"The Reich Labor Service is a training school in which the German "What religious beliefs a person has is not a decisive factor, "Every religious practice is forbidden in the Reich Labor Service "On this basis, every participation of the Reich Labor Service in possible."
Bormann as deputy of the Fuehrer of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party and chief of the Nazi Party Chancellery, and the position of the defendant Rosenberg as the Fuehrer's Representative, for the whole spiritual and philosophical education of the Nazi Party give to the views of these defendants on religion and religious policy the highest official backing. The anti-Christian utterance and policies of these two defendants reveal a community of mind and intention amongst the most powerful leaders of the party which was amply confirmed, as the evidence will show, by the actual treatment of the churches since 1933 and throughout the course of the conspiracy. I now offer in evidence document 2349-PS, U.S.A. Exhibit No. 352, which is an excerpt from the book "The Myth of the 20th Century", written by the defendant Rosenberg. I quote from that document:
"The idea of honor - national honor - is for us and doing.
It does not admit of any equal-valued Masonic humanity, nor the Roman philosophy."
I now offer in evidence document 848-PS, U.S.A. Exhibit No. 353, which is a Gestapo telegram, dated 24 July 1938, dispatched from Berlin to Nurnberg, dealing with demonstrations and acts of violence against Bishop Sproll in Rottenburg. The Gestapo office in Berlin wired its Nurnberg office a teletype account received from its Stuttgart office of against Bishop Sproll.
I quote from the 4th paragraph of page one of the English translation of document 848-PS, which reads as follows:
"The Party on 23 July 1939 from 2100 on carried out the third demonstration against Bishop Sproll. Participants, about 2500-3000 were brought from outside by bus, etc. The Rottenburg populace again did not participate in the demonstration. This town took a rather hostile attitude toward the demonstrations. The action got completely out of hand of the Party member responsible for it. The demonstrators stormed the palace, beat in the gates and doors. About 150 to 200 people forced their way into the palace, searched through the rooms, threw files out of the windows and rummaged through the beds in the rooms of the palace. One bed was ignited. The Bishop was with Archbishop Groeber of Freiburg and the ladies and gentlemen of his menage in the chapel at prayer. About 25 to 30 people pressed into this chapel and molested those present. Bishop Groeber was taken for Bishop Sproll. He was grabbed by the robe and dragged back and forth." to turn to the Fuehrer and Reich minister of the Interior, Dr. Frick, anew," and the Gestapo official added that he had found a full report of the demonstration after "suppressing counter mass meetings." letter to the Minister of State and Chief of the Praesidium Chancellery, Berlin, stating that Bishop Sproll had angered the population by abstaining from the plebiscite of 10 April. I now offer in evidence document No. 849-PS, USA Exhibit No. 354. In this letter Kerrl stated that the Gauleiter and Governor of Wuettemberg had decided that in the interest of preserving the State's authority and in the interest of quiet and order, Bishop Sproll could no longer remain in office. I quote from the third paragraph of the first page of the document, No. 849-PS:
"The Reich Governor had explained to the Ecclesiastical Board that he would no longer regard Bishop Sproll as Head of the Diocese of Rottenburg on account of his refraining from the election in the office and that he desired Bishop Sproll to leave the Gau area because he could assume no guarantee for his personal safety; that in the case of the return of the Bishop of Rottenburg he would see to it that all personal and official intercourse with him on the part of State offices as well as Party offices and the Armed Forces would be denied."
Foreign Office, through the German Embassy at the Vatican, to urge the Holy See to persuade Bishop Sproll to resign his Bish pric. Kerrl concludes by stating that should the effort to procure the Bishop's resignation prove unsuccessful, "the Bishop would have to be exiled from the land or there would have to be a complete boycott of the Bishop by the authorities."
THE PRESIDENT: Where is that that you are reading now?
COLONEL STOREY: Second page, war the end--second page of the English translation, about six lines from the bottom.
THE PRESIDENT: All right.
COLONEL STOREY: On 14 July 1939 the defendant Bormann in his capacity as deputy of the Fuehrer, issued a Party regulation which provided that Party members entering the clergy or undertaking the study of theology would have to leave the Party. I now offer in evidence Document 840-PS, USA Exhibit 355, and this is a copy of a regulation of Bormann, dated 14 July 1939, relating to the admission of clergy and students of theology into the NS DAP. I quote from the last paragraph of the English translation of Document 840-PS, which reads as follows:
"I decree that in the future Party members who enter the clergy or who turn in the study of theology have to leave the Party." 9 February 1937, in which he had ruled that the admission of members of the clergy into the Party was to be avoided. In this decree also Borman refers with approval to a regulation of the Reich Treasurer of the Party, dated 10 May 1939, providing that "clergymen, as well as other fellow Germans, who are also closely connected with the church, cannot be admitted into the Party." from the Allocution of His Holiness Pope Pius XII, to the Sacred College, June 1945. In this address His Holiness, after declaring that he had acquired an appreciation of the great qualities of the German people in the course of 12 years of residence in their midst, expressed the hope that Germany Could rise to new dignity and new life once it had laid the satanic specter raised by National Socialism and the guilty have expiated the crimes they have committed.
After referring to repeated violations by the German government of the Concordat concluded in 1933, His Holiness declared as follows, and I quote from the last paragraph of Page One of the English translation of Document 3268-PS:
"The struggle against the Church did, in fact, become ever more bitter; there was the dissolution of Catholic organizations; the gradual suppression of the flourishin Catholic schools, both public and private; the enforced weaning of youth from family and Church; the pressure brought to bear on the conscience of citizens, and especially of civil servants; the systematic defamation, by means of a clover, closely-organized propaganda, of the Church, the clergy, the faithful, the Church's institutions, teachings and history; the closing, dissolution, confiscation of religious houses and other ecclesiastical institutions; the complete suppression of the Catholic press and publishing houses.
"In the meantime the Holy See itself multiplied its representations and protests to governing authorities in Germany, reminding them, in clear and energetic language, of their duty to respect and fulfill the obligations of the natural law itself that were confined by the Concordat. long-suffering patience of a father Our great Predecessor, Pius XI, fulfilled his mission as Supreme Pontiff with intrepid courage.
"But when, after he had tried all means of persuasion in vain, he saw himself clearly faced with deliberate violations of a solemn pact, with a religious persecution masked or open, but always rigorously organized, he proclaimed to the world on Passion Sunday 1937, in his Encyclical 'Mit brennender Sorge,' what National-Socialism really was: the arrogant apostasy from Jesus Christ, the denial of His doctrine and of His work of redemption, the cult of violence, the idolatry of race and blood, the overthrow of human liberty and dignity.
"From the prisons, concentration camps and fortresses are now pouring out, together with the political prisoners, also the crowds of those, whether clergy or laymen, whose only crime was their fidelity to Christ and to the faith of their fathers or the dauntless fulfillment of their duties as priests.
"In the forefront, the number and harshness of the treatment meted out to them, were the Polish priests. From 1940 to 1945, 2,800 Polish ecclesiastica and religious were imprisoned in that camp; among them was the Auxiliary bishop of Wloclawek, who died there of typhus. In April last there were left only 816, all the others being dead except for two or three transferred to another camp. In the summer of 1942, 480 Germanspeaking ministers of religion were known to be gathered there; of these, 45 were Protestants, all the others Catholic priests. In spite of the continuous inflow of now internees, especially from some diseases of Bavaria, Rhenania and Westphalia, their number, as a result of the high rate of mortality, at the beginning of this year, did not surpass 350. Nor should we pass over in silence those belonging to occupied territories, Holland, Belgium, France (among whom the Bishop of Clermont), Luxembourg, Slovenia, Italy. Many of those priests and laymen endured indescribable sufferings for their faith and for their vocation. In one case the hatred of the impious against Christ reached the point of parodying on the person of an interned priest, with barbed wire, the scourging and crowning with thorns of our Redeemer."
Are you ready for another document?
THE PRESIDENT: I think perhaps it would be time now to adjourn.
(Whereupon at 1700 hours the hearing of the Tribunal adjourned to reconvene at 1000 hours, 18 December 1945.)
Tribunal, in the matter of: The United States of 12:
45 Lord Justice Lawrence, presiding.
COLONEL STOREY: If the Tribunal please, before adjourning yesterday afternoon your Honors properly asked a question or two about documents 3051 and 3063, to which I think I have an answer that will help the Tribunal. I believe it might be of assistance to turn to that document.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
COLONEL STOREY: Your Honors asked yesterday afternoon, since this had to do with the SD and the SS, how the Party was involved, and I should like to quote paragraph numbered 1 on page 2 of the English translation, which answers this question. tion, and I am quoting: The Chiefs of the State Police, or their deputies, must get in telephonic contact with the political leaders (Gauleitung odor Kreisleitung) who have jurisdiction over their districts, and have to arrange a joint meeting with the appropriate inspector or commander of the Order Police to discuss the organization of the demonstrations. At these discussions the political leaders have to be informed that the German Police has received from the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police the following instructions, in accordance with which the political leaders should adjust their own measures." two documents below -
THE PRESIDENT (Interposing): What was the document?
COLONEL STOREY: Number 3036 was the next, just below that one, if Your Honor please.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
COLONEL STOREY: That, if you recall, Your Honor, was a report from the Supreme Court Justice Buch to the Defendant Goering concerning punishment for the uprisings that followed the 9th and 10th of November demonstration. I should like to quote the portion signed by the Defendant Goering. It is, I believe, the second page of the English translation.
It is dated: "Berlin, 22 February, 1939."
"Dear Party Member Buch:
"I thank you for forwarding the report of your special senate about the procedure hitherto concluded concerning the excesses on the occasion of the anti-Jewish operations of 9 and 10 November 1938, of which I have taken cognizance.
"Heil Hitler, yours, Goering." following, of the English translation, I think the next two paragraphs will answer Your Honor's question. I quote:
"On the evening of 9 November 1938, Reich propaganda director Party Member Dr. Goebbels told the Party leaders assembled at a social evening in the old town hall in Munich, that in the districts (Gauen) of Kurhessen and Magdeburg-Anhalt it had come to hostile Jewish demonstrations, during which Jewish shops were demolished and synagogues were set on fire. The Fuehrer, at Goebbels' suggestion, had decided that such demonstrations were not to be prepared or organized by the Party, but so far as they originated spontaneously, they were not to be discouraged either. In other respects, Party Member Dr. Goebbels carried out the purport of what was prescribed in the teletype of the Reich propaganda administration of 10 November, 1938.
"It was probably understood by all of the Party leaders present" -
THE PRESIDENT (Interposing): What does "12:30 to 1 o'clock" mean there? COLONEL STOREY: That is the time of the teletype message, I assume, your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
COLONEL STOREY: "It was probably understood by all the Party leaders present, from the oral instructions of the Reich propaganda director, that the Party should not appear outwardly as the originator of the demonstrations but in reality should organize and execute them. Instructions in this sense were telephoned immediately -- thus a considerable time before transmission of the first teletype -- to the bureaux of their districts (Gaue) by a large part of the Party members present." Blockleiter would be affected. Your Honors will recall that in the instructions to the Blockleiter defining his offices it was stated that his instructions would be received orally and they would be transmitted orally, and never to use writing except in extreme cases. Therefore, I say that these quoted portions clearly indicate that the Party was in fact used in connection with these famous 9 and 10 November, 1938, anti-Jewish demonstrations. afternoon: confiscation of church and religious property.
I offer in evidence Document 072-PS, which is U.S. Exhibit 357, which is a letter dated 19 April 1941, from Reichsleiter Bormann to Reichsleiter Rosenberg. This letter exposes the participation of the Gauleiter in measures relating to the confiscation of religious property. translation of Document 072-PS, which reads:
"The libraries and art objects of the monasteries confiscated in the Reich were to remain for the time being in these monasteries, insofar as the Gauleiter had not determined otherwise." Heydrich, wrote a letter to Reichsfuehrer SS, Himmler, proposing that certain listed churches and monasteries be confiscated for the accommodation of so-called racial Germans.
The Tribunal, of course, will recall Himmler's position. expropriation of religious property would not be feasible at the time, Heydrich suggested certain specious interim actions with respect to the church properties in question, to be followed progressively by outright confiscation. of your Honors' exhibit -- as U.S. Exhibit 358. R-101, and at the bottom you will notice they are labeled "A", "B", and "C". The first one is R-101A, and I quote the first five paragraphs on page 2 of the English translation:
"Enclosed is a list of church possessions which might be available for the accommodation of Racial Germans. The list, which please return, is supplemented by correspondence and illustrated material pertinent to the subject.
"For political reasons, expropriation without indemnity of the entire property of the churches and religious orders will hardly be possible at this time.
"Expropriation with indemnity or in return for assignment of other lands and grounds will be even less possible.
"It is therefore suggested that the respective authorities of the Orders be instructed that they make available the monasteries concerned for the accommodation of Racial Germans and remove their own members to other less populous monasteries."
"very good."
"The final expropriation of these properties thus placed at our disposal can then be carried out step by step in course of time." letter to the Reich Commissar for the consolidation of Germandom, enclosing a copy of the foregoing letter from Heydrich to Himmler to 21 February, 1940, proposing the confiscation of church properties. The letter of 5 April, 1940 is included in the document R-101A, just introduced in evidence; and I quote from the second sentence of the first paragraph thereof, on page 1 of the English translation of Document R-101A. It is the first paragraph of page 1 of that same document.
I quote:
"The Reich leader SS has agreed to the proposals made in the enclosed letter and has ordered the matter to be dealt with by collaboration between the Chief of the Security Police and Security Service and your office."
If Your Honor please, I believe it is on page 1 of R-101A. It is from the second sentence of the first paragraph on R-101A. It is on the same one as the tab is, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
COLONEL STOREY: I now offer in evidence Document R-101C. Exhibit 358. This is a letter dated July 30, 1941, written by an SS Standartenfuehrer, whose signature is illegible, to the Reich Leader of the SS. The letter supplies further evidence of the participation of the Gauleiter in the seizure of church property. I quote from the first three paragraphs of the English translation of document R-101C-101C will be shown at the bottom of the page.
"Further to report of 30 May, 1941, this office considers it its duty to call the Reich Leader's attention to the development which is currently taking place in the incorporated Eastern countries with regard to seizure and confiscation of church property.
"As soon as the Reich laws on expropriation had been introduced, the Reich Governor and Gauleiter in the Wartheland adopted the practice of expropriating real estate belonging to churches for use as dwellings. He grants compensation to the extent of the assessed value and pays the equivalent amount into blocked accounts.
"Moreover, the East German Estate Administration limited reports that in the Warthegau all real estate owned by the churches is being claimed by the local Gau administrations." Number 358, US Exhibit already in evidence. This is a letter from the Chief of Staff of the Main Office to Himmler, dated 30 March, 1942, dealing with the confiscation of church property. The letter evidences the active participation of the party Chancellery in the confiscation of religious property. concerning the policy of the SS in suspending all payment of rent to monasterie and other church institutions whose property had been expropriated. The letter discusses a proposal made by the Reich Minister of the Interior, in which the Party Chancery prominently participated, to the effect that the church institutions should be paid amounts corresponding to current mortgage charges on the premises without realizing any profit. The writer further suggests that such payments should never be made directly to the ecclesiastical institutions, but rather should be made to the creditors of such institutions.
I now quote from the fourth sentence on page 3 of that document:
"Such an arrangement would be in line with the basic idea of the settlement originally worked out between the Party Chancery and the Reich Minister of the Interior."
the Defendant Frick. suppression of religious publications and interfered with free religious education. of the Fuehrer Bormann transmitted to the Defendant Rosenberg a photostatic copy of a letter from Gauleiter Florian, dated 23 September, 1940, which expressed the Gauleiter's intense disapproval, on Nazi ideological grounds, of a religious pamphlet entitled, "The Spirit and Soul of the Soldiers," written by a Major General von Rabenau.
I now offer in evidence Document 064-PS; US Exhibit 359. It is an original letter signed by Rosenberg attaching the copy of that matter. It contains Defendant Bermann's letter to Rosenberg, dated 27 September, 1940, transmitting the Gauleiter's letter of 23 September, 1940 to the Defendant Hess, in which the Gauleiter urges that the religious writings of General von Rabenau be suppressed. In his letter to the Defendant Hess, Gauleiter Florian discusses a conversation he had with General von Rabenau at the close of a lecture delivered by the General to a group of younger Army officers at Aachen. This conversation illumines the hostile attitude of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party towards the Christian churches. I quote from the second sentence of the second paragraph of the second page of the Gauleiter's letter to the Defendant Hess, which appears on page 2 of the English Translation -- the second paragraph -- and I quote:
"After he had affirmed the necessity of the churches, Rabenau said, with emphasized self-assurance, something like the following: 'Dear Gauleiter, the party is making mistake after mistake in the business with the churches. Obtain for me the necessary powers from the Fuehrer and I guarantee that I shall succeed in a few months in establishing peace with the churches for all time.' After this catastrophic ignorance, I gave up the conversation.
"Dear Party Member Hess: The reading of von Rabenau's pamphlet 'Spirit and Soul of the Soldier' has reminded me again of this. In this brochure, Rabenau affirms the necessity of the Church straightforward and clearly, even if it is prudently careful. He writes on page 28: 'There could be more examples; they would suffice to show that a soldier in this world can scarcely get along without thoughts about the next one.' Because von Rabenau is falsely based spiritually, I consider his activities as an educator in spiritual affairs as dangerous, and I am of the opinion that his educational writings are to be dispensed with absolutely and that the publication section of the NSDAP can and must renounce these writings. The churches with their Christianity are this danger against which the struggle must always be carried on." Christian churches is further revealed by the defendant Bormann's instruction to the Defendant Rosenberg, set forth in Bormann's letter of transmittal that Rosenberg "take action" on the Gauleiter's recommendation that the General's writings be suppressed.
I now offer in evidence Document 089-PS, USA Exhibit No. 360, which is a letter from the Defendant Bormann, as Deputy of the Fuehrer, to the Defendant Rosenberg, dated 8 March, 1940, enclosing a copy of Bormann's letter of the same date to Reichsleiter Amann. Amann was a top member of the Leadership Corps by virtue of his position as Reichsleiter for the Press and Leader of the Party Publishing Company. In this letter to Amann, Bormann expresses his dismay and dissatisfaction that only 10 percent of the 3,000 Protestant periodicals in Germany have ceased publication for what are described as "paper saving" reasons. Bormann then advises Reichsleiter Amann that "The distribution of any paper whatsoever for such periodicals was barred."
of Bormann's letter to Amann, which appears on the first page -- the second paragraph -- of the English translation;
"I urge you to see to it, in any redistribution of paper to be considered later, that the confessional writing, which, according to experiences so far gathered, possesses very doubtful value for strengthening the power of resistance of the people toward the external foe, receives still sharper restrictions in favor of literature, politically and ideologically more valuable."
I next offer in evidence Document 101-PS, U.S.A. Exhibit No. 361, which is a letter from the Defendant Bormann, again, to Reichsleiter Rosenberg, dated the 17th of January, 1940, expressing the Party's opposition to the circulation of religious literature to the members of the German Armed Forces. Among the soldiers of the United Nations, the proposition that there are no atheists in the fox-holes received a wide and reverent acceptation. However, in this document, there is a contrary meaning, and I quote from page 1 of the English translation, which reads:
"Nearly all the districts (that is Gaue) report to me regularly that the churches of both confessions are administering spiritually to members of the Armed Forces. This administering finds its expression especially in the fact that soldiers are being sent religious publications by the spiritual leaders of the home congregations. These publications are, in part, very cleverly composed. I have repeated reports that these publications are being read by the troops and thereby exercise a certain influence on the morale.
"I have, in the past, sought by sounding out the General Field Marshal, the High Command of the Armed Forces, and... Reich Director Amann, to restrict considerably the production and shipment of publications of this type. The result of these efforts remains unsatisfactory. As Reichsleiter Amann has repeatedly informed me, the restriction of these pamphlets by means of the... paper rationing has not been achieved because the paper...is being purchased on the open market.
"If the influencing of the soldiers by the church is to be effectively combatted, this will only be accomplished by producing many good publications in the shortest possible time under the supervision of the Party...
"Thus at the last meeting of the Deputy Gauleiters, comments were uttered. on this matter to the effect that a considerable quanity of such publications are not available.
"I maintain that it is necessary that in the near future we transmit to the Party Service Offices down to Ortsgruppenleitern a list of additional publications of this sort which should be sent to our soldiers by the Ortsgruppen..." End of quotation. closing and dissolution of theological schools and other religious institutions. I now offer in evidence document No. 122-PS, USA Exhibit No. 362, which, again, is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to the Defendant Rosenberg, in his capacity as the Fuehrer's Representative for the Supervision of Spiritual and Ideological Schooling and Education of the NSDAP. This letter is dated 17th April, 1939, and transmits to Rosenberg an enclosed photostatic copy of a plan suggested by the Reich Minister for Science, Education and Training for the combining and closing of certain specifically listed theological faculties. In his letter of transmittal the Defendant Bormann requested Reichsleiter Rosenberg, to take "cognizance and prompt action" with respect to proposed suppression of religious institutions. I now quote from the next to last paragraph of page 2 of the English translation, in which the plan to suppress the religious institutions is summarized, and which reads:
"To recapitulate this plan would include the complete closing of the theological faculties at Innsbruck, Salzburg and Munich, the transfer of the faculty of Graz to Vienna, and the vanishing of four Catholic faculties; closing of three Catholic theological faculties or higher schools, and of four evangelical faculties in the Winter semester 1939/1940; closing of one further Catholic and of three further evangelical faculties in the near future."
Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party shares a responsibility for the measures taken to subvert the Christian Churches and persecute the Christian clergy, both in Germany and in German-occupied territories of Europe. The evidence just offered, together with that previously presented by the Prosecution, demonstrates that there was general participation by the Leadership Corps, ranging from the Reichsleiter through the Gauleiter, adhered to by the rank anf file, in the deliberate program undertaken to undermine Christian religion. We stress the significance of the appointment of the Defendant Rosenberg, whose anti-Christian views are open and notorious, as the Fuehrer's 'delegate' or representative for the whole spiritual and philosophical education of the Nazi Party.
It was precisely this position which gave Rosenberg his seat in the Reichsleitung, the Central staff of the Party comprising all the Reichsleiter. But emphasis is placed not merely upon the fact that anti-Christs, such as the Defendants Bormann and Rosenberg, held directive positions within the Leadership Corps, but upon the further fact that their directives and orders were passed down the chain of command of the Leadership Corps, and caused the participation of its membership in acts subversive of the Christian Church.
In Document No. D-75, which I believe has previously been introduced, and I'm just going to quote one line from it, the Defendant Bormann stated:
"Nazism and Christianity are irreconcilable concepts." by his prophesy as to which of the two would first pass away. destruction of the free trade unions, and the imposition of conspiratorial control over the productive labor of the German nation. for the destruction of the independent trade unions has been previously introduced in evidence in the U.S.A. Exhibit G which was the document book containing the evidentiary materials relating to the destruction of the trade unions. The brief evidence, which I shall now present, is offered to prove the responsibility of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party for the smashing of the independent unions and the imposition of conspiratorial control over the productive labor capacity of the German nation. Corps participated in the smashing and dissolution of the independent trade unions of Germany. The Defendant Robert Ley, precisely by virtue of his office as Reich Organization Leader and Reichsleiter in the Leadership Corps, was directed by Hitler in mid-April 1939 to smash the independent unions.
I will pass on over now to Document 392, U.S.A. Exhibit No. 326, and I quote, beginning at the top of page 1 of the English translation:
"On Tuesday, 2 May 1933, the coordination action of the "The essential part of the action is to be directed against "Anything beyond that which is dependent upon the free trade unions is left to the discretion of the Gauleiter's judgement.
"The Gauleiter are responsible for the execution of the coord ination action in the individual areas.
Supporters of the "The Gauleiter is to proceed with his measures on a basis of "In the Reich, the following will be occupied:
The directing offices of the unions" to be taken into protective custody.
The next provision:
"Exceptions are granted only with the permission of the Gau "It is understood that this action is to proceed in a strongly disciplined fashion.
The Gauleiter are responsible in this respect.
They are to hold the direction of the action (signed) Dr. Robert Ley". The defendant Ley's order for the dissolution of the independent trade unions was carried out as planned and directed.