MR. KING: This concludes, for the present time, the presentation of the documents from the document book 6, Mr. Wooleyhan will continue with the presentation of the prosecution's cases with documents from Document book 5A.
MR WOOLEYHAN: May it please the court, the first document in Book 5 is NG-229. This document is in three parts, comprising an exchange of official correspondence dating, respectively, September, October, and December of 1940, between Lammers Reich Minister and head of the Reich Chancellory, and the defendant Schlegelberger. The subject matter, common throughout the exchange of correspondence, is the proposed introduction of portions of the German Civil Code into the incorporated Eastern territories, including Poland, Silesia, Danzig, and other provinces in that area. The first letter bearing the personal signature of the defendant Schlegelberger is quite lenthy, and perhaps the entire problem-I would only like to call the court's attention to certain portions of that letter, although we will offer the entire document. On page 1, which is page 2 of the German book, in the middle of the second paragraph, Schlegelberger writes Lammers as follows:
"...We have been unable to reach agreement about my suggestions relative to the treatment of the non-German population particularly the Poles. However, the differences of opinion which have arisen in connection with this problem are, in my opinion, not so fundamental as it may seem at first. Most important they do not arise cut of my intention on my part to make the same legal code valid in the incorporated Eastern territories as for Germans and Poles alike."
Continuing over to page 2, which is still page 2 in the German book, Schlegelberger goes on to say:
" As I pointed out in detail in this communication, I have never denied that in various legal spheres special legislation for the Polish population will have to be considered.
Consequently, there exists no difference of opinion at all between the Deputy Fuehrer--" if I may interpolate for the moment, it appears from the rest of the document that the Deputy Fuhrer is Martin Bormann--" and myself as regards the intended result of the order; we differ only on the question of wether the proposed legislation would actually accomplish the result intended by me or wether their promulgation contrary to my point of view would cause the Poles to gain a legal status which the political administration did not intend to grant them."
On page 5 of the English Book, which, is-
THE TRIBUNAL:(JUDGE BRAND): May I interrupt you please?
MR WOOLEYHAN: Certainly.
THE TRIBUNAL ( JUDGE BAND): The last sentence that you read, you used the word " promulgation."
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Yes, Your Honor.
THE TRIBUNAL ( JUDGE BRAND): In our English text the word is " dismissal." Which is correct?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: "Promulgation" is correct.
THE TRIBUNAL ( JUDGE BRAND): "Promulgation", very well. Thank you.
MR WOOLEYHAN: On page 5 of the English Book, which is either the bottom of page 6, or the top of page 7 of the German, Schlegelberger continues in the following vein:
" There can surely hardly be nay serious doubt about the fact that generally speaking the Polish Legal Code must cease to be in existance. Its continued application would, in many cases, necessarily cause the Poles to acquire a legal to which they re not entitled."
As I have said, this letter is personally signed by the defendant Schlegelberger, who also states, just above to the Deputy Fuehrer, Martin Bormann. It might also be noted that at this time the defendant Schlegelberger was signing his letters as Acting Minister. 2497 The second letter is on the same subject, dated some time later, in which the some general matters are discussed.
It is signed with illegible initials we cannot read, but it specifically refers to the fact that the Deputy of the Fuehrer, Martin Bormann, states his opinion concerning, " our letters, " and since the letter referred to is on the same subject matter as that which I have just read, we presume it emanated from the Ministry of Justice - although we don't want to argue that point - in which Bormann was asked if it was possible to roach agreement by further discussions with the Minister of Justice. It continues to indicate that Bormann does not expect any results from further discussions carried on on the basis suggested by the Minister of Justice.
THE PRESIDENT: What page do you find this matter on?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: On page 9 of the English Book, Your Honor, which is however at the bottom o, f page 11 or the top of page 12 of the German. This is the second letter in the document. The letter goes on to complete the statements on what grounds Bormann would be willing to agree to the proposals of the Minister of Justice on this matter of extending certain portions of the German Civil Code to Poland.
This second letter bears an indorsement, which is on page 12 of the English book -- bears the initials of Lammers. At this point we might make a correction. On page 12 of the English book where it states " handwritten signatures" and then bears a pecular mathematical looking symbol - that is a garbled translation from what appears in original as the unmistakable initial of Lammers, plus the date " 9/11," which is 9th of November. This indorsement of Lammers which I have just described is addressed to the Reich Minister of Justice and incloses the Bormann letter previously referred to, for the information of the Justice Ministry. 2498 The last letter in this document begins on page 13 of the English Book, the bottom of page 16 and the top of page 17 in the German.
It bears the personal signature of Schlegelberger acting on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, and is addressed to Dr. Lammers. It concludes by saying that, " By these discussions which are to be continued very soon, and then will probably be brought to a conclusion, the affair, as I expected, has already made a very good progress." Interpolating again, this obviously refers to the stated subject of the letter, which is this familiar topic of the introduction of the German Civil Code into the incorporated Eastern territories.
The prosecution offers as Exhibit-
DR. BEHLING ( for defendant Schlgelberger): I wish to state that the statement by the prosecution, according to which the letter of 18 September, 1940, which is marked as Number one, in a series of these letters, and the file letter of 6 November 1940, should not be brought in connection with each other. This remark, or this reference of 2 November 1940, states expressly, and refers to a letter from the Ministry of Justice of 26 September -- while the letter submitted as Number one, the letter from the Ministry of Justice, bears the date 18 September. Therefore, there is no connection between the two documents; and therefore, I object to the submission of these documents in the form in which the prosecution intends to submit them.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Your Honors, the three letters and the one endorsement which make up this document, by their dates extend during a three-month period of time in 1940. Each letter and endorsement bears the explicitly stated subject of the incorporation of German civil code into Poland and other Eastern countries. There is no question in the prosecution's mind about the common subject matter, nor is there any question about the integrated three-month period of time in which all the letters are concerned, nor is there any question about the full personal signature of Schlegelberger on two of the three letters. If there are enclosures referred to in any one of these letters that do not appear in the file, we submit that that has no affect whatever on the credibility or probative value of what is stated in the letters that are introduced.
JUDGE BRAND: I wonder if this has any additional significance? On page 1 of the English text, although the letter is dated 18 September, a little below we read "see letter of 26 September"; and then again, on page 9 in nether letter, there is also a reference to that same letter of 26 September.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: That has additional relevance, Your Honor, as snowing the coherent tying together of all three letters.
THE PRESIDENT: We see no real inconsistency in this matter of dates.
HR. WOOLEYHAN: As Exhibit 338, the prosecution offers document NG-229.
THE PRESIDENT: The document will be received in evidence.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: On page 15 of the English book, which is page 18 in the German, with a letter written by Martin Bormann, Chief of the Party Chancery, to the Minister of Justice, on the 12th of July 1940 , wherein Bormann suggests to the Minister certain modifications in the proposed rules of civil law to be applied to the Poles in the occupied Erst, which rules the Ministry of Justice was at the time engaged in drafting. On the same day that Bormann wrote this letter to the Minister of Justice, he enclosed a copy thereof, together with a covering note, to Henirich Himmler, Reichsfuehrer SS. This covering note to Henrich Himmler is found at the top of page 15 in the English book, page 18 in the German.
With regard to this covering note from Bormann to Himmler, we wish to invite the Court's attention to the fact that "The Reich Commissioner for the Strengthening of German Race and Culture, the Chief of the Security Police and SS, and the Racial Policy Department, are intended to convene before any further conferences which will be called by the Minister of Justice."
The third part of this document begins at the top of page 17, which is page 22 in the German. These are minutes of a conference held in the Ministry of Justice following the date of the first two letters I have just mentioned, at which about forty persons attended, including many officials of the Ministry of Justice and certain judges and lawyers among others. At this conference the entire question of introducing German civil law measures in Poland was discussed. The general tone of the conference can by typified by the following excerpts--reading now from the bottom of page 17 in the English, which is page 24 in the German. We find the minutes stating as follows:
"The Poles were already, for all practical purposes, excluded from legal commerce and intercourse by measures of public law."
Further down in the minutes we find Klopfer, at that time a lower official in the Ministry of the Interior, who later became an official in the Party Chancery, stating that Reich Minister Rudolf Hess, the Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler, and the four Gauleiters concerned--these Gauleiters, by the way, were from the Polish provinces under discussion.--were of the opinion that the antiquated conception of territoriality in law must be overcome.
Further down in the minutes we also note that the Ministry of Labor had raised certain objections to the ideas of the Ministry of Justice on this point, in that they maintained that "all contractual relations based on loyalty are impossible between Germans and Poles." This was stated with regard to labor and service contracts.
The minutes further reveal that at that conference the President of the Court of Appeals in Posen, which is in Poland, has instructed his judges-- If I may interrupt for one moment, I am reading now from page 19 of the English book, which is page 26 of the German. This President of the Court of Appeals in Posen stated that he had Instructed his judges that Poles were never equal to the Germans and that the principle of equality of men before the law was finished. A judge would be dismissed if, for example, he would give judgment for a Pole against a regional authority.
The minutes of this conference conclude with statements by the reporter that there wore attempts on the part of the Ministry of Justice to compromise their differences with Reich Ministers Hess, Himmler, and the Ministry of Labor.
The last two parts of this document consist of two letters written by Martin Bormann to Lammers, one in August of 1940, and the other in September of 1940, which follow all the occurrences that have gone before that have been described in this document.
The first letter, which begins on page 21 of the English bock, dated 21 August 1940, discloses that Bormann has received a draft of a proposed ordinance submitted by the-
DR. BEHLIHG (Counsel for the defendant Schlegelberger) --(Interposing): The letters which the prosecution has just submitted are not contained either in my document book or in the document book of my co-defense counsel. Therefore, I would ask the prosecution to inform us when these two letters were distributed to the defense center.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: These last two letters, Your Honor, so far as the English document which I have, a-e an integral part of document R-139. If it appears that these last two or three pages have been omitted from the document furnished the defense, unless they are willing to waive the 24-hour rule and look at the photostat, we must rectify it.
DR. BEHLING: As regards my client, I would be prepared to waive the 24-hour rule if I can convince myself, from the photostat, that the treatment of these letters does not necessitate a further discussion with my client.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: If I may, Your Honor, in view of the inadvertent omission of these few pages from the defense's document, I suggest that as I briefly discuss these last few pages, if counsel will follow along with me, if he has any objection we will rectify the error; otherwise, not.
THE PRESIDENT: Maybe he can better satisfy himself by a brief examination of the document itself. I think we should give him a moment for that to see if he can.
DR. BEHLING: The document RI-39 in the photostat ends with the event with which we have become acquainted as a file reference. The letter under discussion which has just been read by the Prosecution is not included in the photostat.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: It appears that the photostat itself is faulty, Your Honor, in that the last two letter to which I am referring do not appear on the photostat, so there is only one thing, to do, and that is to withdraw the document until we can rectify it.
DR. BELLING: Quite independent from that, when reading through the photostat I found that the last file reference appears to bear no signature at all. I cannot say so for certain, however, and therefore I would ask whether it would be possible for me to see the original.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: If our document room can rectify this photostat by supplying whatever portions of it appear to be missing in the German, we have no objection to the defense perusing the original if it is in Nurnberg. However, I don't think this point has been made quite clear to defense counsel, or perhaps to the Tribunal. The great weight of documentary evidence introduced here came to the Prosecution from our collecting centers and investigating teams operating out of the Berlin Document Center. The Policy was established last year of not sending by courier or any other means to Nuremberg the original documents. They were kept in archives at Tempelhof Document Center at Berlin. All we ever received were photostats. That is just to acquaint all concerned with the problem raised, whenever anyone asks to see an original and it tarns out that that original is in Berlin -- purely a matter of time, I will admit, but still a consideration.
THE PRESIDENT: There is nothing before the Tribunal at this time. If this document is reoffered, we can have a discussion of the matters that are now being discussed.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Turning now to Page 27 of the English book, which is Page 30 in the German, this is a short, two-page document appearing in the form of a typewritten memorandum to the files. It does, however, bear a number of original handwritten notes and remarks. The remarks do not constitute script, but rather official codes and the initials of various officials. This memorandum to the files indicates a proposed reprisal for retaliation measures to be undertaken by the Reich Minister of the Interior. This reprisal is to be directed against certain Czech landowners living near the Czech border. It is alleged that these Czech landowners had exercised some form of eminent domain over the property of German landowners near the border, who had been required to sell it within a three month period. The problem taken up in this document is the problem of what form the German reprisal or retaliation should take. The last paragraph concludes:
"After reporting to the State Secretary Schlegelberger on December 21 I informed the officials of the Reich Ministry of Justice was withdrawing its doubts."
Presumably, I interpolate, its doubts to this proposed measure were withdrawn. It is signed Berlin. 23 December, 1937, by one Kitzinger. Underneath Kitzinger's signature on the original document appear, spaced across the page, the Roman numerals III, IV, and V. Under each of these Roman numerals in column appear various initials of persons, all of which an undecipherable to our analysts with the exception of one, namely Ministerialdirektor Grossolwski, an official in the Ministry of Justice.
So apparently this memorandum to the files in the form in which it is offered in evidence was seen by a number of officials in the Ministry of Justice of the various divisions III, IV, and V of the Ministry.
On the second page or last page of this document appears the proposed draft of the form in which this real estate reprisal is to occur. The Prosecution offers as Exhibit 33 Document NG 420.
THE PRESIDENT: It will be admitted in evidence.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: On page 29 of the English book, which is Page 33 of the German, appears NG 186. On the top of the first page, handwritten in pencil, it is stated that this document was directed to the Minister. That that is the Minister of Justice is apparent from the fact that this document is a report of the work and division of labor in the People's Court and is signed by Freisler, who at the time that this report was prepared, namely 1 April 1844, was President of the People's Court.
This document is offered not because on its face it implicates specifically one of the defendants by stating his name, but because it takes each senate of the People's Court in 1944 and states the territorial jurisdiction exercised by each senate. We invite the Court's attention, far example, to the work of the first senate, found on Page 29, wherein it appears that the first senate will take up, among other things, a tax against Germans in foreign countries on the grounds of their Germandom to thereby injure the Reich. Further, it has jurisdiction over punishable act of Germans from Alsace, from Luxembourg, Lower Styria or Upper Carniola, Bohemia and Moravia.
Further examples are found on Page 31 of the English, which is Page 36 of the German, wherein we see that the work of the Fourth Senate involves jurisdiction over punishable offenses of foreigners from Moravia in case they were committed after the establishment of the protectorate; however, not high treason in favor of Russia or Poland. That, if I may interpolate, is handled by the Third Senate, as appears at the bottom of Page 30, which is Page 35 in the German book.
Further examples of the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the People's Court appear on the bottom of Page 31, which is Page 36 in the German, in that the Sixth Senate of the People's Court takes up Jurisdiction of punishable offenses, undermining of morale, and evasion of military service in Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg, and Tyrol-Vorarlberg, the latter three, at least, being in Austria, Styria and Carinthia being outside the Reich.
The Prosecution offers as Exhibit 340 Document NG 186.
THE PRESIDENT: The document will be received in evidence.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: On Page 33 of the English book, which is Page 38 of the German, is found NG 227, which paralled to the previously discussed program of whether or not to incorporate provisions of the German Civil Code in the occupied eastern districts at about the same time, we find here discussions of whether or not to apply the German Criminal Code in the same incorporated eastern districts. 2508 In the note appearing on Page 33, from the original it appears to be an original signed memoranda initialed by Picker of the Reich Chancery, whose initial is merely indicated on Page 33 by the word "initials". This note bears the initial of Lammers and reflects discussions between Martin Bormann and the Ministry of Justice on whether or not Poles should be granted the benefits of the German Criminal Code.
Reading now from the middle of Page 33, which is the top of Page 39 in the German book, it is stated here that:
"The deputy of the Fuehrer thinks it best to rescind the application of the German Penal Code in the new Eastern provinces and to create a Special Penal Code and a special law of criminal procedure for Poles. The dominating principle of a Penal Code must be to deter by fear and there must be a possibility of pronouncing a sentence of corporal punishment. The law of criminal procedure must not allow for obstruction; here Bormann is stated as being in favor of police court martials rather than legal courts."
This letter concludes with an endorsement by Lammers addressed to the Deputy of the Fuehrer of the Party, namely Bormann, stating that with regard to criminal law of the incorporated eastern territories, that he-Lammers--has asked the Reich Minister of Justice for his opinion. The dates on all endorsements of this document are in November of 1940, which is within a month of the same time as that encompassed by the series of documents from the German Civil Code in occupied eastern territories, previously read. The prosecution offers as Exhibit 341, Document NG-227.
THE PRESIDENT: The document will be admitted.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: On Page 35 of the English book, which is Page 41 of the German, appears NG-127. This document begins with the original of a letter sent to the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancery, namely, Lammers, and also bears Lammers' initial "L" plus the date 27 of November 1940, written and signed personally by Freisler. The word at the bottom of Page 35, which is at the top of Page 42 in the German, which says that the signature is "Pfundtner" is a translation error.
The word "Freisler" appears on the original.
Freisler here, on the 20th of November 1940, tells Lammers that he is forwarding a letter addressed to the Ministry of Justice by the Chief of the Security Police and the SD for information. The question is to what extent discriminatory measures can be taken with regard to Poles and Jews in the occupied east. Freisler invites Lammers to a conference to discuss this matter which will be held in Freisler's office in the Ministry of Justice one month later. The document concludes with a copy of a letter dated a month previously to the one which Freisler wrote addressed by the Chief of the SD to the Reich Minister of Justice wherein the SD chief states that he does not agree with the proposals of the Ministry of Justice on this matter and suggests that the questions on which he does not agree be further discussed with a view toward making the measures more harsh. This document is also dated within the same three month period of time, namely, September, October, and November 1940, as that period encompassed by the preceding documents.
The prosecution offers as Exhibit No. 342, Document NG-127.
THE PRESIDENT: The document will be admitted into evidence.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: The next document, namely NG-144, appears in this book in its entirely, but it has already been introduced and accepted into evidence as Exhibit No. 199. We wish at this time to only refer in passing to the fact that this document is a letter by the Reich Minister of Justice to Lammers, Chief of the Reich Chancery, signed by the defendant Schlegelberger, and the subject is Penal Law for Poles and Jews in the Annexed Territories. Since that exhibit has already been offered, we propose not to offer it again.
On Page 43 of the English book, which is Page 53 of the German, is found NG-331. It appears both from the version in the document book and from the photostat of the original that this was a draft of a piece of legislation concerning the administration of justice regarding Poles and Jews in the incorporated eastern territories. We offer this draft of proposed legislation in evidence in its entirety, making plain the fact that it is only a draft, but we do in this connection invite the Tribunal's attention to the actual statute found on Page 49 of Document Book II which was the law actually promulgated and put into force concerning the special penal law as concerns Poles and Jews in the incorporated eastern territories.
We invite comparison between this draft and the law that was actually passed and that appears on Page 48 of Book II. We offer this draft in evidence as Exhibit No. 343, which is Document NG-331.
JUDGE BRAND: Do you connect the preparation of the draft with any defendant?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: We do, Your Honor. I don't know how far we can go into it without risking argument.
JUDGE BRAND: Is there anything in the face of the instrument to indicate any defendant, I should say.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: From the face of the instrument which I just offered, no. It would require linking by argument.
THE PRESIDENT: You may state, for my information at least, is there very much material difference between the draft and the actual law?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: No, Your Honor.
On Page 53 of the English book, which is Page 60 in the German, is found NG-278. This is a copy of a circular instruction letter or directive issued by the national peasant leader, which I might state for the Tribunal's information subject of course to any amendment by defense counsel, was a functionary appointed by the Party to supervise all members of the agricultural profession including all farmers and farm laborers.
The title in German was "Reichsbauernfuehrer". This was a directive by the NSDAP functionary to the various regional farm associations throughout the Reich, in which it is apparent that the decree to which I have previously referred, and to which is also referred in this document, namely, the law in connection with the application of criminal laws to Poles and Jews in the annexed eastern territories, issued on 4 December, 1941, Reichsgesetzblatt, page being 759, which by the way is the statute in Book II at page 48. As interpreted here, in very strigent terms, from the point of view of enforcement by these regional farm associations, this directive states by way of interpretation of that statute, "that pursuant to that law, Poles and Jews have no right to raise an objection; every sentence is to be executed immediately; solely and exclusively the public prosecutor has a right to appeal; furthermore, only the public prosecutor has the right to lodge a complaint."
Skipping a paragraph: "Consequently penalties against Poles in the annexed Eastern territories are valid when ordered. According to Section XIV, paragraph 1 of the above mentioned law, this applies to Poles who on the 1st of September, 1939 had had their residence or lived permanently in the territory of the former Polish state and have committed the criminal act in an area of the German Reich other than the annexed Eastern territories. Also, that range in application is valid by analogy."
We offer this document in evidence not in that it is -
THE PRESIDENT: You said "by analogy." The wording is "accordingly" in our text.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: The word "accordingly" is a mistranslation; that was corrected by our analyst. We offer this document not because on its face that it implicates any one of the defendants in this case, which it doesn't, but we offer it by way of illustration of how this law against Poles and Jews in the incorporated eastern territories was interpreted and put into effect by other divisions of the government after it was passed. 2512
DR. LINK: As Defense Counsel I would like to comply with the suggestion made by the Prosecutor and I would like to explain the position of the Reich present leader. I would like to say that he did not represent a party organization, nor a government authority, but that he represented a professional organization, that of the farmers. The farmers were represented by the Ortsbauernschaft, and in the main, farmer groups, the local farmers' groups, the state or district farmer groups and the Reich Farmer groups, at their head was the Reich Peasant Leader. The party organization for the farmers was the so-called Agrarian Political Organization of the NSDAP. I only made those statements to explain the matter. I wanted to point out that we here are concerned with a public corporation, that is to say, with a professional organization.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Your Honors, we are very grateful for that information; for that I mean for the purpose of the Prosecution the fact that this decree filtered down even below party ranks is of great interest. The Prosecution offers Exhibit 344, NG-278, in evidence.
THE PRESIDENT: The document will be received in evidence.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: On page 55 of the English book, which is page 61 in the German text, is found NG-130. This document was previously offered and admitted in evidence as Exhibit 200. We, therefore, do not offer the exhibit in evidence again, but merely refer in passing to the fact that NG-130 reveals the amount of discussion and responsibility concerning the promulgation and the passing of the law against Poles and Jews in the occupied eastern territories by the defendant Schlegelberger. On page 57 of the English book, which is page 65 in the German, is found NG-136. This document is concerned with the setting up of special police court martials operated by the Gauleiters in Poland and other provinces of the occupied east in place of the regular courts of law. At the beginning we find a typewritten memorandum containing a number of authenticating initials of which only one is legible, namely, that cf Ficker in the Party Chancery, which initials should appear on page 58 directly above the letterhead Reich Minister and Chief cf the Reich Chancery, FHQ, 27 May, 1941.
In that memorandum, prepared in the Reich Chancery, and initialed by Ficker, we find the following: "The Reich Fuehrer SS, Himmler, agrees to the Special Penal Code for Poles in material matters as provided for in the draft of the decrees submitted by the Minister of Justice, but in addition he asks for police court martial jurisdiction and requests that this be presented to the Fuehrer when the Reich Minister makes his intended report. The introduction of court martials in the incorporated eastern territories is an old desire of the Reich Fuehrer SS."
Skipping down now to the bottom of page 58, which is page 66 in the German, we find a second part of that same document, which takes the form of an endorsement. This endorsement was prepared and initialed by Lammers, and is sent immediately, underlined "immediately" to the Reich Minister of Justice. In this endorsement, with regard to the administration of criminal law, in the incorporated eastern territories, and it apparently is referring to previous correspondence with the Ministry of Justice, Lammers states in part the following:
The Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter," which means Governor, "Greiser reported to the Fuehrer that an increasing number of acts of sabotage were committed in his Gau by Poles, In the Landkreis Litzmannstadt it even happened a few days ago that a while the Reichsstatthalter was speaking in an old Swabian settlement German policeman was stoned to death in a neighboring village. In this case the Governor, according to his report to the Fuehrer, gave orders that not only the culprits but 12 hostages as well should be executed on the spot and under the eyes of the entire village population, who were assembled at the spot."
Skipping down to the next to the last paragraph, "I beg to inform you of these decisions, and to ask you to take the necessary steps to put them into practice everything necessary for them without delay." It will be noted from the date of this correspondence that it occurred after the death of the Reich Minister Guertner, and during the time when the defendant Schlegelberger was Acting Minister of Justice.
This last letter I read was written by Lammers to the Reich Minister of Justice.
DR. BEHLING: (Attorney for Defendant Schlegelberger) The present document is concerned with a number of file references, or drafts of letters, of which the Prosecution assumes that they were addressed to the Reich Minister of Justice or to other officials.
The photostat which I have before me does not show clearly that these letters were ever dispatched. We are concerned with the document which on the first page shows the three letters "FHQ". That was an abbreviation for Fuehreqnauptquartier, or the Fuehrer's Headquarters; that means that the matters must have been discussed at the Fuehrer's Headquarters, and later lead to a discussion which can be seen now in the letters which we have before us. Whether these letters were ever dispatched, and whether concerning the defendant Schlegelberger, my client, whether they ever reached their address that is in no way shown by these documents. Quite aside from that, I would like to say on principle that the defendant Schlegelberger, after the death of Guertner, the Minister of Justice at that time, was only put in charge as an Acting Minister, but was never appointed Deputy Minister of Justice.