Heidelberg, November 17, 1945
Dr. Hans Anschuetz, at present District Court Director [Landgerichtsdirektor] at Heidelberg, after having been duly sworn, deposes as follows:
.1 was born in 1901 in Heidelberg, the son of university professor Dr. Gerhard Anschuetz. After attending high schools [Gymnasien] in Berlin-Grunewald and Heidelberg, I studied law, and according to my inclination became a judge. Until 1933 I was employed as public prosecutor at Heidelberg, then I was transferred as Judge of a Local Court [Amtsgerichtsrat] and later Judge of the District Court [Landgerichtsrat] at Offenburg [Baden], I was dismissed from service in the armed forces in 1944, because the father of my wife was a Jew, and for the same
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reason I could no longer be employed as a judge; I was assigned to the War Damages Office [Kriegsschaedenamt] at Mannheim. At present I am engaged again in my old profession as District Court Director [Landgerichtsdirektor] at Heidelberg.
In the attached statements on the problem of "National Socialism and Justice" I have recorded the experience which I was able to acquire during the last twelve years as a judge.
Statements on the Problem "National Socialism and Justice."
It was a matter of course that a totalitarian system like that of National Socialism could not make an exception of the administration of justice in the extension of its power. The "coordination" or "elimination" of the administration of justice was achieved gradually but purposefully. .
1. Immediately after the seizure of power those judges who were undesirable for political or racial reasons were eliminated or demoted from leading positions to unimportant ones; in particular they were eliminated from criminal courts. For this purpose they used the "Law Concerning the Reconstruction of the Professional Civil Service" of 7 April 1933, which did away with the principle that judges could not be removed or demoted and thereby destroyed the guarantees of the independence of justice.
2. Subsequently, the system of spying upon and supervising the political opinions of each citizen, which permeated the entire public and private life in Germany, was, of course, also extended to judges. This spy system eventually reached the point of open attacks and defamatory statements in the press; this was done particularly in the newspapers "Der Stuermer" and "Das Schwarze Korps", which took delight in distorting reports of trials and in naming those judges who had imposed sentences which the party considered intolerable. The political power of these papers, or rather those persons who were behind them, namely, Streicher and Himmler, was so great that not even the Reich Minister of Justice succeeded in having them publish corrections of trial reports which were demonstrably untrue.
3. Finally, the German Civil Service Code of 26 January 1937 (effective as of 1 July 1937) placed judges on the same level with all other public officials. Article 71 of this Code made it possible to retire any official who "indicated that he was no longer prepared to intercede at all times for the National Socialist State."
4. But while even the German Civil Service Code made certain exceptions for judges (Article 171 prohibited the retirement of judges solely because of the contents of decisions made by them), Hitler, in the Reichstag meeting of 26 April 1942 had the Reichs-
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tag confer upon him the "right" to dismiss judges even without regard to vested rights, if he thought it necessary. This Reichstag speech of Hitler's really constituted a signal testimonial to the German judge because it showed that Hitler had reasons to be discontent with the administration of justice in that it had not been sufficiently subservient to the party.
5. After the issuance of the German Civil Service Code, strong pressure was brought to bear upon all officials, including judges, to join the NSDAP or not to reject requests to join; otherwise there existed the danger that they might be retired or dismissed. But once a party member, a judge was under party discipline and party jurisdiction which dominated his entire life as official and as private person.
6. In addition to these measures concerning judges, the party resorted to measures which might be characterized as the "undermining of regular jurisdiction" and the "establishment of special jurisdiction."
Until the end of 1933, the Supreme Court [Reichsgericht] was the highest German tribunal with jurisdiction over cases of treason and high treason. For that reason, the Reichstag fire trial still came before the Supreme Court. As is well known, it ended with the acquittal of most of the accused, whom the regime had hoped to see convicted as members of the Communist party. After this trial, the Supreme Court was deprived of its jurisdiction in matters of treason and high treason. This was transferred by law of 28 April 1934 to the newly created People's Court [Volksgerichtshof], which consisted of only two professional judges (even these, of course, were selected primarily because of political considerations) and five higher party functionaries. Thus, this court offered a guarantee that the law would be applied exclusively in accordance with the principles of the NSDAP.
Even prior to this, the law of 21 March 1933 had created Special Courts [Sondergerichts] for the trial of political crimes. Their members were appointed at first by the Governing Council [Praesidium] of the District Court in whose district the Special Court was established, and later by the Appeal Court President [Ober-landesgerichtspraesident]. Actually, only party members were made judges of the Special Courts.
The power of these Special Courts was increased in the interest of the party, first, since it was up to the public prosecutor to decide whether to bring a case before the ordinary court or the Special Court and, second, by reason of the fact that not every German attorney but only those especially admitted attorneys
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could act as defense counsel before the Special Courts, and finally, by the virtue of the fact that there was no appeal from the decisions of the Special Courts.
7. A further means of influencing judges was contained in the institution of "Judges' Letters". In these letters, which were issued by the Reich Ministry of Justice and destined for internal distribution only, law cases were commented upon as illustrative of good or bad examples; while no names of judges were contained in them, they did name the respective courts and thus exercised pressure upon the judges.
Under the slogan of "Directed Justice", finally, they used pressure upon judges by having the District Attorney [Oberstaatsanwalt] in important criminal cases which might also include nonpolitical matters, inform the presiding judge prior to the trial of the punishment which would be sought and point out that this sentence would be expected of him.
8. The strongest interference with the administration of justice, however, developed increasingly after 1933 "outside of" [neben] the administration of justice. The police, under the command of the Reichsfuehrer SS, arrested persons who were persona non grata for political or even for other reasons without judicial procedure (and, indeed, without any procedure at all) and detained them in prisons and concentration camps. In political cases, it was the rule rather than the exception that accused persons who had been acquitted by the court were taken immediately after trial into "protective custody" by the police and thus disappeared into concentration camps.
9. Finally, the party sabotaged the administration of justice by failing to execute sentences imposed upon "old fighters" or otherwise specially favored party comrades and by nullifying the sentences through the arbitrary exercise of the right of pardon.
10. The foregoing list of attempts to influence justice is, of course, by no means complete.
[signed] Dr. Hans; Anschuetz
Sworn to before me this 17th day of November, 1945, at Heidelberg, Germany.
Seymour M. Peyser
Major, J.A.G.D.