seizure of the Eastern Territories was in progress, the Ministry for the
Occupied Eastern Territories was created. The decree appointing the
Defendant Rosenberg to the post of Minister of this department has
already been received in evidence as Exhibit USA-319.
During the years 1933 to 1945 one ministry was dropped—that of Defense
which was later called “War”. This took place in 1938 when, on 4
February, Hitler took over command of the whole Armed Forces. At the
same time he created the “Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed
Forces” or, in other words, the Chief of the OKW. This was the Defendant
Keitel. The decree accomplishing this change is published in the 1938
_Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, at Page 111. It appears in our document
book as 1915-PS, and I would like to quote a brief portion of that
decree. It begins at the bottom of the second paragraph:
“He”—referring to the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed
Forces—“is an equal in rank to a Reich Minister.
“At the same time, the Supreme Command takes the responsibility
for the affairs of the Reich Ministry of War; and by my order,
the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces exercises
the authority formerly belonging to the Reich Minister.”
Another change in the composition of the Cabinet during the years in
question should be noted. The post of Vice-Chancellor was never refilled
after the Defendant Von Papen left on 30 July 1934.
In addition to the heads of departments that I have outlined, the
ordinary Cabinet also contained Reich Ministers without portfolio. Among
these were the Defendants Hans Frank; Seyss-Inquart; Schacht, after he
left the Economics Ministry; and Von Neurath, after he was replaced as
Minister for Foreign Affairs. There were other positions that were also
an integral part of the Cabinet. These were: the Deputy of the Führer,
the Defendant Hess, and later his successor; the Leader of the Party
Chancellery, the Defendant Bormann; the Chief of Staff of the SA, Ernst
Röhm, for 7 months prior to his assassination; the Chief of the Reich
Chancellery, Lammers; and, as we have already mentioned, the Chief of
the OKW, the Defendant Keitel. These men had either the title of, or the
rank of, Reich Minister. I have already read portions of the law
creating the Chief of the OKW where his importance in Cabinet affairs is
delineated. The importance of the Defendants Hess and Bormann will soon
be expounded, while that of the Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Lammers,
will also soon become self-evident.
But there were others, such as State Ministers acting as Reich
Ministers. Only two persons fell within this category: the Chief of the
Presidential Chancellery, Otto Meissner; and the State Minister of the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Karl Hermann Frank. In addition,
the Indictment names as belonging to the ordinary Cabinet “others
entitled to take part in Cabinet meetings.” Many governmental agencies
were created by the Nazis between the years 1933 and 1945, but the
peculiarity of such creations was that in most instances such new posts
were given the right to participate in Cabinet meetings. Here the list
is long but significant. Thus those entitled to take part in Cabinet
meetings were: the Commanders-in-Chief of the Army and the Navy, the
Reich Forest Master, the Inspector General for Water and Power, the
Inspector General of German Roads, the Reich Labor Leader, the Reich
Youth Leader, the Chief of the Foreign Organization in the Foreign
Office, the Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich
Ministry of the Interior, the Prussian Finance Minister, and the Cabinet
Press Chief.
These, then, were the posts and some of the personnel in the ordinary
Cabinet. They were all positions of such common knowledge and notoriety
that the Tribunal can take judicial notice. Further, they all appear on
the chart entitled “Organization of the Reich Government,” which was
authenticated by the Defendant Frick and is in evidence as Exhibit
Number USA-3, which Mr. Albrecht introduced on the second day of the
Trial. They are also provable by laws and decrees published in the
_Reichsgesetzblatt_ and by notices in the semi-official monthly
publication entitled _Das Archiv_, which was edited by an official of
the Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda—all of which, I
submit, are within the judicial notice purview of the Tribunal. The
persons who held these posts in the ordinary Cabinet varied between the
years 1933 to 1945.
Does Your Honor wish to adjourn at 12:45?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, perhaps we had better.
[_A recess was taken until 1400 hours._]
_Afternoon Session_
COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, the persons who held these posts in
the ordinary Cabinet varied between the years 1933 and 1945. Although it
is not incumbent upon us to prove who they were, since the group and not
the individuals are under consideration, nevertheless their names are
already before this Tribunal in the original governmental chart, Exhibit
Number USA-3. Since it will be of interest to the Tribunal to see what
persons—and 17 of them are defendants here—held what positions in the
Cabinet, a table has been prepared which lists all the departments and
posts I have mentioned and the incumbents thereof during the years 1933
to 1945. The German equivalents of the titles are also shown; and with
the permission of the Tribunal, I will now distribute this table to the
members of the Tribunal. Copies have likewise been filed in the
defendants’ Information Center. The table also is annotated with
citations to sources verifying the facts shown—all of which, however,
were of common knowledge during the period in question.
Diverting from the text: This is simply prepared for the convenience of
the Tribunal in connection with the studying of the briefs and the
documents. As I said at the outset, the proof will show that there was
only an artificial distinction between the ordinary Cabinet, the Secret
Cabinet Council, and the Council of Ministers for the Defense of the
Reich. This is evidenced in the first instance by the unity of personnel
between the three subdivisions.
Thus, on 4 February 1938 Hitler created the Secret Cabinet Council. If
Your Honors will refer to this big chart, you will notice under 1938
there is a red line pointing down to the Secret Cabinet Council created
during that year. This decree appears in the 1938 _Reichsgesetzblatt_,
Part I, at Page 112. It is in our document book, Document 2031-PS, and I
should like to quote from this document. It begins with the opening
paragraph, Document 2031-PS, under the Laws and Decrees Section. I
quote:
“To advise me in directing the foreign policy I am setting up a
Secret Cabinet Council. As President of the Secret Cabinet
Council I nominate Reich Minister Baron von Neurath. As members
of the Secret Cabinet Council I nominate:
“Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs Joachim von Ribbentrop;
Prussian Minister President, Reich Minister of the Air, Supreme
Commander of the Air Forces, General Field Marshal Hermann
Göring; the Führer’s Deputy, Reich Minister Rudolf Hess; Reich
Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Dr. Joseph
Goebbels; Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Dr.
Hans Heinrich Lammers;”—that is shown at the top immediately
under Hitler—“Supreme Commander of the Army, Colonel General
Walther von Brauchitsch; Supreme Commander of the Navy, Grand
Admiral Dr. Raeder; Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed
Forces, General of the Artillery Wilhelm Keitel.”
It will be noted that every member was either a Reich Minister or, as in
the case of the Army, Navy, and OKW heads, had the rank and authority of
a Reich Minister.
On 30 August 1939 Hitler established the Council of Ministers for
Defense of the Reich, better known as the Ministerial Council—coming
down from the year 1939, the Ministerial Defense Council. This was the
so-called war cabinet. The decree appears in the 1939
_Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, at Page 1539. I now refer to Document
2018-PS of the Laws and Decrees, and I quote Section Number 1:
“(1) A Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich shall be
formed out of the Reich Defense Council as a standing committee;
“(2) The standing members of the Ministerial Council for Defense
of the Reich shall include:
“General Field Marshal Göring, as chairman; the Führer’s
Deputy”—the Defendant Hess—“the Plenipotentiary General for
Reich Administration”—who was the Defendant Frick—“the
Plenipotentiary General for Economy”—the Defendant Funk—“the
Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery”—Dr.
Lammers—“the Chief of the High Command of the Armed
Forces”—who was the Defendant Keitel.
“(3) The chairman may draw on any other members of the Reich
Defense Council as well as other personalities for advice.”
Again it will be seen that all were also members of the ordinary
Cabinet. But this use of the Cabinet as a manpower reservoir from whom
the trusted collaborators were selected becomes particularly poignant
when we consider the actions of the Nazi conspirators which were not
published in the _Reichsgesetzblatt_, which were concealed from the
world, and which were part and parcel of their conspiracy to wage
aggressive war. It will have been noted that the decree setting up the
Ministerial Council contained this language, the one to which I have
just referred:
“A Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich shall be formed
out of the Reich Defense Council as a standing committee
. . . .”—also Subparagraph 3 of the same one—“The chairman may
draw on any other members. . . .”
There is evidence already before this Tribunal establishing the
creation—by the Cabinet—on 4 April 1933 of this really secret
war-planning body. I refer the Tribunal to Exhibit USA-24, which appears
in our document book as Document 2261-PS. That document contains the
unpublished Reich Defense Law of 21 May 1935. As to the membership of
that Council when first created, I have here a copy of the minutes of
the second session of the working committee of the delegates for the
Reich defense, dated 22 May 1933, and signed by the Defendant Keitel. It
appears in our document book as EC-177, Exhibit USA-390. The composition
of the Reich Defense Council appears on Page 3 of the original, and also
on Page 3 of the translation:
THE PRESIDENT: I thought you were going to refer to 2261-PS.
COL. STOREY: If Your Honor pleases, I just referred to it as being an
exhibit already in evidence and said that it was one of the unpublished
Reich defense laws. That was the only purpose in referring to it.
The quotation is from Page 3 of the translation, beginning at the top of
the page:
“Composition of the Reich Defense Council:
“President, Reich Chancellor; Deputy, Minister of the
Reichswehr; Permanent Members, Minister of the Reichswehr, Reich
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Reich Minister of the Interior,
Reich Minister of Finance, Reich Minister of Economic Affairs,
Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Reich
Air Ministry, Chief of the Army Command Staff, Chief of the Navy
Command Staff, and—as the case may be—the remaining Reich
Ministers, other personalities, for example, leading
industrialists, _et cetera_.”
All but the Chiefs of the Army and Navy Command Staff were, then,
component parts of the ordinary Cabinet. The composition of this Defense
Council was changed in 1938. I refer the Tribunal to Exhibit USA-36,
which appears in our document book as Number 2194-PS. This contains the
unpublished Reich Defense Law of 4 September 1938.
I now quote from Paragraph 10, entitled “The Reich Defense Council,”
which is found at Page 4 of the copy of the law in the original; and I
now quote from Page 6 of the English translation, the top of the page:
“(2) The Führer and Reich Chancellor is chairman in the Reich
Defense Council. His permanent deputy is General Field Marshal
Göring; he has the authority to call conferences of the Council.
Permanent members of the Council are:
“Reich Minister of Air and Supreme Commander of the Air Force,
the Supreme Commander of the Army, the Supreme Commander of the
Navy, the Chief of the OKW, the Führer’s Deputy, the Reich
Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery, the President of
the Secret Cabinet Council, the Plenipotentiary General for the
Reich Administration, the Plenipotentiary General for Economics,
the Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Reich Minister of
the Interior, the Reich Minister of Finance, the Reich Minister
for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, the President of the
Reich Bank Directorate.
“The other Reich Ministers and the Reich offices directly
subordinate to the Führer and the Reich Chancellor will be
consulted if necessary. Further personalities may be called as
the case demands.”
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, it would help me if you explained to me
what conclusions you are asking us to draw from these documents.
COL. STOREY: If Your Honor pleases, we were trying to show the
progressive domination of the Reich Cabinet by the defendants and the
members of this group, so that, as Your Honors will see as we later go
ahead, they could pass laws and decrees secretly, by circulatory process
or at the will, in effect, of the defendants. I realize it is a little
detailed, but we are trying to show the composition and how it was set
up, and the conclusions will be drawn later.
By that time the Supreme Commanders of the Army and Navy had been given
ministerial rank and authorized to participate in Cabinet meetings. I
cite 1938 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 215.
May we at this time call the attention of the Tribunal to two members of
the Defense Council who will also appear in the Ministerial Council
under the same title: the Plenipotentiary for Administration and the
Plenipotentiary for Economy. The former post was held by the Defendant
Frick, while the latter was first held by the Defendant Schacht and then
by the Defendant Funk, who signed the decree in that capacity. These
facts are verified by the Defendant Frick in Exhibit Number USA-3, which
is the Nazi governmental organization chart previously referred to.
As we will later show, these two posts had many of the other ministries
subordinated to them for war-planning aims and purposes. They, together
with the Chief of the OKW, formed a powerful triumvirate, known as the
“Three-Man College”—that is shown in the three boxes down from 1935 to
1938—which figured prominently, as the proof will disclose, in the
plans and preparations to wage aggressive war. And the incumbents of
these positions were Cabinet members: the Defendants Frick, Funk, and
Keitel.
This utilization of the ordinary Cabinet as a supply center for other
governmental agencies and the cohesion between all of the groups is
perhaps quickly seen on the chart which is shown.
The points I have been making are illustrated on the chart. We are not
offering this chart in evidence, although all facts thereon already have
been or will be proved. The chart is also designed to depict—to the
left of the line running down the right center—the chronological
development of the offshoots of the ordinary Cabinet. Thus in the main
box entitled “Reich Cabinet”—which appears directly under
Hitler—certain dates appear.
I believe I will skip the part that describes those lines because it is
self-evident.
The Ministerial Defense Council was created in 1944; the Delegate for
Total War Effort was Goebbels. These agencies were, next to Hitler, the
important Nazi functionaries. In every case, as the chart shows, they
were occupied by persons taken from the ordinary Cabinet. The arrow
running from the Reich Defense Council to the Ministerial Defense
Council is intended to reflect the fact, shown previously, that the
latter was formed out of the former. We will, for other points of this
presentation, refer again to the chart, especially to that portion to
the right, which relates to ministries.
The unity, cohesion, and inter-relationship of the subdivisions of the
Reichsregierung were not the result of a co-mixture of personnel alone.
It was also realized by the method in which it operated. The ordinary
Cabinet consulted together both by meetings and through the so-called
circulation procedure. Under this procedure, which was predominantly
used when meetings were not held, drafts of laws prepared in the
individual ministries were distributed to the other Cabinet members for
approval or disapproval.
The man primarily responsible for the circulation of drafts of laws
under this procedure was Dr. Lammers, the Leader and Chief of the Reich
Chancellery. I have here an affidavit executed by him concerning that
technical device, which we offer in evidence as Exhibit USA-391,
Document 2999-PS. It is short and I should like to quote all of it:
“I, Hans Heinrich Lammers, being first duly sworn, depose and
say:
“I was Leader of the Reich Chancellery from 30 January 1933
until the end of the war. In this capacity I circulated drafts
of proposed laws and decrees, submitted to me by the minister
who had drafted the law or decree, to all members of the Reich
Cabinet. A period of time was allowed for objections, after
which the law was considered as being accepted by the various
members of the Cabinet. This procedure continued throughout the
entire war. It was likewise followed also in the Ministerial
Council for Defense of the Reich.”—Signed—“Dr. Lammers”—and
sworn to before Lieutenant Colonel Hinkel.
As an illustration of how the circulation procedure worked, I have here
a memorandum dated 9 August 1943, which bears the facsimile signature of
the Defendant Frick and is addressed to the Reich Minister and Chief of
the Reich Chancellery. Attached to the memorandum is a draft of the law
in question and a carbon copy of a letter dated 22 December 1943, from
the Defendant Rosenberg to the Reich Minister of the Interior,
containing his comments on the draft. I now offer Document 1701-PS as
Exhibit USA-392, and I call Your Honors’ attention to the big red border
around the enclosure. The quoted portion is from Page 1 of the
translation and Page 1 of the original. Quoting:
“To the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery in
Berlin (W8). For the information of the other Reich Ministers.
Subject: Law on the Treatment of Asocial Elements of Society.
Referring to my letter of 19 March 1942, 55 enclosures.
“The draft of the Law on the Treatment of Asocial Elements of
Society having been completely rewritten, I am sending the
enclosed new draft with the consent of the Reich Minister of
Justice, Dr. Thierack, and ask that the law be approved in the
circulatory manner. The necessary number of copies is attached.”
The same procedure was followed in the Council of Ministers when that
body was created; and the decrees of the Council of Ministers were also
circulated to the members of the ordinary Cabinet.
I have here a carbon copy of a memorandum found in the files of the
Reich Chancellery by the Allied armies and addressed to the members of
the Council of Ministers, dated 17 September 1939 and bearing the typed
signature of Dr. Lammers. It is Document 1141-PS, Exhibit USA-393. From
the English translation, the last paragraph just above Dr. Lammers’
signature, I quote:
“Matters submitted to the Ministerial Council for Defense of the
Reich have heretofore been distributed only to the members of
the Council. I have been requested by some of the Reich
Ministers who are not permanent members of the Council to inform
them of the drafts of the decrees which are being submitted to
the Council, so as to enable them to check those drafts from the
point of view of their respective offices. I shall follow this
request so that all of the Reich Ministers will in the future be
informed of the drafts of decrees which are to be acted upon by
the Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich. I therefore
request that 45 additional copies of the drafts, as well as of
the letters which usually contain the arguments for the drafts,
be added to the folders submitted to the Council.”
Von Stutterheim, who was an official of the Reich Chancellery, comments
on this procedure at Page 34 of a pamphlet entitled _The Reich
Chancellery_, which I now offer in evidence, Document 2231-PS . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, I don’t understand what the importance of
the last document is.
COL. STOREY: The last document, if Your Honor pleases, is in further
evidence of the approval of laws and of the passing of laws by a
circulatory process.
THE PRESIDENT: We already have that in Dr. Lammers’ affidavit.
COL. STOREY: It might be considered strictly cumulative, if that is what
Your Honor has in mind.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, if it is cumulative, we don’t really want to hear
it.
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir; I will ask then that it be stricken from the
record. I had really overlooked the fact that it was cumulative. Miss
Boyd and Commander Kaplan tell me that the Document Number 2231-PS is
probably also corroborative of the same process; and I will, therefore,
not offer it.
I have already stated that for a time the Cabinet consulted together
through actual meetings. The Council of Ministers did likewise, but
those members of the Cabinet who were not already members of the Council
also attended the meetings of the Ministerial Council. And when they did
not attend in person they were usually represented by State Secretaries
of the Ministries. We have here the minutes of six meetings of the
Council of Ministers of the 1, 4, 8, and 19 September 1939, also of the
16 October and 15 of November 1939. These original documents were found
in the files of the Reich Chancellery. I offer them in evidence as
Document 2852-PS, Exhibit USA-395. It will only be necessary to point,
for our purposes, to a few of the minutes. I call the attention of the
Tribunal to the meeting held on the 1st of September 1939, which is
probably the first meeting since the Council was created on the 30th
August 1939; and I read from that document—showing who was
present—beginning at the top of the English translation:
“Present were the permanent members of the Ministerial Council
for Defense of the Reich:
“The Chairman, General Field Marshal Göring; the Führer’s
Deputy, Hess;”—for some unknown reason a line appears through
the name Hess—“the Plenipotentiary General for Reich
Administration, Dr. Frick; the Plenipotentiary General for
Economy, Funk; the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich
Chancellery, Dr. Lammers; and the Chief of the High Command of
the Armed Forces, Keitel, represented by Major General Thomas.”
These were the regular members of the Council. Also present were the
Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture, Darré, and seven State
Secretaries—naming the secretaries. These State Secretaries were from
the several ministries or other supreme Reich authorities, as, for
example, to name a few: Körner was the Deputy of the Defendant Göring in
the Four Year Plan; Stuckart was in the Ministry of the Interior;
Landfried was in the Ministry of Economics; Syrup was in the Ministry of
Labor. These later positions appear on the government chart which is
already in evidence. Another meeting of the Council—I will skip that
one.
And then there came the names of nine State Secretaries . . .
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Colonel Storey, the last document showed only
that certain members of the Cabinet came to a Cabinet meeting. Did it
show any more than that?
COL. STOREY: It shows no more than that. I was just going on a little
farther to show that an SS Gruppenführer was present also, and other
people were present.
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): What would that show?
COL. STOREY: In other words, that they called in these subordinate
people, as in the meeting of the ministers.
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): What would that show?
COL. STOREY: Well, it just shows the permeation of the Party and the
subordinate agencies, showing they could use the Reich Cabinet for
whatever purpose they wanted and to devise laws any way they wanted.
They called in these subordinate people, in these subordinate positions,
to sit with them when they were passing Cabinet measures. I can also
call Your Honors’ attention to the Ministerial Council for Defense. It
was supposed to be a ministerial-rank Cabinet meeting; and as I just
started to show, they called in SS Gruppenführer Heydrich to this
meeting.
THE PRESIDENT: There can be no doubt, can there, that there was a Reich
Cabinet?
COL. STOREY: No, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: And that the Reich Cabinet made decrees by this
circulatory method? There is no doubt about that.
COL. STOREY: That is right, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: What does this document add to that?
COL. STOREY: It shows who participated, and how they went out into the
Party ranks to bring others, but I will omit the rest of the references
to these other individuals.
THE PRESIDENT: But we have had ample evidence before, haven’t we, as to
who formed the Reich Cabinet?
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir. Well, I will skip the rest of the references to
other people who participated, and pass over to Page 23 of the record.
Before leaving these minutes and as indicative of the activities of the
Reichsregierung, I would like to direct the attention of the Tribunal to
some of the decrees passed and the minutes discussed at these meetings.
At the first meeting of 1 September 1939, 14 decrees were ratified by
the Council. Of this group I call the attention of the Tribunal to
Decree Number 6, appearing on Page 2 of the translation, and I quote:
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think you gave us the number, did you?
COL. STOREY: I beg your pardon, Sir. It is the _Reichsgesetzblatt_, I,
Page 1681, of which we ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice. That
decree was about the organization of the administration and about the
German Security Police in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. That
appears in the translation of 2852-PS. Another one that was passed is
dated 19 September 1938, on Page 6 of the translation; and I quote from
the bottom of the page:
“The Chairman of the Council, General Field Marshal Göring, made
comments regarding the structure of civil administration in the
occupied Polish territory. He expressed his intentions regarding
the economic evacuation measures in this territory. Then the
questions of decreasing wages and the questions of working hours
and the support of members of families of drafted workers were
discussed.”
There are a number of miscellaneous points of discussion appearing, and
in Paragraph 2 of the minutes I quote the following as it appears on
Page Number 7:
“The chairman directed that all members of the Council regularly
receive the situation reports of the Reichsführer SS. Then the
question of the population of the future Polish Protectorate was
discussed and the housing of Jews living in Germany.”
Finally, I call the attention of the Tribunal to the minutes of the
meeting of 15 November 1939, Page 10 of the translation, where, among
other things, the treatment of Polish prisoners of war was also
discussed.
We submit that this document not only establishes the close working
union between agencies of the State and Party, especially with the
notorious SS, but also tends to establish, as charged in the Indictment,
that the Reichsregierung was responsible for the policies adopted and
put into effect by the Government, including those which comprehended
and involved the commission of crimes referred to in the Indictment. But
a mere working alliance would be meaningless unless there was power. And
the Reichsregierung had the power. Short of Hitler himself, it had
practically all the power a government can exercise. The Prosecution has
already offered evidence on how Hitler’s Cabinet and the other Nazi
conspirators secured the passage by the Reichstag of the “Law for the
Protection of the People and the Reich” of 24 March 1933, which has been
previously referred to in Document 2001-PS, which law vested the Cabinet
with legislative powers even to the extent of deviating from previously
existing constitutional law; how such powers were retained even after
the members of the Cabinet were changed; and how the several states,
provinces, and municipalities, which had formerly exercised
semi-autonomous powers, were transformed into the administrative organs
of the central government. The ordinary Cabinet emerged all-powerful
from this rapid succession of events. The words of the Defendant Frick
are eloquent upon that achievement. Here is an article in Document
2380-PS, which I offer in evidence as Exhibit USA-396; and it is from
the 1935 _National Socialist Yearbook_. I quote from Page 213 of the
original, and it is on Page 1 of the English translation, the second
paragraph:
“The relationship between the Reich and the States has been put
on an entirely new basis never known in the history of the
German people. It gives to the Reich
Cabinet”—Reichsregierung—“unlimited power; it even makes it
its duty to build a completely unified leadership and
administration of the Reich. From now on there is only one
national authority: that of the Reich. Thus, the German Reich
has become a unified state; and the entire administration in the
states is carried out only by order of, or in the name of, the
Reich. The state borders are now only administrative-technical
boundaries, but no longer boundaries of sovereignty. In calm
determination, the Reich Cabinet realizes step by step,
supported by the confidence of the entire German people, the
great longing of the nation: the creation of the unified
National Socialist German State.”
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, that document seems to me to be merely
cumulative. You have established, and other counsel on behalf of the
United States have established, that the Reich Ministers had power to
make laws, and the question is whether you have given any evidence as to
the criminal nature of the Reich Cabinet.
COL. STOREY: If Your Honor pleases, again it was included for the
purpose of connecting one of the defendants here . . .
THE PRESIDENT: What I was pointing out was that it was merely
cumulative.
COL. STOREY: Yes, all right, Sir. It may be strictly cumulative. I will
omit the next reference, which will probably also be cumulative and turn
over to . . .
THE PRESIDENT: The same document, you mean?
COL. STOREY: No, Sir. There is another document that I was going to
offer, Number 2849-PS. There is a quotation from another book; it
probably bears on the same point. I will omit it also. The next is a
reference to the Ministerial Council’s being given legislative power. I
don’t believe that that has been introduced before—that the Council
itself was given legislative powers. That is in Article 2 of the decree
of 30 August 1939, Document 2018-PS. The ordinary Cabinet continued to
legislate throughout the war.
Obviously, because of the fusion of personnel between the Ministerial
Council and the ordinary Cabinet, questions were bound to arise as to
what form should lend its name to a particular law. Thus Dr. Lammers,
the Chief of the Reich Chancellery and a member of both agencies, wrote
a letter on 14 June 1942 to the Plenipotentiary for Reich Administration
about this question.
This next document, if the Court please, it may not be necessary to
read. It just shows that both agencies continued to legislate side by
side, and it would really be cumulative evidence. There were others that
possessed legislative powers, besides the ones I have mentioned. Hitler,
of course, had legislative power. Göring, as Deputy of the Four Year
Plan, could and did issue decrees that had the effect of law. And the
Cabinet delegated power to issue laws which could deviate from the
existing law to the Plenipotentiaries of Economy and Administration and
the Chief of the OKW, the so-called “Three-Man College”—the Three-Man
College having authority to legislate. This was done in the war-planning
law, the Secret Defense Law of 1938, Document 2194-PS, Exhibit Number
USA-36. These three officials, Frick, Funk, and Keitel, however, were,
as we have proved, also members of the Council of Ministers, as well as
being part of the ordinary Cabinet. It can therefore be readily said, in
the language of the Indictment, that the Reichsregierung possessed
legislative powers of a very high order in the system of German
government and that they exercised such powers has in part already been
demonstrated. I simply refer to that to show that it was a secret
Cabinet law—without quoting—that the executive and administrative
powers of the Reich were concentrated in the central Government
primarily as the result of two basic Nazi laws that reduced the separate
states—called Länder—to mere geographical divisions. If Your Honor
pleases, these laws are cited, and I believe it would be cumulative
evidence if we undertook to chronicle the laws. I pass to the part at
the bottom of Page 29. There were other steps taken towards
centralization. Let us see what powers the ordinary Cabinet would wield
as a result. We have here a publication published in 1944, which was
edited by Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of
the Interior, and Dr. Harry von Rosen-von Hoewel, another official with
the title of “Oberregierungsrat” in the Reich Ministry of the Interior.
It is entitled _Administrative Law_, and I offer it as Document 2959-PS,
Exhibit USA-399. It details the powers and functions of all the
ministers of the ordinary Cabinet, from which I will select but a few to
illustrate the extent of control vested in the Reichsregierung. The
quotation is from Page 2 of the translation and Page 66 of the original:
“The Reich Ministers. There are at present 21 Reich Ministers,
namely. . . .” May I say that the only purpose in offering this is to
show what each minister had jurisdiction over and to what his authority
extended; for example, the Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs—it
details what he handles. The Reich Minister of the Interior follows in
detail on the matters entrusted to his jurisdiction, and so on.
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, may I ask you what has that to do with
the criminality of the Reich Cabinet?
COL. STOREY: The point, as I see it, again though it may be cumulative,
Your Honor, is to show how these defendants, and the others with them,
formed the ministries, formed these councils, so that they could give
semblance of legality to any action they determined to take, whether
they were in session or not and according to the dictates of the
respective Ministers; in other words, showing a complete domination.
THE PRESIDENT: I should have thought that was amply shown already.
COL. STOREY: All right, Sir, I’ll pass further reference. I’ll skip over
all the rest of the laws and go to Page 35 of the record, in reference
to the criminality and the particular crimes. We now come to the second
phase of the proof against the Reichsregierung, tending to establish the
criminal characteristics. As the proof of all phases of the
Prosecution’s case is received, the Tribunal will note more and more the
relationship such evidence bears to the Reichsregierung and their
resultant responsibility therefor. Here we will direct the Court’s
attention to some prominent elements of the evidence that brands the
group. First, it cannot be stressed too frequently that under the Nazi
regime the Reichsregierung became a criminal instrument of the Nazi
Party. In the original Cabinet of 30 January 1933, there were only three
Cabinet members who were members of the Party: Göring, Frick, and
Hitler. I have already shown that as new ministries were added prominent
Nazis were placed at their head. On 30 January 1937 Hitler executed
acceptance into the Party of those Cabinet members who were not already
members of the Nazi Party. This action is reported in the _Völkischer
Beobachter_, South German edition, 1 February 1937; it is Document
Number 2964-PS, Exhibit USA-401, and I quote from Paragraphs 3 and 4 of
the English translation:
“In view of the anticipated re-opening of the rolls for Party
membership, the Führer, as the first step in this regard,
personally carried out the enlistment into the Party of the
members of the Cabinet who so far had not belonged to it; and he
handed them simultaneously the Gold Party Badge, the supreme
badge of honor of the Party. In addition, the Führer awarded the
Gold Party Badge to Colonel General Baron von Fritsch;
Generaladmiral, Dr. Raeder; the Prussian Minister of Finance,
Professor Popitz; and the Secretary of State and Chief of the
Presidential Chancellery, Dr. Meissner. The Führer also honored
with the Gold Party Badge the Party members State Secretary Dr.
Lammers, State Secretary Funk, State Secretary Körner, and State
Secretary General of the Air Force Milch.”
It was possible to refuse the Party membership thus conferred. Only one
man did this, however, Von Eltz-Rübenach, who was the Minister of Posts
and Minister of Transport at the time. I have here an original letter,
dated 30 January 1937, from Von Eltz-Rübenach to Hitler, and it is in
his own personal handwriting. I offer it in evidence as Document
1534-PS, Exhibit USA-402; and I quote the entire document:
“Berlin (W8), 30 January 1937, Wilhelm Street, 79
“My Führer:
“I thank you for the confidence you have placed in me during the
4 years of your leadership and for the honor you do me in
offering to admit me into the Party.
“My conscience forbids me, however, to accept this offer. I
believe in the principles of positive Christianity and must
remain faithful to my God and to myself. Party membership,
however, would mean that I should have to countenance, without
protest, the increasing violent attacks by Party officers on the
Christian confessions and on those who wish to remain faithful
to their religious convictions.
“This decision has been infinitely difficult for me, for never
in my life have I performed my duty with greater joy and
satisfaction than under your wise state leadership.
“I ask to be permitted to resign.
“With German greetings, yours very obediently, Baron von Eltz.”
But the Nazis didn’t wait until all members of the Cabinet . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Was Baron von Eltz permitted to resign?
COL. STOREY: Yes. As I understand, Your Honor, every one of them was a
member, except this one; and he declined and resigned—which was
accepted. The Nazis didn’t wait until all members of the Cabinet were
Party members. Shortly after they came to power, they quickly assured
themselves of active participation in the work of the Cabinet. On 1
December 1933 the Cabinet passed a law securing the unity of Party and
State. That has been introduced previously and I will not refer to it
any more. It is referred to here as our Document Number 1395-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: Why is Baron von Eltz shown as a member of the Cabinet in
1938?
COL. STOREY: If Your Honor pleases, the “1938” simply refers to the time
the Secret Cabinet Council was created. It does not have to do with when
any of these people came to the Cabinet.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I see.
COL. STOREY: In other words, all these arrows show that these different
agencies were created during those years.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I follow it.
COL. STOREY: I say, for Your Honors’ information, that in this list of
all of the Cabinet members and the members of the Reichsregierung from
1933 his name is shown in the list that we handed to Your Honors.
THE PRESIDENT: Up to 1937?
COL. STOREY: No, Sir; from 1933 down to 1945 his name is listed. If Your
Honors will recall, we handed in a separate list and it does contain the
Baron’s name, with the authority of his appointment, _et cetera_.
THE PRESIDENT: You mean that is a mistake?
COL. STOREY: No, Sir; it is not a mistake.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, then, he didn’t resign?
COL. STOREY: He did resign; but Your Honor asked if his name was shown
up here and I said that in the separate list showing the list of all
members of the Reichsregierung, from 1933 to 1945, the Baron’s name was
included and the proper reference is made in this separate list for Your
Honors’ guidance.
I have here a copy of an unpublished decree signed by Hitler, dated 27
July 1934. It is Document D-138, Exhibit USA-403; and it is in the
section of “Laws and Decrees,” if Your Honor pleases, and I offer it in
evidence. This is a decree of Adolf Hitler:
“I decree that the Führer’s Deputy, Reich Minister Hess, will
have the capacity of a participating Reich Minister in
connection with the preparation of drafts for laws in all Reich
administrative spheres. All legislative work is to be sent to
him when it is received by the other Reich Ministers concerned.
This also applies in cases where no one else participates except
the Reich Minister making the draft. Reich Minister Hess will be
given the opportunity to comment on drafts suggested by experts.
This order will apply in the same sense to legislative
ordinances. The Führer’s Deputy in his capacity of Reich
Minister can send, as representative, an expert on his staff.
These experts are entitled to make statements to the Reich
Ministers on his behalf.”—Signed by Hitler.
The Defendant Hess himself has some pertinent comment to make regarding
his right of participation on behalf of the Party. And I now offer in
evidence Document D-139, Exhibit USA-404. This is an original letter
signed by Rudolf Hess and is dated the 9th of October 1934, on the
stationery of the National Socialist Party; and it is addressed to the
Reich Minister for Enlightenment of the People and Propaganda. I now
quote the entire document:
“By a decree of the Führer dated 27 July 1934, I have been
granted the right to participate in the legislation of the Reich
as regards both formal laws and legal ordinances. This right
must not be rendered illusory by the fact that I am sent the
drafts of laws and decrees so late and am then given a time
limit with the result that it is impossible for me to deal with
the material concerned within the appointed time. I must point
out that my participation means taking into account the opinion
of the National Socialist Party as such and that, in the case of
the majority of drafts of laws and decrees, I consult with the
appropriate departments of the Party before making my comment.
Only by proceeding in this manner can I do justice to the wish
of the Führer as expressed in the decree of the Führer of 27
July 1934. I must therefore ask the Reich Ministers to arrange
that drafts of laws and decrees reach me in sufficient time.
Failing this, I should be obliged in the future to withhold my
agreement to such drafts, from the beginning and without giving
the matter detailed attention, in all cases where I am not given
a sufficiently long period for dealing with them. Heil.”—Signed
Rudolf Hess.
A handwritten note appears attached to the letter. It reads, and I quote
from Page 2 of the translation:
“Berlin, 17 October 1934.
“1. The identical letter seems to have been addressed to all
Reich Ministers. In our special field the decree of 27 July 1934
has hardly become applicable so far. A reply does not seem
called for.
“2. File. By order”—signed—“R.”
The participating powers of Hess were later broadened. I now refer to
Document D-140, Exhibit USA-405; and it is a letter dated the 12th of
April 1938 from Dr. Lammers to the Reich Ministers. I offer it in
evidence and quote from the English translation, Paragraph 3:
“Under the provisions of Paragraph 3 of the first decree
concerning reconstruction of the Reich, of February 2d, 1934
(_Reichsgesetzblatt_ I, Page 81), the Führer’s Deputy will also
participate in the approval by Reich Ministers of laws and
legislative ordinances of Länder. Where the Reich Ministers have
already at an earlier date been engaged in the preparation of
such laws or legislative ordinances or have participated in such
preparation, the Führer’s Deputy likewise becomes participating
Reich Minister. Laws and legislative decrees of the Austrian
State are equally affected hereby.”—Signed—“Dr. Lammers.”
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, may I ask you what those three documents
are supposed to prove?
COL. STOREY: In the first place, Your Honor, the one I have just
referred to shows that they passed laws over conquered territory—that
one related to Austria. The one signed by Hess, just before, gives him
almost unlimited power as regards both formal and legal ordinances and
over administrative districts; and in addition, I think, Your Honor, the
most important point is that Hess says: You must send them to me long
enough in advance so that I may consult with the Party and the
appropriate Party members and get their reaction.
THE PRESIDENT: Is that relied upon as evidence of criminality, that he
took the trouble to find out what other ministers thought?
COL. STOREY: I think it is a part of the general conspiracy showing the
domination of Party and State by the Nazi Party and particularly the
Leadership Corps.
THE PRESIDENT: I thought I had already said that it appeared to us—and
I think I speak on behalf of all the Tribunal—that that matter had been
amply proved and that we wished you to turn to the question of
criminality of the Reich Cabinet.
COL. STOREY: May I assume, Your Honors, that we need to offer no further
proof that the Party itself had to do with the making of these laws as
suggested by the Defendant Hess? I thought it was incumbent upon us to
prove that the Party dominated this Cabinet, and particularly the
Leadership Corps.
THE PRESIDENT: You are dealing now with the Reich Cabinet, and I think
the Tribunal is satisfied that the Reich Cabinet had full powers to make
laws.
COL. STOREY: I think that we go a little step further and undertake to
show, if we have not already shown, that the way and manner in which
they did it—by consulting the Party—was criminal. Now, I have some
other laws to cite here in corroboration of that; but, if the Tribunal
is satisfied, I don’t see any use in citing them.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think the Tribunal would imagine that they made
laws without consulting somebody. Perhaps it would be a convenient time
to break off for 10 minutes.
[_A recess was taken._]
COL. STOREY: If Your Honors please, when we adjourned we were speaking
of these laws that had been passed; and certainly I do not want to offer
any cumulative evidence or any that is not necessary. I therefore am
briefly referring to the laws which we propose to offer now.
The Party, as Your Honors will recall, had 25 fundamental points which
they had set out to achieve, as introduced in evidence yesterday. Those
points, Your Honors will recall, related to everything from the
abrogation of the Treaties of Versailles and St. Germain to the
obtaining of greater living space, and so forth.
Now, we propose to cite to Your Honors various decrees and laws passed
by this Cabinet carrying into effect what we contend were the criminal
purposes of the Party, and to show that the Reich Cabinet was asked by
the Party to give semblance of legality to their alleged criminal
purposes. That is the only reason we expect to chronicle or to mention
the laws that were passed in pursuance thereof. And I shall proceed, as
Your Honors suggest, by simply listing a group of the laws that seek to
establish the co-called 25 points of the Nazi Party. Perhaps, with Your
Honors’ permission, I will just refer to a few of them as being
indicative of the type of laws that were passed to further their 25
points.
For example, in implementation of this point the Nazi Cabinet enacted,
among others, the following laws:
The law of February 3, 1938, concerning the obligation of German
citizens in foreign countries to register. That is cited in the
_Reichsgesetzblatt_.
The law of the 13th of March 1938, relating to the reunion of Austria
with Germany.
THE PRESIDENT: These were all passed by the Reich Cabinet, were they?
COL. STOREY: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, aren’t you going to cite the laws?
COL. STOREY: Yes, but I was going to show them as illustrative; that is
the 1938 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 237.
The law of November 21, 1938, for the reintegration of the German
Sudetenland with Germany, 1938 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 1641.
The incorporation of Memelland into Germany, March 23, 1939, Part I,
Page 559, of the 1939 _Reichsgesetzblatt_.
With reference to Point 2 . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Would you give me the place where the 25 points are set
out? Have you got a reference to that?
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir; it appears in Document 1708-PS, in Document Book
A.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
COL. STOREY: And I believe we referred to it yesterday.
THE PRESIDENT: That is sufficient.
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir.
Now, as an illustration, Point 2 of that Party platform—which, as Your
Honors will recall, demanded the cancellation of the Treaties of
Versailles and St. Germain—the following acts of the Cabinet in support
of this part of the program may be mentioned:
Proclamation of October 14, 1933 to the German people concerning
Germany’s withdrawal from the League of Nations and the Disarmament
Conference, 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 730.
Law of March 16, 1935 for the establishment of the Wehrmacht and
compulsory military service, 1935 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Pages 369
to 375.
Now, with reference to Point 4 of the Party platform, which said:
“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 confession. Consequently, no Jew can be a
member of the race.”
That is Point 4.
Among other Cabinet laws, this point was implemented by the law of July
14, 1933 for the recall of naturalization and deprivation of citizenship
of these people, 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 480.
The law of April 7, 1933, which said that persons of non-Aryan descent
could not practice law, 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 188.
The law of April 25, 1933, restricting the number of non-Aryans in
schools and higher institutions of learning, 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_,