I quote from Document No. 1816-PS, USA Exhibit 261 -and I am reading from page 14 of the English translation. The Tribunal will note that this is the third full paragraph from the bottom of page 14.
"Your Excellency:
"In this matter we have already a very complete plan for Austria. There are 12,000 Jewish artisans and 5,000 Jewish retail shops in Vienna. Before the National Revolution, we had already a definite plan for tradesmen, regarding this total of 17,000 stores. Of the shops of the 12,000 artisans about 10,000 were to be closed definitely and 2,000 were to be kept open. 4,000 of the 5,000 retail stores should be closed and 1,000 should be kept open, that is, were to be Aryanized. According to this plan, between 3,000 and 3,500 of the total of 17,000 stores would be kept open, all others closed. This was decided following investigations in every single branch and according to local needs, in agreement with all competent authorities, and is ready for publication as soon as we receive the law which we requested in September; this law shall empower us to withdraw licenses from artisans quite independently from the Jewish Question."
Goering said, "I shall have this decree issued today." the middle of the next page, in which Fischboeck says:
"Out of 17,000 stores 12,000 or 14,000 would be shut down and the remainder aryanized or handed over to the bureau of trustees which is operated by the State."
And Goering replies, "I have to say that this prosal is grand. This way, the whole affair would be wound up in Vienna, one of the Jewish capitals, so to speak, by Christmas or by the end of the year".
The Defendant, Funk, then says, "We can do the same thing over here".
In other words, Seyss-Inquart's so-called solution was so highly regarded that it was considered a model for the rest of the Reich. the Nazi conspirators were able to use Seyss-Inquart's expert services for the subjugation of other peoples. As an illustration, I refer the Tribunal to Document D-571, USA Exhibit No. 112, which has already been read in evidence. The Tribunal will recall that from this document it appeared -
THE PRESIDENT: Where do the D's come---
LIEUTENANT ATHERTON: At the beginning of the document book.
THE PRESIDENT: The C's appear -
LIEUTENANT ATHERTON: After the C's, Sir. official of the British Government reported from Prague to Viscount Halifax that on the 11th of March, 1939, Seyss-Inquart, Buerckel and five German Generals attended a meeting of the Cabinet of the Slovak Government and told them that they should proclaim the independence of Slovakia, that Hitler had decided to settle the question of Czecho Slovakia definitely and that unless they did as they were told, Hitler would disinterest himself, in their fate. It just gives an indication of the manner in which this man contiued to be busy in the aggressive plans of these Nazi conzpirators. Poland, Seyss-Inquart became Chief of the Civil Administration of South Poland. A few weeks later -- on the 12th of October, 1939 -- Hitler promulgated a decree providing that territories occupied by German troops, except those incorporated within the German Reich, should be subject to the authority of the GovernorGeneral of the Occupied Polish Territories. He appointed the Defendant, Frank, as Governor-General and the Defendant, Seyss-Inquart, as Deputy Governor-General This decree will be found in 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, page 2077, and I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of it. Shortly thereafter, on October 26, 1939, Frank promulgated his first decree establishing the administration of the Occupied Polish Territories, of which he was Governor. his decree is published in the Dokumente der Deutschen Politik and appears in the document book as No. 3468-PS. I am informed that this book, volume 7, has also received the exhibit number, 705, and I offer it as such. Governor-General and the Senior SS and Police Leaders are directly subordinate to the Governor-General and his Deputy. The Deputy, of course, was the Defendant, Seyss-Inquart. which the Tribunal has heard and will hear. I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of this decree.
Inquart seems to have had the job of setting up a German Administration through this territory; that is, he worked under the Defendant, Frank, but did much of the work of interviewing the various local leaders telling them what they should do. As an illustration I offer in evidence a report of official tour which Seyss-Inquart and his consultants took, between the 17th and 22nd of February, 1939. This is our Document No. 2278-PS, and I offer it as Exhibit 706, USA. If the Tribunal please, I mis-stated that date or period. It was the 17th to the 22nd of November 1939 -- in other words, shortly after the administration was set up. On the first page of the English translation -- and I now quoted from the second full paragraph -- the following appears:
"At 3.0 p.m., Reich Minister Dr. Seyss-Inquart addressed the department heads of the District Chief and stated, among other things, that the chief guiding rule for carrying out the German administration in the General Government must be solely the interests of the German Reich. A stern and inflexible administration must make the area of use to German economy and so that excessive clemency may be guarded against, the results of the intrusion of the Polish race into German territory must be brought to mind". great length, but if the Tribunal will turn over to page 7, I would like to read some extracts of what occurred while the Defendant was in Lublin. From the report it appears that the Defendant, Seyss-Inquart, after meeting the various local German administrative officers, "then expounded the principles"-- and I am now quoting from the top of page 7 -- "the principles in accordance with which the administration in the 'Government' must be conducted".
Then, skipping a sentence:
"The resources and inhabitants of this country would have to be made of service to the Reich, and only within these limits could they prosper. Independent political thought should no longer be allowed to develop. The Vistula area might perhaps be still more important to German destiny than the Rhine. The Minister then gave as a guiding theme to the District Leaders: We will further everything which is of service to the Reich and will put an end to everything which may harm the Reich".who were fulfilling a task for the Reich should receive a material post in keeping with their responsibility and achievements.
is describing a sightseeing tour which was made to the village of Wlodawa, Cycow -- and I quote:
"Cycow is a German village. . . Reich Minister Dr. Seyss-Inquart made a speech, in which he pointed out that the fidelity of these Germans to their nationality now found its justification and reward through strength of Adolf Hitler".
And then the next sentence, apparently thrown in by the reporter:
"This district with its very marshy character could, according to District Governor Schmidt's deliberations, serve as a reservation for the Jews, a measure which might possibly lead to heavy mortality among the Jews."
THE PRESIDENT: We might break off here for ten minutes.
LT. ATHERTON: If the Tribunal please, at the time the Tribunal rose, I was in the process of considering the functions of the defendant Seyss-Inquart, his place as Deputy Governor General of Poland in 1939 and 1940. perpetrated by the administration which Seyss-Inquart thus helped to create. The Prosecutors for the Soviet Union will present to the Tribunal more evidence of such atrocities. For our present purposes, to show the importance of the work which this man did to further the Nazi plan for the Government General of Poland, it is enough to quote a few words from the diary of the defendant Frank. when he became Reichs Commissar of the Netherlands, Frank said--and I now quote from Document 3465-PS, pages 510 and 511 of Volume 2, the 1940 set of the diary, which is USA Exhibit 614:
"I am extremely glad, Mr. Reich Commissar and Reich Minister, to assure you that in this hour of your departure that the months of our collaboration with you belong to the most precious memories of my life and that your work in the General Government will be remembered forever in the building of the coming world empire of the German nation."
Skipping down a little, if the Tribunal please, Frank went on to say:
"In the construction of the General government, your name will forever take a place of honor as an originatore of this organization and this State System. I express our thanks, Mr. Reich Minister, for your collaboration and for your creative energy."
Then reading the last two or three sentences:
"During the hard times, the common work united us here in the East, but it is at the same time the beginning point for a gigantic power development of the German Reich. Its perfection will show the development of the greatest energy unit which there ever was in the history of the world. In this work, you were placed by the Fuehrer very effectively in the most important position." from the second page of the translation:
"I learned here a lot, many things which I did not understand before at all, and mainly on account of the initiative and firm leadership as I saw them in my friend Dr. Frank."
Then, skipping a sentence:
"I will now go to the West, and I want to be open to you. With my heart I am here, because I am inclined with my whole attitude to the East. In the East we have a National-Socialistic mission; over there in the West we have a function; that may be the difference." read show clearly enough the conscious participation of the defendant SeyssInquart in the Polish phase of the conspiracy.
defendant Frank, Seyss-Inquart was ready to undertake his last and most ambitious task, the enslavement of the Netherlands.
The ruthless manner in which he performed it marks his position in the Nazi common plan or conspiracy. Hitler of 18 May 1940, which is found in 1940 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, page 778. The translation will be found in the book as 1376-PS. By Section 1 of this decree it is provided that:
"The Reich Commissioner is protector of the interests of the Reich and will represent the supreme power of the government within the civil sphere. He will be directly subordinated to me and will receive directives and orders from me."
Section 3 provides:
"The Reich Commissioner may use German Police forces to carry out his orders. The German Police forces are at the disposal of the German military commander insofar as the military necessities require this and if the missions of the Reich Commissioner permit, it," may promulgate laws by decree, such orders to be published in the Verordnungsblatt for the Occupied Territory of the Netherlands, a publication which I shall hereafter refer to merely as the Verordnungsblatt. promulgated an order covering the exercise of governmental authority in the Netherlands. This appears as 3538-PS in the document book. I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of its contents.
THE PRESIDENT: 1335?
LT. ATHERTON: 3588-PS. That will have two decrees. I am now referring to the first one. to the extent required for the fulfillment of his duties, "all powers, privileges, and rights heretofore vested in the King and the government in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Netherlands." That is a direct quotation. safety, and order to the Netherlands police force unless the Reich Commissioner calls on German SS or police forces for the enforcement of his orders.
It further provides that the investigation and combatting of all activities hostile to the Reich and Germanism shall be the concern of the German police force. organization and establishment of the Office of Reich Commissioner. This decree is found in the Berordnungsblatt for 1940, Number 1 at Page 11 and is the second decree under 3538-PS. This decree provided for general commissioners on the staff of the Reich Commissioner to head four enumerated sections, one of whom, the Superior SS and Police Chief, was to head the section for Public Safety. It was provided by Section 5 of this decree that this official should command the units of the military SS and German police forces transferred to the occupied Netherlands territories, supervise the Netherlands central and municipal police forces and issue to them necessary orders.
THE PRESIDENT: It. Atherton, don't you think, that we can assume that the defendant Seyss-Inquart, who had been appointed to administer the occupied territory of the Netherlands, had all these powers, and that you can turn your attention to what he did under those powers ?
LT. ATHERTON: Yes, sir, I'll do that, Sir, but I wanted to make plain to the Tribunal, because of the peculiar setup of this German police force, the fact that he was granted the power to give orders to them, and, not only that, but that he customarily did. If that point is made clear, as I believe it is, in these two decrees, I will pass on to the next matter.
THE PRESIDENT: I think the Tribunal has no doubt that an officer under the Reich who had got the powers of the administrator of an occupied territory could make use of the police forces.
LT. ATHERTON: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: It is a matter that we should be prepared to assume until it is proved to the contrary.
LT. ATHERTON: I agree, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: We would wish you to turn your attentionto show what he did under those powers which constitute crimes.
LT. ATHERTON: Yes, sir. It is not our intention at this time to go into the crimes against persons and property which the defendant SeyssInquart is responsible for in any detail, because evidence of Nazi barbarity in this country is to be presented by cur associates in the French Republic.
It is only our purpose to show a few illustrations and to give some idea of the scope of this defendant's activities and his responsibilities as evidence of his part in the execution of the Nazi's common plan or conspiracy, which it is our part to prove. defendant was responsible for widespread spoliation of property. Merely as an illustration of the way in which he was implicated in the smallest parts of this, I offer in evidence document 176-PS, as USA Exhibit 707.
THE PRESIDENT: bill you give the number again?
LT. ATHERTON. That is 176-PS, and it becomes US Exhibit 707. Netherlands, a part of the Einsatzstab-Rosenberg, on which the Tribunal has already heard evidence. Quoting from the first page of this report, the first sentence:
"The Working Group Netherlands of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg began its work in agreement with the competent representative of the Reichskommissar during the first days of September 1940." ledges and similar institutions to a considerable extent. Reading from Page -- I believe it is Page 3 of this report, the very bottom:
"An extremely valuable library, containing inestimable works on Sanskrit, was confiscated when the Theosophischen Society in Amsterdam was dissolved, and packed into 96 cases. A number of smaller libraries belonging to the Spiritists, the Esperanto Movement, the Bellamy Movement, the International Biblical Research and various other minor international organizations were packed into seven cases; texts belonging to various minor Jewish organizations were packed into four cases, and a library of the Anthroposophic Society in Amsterdam into three.
"It is safe to say that the racks of books confiscated, packed and so far sent to Germany by the Working Group are of extraordinary scientific value and shall contribute an integral part of the library of the 'Hohe Schule'."
The money value of these libraries can only be estimated but surely amounted to 30,000,000 to 49,000,000 Reichsmarks.
Then, quoting from the very end of the report:
"The Working Group, in executing the aforementioned tasks, is bound strictly to the pace set by the Reichskommissar for the handling of the Jewish questions and that of the international organizations." Seyss-Inquart to supervise the execution of the conspirators' program for deportation of Dutch citizens to Germany for slave labor. The Tribunal will recall that Mr. Dodd read into evidence at page 1372 a portion of a transcript of an interrogation of the defendant Sauckel on 5 October 1945, in which it appeared that the quotas for the workers for Holland were agreed upon, and then the numbers given to the Reichskommissar Seyss-Inquart to fulfill, and after the quota was given to Seyss-Inquart, it was his mission to fulfill it with the aid of Sauckel's representative, and then the Tribunal will recall that at Page 1310 of the record, Mr. Dodd, having shown the defendant Seyss-Inquart's part in recruitment for slave labor in this fashion and his responsibility for it, read into the record, page 1310, some portions from document 1726-PS, USA Exhibit 195, which showed the numbers of Netherlands citizens deported to the Reich at various times. Since that is all a matter of record, I will not go into it again. relentless in his treatment of Jewish Netherlanders. To illustrate his attitude, I offer in evidence document 3430-PS, extracts from the defendant's book, Four Years in the Netherlands, Collected Speeches. It becomes USA Exhibit 708. In a speech in Amsterdam on 13 March 1941 -- and I am now quoting from rage 57 of the original book, the last extract on the translation, Seyss-Inquart said:
"The Jews are net for us. They are those enemies with whom we can neither come to an armistice nor to peace. This applies here, if you wish, for the duration of the occupation. Do not expect an order from me which stipulates this, except regulations concerning police matters. We will beat the Jews wherever we meet them, and those who join them must bear the consequences. The Fuehrer declared that the Jews have played their final act in Europe, and therefore they play have played their final act."
Now, as promised, Seyss- Inquart proceeded to promulgate the long series of decrees which first threaten the Jewish people in the Netherlands of their property, of their rights, and degraded them to something lower than the lowest, which eventually resulted in their deportation to Poland.
These decrees, all signed by Seyss-Inquart, are collected in our brief, page 65. I ask the Court to take judicial notice of them. By way of illustration, the first to which I wish to refer appears in the document book as 3333-PS, and it is a decree of 26 October 1940, requiring the registration of businesses belonging to Jews as defined in the decree, including partnerships or corporations in which Jews owned a substantial interest. You've seen this type of law was the inevitable prelude to mass confiscation of the property of Jews under the Nazi administration. In a law found in Verordnungsblatt, No. 6, page 99, 14 February 1941, 3325-PS, Butch universities and colleges were limited in the registration of Jewish students. This of itself doesn't seem important, but it's a part of the program to take away from these people their leadership and degrade them. The decree is 3325-PS, 23 October 1941, decree published in Verordnungsblatt No. 44, at page 841, signed by Seyss-Inquart, prevented Jews from exercising any profession or trade.
THE PRESIDENT: Did you give us the PS number?
LT. ATHERTON: Yes, sir. That is 3328-PS, sir, and it's translated in full. It prevented the Jews from exercising any profession or trade without authorization from administrative authorities, and permitted such authorities to order the termination of any employment contract concerning Jews. lished in the Verordnungsblatt No. 13, page 289, and dated 23 May 1942. This decree required all Jews to make written declaration of claims of any kind of which they might be beneficiaries, at a banking firm known as LippmanRosenthal and Co., which was actually an agency of the Reich at Amsterdam. The degree gave the bank -- this named bank -- all rights to dispose of the claim and provided that payment to the bank should be released in full. This type of Nazi decree was, of course, a forerunner of ultimate deportation to the East and ultimate annihilation.
Evidence of the success of this defendant's efforts to annihilate all Jews in the Netherlands has already been read into the record.
The court will find that Major Walsh--again reading from the report of the Netherlands Government, USA Exhibit 195, at page 1497--showed that out of 140,000 Jewish Netherlanders, 117,000 were deported, over 115,000 of them to Poland, ever eighty per cent. The evidence has shown what was the probable fate of most of these people, and I shan't dwell on it further.
defendant for the systematic terror practiced against the inhabitants of the occupied territories by the Nazis throughout the Occupation. Referring again to the collected speeches in document 3430-PS, on 29 January 1943, the defendant left little doubt of his point of view. He said, and I quote:
"It is also clear, now more than ever, that every resistance which is directed against this fight for existence must be suppressed. Some time ago the representatives of the churches had written to the Wehrmacht commander and to me, and they presented their conception against the executions of death sentences which the Wehrmacht commander announced in the meantime. To this I can only say the following: The moment in which our men, fathers and sons with iron determination look towards their fate in the east and unflinchingly and steadfastly perform their highest pledge, it is unbearable to tolerate conspiracies whose goal is to weaken this easternfront. Whoever dares this must be annihilated. We must be severe and become even more severe against our opponenets. This is the command of a relentless sequence of events and for us perhaps humanly hard, but our holy duty. We remain human because we do not torture our opponents. We remain by annihilating." that is to be done by prosecutors of the French Republic. But the position of the defendant Seyss-Inquart as Reich Commissar, the control which he exercised, which has been shown, particularly over the SS and Police, and the attitude of the man himself will make clear his authorization and participation in the crimes to be proved, and are a further indication of his part in the common plan.
Seyss-Inquart supported the Nazi Party as early as '31. He was a trait to the Government to which he owed allegiance and in which he held high office With full knowledge of the ultimate purposes of the conspirators, he bent every effort to integrate Austria into the Reich and to make its resources and manpower as well as its strategic position available for the Nazi War machine.
He performed these tasks with ruthless efficiency that he was chosen thereafter for key positions in the enslavement of Poland and the Netherlands. The positions which he filled with such satisfaction to his superiors that ultimately he came to be one of the foremost and most detested leaders in this common plan. At such, under Article 6 of the Charter, he is responsible for all acts performed by any persons in execution of that plan. As such he is guilty of the crimes charged to him under Counts One and Two of the Indictment.
I wish to introduce to the Tribunal at this time Mr. Robert M.W. Kempner, who will represent the prosecution in the next phase of the case dealing with the defendant Frick.
DR. KEMPNER: May it please the Tribunal: There have been distributed to the Tribunal and to all defense counsel trial briefs an documents relating to the defendant Frick. The trial brief prepared by my colleague Karl Lachmann sets forth in great detail the evidence, both in the form of documents and decrees against the defendant Wilhelm Frick. English translations are evidential, and material referred to in the trial briefs are included in the document book prepared by my colleague Lt. Felton. This book has been marked "LL".
Defendant Frick's great contribution to the Nazi conspiracy was in the field of governmental administration. He was the administrative brain who devised the machinery of state for Nazism, who geared that machinery for aggressive war. 1923 to 1945, the defendant Frick occupied a number of important positions. Document 2978-PS, which has previously been introduced as USA Exhibit No. 8, lists the positions in detail. The original was signed by the defendant Frick on 14 October 1945. I do not repeat these positions; they are known to the Court. Frick's past activity on behalf of the Nazi conspirators was his participation in promoting their rise to power. Frick betrayed in his capacity as law enforcement official of the Bavarian Government by participati in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of November 8, 1923. Frick was quite intense to go with Hitler on a charge of complicity and treason. His position in that Putsch is described in a record of the proceedings called "The Hitler Trial Before the Peoples' Court in Munich", published in Munich in 1924.
proceedings. Hitler's appreciation of Frick's assistance is evidenced by the fact that he honored Frick by mentioning his name in "Mein Kampf". Only two other Defendants in this proceeding share this honor; namely, Hess and Streicher. I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of the favorable mention of Defendant Frick in "Mein Kampf", German edition, 1933, page 403. to the Nazi conspiracy. I should like to refer briefly to Document 2513-PS, an excerpt of pages 36 to 38 from the Report entitled "The National Socialist Workers Party as an Association Hostile to the State and to the Republican Form of Government and Guilty of Treasonable Activity." This Report has been previously introduced as Document 2513-PS, USA Exhibit 235. It is an official report of the criminal activities of Hitler, Frick and other Nazis prepared by the Prussian Ministry of the Interior in 1930. It states that Frick, next to Hitler, can be regarded as the most influential representative of the Nazi Party at their trial. This document reported that at the 1927 Party Congress in Nurnberg, Frick said that the Reichstag would first be misused by the Nazi Party, would then be abolished, and that its abolition would open the way for racial dictatorship. The document also reported that Frick stated in a speech in 1929 at Pyritz that this fateful struggle will first be taken up with the ballot, but this cannot continue indefinitely, for history has taught us that in a battle blood must be shed and iron broken.
Back in 1927 Frick's prominent role in helping to bring the Nazis to power was recognized when, on 23 January 1930, he was appointed Minister of the Interior and Education in the State of Thuringia.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you passing from that document now? I thought you were reading from 2513.
DR. KEMPNER: Now, this is an introduction for the next document. I just started with reference to the fact that Adolf Hitler at this time, when Frick was Minister of the Interior in the State of Thuringia, was a Stateless alien, not a German citizen. In his capacity as Minister of Moravia, the Defendant Frick began his manipulations to provide Adolf Hitler, the Stateless aryan, with German citizenship, an essential step toward the realization of the Nazi conspiracy.
of the Nazi Party because, as an alien, Hitler could not become a candidate for the Reich Presidency in Germany. manoeuvre. We now introduce into evidence Document 3564-PS, USA Exhibit No.709. This document is an affidavit by Otto Meissner of 27 December 1945. Meissner was former state secretary and chief of Hitler's Presidential Chancellory. The last two sentences of this affidavit read as follows:
"Frick also, in collaboration with Klagges, Minister of Brunswick, having him appointed a Brunswick government official (Counsellor of Government). This was done in order to make it possible for Reich."
a prominent post in the new regime as Reich Minister of the Interior. In this capacity he became responsible for the establishment of totalitarian control over Germany, an indispensable prerequisite for the preparation of aggressive warfare. Frick assumed responsibility for the realization of a large part of the Nazi conspirators' program both through administration and legislation. in the Nazi State to show the contribution made by Frick to the conspiracy. I offer as evidence of Prick's extensive jurisdiction as Minister of the Interior Document 3475-PS, USA Exhibit No. 710, which is part of the official German manual for administrative officials, dated 1943. I ask that the Tribunal take judicial notice of Frick's jurisdiction mentioned in this document. The names of the men who, according to this document, worked under Frick's supervision, are symbolic, and I stress this point "worked under Frick's supervision." They are listed on page 1 of the English translation.
Here we find among the subordinates of Frick "Reich Health Leader Dr. Conti", "Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police Heinrich Himmler", "Reich Labor Service Leader Rierl". This document shows Frick as supreme commander of three important pillars of the Nazi state:
the Nazi Health Service, the Police System and the Labor Service.
The wide variety of Prick's activities as Reich Minister of the Interior can be judged from the following catalogue of his functions, enumerated on the following catalogue of his functions, enumerated on the following pages of the manual. He had final authority over constitutional questions, drafted legislation, had jurisdiction over governmental administration and civil defense, and was final arbiter in all questions concerning race and citizenship. The manual also lists sections of the ministry concerned with administrative problems for the occupied territories and annexed territories, the new order in the Southeast, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and the new order in the East. He also had full jurisdiction in the field of civil service, including such matters as appointment, tenure, promotion and dismissal. Interior to advance the cause of the Nazi conspiracy. To accomplish this purpose , he drafted and signed the laws and decrees which abolished the autonomous state governments, the autonomous local governments and the political parties in Germany other than the Nazi Party. about 235 laws or decrees, all of which are published in the Reichsgesetzblatt. I should like to refer briefly to a few of the more important laws and decrees, such as the law of 14, July 1933 outlawing all political parties other than the Nazi Party, Reichsgesetzblatt, 1933, I, page 479 (Document 1388A-PS); the law of 1 December 1933 securing the unity of Party and state, Reichsgesetzblatt, 1933, I, page 1016 (Document 1395-PS); the law of 30 January 1934 transferring the sovereignty of the German states to the Reich, Reichsgesetzblatt, 1934, I, page 75 (Document 3068-PS); the German Municipality Act of 30 January 1935, which gave Frick's Ministry of the Interior final authority to appoint and dismiss all members of parties who are against Germany, Reichsgesetzblatt, 1935, I, page 49 (Document 2008-PS); and finally the Nazi Civil Service Act of 7 April 1933 which provided that all civil servants must be trustworthy as defined by Nazi standards and also must meet the Nazi racial requirements, Reichsgesetzblatt, 1933, I, page 175 (Document 1397-PS).One category of Frick's activities, however, deserves special notice; that is, the crushing of opposition by legally camouflaged police terror.
This is shown by the book, "Dr. Wilhelm Frick and His Ministry", our Document 3119-PS which is in evidence as US Exhibit No.711, written by Frick, Undersecretary, and some co-conspirator, Hans Fundner, apparently written to establish Frick's eternal contribution to the creation of the Nazi's thousand year Reich. It states, and I quote briefly from page 4, paragraph 4, of the English translation:
"While Marxism in Prussia was crushed by the hard fist of the Prussian Prime Minister, Hermann Goering, and a gigantic wave of propaganda was initiated for the Reichstag elections of 5 March 1933, Dr. Frick prepared the complete seizure of power in all states of the Reich. All at once the political opposition disappeared. All at once the Main (River) line was eliminated -- from this time on only one will and one leadership reigned in the German Reich."
How was this done? On February 28, 1933, the day after the Reichstag fire, civil rights in Germany were abolished. This decree was published in the Reichsgesetzblatt, 1933, page 83, and an English translation of it appears in the document book as number 1390-PS. I refer to this decree at this time because it carries the signature of the Reich Minister of the Interior, Frick.
And now something important. It is stated at the beginning of the decree, which was published on the morning after the Reichstag fire, that the suspension of civil rights is decreed as a defense measure against Communist acts of violence endangering the State. announced that a thorough investigation had proven that the Communists had set fire to the Reichstag building. to the Reichstag, but I should like to offer proof that the official Nazi statement that the Communists were responsible for the fire was issued without any investigation, and that the preamble of the decree which had Frick's signature was a mere subterfuge.