have done with this subject
of propaganda?
M. FAURE: Mr. President, as I indicated at the beginning of my
presentation, it includes four sections. The propaganda section, about
which I am speaking now, constitutes Section 3. The fourth section is
devoted to the administrative organization of the criminal action. It
corresponds, more exactly, to the second heading under Count Four of the
Indictment relative to the persecution of the Jews in the occupied
countries of the West. After this section I shall have completed my
presentation. Does the Tribunal likewise Pg571 wish me to indicate what
will follow in the program of the French Prosecution?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we would like to know.
M. FAURE: M. Mounier will deal with the analytical brief and the
recapitulation of the individual accusations of the Prosecution. Then I
think M. Gerthoffer is to speak rather briefly about the pillage of art
treasures which has not been dealt with; it appears now that it would be
suitable to deal with it within the framework of the presentation.
THE PRESIDENT: Then we will adjourn now.
M. FAURE: Mr. President, I should like to ask the Tribunal if it is
convenient for it to see tomorrow, in the course of my propaganda
section, a few projections on the screen of documents which relate to
this chapter.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I think so. Certainly.
HERR BABEL: Regarding the questions which I asked the witness, there is
something I did not understand. I did not want, in any case, to speak
about the resistance or about its methods which were animated by
patriotism. I did not want to judge, or even think anything derogatory
about it. I wanted only to prove that deeds which are said to have been
committed by the German troops were in many cases caused by the attitude
of the civilian population and that actions against Germans which were
contrary to international law have not been judged in the same way as
lapses laid to the charge of members of the German Wehrmacht. I am of
the opinion that the Indictment of the organizations . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Babel, will you forgive me for a moment. You
concluded your cross-examination some time ago, and the Tribunal doesn’t
desire . . .
HERR BABEL: Yes, Mr. President, but I thought that by this statement I
could clarify it for the Tribunal.
THE PRESIDENT: We don’t need any clarification at all. We quite
understand the point of your cross-examination and we shall hear you
when the time comes, very fully in all probability, in support of the
arguments which you desire to present.
HERR BABEL: I did so because I thought that you . . .
THE PRESIDENT: You must give the Tribunal credit for understanding your
cross-examination. We really cannot continue to have interruptions of
this sort. We have some twenty defendants and some twenty counsels, and
if they are all going to get up in the way that you do and make
protests, we shall never get to the end of this Trial.
[_The Tribunal adjourned until 5 February 1946 at 1000 hours._]