5. By the suppression of religious organizations. In addition, they also
suppressed religious education. This is illustrated by the secret decree
of the Party Chancellery which I just referred to in Document D-75, when
the Defendant Bormann stated:
“No human being would know anything of Christianity if it had
not been drilled into him in his childhood by his pastors. The
so-called “dear God” in no wise gives knowledge of His existence
to young people in advance, but in an astonishing manner, in
spite of His omnipotence, leaves this to the efforts of the
pastors. If, therefore, in the future our youth learns nothing
more of this Christianity, whose doctrines are far below ours,
Christianity will disappear by itself.”
At a subsequent stage in these proceedings, additional documentary
evidence of the acts of the conspirators in their attempt to subvert the
influence of the Christian churches will be offered. At this time I
offer the document book in support of this phase of the case together
with the accompanying brief.
We now come to what might be called the third case history, the
persecution of the Jews. The Nazi conspirators adopted and publicized a
program of ruthless persecution of Jews.
It is not our purpose at this time to present to the Court a full and
complete story, in all its sickening details, of the Nazi conspirators’
plans and acts for the elimination and liquidation of the Jewish
population of Europe. This will be done in due course, at a subsequent
stage of these proceedings, but it is our purpose at this time to bring
before you, as one of the elements in the Nazi scheme for the
consolidation of their control of Germany, the action which was planned
and taken with respect to the Jews within Germany during the pre-war
period.
As a means of implementing their master race policy and as a means of
rallying otherwise discordant elements behind the Nazi banner, the
conspirators adopted and publicized a program of relentless persecution
of Jews. This program was contained in the official, unalterable 25
points of the Nazi Party, of which 6 were devoted to the master race
doctrine. The Defendants Göring, Hess, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick,
Streicher, Funk, Schirach, Bormann, and others, all took prominent parts
in publicizing this program. Upon the Nazis coming into power, this
Party program became the official State program.
The first organized act was the boycott of Jewish enterprises on 1 April
1933. The Defendant Streicher, in a signed statement, admits that he was
in charge of this program only for one day. We, of course, reserve the
right to show additional evidence with respect to that fact. The Nazi
conspirators then embarked upon a legislative program which was gradual
and which dates from 7 April 1933 until September 1935. During this
period a series of laws was passed removing the Jews from civil service,
from the professions and from the schools and military service.
It was clear, however, that the Nazi conspirators had a far more
ambitious program for the Jewish problem and only put off its
realization for reasons of expediency. After the usual propaganda
barrage, in which the speeches and writings of the Defendant Streicher
were most prominent, the Nazi conspirators initiated the second period
of anti-Jewish legislation, namely, from 15 September 1935 to September
1938. In this period the infamous Nuremberg Laws were passed, depriving
the Jews of their rights as citizens, forbidding them to marry Aryans,
and eliminating them from additional professions. In the autumn of 1938
the Nazi conspirators began to put into effect a program of complete
elimination of the Jews from German life. The measures taken were partly
presented as a retaliation against world Jewry in connection with the
killing of a German embassy official in Paris. Unlike the boycott action
in April 1933, when care was taken to avoid extensive violence, an
allegedly spontaneous pogrom was staged and carried out all over
Germany. The legislative measures which followed were discussed and
approved in their final form at a meeting on 12 November 1938 under the
chairmanship of the Defendant Göring, with the participation of the
Defendants Frick and Funk and others. I refer to Document 1816-PS, which
will appear in the document book. The meeting was called following
Hitler’s orders “requesting that the Jewish question be now, once and
for all, coordinated and solved one way or the other.” The participants
agreed on measures to be taken for the elimination of the Jew from
German economy. The laws issued in this period were signed mostly by the
Defendant Göring in his capacity as Deputy of the Four Year Plan, and
were thus strictly connected with the consolidation of control of the
German economy and preparation for aggressive war. These laws obliged
all German Jews to pay a collective fine of 1 billion Reichsmarks;
barred the Jews from trades and crafts; limited movement of Jews to
certain localities and hours; limited the time for the sale or
liquidation of Jewish enterprises; forced Jews to deposit shares and
securities held by them; forbade the sale or acquisition of gold or
precious stones by a Jew; granted landlords the right to give notice to
Jewish tenants before legal expiration of the leases; and forced all
Jews over 6 years of age to wear the Star of David.
In the final period of the anti-Jewish crusade of the Nazi conspirators
within Germany, very few legislative measures were passed. The Jews were
just delivered to the SS, Gestapo, and the various extermination staffs.
The last law dealing with Jews in Germany put them entirely outside the
law and ordered the confiscation by the State of the property of dead
Jews. This law was a weak reflection of a factual situation already in
existence. As Dr. Stuckart, assistant to the Defendant Frick, stated, at
the time:
“The aim of the racial legislation may be regarded as already
achieved and consequently the racial legislation as essentially
closed. It led to the temporary solution of the Jewish problem
and at the same time essentially prepared for the final
solution. Many regulations will lose their practical importance
as Germany approaches the achievement of the final goal on the
Jewish problem.”
Hitler, on January 30, 1939, in a speech before the Reichstag, made the
following prophesy: “The result (of a war) will be the annihilation of
the Jewish race in Europe.”
I will leave to others in this case the task of presenting to the Court
the evidence as to how well that prophesy was fulfilled.
I would now offer to the Court the document book which contains the laws
referred to, with respect to the persecution of the Jews, and the brief
outlining that subject.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will now adjourn until 10 o’clock tomorrow
morning.
[_The Tribunal adjourned until 23 November 1945 at 1000 hours._]
FOURTH DAY
Friday, 23 November 1945
_Morning Session_
DR. OTTO NELTE (Counsel for Defendant Keitel): Mr. President, you
advised the Defense in yesterday’s session that the Defense should
already at this stage of the Trial raise objections if they believe they
have any against the documentary evidence introduced by the Prosecution.
The Chief Prosecutor introduced in Court yesterday a graphic
presentation concerning the Reich Ministries and other bureaus and
offices at the highest level of the German Government. My client is of
the opinion that this presentation is erroneous in the following
respects which concern his own person:
1. A Reich Defense Council has never existed. The Reich Defense Law,
which provided for a Reich Defense Council in the event of war, has
never been published; a session of a Reich Defense Council has never
taken place. For this reason, the Defendant Keitel was never a member of
a Reich Defense Council.
2. The Secret Cabinet Council which was to be created in accordance with
the law of February 4, 1938, never came into existence. It was never
constituted; it never held a session.
3. The Defendant Keitel never was Reich Minister. Like the
Commanders-in-Chief of the Army and the Navy, he merely had the rank of
a Reich Minister. Consequently, he never was a Minister without
portfolio either. He did not participate in any advisory Cabinet
session.
I should like to ask the Court for its opinion as to whether these
objections may be made the object of an examination at this stage of the
Trial or whether they are to be reserved for a later stage?
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal rules that the documents are admissible, but
the defendants can prove at a later stage any matters which are relevant
to the documents. It is not necessary for the defendants to make
objections at this stage. At a later stage they can prove any matters
which are relevant to the weight of the documents.
DR. DIX: May I ask the Tribunal a question?
We have now been able to see, in part, the briefs and documents which
were introduced in court yesterday. In that connection we have
established that some of the documents submitted by the Prosecution
yesterday were not quoted in their entirety, nor were they presented in
substance. My question now is: Shall the contents, the entire contents,
of all the documents which were presented to Court form the basis for
the Court’s decision, even in cases where the Prosecutor who presented
the documents did not refer to their contents?
In other words, must we consider all of the documents presented in
Court—including those the contents of which were not verbally referred
to—as a basis for the judgment and, consequently, should they be
examined with a view to determining whether the defendants wish to raise
any objections?
Finally I wish to ask the Tribunal whether the entire contents of all
the documents which were submitted to the Court yesterday, and which may
possibly be submitted in the future, are to be understood by us as a
basis for judgment even if the Prosecution does not present them word
for word or in substance or refer to them in any other way.
THE PRESIDENT: Every document, when it is put in, becomes a part of the
record and is in evidence before the Tribunal, but it is open to the
defendants to criticize and comment upon any part of the document when
their case is presented.
DR. DIX: Thank you. The question is clarified herewith.
THE PRESIDENT: There are three announcements which I have to make on
behalf of the Tribunal; and the first is this:
That we propose that the Tribunal shall not sit on Saturday morning in
this week, in order that defendants’ counsel may have more time for the
consideration of the documents and arguments, which have been made up to
that time. That is the first matter.
The second matter is that the Tribunal desires that all motions and
applications shall, as far as practicable, be made in writing, both by
the Prosecution and by the Defense. There are occasions, of course, such
as this morning when motions and applications for the purposes of
explanation, are more conveniently made orally, but as far as
practicable, it is the desire of the Tribunal that they shall be made in
writing, both by the Prosecution and by the Defense.
And the other matter is an observation, which the Tribunal desires me to
make to the Prosecution, and to suggest to them that it would be more
convenient to the Tribunal and possibly also to the Defense, that their
briefs and volumes of documents should be presented to the Tribunal
before Counsel speaking begins that branch of the case, so that the
brief and volume of documents should be before the Tribunal whilst
Counsel is addressing the Tribunal upon that branch of the case; and
also that it would be convenient to the Tribunal—if it is convenient to
Counsel for the Prosecution—that he should give a short
explanation—not a prolonged explanation—of the documents, which he is
presenting to the Court, drawing their attention to any passages in the
documents, which he particularly wishes to draw attention to.
I will call upon the Chief Prosecutor for the United States to continue
his address.
COL. STOREY: May it please the Tribunal, yesterday afternoon it appeared
that there was some question about the identification of documents
formally offered in evidence yesterday. Therefore, with the Tribunal’s
permission I should like to offer them by number, formally, so that the
Clerk can get them on his record and may be identified, with Your
Honors’ permission.
The United States—and may I say, Sir, that we offer each one of these
exhibits in evidence, requesting that they be received and filed as
evidence for the United States of America, with the understanding that
Defense Council may later interpose objections. If that is agreeable,
Sir, the first is United States Exhibit Number 1, the affidavit of Major
William H. Coogan, concerning the capture, processing and authentication
of documents, together with Robert G. Storey’s accompanying statement:
United States Exhibit Number 2, being 2903-PS, being the Nazi Party
chart, together with authentication certificates;
United States Exhibit Number 3, 2905-PS, the Nazi State chart, together
with authentication certificates;
United States Exhibit Number 4, 2836-PS, the original statement of
Defendant Göring as to positions held;
United States Exhibit Number 5, Document 2829-PS, the same, concerning
Defendant Ribbentrop. . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Could not all this be done by the General Secretary . . .
the numbering of these documents?
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir, that is correct. That is agreeable with us, Sir,
but the General Secretary raised the question that it was not in the
record. We have the complete tabulation describing each document by
number, and if it is agreeable with Your Honors, I will offer the
description on this page, correctly describing, by exhibit number, each
one that was offered in evidence yesterday.
THE PRESIDENT: We will authorize the General Secretary to accept the
documents so numbered.
COL. STOREY: Thank you, Sir. The tabulation referred to is set forth in
the following words and figures:
USA-1, Major Coogan’s affidavit with Colonel Storey’s statement;
USA-2, 2903-PS, Nazi Party chart and authenticating papers;
USA-3, 2905-PS, Nazi State chart and authenticating papers;
USA-4, 2836-PS, original statement of Göring’s positions;
USA-5, 2829-PS, original statement of Ribbentrop’s positions;
USA-6, 2851-PS, original statement of Rosenberg’s positions;
USA-7, 2979-PS, original statement of Frank’s positions;
USA-8, 2978-PS, original statement of Frick’s positions;
USA-9, 2975-PS, original statement of Streicher’s positions;
USA-10, 2977-PS, original statement of Funk’s positions;
USA-11, 3021-PS, original statement of Schacht’s positions;
USA-12, 2887-PS, original statement of Dönitz’s positions;
USA-13, 2888-PS, original statement of Raeder’s positions;
USA-14, 2973-PS, original statement of Von Schirach’s positions;
USA-15, 2974-PS, original statement of Sauckel’s positions;
USA-16, 2965-PS, original statement of Jodl’s positions;
USA-17, 2910-PS, original statement of Seyss-Inquart’s positions;
USA-18, 2980-PS, original statement of Speer’s positions;
USA-19, 2972-PS, original statement of Von Neurath’s positions;
USA-20, 2976-PS, original statement of Fritzsche’s positions.
Document books:
USA-A, Common Objectives, Methods, and Doctrines of Conspiracy;
USA-B, The Acquiring of Totalitarian Control over Germany; Political;
First Steps; Control Acquired;
USA-C, Consolidation of Control; (Utilization and Molding of Political
Machinery);
USA-F, Purge of Political Opponents; Terrorization;
USA-G, Destruction of Trade Unions and Acquisition of Control over
Productive Labor Capacity in Germany;
USA-H, Suppression of the Christian Churches in Germany;
USA-I, Adoption and Publication of the Program for Persecution of the
Jews.
May it please the Tribunal, Mr. Justice Jackson called my
attention—while we are offering all of these on behalf of the United
States, naturally they are for the benefit and on the behalf of all the
other nations who are cooperating in this case.
THE PRESIDENT: That is understood.
MAJOR WALLIS: May it please the Court, when we adjourned yesterday
afternoon, I was in the process of developing the various means by which
these conspirators acquired a totalitarian control of Germany. I wish to
continue on that subject this morning, and I will first discuss the
reshaping of education and the training of youth; and in accordance with
Your Honors’ suggestion, I offer the document book, United States
Exhibit D, and would call to the Court’s attention that this book
contains translations of the documents which we rely upon with respect
to this portion of the case. These documents consist of German writings,
German speeches of the defendants and other Nazi leaders, and are
matters that we suggest are clearly within the purview of judicial
notice of the Court. And in the brief which is offered for the
assistance of the Court in connection with this subject, the exact
portions of the documents which are desired to be brought to the
attention of the Tribunal are set forth either by quotation from the
documents, or by reference to the specific page number of the documents.
Meanwhile, during this entire pre-war period, the nation was being
prepared psychologically for war, and one of the most important steps
was the reshaping of the educational system so as to educate the German
youth to be amenable to their will. Hitler publicly announced this
purpose in November 1933, and I am quoting from Document 2455-PS. He
said:
“When an opponent declares, ‘I will not come over to your side,
and you will not get me on your side’, I calmly say, ‘Your child
belongs to me already. A people lives forever. What are you? You
will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new
camps. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new
community’.”
He further said in May 1937, and I refer to Document Number 2454-PS:
“This new Reich will give its youth to no one, but will itself
take youth and give to youth its education and its own
upbringing.”
The first steps taken in making the German schools the tools of the Nazi
educational system were two decrees in May 1934, whereby the Reich
Ministry of Education was established and the control of education by
local authorities was replaced by the absolute authority of the Reich in
all educational matters. These decrees are set out in Documents 2078-PS,
2088-PS, 2392-PS. Thereafter, the curricula and organization of the
German schools and universities were modified by a series of decrees in
order to make these schools effective instruments for the teaching of
Nazi doctrines.
The Civil Service Law of 1933, which was presented in evidence
yesterday, made it possible for the Nazi conspirators to re-examine
thoroughly all German teachers and to remove all “harmful and unworthy
elements”, harmful and unworthy in the Nazi opinion. Many teachers and
professors, mostly Jews, were dismissed and were replaced with
State-spirited teachers. All teachers were required to belong to the
National Socialist Teachers’ League, which organization was charged with
the training of all teachers in the theories and doctrines of the NSDAP.
This is set forth in Document 2452-PS. The Führerprinzip was introduced
into the schools and universities. I refer to Document 2393-PS.
In addition, the Nazi conspirators supplemented the school system by
training the youth through the Hitler Jugend. The law of the Hitler
Jugend, which is set forth in Document 1392-PS, states:
“The German youth, besides being reared within the family and
school, shall be educated physically, intellectually, and
morally in the spirit of National Socialism to serve the people
and community through the Hitler Youth.”
In 1925 the Hitler Youth was officially recognized by the Nazi Party and
became a junior branch of the SA. In 1931 the Defendant Schirach was
appointed Reich Youth Leader of the NSDAP with the rank of SA
Gruppenführer. I refer to Document 1458-PS. In June 1933 the Defendant
Schirach was appointed Youth Leader of the German Reich. I refer to the
same document, 1458-PS. In that same month, on orders of the Defendant
Schirach, the Nazi conspirators destroyed or took over all other youth
organizations. This was accomplished by force in the first instance. The
Defendant Schirach, by decree dated 22 June, 1933—I refer to Document
2229-PS—dissolved the Reich Committee of the German Youth Associations
and took over their property. By similar decrees, all of which are set
forth in the document book, all the youth organizations of Germany were
destroyed. Then the Nazi conspirators made membership in the Hitler
Jugend compulsory. I refer to Document 1392-PS.
The Hitler Jugend from its inception had been a formation of the Nazi
Party. By virtue of the 1936 Youth Law, making membership compulsory, it
became an agency of the Reich Government while still retaining its
position as a formation of the Nazi Party. This is set forth in Document
1392-PS. By 1940 membership in the Hitler Jugend was over seven million.
I refer you to Document 2435-PS. Through the Hitler Jugend the Nazi
conspirators imbued the youth with Nazi ideology. The master race
doctrine and anti-Semitism, including physical attack on the Jews, were
systematically taught in the training program. I refer you to Document
2436-PS. The Hitler Jugend indoctrinated the youth with the idea that
war is a noble activity. I refer to Document 1458-PS. One of the most
important functions of the Hitler Jugend was to prepare the youth for
membership in the Party and its formations. The Hitler Jugend was the
agency used for extensive pre-military and military training of youth. I
refer to Document 1850-PS. In addition to general military training,
special training was given in special formations. These included flying
units, naval units, motorized units, signal units, et cetera.
The full details with the accompanying documents of the methods used by
the Nazi conspirators in reshaping the educational system and
supplementing it with the Hitler Jugend so as to educate the German
youth to be amenable to the Nazi will and prepare youth for war are set
forth in the document book which has been offered, and in the
accompanying briefs.
Now I would like to direct your attention to the weapon of propaganda
that was used during this period, and for this purpose I offer United
States Exhibit Number E with the accompanying brief. This document book
and the briefs which accompany it. . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Have any copies of these documents been provided for the
Defense Counsel?
COL. STOREY: I understand, Sir, they have been sent to the Defendants’
Information Center. I may say, Sir, that with tomorrow we will have them
in advance to everybody, including the Court and the Defense Counsel.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
MAJOR WALLIS: This document book and the accompanying brief is entitled
“Propaganda Censorship and Supervision of Cultural Activities.”
During this period one of the strongest weapons of the conspirators was
propaganda. From the outset they appreciated the urgency of the task of
inculcating the German masses with the National Socialist principles and
ideology. The early utterances of Hitler and his fellow conspirators
evidenced full recognition of the fact that their power could endure
only if it rested on general acceptance of their political and social
views.
Immediately following their accession to power, the Nazi conspirators
instituted a determined program for wholesale organization of the masses
by seizing control of all vehicles of public expression. The wide-spread
use of propaganda by the powerful machine thus created became a key
device in establishing control over all phases of the German economy,
public and private. They conceived that the proper function of
propaganda was to prepare the ground psychologically for political
action and military aggression and to guarantee popular support of a
system which was based on a permanent and steadily intensified
application of terror and aggression both in the sphere of domestic
politics and foreign relations.
To attain these objectives, propaganda was used to create specific
thought patterns designed to make the people amenable to the aims and
program of the Nazis and to foster their active participation therein to
the greatest extent possible. The nature of this propaganda is within
the judicial purview of the Court. As Goebbels put it, it was aimed at
“the conquest of the masses.” Its intended effect was the elimination of
all serious resistance in the masses. To achieve this result, as will be
shown later in the evidence, the Nazi conspirators were utterly
unscrupulous in their choice of means, a total disregard of veracity
that presented their case purely from the standpoint of political
expediency and their conception of national self-interest. Inasmuch as
propaganda was the means to an end, “the conquest of the masses,” it
required different strategy at different times, depending on the
objectives issued and pursued by the Nazi conspirators at any given
moment. According to Hitler: “the first task of propaganda is the
gaining of people for the future organization.”
The recruiting of people for enlistment in the Party and supervised
organizations was the primary objective in the years preceding and
immediately following the seizure of power. After the rise to power,
this task was broadened to include the enlistment of the people as a
whole for the active support of the regime and its policies. As the
Reich Propaganda Leader of the Party and Reich Minister for Propaganda,
Goebbels stated:
“Propaganda, the strongest weapon in the conquest of the State, remains
the strongest weapon in the consolidation and building up of the State.”
The methods which they used to control this strongest weapon in the
power of the State are set forth in a chart which I would like to call
to the Court’s attention at this time, and would like to introduce in
evidence as USA Exhibit Number 21.
As you will note from the chart, there were three separate levels of
control within the German Reich. The first level was the Party controls,
which are represented on the chart by the top block. And you will see
that the Party through its Examining Commission controlled the books and
magazines, and issued books and magazines setting forth the ideology of
the Party.
The second block, the Press Leader Division, supervised all publishers,
headed Party newspapers and book publishers.
The third block, Press Chief,—this office controlled the Press
Political Office, the Press Personnel Office, and supervised Party
treatment of the press and treatment of Party affairs in the press.
The center block, the Office of Propaganda Leader, had under its control
not only the press, but exhibits and fairs, speakers’ bureaus, films,
radio, culture, and other means of expression and dissemination of the
ideology of the Party and its purposes.
The next block, Ideology, was devoted exclusively to the ideology of the
Party headed by the Defendant Rosenberg. It supplied all the training
materials, prepared the curricula for the schools, and the
indoctrination of the people into the ideology of the Party. On that
same level is Youth Education, presided over by the Defendant Schirach,
who had under his control the Hitler Jugend; and then there were the
University Students and Teachers Division of the Party controls.
On the next level you have the controls that were exercised by the
State, and reading from left to right you have the Propaganda
Coordination, Foreign Coordination and Cooperation, the radio, which was
under the control of the Defendant Fritzsche, film, literature, the
German press, periodicals, theater, arts, other cultural things, and the
Ministry for Education.
Then, in the last tier, what is known as the corporate controls. These
were under a semi-official control of both the Party and the State.
These are the so-called cultural chambers. Their purpose was to have
full control over the personnel engaged in the various arts and
cultures, and engaged in the preparation and dissemination of news.
First was the press—all reporters and writers belonged to that section.
The next section is the fine arts, music, theater, film, literature,
radio,—then going over into the Educational Branch the organization
which the University teachers, the students and former corps members of
the universities had to belong to.
By means of this vast network of propaganda machinery, the Nazi
conspirators had full control over the expression and dissemination of
all thought, cultural activities, and dissemination of news within the
Reich. Nothing was or could be published in Germany that did not have
the approval, express or implied, of the Party and State. The Defendant
Schacht in his personal notes explains the effect of the killing of a
piece of news in a totalitarian dictatorship. As he states it, it has
never become publicly known that there have been thousands of martyrs in
the Hitler regime. They have all disappeared in the cells or graves of
the concentration camps, without ever having been heard of again; and he
goes on to say, “what is the use of martyrdom in the fight against
terror if it has no chance of becoming known and thus serving as an
example for others.”
THE PRESIDENT: Before you pass from this subject, there is a docket on
the documents which shows that certain documents are missing. What does
that mean? 1708, 2030.
MAJOR WALLIS: Those documents are in the process of being reproduced and
will be furnished to the Court, I hope, before the close of the day,
Sir. They have been added to that book and, as yet, have not been
completed in their process of reproduction.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Have they been translated?
MAJOR WALLIS: Yes, Sir, they have been translated, and the translations
are in the process of being reproduced.
THE PRESIDENT: Are the documents in their original form in German?
MAJOR WALLIS: Yes, I believe they are, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
MAJOR WALLIS: I would now like to direct the Court’s attention to the
militarization of Nazi-dominated organizations during this pre-war
period and for that purpose I offer United States Exhibit Number J,
which consists of a document book with English translations, and I
present to the Court also a brief which accompanies this portion of the
case.
Throughout this pre-war period, and while the Nazi conspirators were
achieving and consolidating their totalitarian control of Germany, they
did not lose sight of their main objective—aggressive war. Accordingly,
they placed a considerable number of their dominated organizations on a
progressively militarized footing, with a view to the rapid
transformation of these organizations whenever necessary, as instruments
of war. These organizations were the SS, the SA, the Hitler Jugend, the
NSKK (or National Socialist Motor Corps), the NSFK (which is the
National Socialist Aviation Corps), the RAD (which is the Reich Labor
Service), and the OT (which is the Todt Organization).
The manner in which the militarization was accomplished is detailed in
part in the documents, which have been presented to the Court and will
be detailed further when the particular organizations are taken up and
discussed and their criminality established at subsequent stages in the
case. At this time, I would like to call the Court’s attention to a
chart, and while the chart is physically being placed on the board, I
would offer United States Exhibit Number 22, which is Document 2833-PS
and is a reproduction of Page 15 of the book entitled, _History of the
Nazi Party_. You will note that on the left lower corner of the chart
placed on the board, there are some papers attached. The top paper is an
affidavit which reads as follows: “I certify that the above enlargement
is a true and correct copy prepared under my direct supervision, of
Document Number 2833-PS, Page 15 of the book entitled _History of the
Party_,” and you will note that underneath is a second paper and this
affidavit states it is a correct photographic copy, which appears in the
left-hand corner of the panel. This affidavit is signed by David
Zablodowsky, sworn to and subscribed the 23rd day of November 1945 at
Nuremberg, Germany, before James H. Johnson, First Lieutenant, Office of
the United States Chief of Counsel.
This chart visualizes, as vividly as possible, just how this
militarization took place in Germany. The chart is entitled, “The
Organic Incorporation of German Nationals into the National Socialist
System, and the Way to Political Leadership.”
Starting at the bottom of the chart, you see the young folk, between the
ages of 10 and 14. The arrows point both right and left. The arrow to
the right is the Adolf Hitler School, for youth between the ages of 12
and 18. Both from the school and from the young folk, they proceed to
the Hitler Jugend. At 18 years of age, they graduate from the Hitler
Jugend into the various Party formations, the SA, the SS, the NSKK, the
NSFK. At the age of 20, they continue from these Party formations into
the Labor Front, and from the Labor Front, after they have served their
period of time there, back again to the Party formations, of the SA, the
SS, NSKK, NSFK, until they reach the age of 21. Then they proceed into
the Army, serve in the Army from the ages of 21 to 23, and then back
again into the Party formations of SA, SS, et cetera.
And then from that group, the select move up to be Political Leaders
(Leiter) of the Nazi Party, and from that group are selected the cream
of the crop who go to the Nazi Party Special Schools and from these
schools, as is represented on the top of the chart, graduate the
political Führer of the people.
I would emphasize again to the Court that this chart is not anything
that was prepared by Counsel in this case. It was prepared by the Nazi
Party people and it comes from their own history.
Thus, by the end of the pre-war period, the Nazi conspirators had
achieved one of the first major steps in their grand conspiracy. All
phases of German life were dominated by Nazi doctrine and practice and
mobilized for the accomplishment of their militant aims. The extent to
which this was accomplished can be no better expressed than in the words
of Hitler when he spoke to the Reichstag on 20 February 1938. I refer to
Document 2715-PS. He said:
“Only now have we succeeded in setting before us the great tasks
and in possessing the material things which are the
prerequisites for the realization of great creative plans in all
fields of our national existence. Thus, National Socialism has
made up with a few years for what centuries before it had
omitted. . . . National Socialism has given the German people
that leadership which as Party not only mobilizes the nation but
also organizes it, so that on the basis of the natural principle
of selection, the continuance of a stable political leadership
is safeguarded forever. . . . National Socialism possesses
Germany entirely and completely since the day when, 5 years ago,
I left the house in Wilhelmsplatz as Reich Chancellor. There is
no institution in this state which is not National Socialist.
Above all, however, the National Socialist Party in these 5
years not only has made the nation National Socialist, but also
has given itself the perfect organizational structure which
guarantees its permanence for all future. The greatest guarantee
of the National Socialist revolution lies in the complete
domination of the Reich and all its institutions and
organizations, internally and externally, by the National
Socialist Party. Its protection against the world abroad,
however, lies in its new National Socialist armed forces. . . .
“In this Reich, anybody who has a responsible position is a
National Socialist. . . . Every institution of this Reich is
under the orders of the supreme political leadership. . . . The
Party leads the Reich politically, the Armed Forces defend it
militarily. . . . There is nobody in any responsible position in
this state who doubts that I am the authorized leader of the
Reich.”
Thus spoke Adolf Hitler at the end of this period on the 20th of
February 1938.
COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please. . . .
DR. ALFRED SEIDL (Counsel for Defendant Frank): Mr. President, may I
make a few short remarks in this connection? The defendants were given,
along with the Indictment, a list of the documents. This list contains
the following preamble:
“Each of the defendants is hereby informed that the Prosecution
will use some or all of the documents listed in the appendix in
order to corroborate the points enumerated in the Indictment.”
Now, the Chief Prosecutor introduced in court this morning about 12
documents and a scrutiny of that list revealed that not a single one of
the documents is mentioned. Thus, already now, at the very beginning of
the Trial, we are confronted with the fact that not only are documents
presented to the Court without the defendant being acquainted with their
contents, but that documents are being used as documentary evidence
which are not even listed.
Not a single one of these documents is mentioned in the list and I must
confess that an adequate defense is altogether impossible under these
circumstances. I therefore move:
1. That the Tribunal direct the Prosecution to submit a list of all
documents which will be placed before the Court during examination;
2. To instruct the Prosecution to make available to the defendants and
their counsel—at the latest on the day when documents are being
presented to the Court—a copy of the German text; and
3. That the main proceedings be suspended until the Prosecution is in a
position to comply with these requests. Otherwise, I, at least, will not
be able to proceed with the defense.
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, or Counsel for the Prosecution, will you
say what answer you have to make to this objection?
COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, in the first place practically
every document referred to by Major Wallis is a document of which the
Court would take judicial knowledge. In the second place, a list of
documents was filed in the Defense Information Center on November 1st. I
am not sure as to whether all of these or a part of them were included.
In the third place each attorney presenting each segment of the case
sends down to the Defense Information Center a list of the documents
which he proposes to offer in evidence upon his presentation. In the
fourth place, I wonder if the Tribunal and Defense Counsel realize the
physical problems that are imposed? I am informed that copies of these
documents in English, as well as copies of the briefs, were delivered
either last night or this morning in defendants’ Information Center.
Lastly, other presentations that follow—we will abide by the Tribunal’s
request: namely, that prior to the presentation the Court will be
furnished with these document books, with these briefs, and Defense
Counsel will also be furnished with them in advance. The weekend will
permit us to do that.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal thinks that the Trial must now continue
without any adjournment, but that in future as soon as possible the
Defendants’ Counsel will be furnished with copies of the documents which
are to be put in evidence.
DR. ROBERT SERVATIUS (Counsel for Defendant Sauckel): I should like to
present the following: The documents are presented to the Court also in
an English translation. An examination of these translations should be
made available to the Defense. I point out particularly that the
translation of technical terms could possibly lead to misunderstandings.
Moreover, the documents are provided with an introductory remark and a
table of contents. The Defense should also have opportunity to read
through this table of contents and examine it.
I make the motion that these English translations and their preliminary
remarks be made available to the Defense.
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, I understood from you that you proposed
to make available to the defendants the trial briefs which contain
certain observations upon the documents put in.
COL. STOREY: That is right, Sir. They have been, are now, and will be
completed during the weekend, and, as I understood Defense Counsel were
willing for the briefs to be furnished in English, and if they want a
translation, there will be German speaking officers in defendants’
Information Center at their service. I understood that was agreeable
yesterday.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
COL. STOREY: Now sir, while I am on my feet, and in order to obviate
some misapprehension, for the benefit of Defense Counsel, when we refer
to document numbers as, say, 1850-PS, in many instances that is a
document which is a copy of a citation or a decree in the
_Reichsgesetzblatt_, and, therefore, is not a separate document of ours,
and we have placed in the defendants’ Information Center ample copies
and sets of the _Reichsgesetzblatt_, and I dare say that one-half of the
documents referred to in Major Wallis’ presentation will be found in the
_Reichsgesetzblatt_, and I assure Your Honors that over the weekend we
will do the utmost to explain to Defense Counsel and to make available
to them all information that we have and will do so in the future in
advance.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Colonel Storey. The Tribunal will now adjourn
for 10 minutes.
[_A recess was taken._]
COL. STOREY: If Your Honors please, the next subject to be presented is
the economic preparation for aggressive war, by Mr. Dodd.
MR. THOMAS J. DODD (Executive Trial Counsel for the United States): May
it please the Tribunal, Mr. President and Members of the Tribunal:
In view of the discussions which took place just before the recess
period, I believe it proper for me to inform the Tribunal that the
documents to which I shall make reference,—a list of those documents
has been lodged in the defendants’ Information Center, and, as well,
photostatic copies of the originals have been placed there this morning.
It is my responsibility on behalf of the Chief Prosecutor for the United
States of America to present the proof with reference to the allegations
of the Indictment under Section IV (E), on [A]Page 6 of the English
version of the Indictment, and particularly beginning with the second
paragraph under (E), which is entitled, “The Acquiring of Totalitarian
Control in Germany, Economic, and the Economic Planning and Mobilization
for Aggressive War.”
-----
[A] Page numbers used in references throughout the Proceedings are to
the original documents and do not apply to pagination used in the
present volumes.
-----
The second paragraph:
“2. They used organizations of German business as instruments of
economic mobilization for war.
“3. They directed Germany’s economy towards preparation and
equipment of the military machine. To this end they directed
finance, capital investment, and foreign trade.
“4. The Nazi conspirators, and in particular the industrialists
among them, embarked upon a huge rearmament program, and set out
to produce and develop huge quantities of materials of war and
to create a powerful military potential.”
The fifth paragraph under that same heading (E), and the final one in so
far as my responsibility goes this morning, is that which reads:
“With the object of carrying through the preparation for war the
Nazi conspirators set up a series of administrative agencies and
authorities. For example, in 1936 they established for this
purpose the office of the Four Year Plan with the Defendant
Göring as Plenipotentiary, vesting it with overriding control
over Germany’s economy. Furthermore, on the 28th of August 1939,
immediately before launching their aggression against Poland,
they appointed the Defendant Funk Plenipotentiary for Economics;
and on the 30th of August 1939 they set up the Ministerial
Council for the Defense of the Reich to act as a War Cabinet.”
I will not take the time of this Tribunal to prove what the world
already knows: that the Nazi conspirators rearmed Germany on a vast
scale. I propose to place in evidence the secret records of the plans
and deliberations of the inner councils of the Nazis, which prove that
the reorganization of the German Government, the financial wizardry of
the Defendant Schacht, and the total mobilization of the German economy
largely under the Defendant Schacht, Göring, and Funk, were directed at
a single goal: aggressive war.
I should like to hand to the Court at this point the so-called document
book, which contains the English translation of the original German
document. I do not make an offer at this time of these documents in
evidence, but hand them to the Court for the purpose of easing the task
of the Court in following the discussion concerning these documents. I
might say at this point also that I should like to submit at a little
later date a brief for the assistance of the Court after I have
concluded my remarks before it this morning.
The significance of the economic measures adopted and applied by the
conspirators can, of course, be properly appraised only if they are
placed in the larger social and political context of Nazi Germany. The
economic measures were adopted while the conspirators were, as has
already been shown, directing their vast propaganda apparatus to the
glorification of war. They were adopted while the conspirators were
perverting physical training into training for war. They were adopted
while, as my colleagues will show, these conspirators were threatening
to use force and were planning to use force to achieve their territorial
and political objects. In short, if Your Honors please, these measures
constitute in the field of economics and government administration the
same preparation for aggressive war which dominated every aspect of the
Nazi State.
In 1939 and 1940 after the Nazi aggression upon Poland, Holland,
Belgium, and France it became perfectly clear to the world that the Nazi
conspirators had created probably the greatest instrument of aggression
in history.
That machine was built up almost in its entirety in a period of less
than one decade. In May of 1939 Major General George Thomas, former
Chief of the Military-Economic Staff in the Reich War Ministry, reported
that the German Army had grown from seven Infantry divisions in 1933 to
thirty-nine Infantry divisions, among them four fully motorized and
three mountain divisions, eighteen Corps Headquarters, five Panzer
divisions, twenty-two machine gun battalions. Moreover, General Thomas
stated that the German Navy had greatly expanded by the launching, among
other vessels, of two battleships of 35,000 tons, four heavy cruisers of
10,000 tons, and other warships; further, that the Luftwaffe had grown
to a point where it had a strength of 260,000 men, 21 squadrons,
consisting of 240 echelons, and 33 anti-aircraft batteries.
He likewise reported that out of the few factories permitted by the
Versailles Treaty there had arisen, and I am quoting, if Your Honors
please, from the document bearing our number EC-28, which consists of a
lecture delivered by Major General Thomas on the 24th of May 1939 in the
Nazi Foreign Office. General Thomas said in part—or rather he
reported—that out of the few factories permitted by the Versailles
Treaty there had arisen:
“. . . the mightiest armament industry now existing in the
world. It has attained the performances which in part equal the
German wartime performances and in part even surpass them.
Germany’s crude steel production is today the largest in the
world after America’s. The aluminum production exceeds that of
America and of the other countries of the world very
considerably. The output of our rifle, machine gun, and
artillery factories is at present larger than that of any other
state.”
That quotation, I repeat, was from a document bearing the lettering “EC”
and the number after the dash “28”. It is United States of America
Exhibit 23.
These results—the results which General Thomas spoke about in his
lecture in May of 1939—were achieved only by making preparation for war
the dominating objective of German economy. And, to quote General Thomas
again, he stated:
“History will know only a few examples of cases where a country
has directed, even in peace time, all its economic forces so
deliberately and systematically towards the requirements of war,
as Germany was compelled to do in the period between the two
World Wars.”
That quotation from General Thomas will be found in the document bearing
our Number 2353-PS. It is another quotation from General Thomas, but
from another writing of his.
The task of mobilizing the German economy for aggressive war began
promptly after the Nazi conspirators’ seizure of power. It was entrusted
principally to the Defendants Schacht, Göring, and Funk.
The Defendant Schacht, as is well known, was appointed President of the
Reichsbank in March of 1933 and Minister of Economics in August of 1934.
The world did not know, however, that the responsibility for the
execution of this program was entrusted to the office of the Four Year
Plan under the Defendant Göring.
I should now like to call to Your Honors’ attention a document bearing
the number EC-408, and I should also like to refer at this time to
another document for Your Honors’ attention while I discuss the
material—Number 2261-PS.
And I continue to say that the world did not know, as well, that the
Defendant Schacht was designated Plenipotentiary for the War Economy on
May 21, 1935, with complete control over the German civilian economy for
war production in the Reich Defense Council, established by a top-secret
Hitler decree.
I invite Your Honors’ attention to the Document 2261-PS, which I
referred to a few minutes ago.
The Defendant Schacht recognized that the preparation for war came
before all else for, in a memorandum concerning the problems of
financing rearmament, written on the 3rd of May 1935, he stated that his
comments were based on the assumption that the accomplishment of the
armament program. . . .
THE PRESIDENT [Interposing]: Pardon me, but you referred us to Document
2261.
MR. DODD: Yes, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: But you haven’t read anything from it.
MR. DODD: I did not; I merely referred the Court to it since it. . . .
THE PRESIDENT [Interposing]: It would help us, I think, if, when you
refer to a document, you refer to some particular passage in it.
MR. DODD: Very well.
THE PRESIDENT: I think it must be the middle paragraph in the document:
“The Führer has nominated the President of the Directorate of the
Reichsbank, Dr. Schacht. . . .”
MR. DODD: Yes, that is the paragraph to which I wish to make reference.
If Your Honors please, I refer to the second paragraph, or the middle
paragraph, which states, in a letter dated June 24, 1935 at Berlin:
“The Führer and Reich Chancellor has nominated the President of
the Directorate of the Reichsbank, Dr. Schacht, to be
Plenipotentiary General for the War Economy.”
I might point out, in addition to the second paragraph, the last
paragraph of that letter or the last sentence of the letter, which
reads: “I point out the necessity of strictest secrecy once more”—the
letter being signed, “Von Blomberg.”
Through Schacht’s financial genius monetary measures were devised to
restore German industry to full production; and through the control of
imports and exports, which he devised under his plan of 1934, German
production was channeled in accordance with the requirements of the
German war machine.
I shall, with the Court’s permission, later discuss the details of
documentary proof of this assertion.
In 1936, with an eye to the experience in the first World War, the Nazi
conspirators embarked on an ambitious plan to make Germany completely
self-sufficient in strategic war materials such as rubber, gasoline, and
steel, in a period of 4 years, so that the Nazi conspirators would be
fully prepared for aggressive war. The responsibility for the execution
of this program was entrusted to the office of the Four Year Plan under
the Defendant Göring—and at this point I should like to refer to the
document bearing the number and the lettering EC-408. It is dated the
30th day of December 1936, marked “Secret Command Matter”, and entitled
the “Report Memorandum on the Four Year Plan and Preparation of the War
Economy.”
It sets out that the Führer and Reich Chancellor has conferred powers in
regard to mobilization preparations in the economic field that need
further definition, and in the third paragraph it refers specifically to
Minister President, Generaloberst Göring as Commissioner of the Four
Year Plan, by authority of the Führer and Reich Chancellor granted the
18th day of October 1936. The existence of this program involved the
reorganization and control of the whole German economy for war.
Again referring to Major General Thomas—and specifically to our
document marked EC-27—General Thomas, in a lecture on the 28th of
February 1939, made at the Staff instructor’s course, stated:
“The National Socialist State, soon after taking over power,
reorganized the German economy in all sections and directed it
towards a military viewpoint, which had been requested by the
Army for years. Due to the reorganization, agriculture, commerce
and professions become those powerful instruments the Führer
needs for his extensive plans, and we can say today that
Hitler’s mobile politics, as well as the powerful efforts of the
Army and economy, would not have been possible without the
necessary reorganization by the National Socialist Government.
We can now say that the economic organization as a whole
corresponds with the needs, although slight adjustments will
have to be made yet. Those reorganizations made a new system of
economics possible which was necessary in view of our internal
and foreign political situation as well as our financial
problems. The directed economy, as we have it today concerning
agriculture, commerce, and industry, is not only the expression
of the present State principles, but at the same time also the
economy of the country’s defense.”
If Your Honors please, this program was not undertaken in a vacuum; it
was deliberately designed and executed to provide the necessary
instrument of the Nazi conspirators’ plans for aggressive war.
In September of 1934 the Defendant Schacht frankly acknowledged to the
American Ambassador in Berlin that the Hitler Party was absolutely
committed to war, and the people too were ready and willing; and that
quotation is found in Ambassador Dodd’s diary and is document bearing
our Number 2832-PS and United States Exhibit Number 29, particularly on
page 176 of Ambassador Dodd’s diary.
At the same time, the Defendant Schacht promulgated his new plan for the
control of imports and exports in the interest of rearmament. A year
later he was appointed Plenipotentiary for the War Economy by the
top-secret decree referred to a few minutes ago.
In September 1936 the Defendant Göring announced—at a meeting attended
by the Defendant Schacht and others—that Hitler had issued instructions
to the Reich War Minister on the basis that the show-down with Russia is
inevitable, and added that “all measures have to be taken just as if we
were actually in the stage of imminent danger of war.”
I refer the Court to the document bearing the letters EC-416 and
particularly. . . . Before I discuss the quotation I might indicate that
this document is also marked a secret Reich matter in the minutes of the
Cabinet meeting of the 4th of September 1936, at 12 o’clock noon. It
tells who was present: the Defendant Göring, Von Blomberg, the Defendant
Schacht, and others.
And on the second page of that document, in the second paragraph, is
found the quotation by the Defendant Göring. It starts from the basic
thought that:
“The show-down with Russia is inevitable. What Russia has done
in the field of reconstruction we too can do.”
On the third page of that document, in the second paragraph, the
Defendant Göring stated: “All measures have to be taken just as if we
were actually in the stage of imminent danger of war.”
In the same month the office of the Four Year Plan was created with the
mission of making Germany self-sufficient for war in 4 years. I refer
back, at this point, to the Document Number EC-408, and particularly
refer Your Honors to the third paragraph, again, of that document, where
the statement is made as regards the war economy:
“Minister President Generaloberst Göring sees it as his task,
within 4 years, to put the entire economy in a state of
readiness for war.”
The Nazi Government officials provided the leadership in preparing
Germany for war. They received, however, the enthusiastic cooperation of
the German industrialists, and the role played by industrialists in
converting Germany to a war economy is an important one, and I turn
briefly to that aspect of the economic picture.
On the invitation of the Defendant Göring, approximately 25 of the
leading industrialists of Germany, and the Defendant Schacht, attended a
meeting in Berlin on the 20th day of February, 1933. This was shortly
before the election of March 5, 1933 in Germany. At this meeting Hitler
announced the conspirators’ aim to seize totalitarian control over
Germany, to destroy the parliamentary system, to crush all opposition by
force, and to restore the power of the Wehrmacht.
Among those present on that day, in February of 1933 in Berlin, were
Gustav Krupp, head of the huge munitions firm Friedrich Krupp, A.G.;
four leading officials of the I.G. Farben, one of the world’s largest
chemical concerns; present, I repeat, was also the Defendant Schacht,
and Albert Vögler was also there, the head of the huge steel trusts, the
United Steel Works of Germany, and there were other leading
industrialists there.
In support of the assertion with respect to that meeting at that time
and in that place, I refer Your Honors to the document bearing the
number EC-439, it being an affidavit of George von Schnitzler, and it
reads as follows:
“I George von Schnitzler, a member of the Vorstand of I.G.
Farben, make the following deposition under oath:
“At the end of February 1933 four members of the Vorstand of
I.G. Farben, including Dr. Bosch, the head of the Vorstand, and
myself, were asked by the office of the President of the
Reichstag to attend a meeting in his house, the purpose of which
was not given. I do not remember the two other colleagues of
mine who were also invited. I believe the invitation reached me
during one of my business trips to Berlin. I went to the meeting
which was attended by about twenty persons, who I believe were
mostly leading industrialists from the Ruhr.
“Among those present I remember:
“Dr. Schacht, who at that time was not yet head of the
Reichsbank again and not yet Minister of Economics;
“Krupp von Bohlen, who in the beginning of 1933 presided the
Reichsverband der Deutschen Industrie, which later on was
changed in the semi-official organization ‘Reichsgruppe
Industrie’;
“Dr. Albert Vögler, the leading man of the Vereinigte
Stahlwerke;
“Von Loewenfeld from an industrial work in Essen;
“Dr. Stein, head of the Gewerkschaft Auguste Victoria, a mine
which belongs to the I.G. Dr. Stein was an active member of the
Deutsche Volkspartei.
“I remember that Dr. Schacht acted as a kind of host.
“While I had expected the appearance of Göring, Hitler entered
the room, shook hands with everybody and took a seat at the
table. In a long speech he talked mainly about the danger of
communism over which he pretended that he just had won a
decisive victory.
“He then talked about the Bündnis (alliance) into which his
party and the Deutschnationale Volkspartei had entered. This
latter party, in the meantime, had been reorganized by Herr Von
Papen. At the end he came to the point which seemed to me the
purpose of the meeting. Hitler stressed the importance that the
two aforementioned parties should gain the majority in the
coming Reichstag election. Krupp von Bohlen thanked Hitler for
his speech. After Hitler had left the room, Dr. Schacht proposed
to the meeting the raising of an election fund of, as far as I
remember, RM 3 million. The fund should be distributed between
the two ‘allies’ according to their relative strength at the
time being. Dr. Stein suggested that the Deutsche Volkspartei
should be included. . . .”
THE PRESIDENT [Interposing]: Mr. Dodd, it seems to me that really all
that that document shows is that there was a meeting at which Mr.
Schacht was present, and at which it was determined to subscribe an
election fund in 1933.
MR. DODD: That is quite so, Your Honor. I will not labor the Court by
reading all of it. There were some other references, but not of major
importance, in the last paragraph, to a division of the election fund. I
just call Your Honors’ attention to it in passing.
I should like, at this point, to call Your Honors’ attention to the
document bearing the Number D-203. It is three-page document: D-203.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MR. DODD: I wish to read only excerpts from it very briefly. It is the
speech delivered to the industrialists by Hitler, and I refer
particularly to the second paragraph of that document: “Private
enterprise cannot be maintained in the age of democracy. . . .”
THE PRESIDENT [Interposing]: What is the date of that?
MR. DODD: It is the speech made at the meeting on the 20th of February
1933 at Berlin.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.