"Naval Supreme Commander with the Fuehrer: memorandum of the Chief, Naval Operations.
Observation on the strategic situation in the Eastern Mediterranean after the Balkan campaign and the occupation of Crete and further conduct of the war."
A few sentences below:
"The memorandum points with impressive clarity to the decisive aims of the war in the Near East. Their advancement has moved into grasping distance by the successes in the Aegean area, and the memorandum emphasizes that the offensive utilization of the present factorable situation must take place with the greatest acceleration and energy, before England has again strengthened her position in the Near East with help from the United States of America. The memorandum realizes the unalterable fact that the campaign against Russia would be opened very shortly, demands, however, that the undertaking 'Barbarossa' which because of the magnitude of its aims naturally stands in the foreground of the operational plans of the armed forces leadership, must under no circumstances lead to an abandonment, diminishing delay of the conduct of the war in the Eastern Mediterranean." in his Nazi war plans. for the Navy in the campaign against Russia, and the first naval operational plan against Russia was a particularly perfidious one. I refer the Tribunal to the document C-170 which I have just been reading from, at page 59 of the document book. There the Tribunal will see an entry for the 15th of June, 1941;
"On the proposal of Chief Naval Operations, use of arms against Russian submarines, south of the northern boundary of the Poland warning area is permitted immediately; ruthless destruction is to be aimed at." for this action in his letter, Document C-38, which is at page 11 of the document book and which will be GB-223. The Tribunal sees that Keitel's letter is dated the 15th of June, 1941:
"Subject: Offensive action against enemy submarines in the Baltic Sea.
"To:
"High Command of the Navy - OKM (SKL) "Offensive action against submarine south of the line Memel-southern tip of Oeland is authorized if the boats cannot be definitely identified as Swedish during the approach by German naval forces.
"The reason to be given up to B-day is that our naval forces believed to be dealing with penetrating British submarines." that the Nazi attack of Russia did not take place until the 22nd of June of 1941. In the meantime, Raeder was urging Hitler, as early as the 18th of March, 1941, to enlarge the scope of the world war by inducing Japan to seize Singapore. The relevant document is C-152, GB-122, at page 23 of the document book. There is just one paragraph which I would like to be permitted to read. The document describes the audience of Raeder with Hitler on the 18th of March and the entries in it, in fact, represent Raeder's own views:
"Japan must take steps to seize Singapore as soon as possible, since the opportunity will never again be as favorable (whole English Fleet contained; unpreparedness of U.S.A. for war against Japan; inferiority of U.S. Fleet vis-a-vis the Japanese). Japan is indeed making preparations for this action, but according to all declarations made by Japanese officers she will only carry it out if Germany proceeds to land in England. Germany must therefore concentrate all her efforts on spurring Japan to act immediately. If Japan has Singapore all other East Asiatic questions regarding the U.S.A. and England are thereby solved (Guam, Philippines, Borneo, Dutch East Indies).
"Japan wishes if possible to avoid war against U.S.A. She can do so if she determinedly takes Singapore as soon as possible." this proposition of Raeder's of inducing the Japanese to take offensive action against Singapore. I refer the Tribunal again to Document C-170 and to an entry at page 56 of the document book, for the 20th of April, 1941.
And a few sentences from that read:
"Naval Supreme Commander with the Fuehrer: Navy Supreme Commander asks about result of Matsuoka's visit, and evaluation of Japanese-Russian pact. Fuehrer has informed Matsuoka, 'that Russia will not be touched if she behaves friendly according to the treaty. Otherwise, he reserves action for himself.' Japan-Russia pact has been concluded in agreement with Germany, and is to prevent Japan from advancing against Vladisvostok, and to cause her to attack Singapore." C-66, at page 13 of the document book. The document C-66 has already been exhibited as GB-81. I will refer the court to paragraph 3 at page 13 of the document book. At that time the Fuehrer was firmly resolved on a surprise attack on Russia, regardless of what was the Russian attitude to Germany. This, according to reports coming in, was frequently changing, and "there follows this interesting sentence:
"The communication to Matsuoka was designed entirely as a camouflage measure and to ensure surprise." is typical of the kind of jungle diplomacy with which Raeder associated himself.
I now, with the Tribunal's permission turn from the field of diplomacy to the final aspect of the case against Raeder, namely, crimes at sea.
The prosecution's summation is that Raeder throughout his career showed a complete disregard for any international rule or usage of war which conflicted in the slightest with his intention of carrying through the Nazi program of conquest. I propose to submit to the Tribunal a few examples of Raeder's flouting of the law and customs of civilized states. in the document U.K.65, which the Tribunal will find at page 98 of the document book, and which will be Exhibit GB-224. Now that document, U K 65, is a very long memorandum compiled by Raeder and the German Naval War Staff on the 15th of October 1939: that is to say, only a few weeks after the war started.
And it is a memorandum on the subject of the intensification of the war at sea, and I desire to draw the Tribunal's attention to the bottom paragraph at page 98 of the document book. It is headed: "Possibilities of future naval warfare."
"I. Military requirements for the decisive struggle against Great Britain.
"Our naval strategy will have to employ all the military means at our disposal as expeditiously as possible. Military success can be most confidently expected if we attack British sea-communications wherever they are accessible to us with the greatest ruthlessness; the final aim of such attacks is to cut off all imports into and exports from Britain. We should try to consider the requirements. It is desirable to base all military measures taken on existing international law; however measure's which are considered necessary from a military point of view, provided a decisive success can be expected from them, will have to be carried out, even if they are not covered by existing international law. In principle therefore, any means of warfare which is effective in breaking enemy resistance should be used on some legal conception," -- the nature of which is not specified, -- "even if that entails the creation of a new code of naval warfare.
"The supreme "war Council will have to decide what measures of military and legal nature are to be taken. Once it has been decided to conduct economic warfare; in its most ruthless form, in fulfillment of military requirements this decision is to be adhered to under all circumstances and under no circumstances may such a decision for the most ruthless form of economic warfare, once it has been made, be dropped or released under political pressure from neutral powers; that is what happened in the World War to our own detriment. Every protest by neutral powers must be turned down. Even threats of further countries, including the U.S. coming into the war which can be expected with certainty should the war last a long time, must not lead to a relaxation in the form of economic warfare once embarked union. The more ruthlessly economic warfare is waged, the earliest will it show results and the sooner will the war come to an end. The economic effect of such military measures on our own war economy must be fully recognized and compensated through immediate re-orientation of German war economy and the re-drafting of the respective agreements with neutral state; for this, strong political and economic pressure must be employed if necessary."
of the prosecution is that as an active member of the inner councils of the Nazi state right up to 1943, Raeder must share responsibility for the many war crimes committed by his confederates and underlings in the course of their wars.
are certain crime which the prosecution submits were essentially initiated and passed down the naval chain of command by Raeder himself. will be GB-225. Those are minutes of a meeting between Hitler and Raeder on the 30th of December 1939. I read with the Court's approval the second paragraph beginning:
"The chief of naval war staff requests that full power be given to the naval war staff in making any intensification suited to the situation and to the means of war. The Fuehrer fundamentally agrees to to the sinking without warning of Greek ships in the American prohibited area in which the fiction of mine danger can be upheld, e.g., the Bristol Channel." Neutral. I submit that this is another demonstration of the fact that Raeder was a man without principle. effort, because in the document C-12, which is at page 1 of the document book, the Tribunal will see that a directive to the effect of those naval views was issued on the 30th of December 1939 by the OKW, being signed by the defendant Yodl. And that document C-12 will be GB-226. It is an interesting document. It is dated the 30th December 1939, and it reads:
"On the 30th of December 1939, according to a report of Ob.d.M., the Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces decided that:
"(1) Greek merchant ships in the area around England declared by U.S.A. to be a barred zone are to be treated as enemy vessels, "(2) In the Bristol Channel, all shipping may be attached without warning - where the impression of a mining incident can be created.
"Both measures are authorized to come into effect immediately." it was under Raeder's command, towards neutral shipping, is found in an entry in Yodl's Diary-
THE PRESIDENT: I think perhaps you should read the pencil note, had'nt you?
MR. ELWYN JONES: The pencil note on the document C-12 reads:
"Add to (1) Attack must be carried out without being seen. the denial of the sinking of these steamships in case the expected protests are made must be possible." of Raeder's navy towards neutral shipping is found in an entry in Yodl's diary for the 16th of June 1942, at page 112 of the document book, which is Exhibit 1807-PS, will be GB-227. This extract from Yodl's diary is dated the 16th of June 1942 and it reads:
"The operational staff of the Navy (Skl), applied on the 29th May for permission to attack the Brazilian sea and air forces. The Skl considers that a sudden blow against the Brazilian naval and merchant ships is expedient at this juncture (a) because defense measures are still incomplete; (b) because there is th possibility of achieving surprise; and (c) because Brazil is to all intents and purposes fighting Germany at sea."
This, the Tribunal will see, was a plan of a kind of Brazilian "Pearl Harbor" because the Tribunal will recollect that the war did not in effect break out between Germany and Brazil until the 22nd of August 1942. Raeder himself also caused the Navy to participate in war crimes ordered by other conspirators, and I shall give one example only of that. of the document book shows, the head of the operations division of the naval war staff promulgated to naval commands Hitler's notorious order of the 18th of October 1942 with regard to the shooting of commandos which in my summation amounted to denying the protection of the Geneva Convention to captured commandos. 1942, and it reads:
"Enclosed please find a Fuehrer Order regarding annihilation of terror and sabotage units.
"This order must not be distributed in writing by Flotilla leaders, Section Commanders or officers of this rank.
"After verbal distribution to subordinate sections the above authorities must hand this order over to the next highest section which is responsible for its confiscation and destruction." What clearer indication can there be than the nature of these instructions as to the naval commander's appreciation of the wrongfulness of the murders Hitler ordered.
THE PRESIDENT: Shall we adjourn now for ten minutes?
(A recess was taken from 19520 to 1530 hours.)
MR. JONES: I have drawn the Tribunal's attention to the circulation of Hitler's order to shoot the commandos. I now draw the Tribunal's attention to an example of the execution of that order by the German Navy during the period when Raeder was its Commander.
My learned friend Mr. Roberts has already given the Tribunal an account of a commando operation of December, 1942, which had as its objective an attack on shipping in Bordeaux harbour. The Tribunal will recollect that the Wehrmacht account he quoted, UK 57, Exhibit GB 164, stated that six of the ten ;articipants in that commando raid were arrested and that all were shot on the 23 March 1943.
In connection with that episode the Prosecution has a further document throwing some light on this Bordeaux incident and showing how much more expediously the navy under Raeder had implemented Hitler's order on this particular occasion. I draw the Court's attention to Document C 176, at page 61 of the document book, GB Exhibit 228. Bachmann, who was the German Flag Officer in charge of Western France, The first entry, at page 61, is dated 10 December 1942 and reads:
"About 1015. Telephone call from personal representative of the Officer-in-charge of the Security Service in Paris, SS-Obersturmfuehrer Dr. Schmidt to Flag Officer in charge's Flat Lieutenant, requesting postponement of the shooting, as interrogation had not been concluded.
"After consultation with the Chief of Operations Staff the Security Service had been directed to get approval direct from Headquarters.
"1820. Security Service, Bordeaux, requested Security Service authorities at Fuehrer's headquarters to postpone the shooting for three days. Interrogations continued for the time being."
The next day, the 11 December 1942:
"Shooting of the two prisoners was carried out by a unit (strength 1/16) belonging to the naval officer in charge Bordeaux, in the presence of an officer of the Security Service, Bordeaux, on order of the Fuehrer," entry: "Security Service should have done this. Phone Flag Officer in Charge in future cases"; and as the Tribunal knows, "in future cases" was in fact an order that commandos should be handed over to the Security Service to be shot. first two gallant men to be shot from the Bordeaux operation were actually put to death by a naval firing party on the 11th of December, 1942. They were Sergeant Wallace and Marine Ewart, who had the misfortune to be captured on the 8th of December in the preliminary stages of the operation. which is found in Document D 658.
THE PRESIDENT: What do the last two lines about the operation being particularly favored mean?
MR. JONES: "The operation was particularly favored by the weather conditions and the dark night"--that presumably, My Lord, is a reference to the operation of the marine commandos in successfully blowing up a number of German ships in Bordeaux harbour.
Alternately, I am advised by the naval officer who is assisting me, that it probably is a reference to the conditions prevailing at the time of the shooting of the two men.
THE PRESIDENT: I should have thought so.
MR, JONES: I stand corrected by the British Navy upon my interpretation of the matter.
THE PRESIDENT: Doesn't it indicate that naval men had done it?
MR. JONES: The shooting was in fact, as the entry on 11 December 15th Jan - A - O'B - 1
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MR. JONES: I was seeking to draw the Tribunal's attention to document D-658, at page 109, Exhibit GB-229.
It reads:
"The Naval Commander, West France, reports that during the and water for several days were found.
Attempts to salvage the canoe were unsuccessful.
The Naval Commander, West France, has ordered discovered; their execution has, however, been postponed in order "According to a Wehrmacht report, both soldiers have meanwhile been shot.
The measure would be in accordance with the Fuehrer's law, since the soldiers were in uniform."
principle or of professional honor and integrity. This operation Prosecution's case against the Defendant Raeder.
The Prosecution's submission is that he was not just a military puppet carrying out political orders.
The Tribunal has seen that Navy behind the back of the Reichstag.
When the Nazis seized power, he unreservedly joined forces with them.
He was the prime as any other Defendant.
He accepted membership of their main a mendacious politician.
And he furthered, as I have submitted, their brutal methods of warfare.
And yet of all these conspirators Raeder was one of the first to fall from his high position.
It is Poland came as a disappointment to him.
His vision of a Nazi Armada mastering the Atlantic reckoned without Ribbentrop's diplomacy and Hitler's ideas of strategy.
I would draw the Tribunal's attention to document C-161, at retirement, entitled, "The Importance of German Surface Forces for the War by the powers signatory to the Three Power Pact."
The material entry reads:
"It was planned by the leaders of the National Socialist Reich to give the German Navy by 1944/45 such a strength that it "In 1939, the war having begun five years earlier, the construction of these forces was still in its initial stages."
high seas fleet would be required. The Tribunal has seen that his attack on an inoffensive Norway.
He made many efforts to of the customs and laws of the sea.
But his further schemes, I invite the Court's attention to the document D-655, at in Raeder's handwriting of his interview with Hitler on the 6th of January, 1943, which led to Raeder's retirement.
I am merely proposing to read the fifth paragraph, in which Raeder records:
"If the Fuehrer was anxious to demonstrate that the parting But a new C. in C. Navy with full responsibility for this office must be appointed.
The position of General Inspector, or whatever it was decided to call it, must be purely nominal."
"Hitler," the report reads, "accepted this suggestion with alacrity.
The General Inspector could perhaps carry out special tasks for him, make tours of inspection, etc.
The name of Raeder was still to be associated with the Navy.
After C. in C. Navy January as his release date.
He would like to think over the details."
This was Raeder's twilight, and indeed a very different Day.
I now refer the Court to the final document on Raeder, an the document book, in the document D-653, Exhibit GB-232.
The first paragraph reads:
"Throughout Germany solemnities took place on the occasion of Hero Commemoration Day.
On March 12, 1939, these solemnities were rearm.
The day's chief event was the ceremony held in the Berlin State Opera House in Unter den Linden.
In the presence of Hitler Raeder made a speech, extracts of which are given below."
"National Socialism," says Raeder, "which originates from the German people as its ideology.
The German people follow the symbols also enables to make use of all the Nation's creative powers."
"This is the reason for the clear and unsparing summons to their strength, dedicated to construction and peaceful work at home to be disrupted by alien ideologies as by parasites of a foreign race."
Then a few sentences on:
"If later on we instruct in the technical handling of weapons, this task demands that the young soldier should also be taught National Socialist ideology and the problems of life. This part of the task, which becomes for us both a duty of honor and a demand which cannot be refused, can and will be carried out if we stand shoulder to shoulder and in sincere comradeship to the Party and its organization."
The next sentence:
"The armed forces and the Party thus became more and more united in attitude and spirit."
And then just two sentences on the next page:
"Germany is the protectors of all Germans within and beyond our frontiers. The shots fired at Almeria are proof of that." Almeria, carried out by a German naval squadron on the 31 May 1937 during the course of the Spanish Civil War. then a final sentence of the first paragraph of page 3:
"They all planted into a younger generation great tradition of death for a holy cause, knowing that their blood will lead the way towards the freedom of their dreams."
My submissions is that that speech of Raeder's is the final proof of his deep personal involvement in the Nazi conspiracy. There is the mixture of heroics and fatalism that led millions of Germans to slaughter. There are boasts of violence used on the people of Almeria. There is the lip service to peace by a man who planned conquest. "Armed forces and party have become more and more united in attitude and spirit" there is the authentic Nazi voice. There is the assertion of racialism. Finally, there is the anti-Semitic gesture, Raeder's contribution to the outlook that produced Belsen. Imbued with these ideas became an active participant on both the political and military level in the Nazi conspiracy to was wars of aggression and to wage them ruthlessly.
MR. ALBRECHT: May it please the Tribunal, the United States will continue with the presentation, showing the individual responsibility of the defendant von Schirach. It will be made by Captain Sprecher.
CAPTAIN SPRECHER: May it please the Tribunal, It is my responsibility to present the individual responsibility of the defendant Schirach for crimes against the peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity as they concern directly the common plan or conspiracy. having exercised a leading part in the Nazi conspiracy from 1925 until the Nazi downfall. Schirach may be grouped for purposes of convenience into three principal phases: (1) his early support of the conspirators over the period 19251929: (2) his leadership and direction of German youth over the period 1929-1945; (3) his leadership of the Reichgau Vienna as chief representative of the Nazi Party and the Nazi State in Vienna for the period July 1940 to 1945. This presentation will take up each of these principal phases after a brief listing of all the principal positions held by Schirach in both the Nazi Party and the Nazi State between 1928 and 1945. it is not intended immediately to describe the functions of each of these positions. Insofar as a description of the functions of any particular position is still felt necessary at this stage of the trial, it will be given later during the discussion of Schirach's conspiratorial acts as Nazi youth leader and as Nazi official in Vienna.
(DOCUMENTATION) this subject. The Document Book contains English translations of 29 documents. Although we feel that we have reduced the number of documents to the minimum, the document book is still large. But Schirach's subversion of German youth to the conspirators' purposes, even apart from his other acts, is indeed a large and important aspect of the conspiracy.
Most of these documents are from German publications, of which the Tribunal can take judicial notice. Therefore, in most cases, it is intended only to paraphrase from these documents unless the Tribunal requests fuller treatment in a particular instance. should be relatively short, even though Schirach's name has not thus far entered the earlier record as frequently as that of some other defendants. particularly to Major Hartley Murray, Lt. Fred Niebergall, and Mr. Norbert Heilpern for their assistance in research, analysis, translation, and organization of these materials.
Schirach agrees he held the following positions: They are found in two affidavits, and one affidavit of report dated December, 1945, which is Document 3302-PS, document book, page 110.
I want to offer that affidavit as USA Exhibit 665. The certificate, which I will only rely on for one point, is Document 2973-PS. It is already in evidence as. USA Exhibit 14.
Turning first to Document 3302-PS: This affidavit shows that Schirach was a member of the Party from 1925 to 1945; that he was a leader of the National Socialist Student League from 1929 to 1931; that he was leader of the Hitler Youth Organization from 1931 to 1940. In 1931 and 1932 Schirach was Reich Youth Leader on the staff of the SA Supreme Command, where at that time all Nazi youth organizations were centralized. Also, Schirach was Reich Youth Leader of the NSDAP from 1931 to 1940.
In 1932 Schirach became an independent Reich Leader (Reichsleiter) in the Party. Upon acquiring this relatively independent position, he no longer remained on the staff of the SA Supreme Command, since Nazi youth affairs thereafter, with the creation of the Reich Youth leadership, were directly subordinate to Hitler with Schirach at the helm. We had that kind of a condition existing in the Party where, under the leadership principle, at the pinnacle you had one man, Schirach, and you no longer had the youth affairs underneath the SA. However, within the SA, Schirach retained the rank and the title of a Gruppenfuehrer throughout the period from 1931 to 1941, and in that year, 1941, he was elevated to the rank of an SA Obergruppenfuehrer, a rank which Schirach continued to hold in the SA until the collapse. until the collapse. In other words, from before the Nasiz came to state power until the final downfall, this Defendant held the high position of a Reichsleiter, a Reich Leader, inside the Party. following positions in the Nazi state:
Reich Youth Leader, 1933 to 1940; Reich Governor (Reichsstatthalter) of the Reichsgau Vienna, 1940 to 1945 Reich Defense Commissioners of Vienna, 1940 to 1945.
the leadership of German youth in 1940, when he accepted these positions in Vienna, he still continued to hold after that time the Party position of Reich Leader for Youth Education in the NSDAP. Moreover, he was given a very special position Deputy to the Fuehrer for the Inspection of the Hitler Youth, the organization which he, of course, had held until 1940. He continued in these last two positions until the downfall. particular presentation is to show that Schirach was a member of the Reichstag from 1932 to 1945.
THE PRESIDENT: Captain Sprecher, you are going a little bit too fast for us to follow the documents.
CAPT. SPRECHER: Yes, sir. We next take up acts showing that Schirach actively promoted the NSDAP and its affiliated youth organizations before the Nazis seized power. Schirach was an intimate and a servile follower of Hitler from the year 1925. In that year, when he was only 18 years old, Schirach joined the Nazi conspirators by becoming a member of the Party. Upon special request of Hitler, he went to Munich to study Party affairs. He became active in converting students to National Socialism. I am paraphrasing there, your Honors, from par. 2 of Schirach's own affidavit, 3302-PS, found at page 110 of the Document Book. thereafter continued for two decades in a spirit of unbending loyalty to Hitler and to the principles of National Socialism. Hitler's early personal attentions to this Defendant bore fruit for the conspirators, and we find Schirach's stature in the Party circles rapidly growing through these early years. German Students League. He retained this position for two years, until 1931. Document 3464-PS, Document Book, page 121, is an extract from the 1936 Edition of the Party Manual, US Exhibit 666, which I would like to offer in evidence. This makes it clear that the purposes of the Nazi Students League were the ideological and political conversion of students in universities and technical schools to National Socialism.
After 1931 Schirach devoted his full time to Party work. Schirach was elected a Nazi member of the Reichstag. In 1932, and therefore he played his part in the unparliamentary conduct of the Nazi Reichstag members during the last months of the existence of the Reichstag as an independent instrument of government.
Some of the best evidence concerning Schirach's support of the conspiracy in its early stages comes from Schirach's own words in his book "The Hitler Youth," Excerpts from this book are found in Document No.1458-PS, Document Book page 1. It is offered in evidence as USA Exhibit 667. Now, since this book, your Honors , covers many years and many topics, I shall be required to refer to it occasionally later on.
An example of Schirach's servile loyalty to Hitler during the early years is found at page 17 of this book, page 12 of your Document Book. He writes of his early years of Party activity as follows:
"We were not yet able to account for our conception in detail. We simply believed. And when Hitler's book, 'Mein Kampf', was published, it was our bible, which we almost learned by heart in order to answer the questions of the doubters and superior critics. Almost everyone today who is leading youth in a responsible position joined us in those years." summoning German youth to membership in the Hitler Youth. When the Hitler Youth and the waring of its uniform were forbidden by law, Schirach continued his activities by illegal means. Of this period he himself writes, at page 26 of his book on "The Hitler Youth", pages 16 and 17 of your Document, Book, as follows :
#At this time the HJ (the Hitler Jugend) gained its best human material. Whoever came to us daring this illegal time, boy or girl, risked everything.