We would like to submit at this time and offer into evidence as exhibits proof of the offices that were occupied by these defendants. This proof consists of 17 statements, more or less, signed by the defendants themselves and/or their counsel, certifying to the Party and State offices that they have hold from time to time. Some of these statements were not as complete as we desired to have them, and we have appended thereto a statement showing such additional offices or proof of Party membership as was available to us. I would like to offer those into evidence.
(Several documents were distributed to Defense Counsel)
MR. ALBRECHT: (cont'g) And now, if your Honors please, I offer into evidence the two charts to which my remarks have been addressed in the course of the morning.
THE PRESIDENT: Will Counsel for the United States continue the evidence until half past 12:00?
COLONEL STOREY: If your Honor please, it lacks two minutes until half past 12:00. Mr. Albrecht has finished, and will it be convenient for Major Wallace to start at 2:00 o'clock?
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
Tribunal, in the matter of: The United States of America, The French Republic, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics against Hermann Wilhelm Goering, et al, Defendants, sitting at Nuremberg, Germany, on 22 November, 1945, 1400-1700, Lord Justice Lawrence, presiding.
COLONEL STOREY: If the Tribunal please, Major Frank Wallace will now present the briefs and documents supporting the briefs in behalf of the phase of the case known as the common plan or conspiracy, up through 1939.
MAJOR WALLACE: Mr. President, members of the Tribunal: material allegations of the Indictment running from Paragraph IV on page 3, to subparagraph E on page 6.
The subjects involved are:
Their rise to power; and 1933 and 1939 in preparation for aggressive war. Chief Prosecutor. Moreover, it is history, beyond challenge by the defendants. For the most part, we rely upon the Tribunal to take judicial notice of it. What we offer is merely illustrative material--including statements by the defendants and other Nazi leaders-laws, decrees, and the like. We do not need to rest upon
the illustrative material has been put together in document books, and the arguments derived from them have been set out in trial briefs. materials and to summarize the main lines of the briefs.
What is the charge in Count One? divers other persons, participated in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit, or which involved the commission of crimes against humanity (both within and without Germany), war crimes, and crimes against peace. cohesion among the defendants, as well as an instrument for the execution of the purposes of the conspiracy, was the Nazi Party, of which each defendant was a member or to which he became an adherent.
The scope of the proof which I shall offer is: aims and objectives, involving basically the acquisition of Lebensraum, or living space, for all "racial" Germans. methods, whether or not legal, in attaining these objectives and that it did in fact use illegal methods. lines of propaganda; and used various propaganda techniques to assist it in its unprincipled rise to power. power in Germany.
political conquest of the State, to crush all opposition, and to prepare the nation psychologically and otherwise for the foreign aggression upon which it was bent from the outset. relevant to the charge, what happened in Germany during the pre-war period, leaving it to others to carry the story and proof through the war years. It was far different from any other conspiracy ever unfolded before a court of justice, not only because of the gigantic number of people involved, the period of time covered, the magnitude and audacity of it, but because, unlike other criminal conspirators, these conspirators often boastfully proclaimed to the world what they planned to do, before they did it.
As an illustration, Hitler, in his speech of 30 January 1941, said:
"My program was to abolish the Versailles Treaty. It is futile nonsense for the rest of the world to pretend today that I did not reveal this program until 1933 or 1935 or 1937... Instead of listening to the foolish chatter of emigres, these gentlemen would have been wiser to read what I have written thousands of times. No human being has declared or recorded what he wanted more than I. Again and again I wrote these words, 'The abolition of the Treaty of Versailles'". had its origin in the German Labor Party, which was founded on 5 January 1919, in Munich. It was this organization which Hitler joined as seventh member on 12 September 1919. At a meeting of the German Labor Party held on 24 February 1920, Hitler announced to the world that the "25 Theses" that subsequently became known as the "unalterable" program of the National Socialist German Workers Party. was changed to the National Socialist German Workers Party, frequently referred to as the NSDAP, or Nazi Party, It is under that name that the Nazi Party continued to exist until its dissolution after the collapse and unconditional surrender of Germany in 1945.
The disagreements and intrigues within the party between Hitler's followers and those who opposed him were finally resolved on 29 July 1921, when Hitler became "First Chairman" and was invested with extraordinary powers. Hitler immediately reorganized the Party and imposed on it the "Fuehrerprinzip", the leadership principle - of which you will hear more later. Thereafter Hitler, the Fuehrer, determined all questions and made all decisions for the Party. dants and their co-conspirators by reason of their membership in, or knowing adherence to the Party, were openly and notoriously avowed.
They were set out in the Party Program of 1920, were publicized in Mein Kampf, and in Nazi literature generally, and were obvious from the continuous pattern of public action of the Party from the date of its founding. the fact that the major objectives of the Party were publicly and repeatedly proclaimed: deny them or to assert that they were ignorant of them. and hence of the objectives of the conspiracy - only to refresh or implement judicial recollection. The main objectives were: on military armament and activity in Germany.
Third, to acquire other territories inhabited by so-called "racial Germans"; and living space by the racial Germans so incorporated - all at the expense of neighboring and other countries. equally to the other aims, namely, that he had stated and written a thousand times or more that he demanded the abolition of the Versailles Treaty. prosecution on this phase of the case, and it is not my purpose at this time to recite to the Court numerous declarations made by the defendants and others with respect to these aims.
publicly announced to the still unbelieving world that they proposed to accomplish these objectives by any means found opportune, including illegal means and resort to threat of force, force, and aggressive war. The use of force was distinctly sanctioned, in fact guaranteed, by official statements and directives of the conspirators which made activism and aggressiveness a political quality obligatory for Party members. As Hitler stated in Mein Kampf:
"What we needed and still need are not a hundred or two hundred reckless conspirators, but a hundred thousand and a second hundred thousand fighters for our philosophy of life."
In 1929 Hitler stated:
"We confess further that we will tear anyone to pieces who would dare to hinder us in this undertaking. Our rights will be protected only when the German Reich is again supported by the point of the German dagger." stated the duties of Party members in the following terms:
"Only a part of the people will consist of really active fighters. It is they who were fighters of the National Socialist struggle. It is they who were fighters of the National Socialist revolution. Of them more is demanded than of the millions among the rest of the population. For them it is not sufficient to confess, 'I believe', but to swear, 'I fight.'" any means whether or not legal or honorable, it is only necessary to remind the Court that the Party virtually opened its public career by staging a revolution--the Munich Putsch of 1923. the Common Plan of Conspiracy which are alleged in the Indictment. as a means of securing for the Nazi conspirators the highest degree of control over the German community, they disseminated and exploited certain doctrines.
of so-called German blood were a master race. This doctrine of racial supremacy was incorporated as Point 4 in the Party Program, which provided: "Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is of German blood without consideration of confession. Consequently, no Jew can be a member of the race." the faith of the blood--superseding in individual allegiance all other religions and institutions. The defendant Rosenberg and the defendant Streicher were particularly prominent in disseminating this doctrine. Much of the evidence to be offered in this case will illustrate the Nazi conspirators' continued espousal and exploitation of this master race doctrine.
This doctrine had an eliminatory purpose--call anything "nonGerman" or Jewish, and you have a clear right, indeed, a duty, to cast it out. In fact, purges did not stop at so-called racial lines, but went far beyond. Of course, the deeper psychological meaning of the "master race" is the doctrine of the scapegoat.
entire conspiracy and is one of the important links in establishing the guilt of each of these defendants is the doctrine or concept of the Fuehrerprinzip or leadership principle. formations and allied organizations and eventually permeated the Nazi State and all institutions and is of such importance that I would like to dwell upon it for a few moments and attempt to explain the concepts which it embraces.
The "Fuehrerprinzip" embodies two major political concepts:
1. Authoritarianism.
2. Totalitarianism.
Authoritarianism implies the following: All authority is concentrated at the top and is vested in one person only, the Fuehrer. It further implies that the Fuehrer is infallible as well as omnipotent. The Party Manual states:
"Under the Commandments of the National Socialists:
"The Fuehrer is always right ..." Also, there are no legal or political limits to the authority of the Fuehrer. Whatever authority is wielded by the others is derived from the authority of the Fuehrer. Moreover, within the sphere of jurisdiction allotted to him, each appointee of the Fuehrer manipulates his powers in equally unrestricted fashion, subordinate only to the command of those above him. Each appointee owes unconditional obedience to the Fuehrer and to the superior party leaders in the hierarchy.
Each Political Leader was sworn in yearly. According to the Party Manual, which will be introduced in evidence, the wording of the oath was as follows:
"I pledge eternal allegiance to Adolf Hitler.
the Fuehrers appointed by him." The Party Manual also provides that, "The Political Leader is inseparably tied to the expulsion from the National Socialist Community."
publications:
"Leadership principle in the administration means:
realization of the decision to these below." in the Fuehrer Prinzip implies: The authority of the Fuehrer extends into all spheres of public and private life. Totalitarianism which implies the following: The authority of the Fuehrer, his appointees and, through them, of the Party as a whole, extends into all spheres of public and private life.
ing to accept the leadership of the Fuehrer.
As the Party manual states:
"Only those organizations can lay claim to the institution of the leadership principle and to the National Socialist meaning of the State and people in the National Socialist meaning of the term, which...have been integrated into, supervised and formed by the Party and which, in the future, will continue to do so."
The Manual goes on to state:
"All others which conduct an organizational life of their own are to be rejected as outsiders and will either have to adjust themselves or disappear from public life." the state and allied organizations are fully set forth in the brief and accompanying documents, which will be offered in evidence. make the German people amenable to their will and aims was the doctrine that war was a noble and necessary activity of Germans. The purpose of this doctrine was well expressed by Hitler in Mein Kampf when he said:
"The question of restoration of German power is not a question of how to fabricate arms, but a question of how to create the spirit which makes a people capable of bearing arms. If this spirit dominates a people, the will finds a thousand ways to secure weapons."
Hitler's writings and public utterances are replete with declarations rationalizing the use of force and glorifying war. The following is typical, when he said:
"Always before God and the world, the stronger has the right to carry through his will. History proves it! He who has no might has no use for might." tion of war played a major part in the education of the German youth of the pre-war era.
and their Doctrinal techniques. I also have for the assistance of the court and defense counsel, briefs which make the argument part of these documents.
The first attempt to acquire political control was by force. In fact at no time during this period did the Party participate in any electoral campaigns, nor did it see fit to collaborate with other political groups and parties.
THE PRESIDENT: Major Wallace, have you got copies of these for defendants' counsel?
MAJOR WALLACE: In Room 54.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, they will be wanting to follow them now.
MAJOR WALLACE: Mr. President, my remarks, with which I am proceeding, will cover an entirely different subject that in the briefs before you. The briefs cover what I have already said, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you depositing a copy of these briefs for each of the defendant's counsel?
MAJOR WALLACE: I am informed, if your Honor pleases, that the same procedure has been followed with respect to these briefs as has been followed with respect to the documents, namely, a total of six has been made available to the defendants in Room 54.
THE PRESIDENT: What do you say?
MAJOR WALLACE: A total of six copies has been made available to the defendants in Room 54. If your Honor does not deem that enough, I feel sure that I can give assurance, on behalf of the Chief Prosecutor of the United States, that before the close of the day an ample supply of copies will be there for use.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal thinks that the defense counsel should each have a copy of these briefs.
MAJOR WALLACE: That will be done, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Members of the defense counsel: you will understand that I have directed on behalf of the Tribunal that you should each have a copy of this brief.
DR. RUDOLF DIX: We are very grateful for this order, but none of us has seen any of these documents. I may assume that these documents will be given to the defense in German. I may assume, I hope that these documents will be given to the defense in a German translation.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. of an era. On the 9th of November occurred the historical fact popularly known as the Hitler Putsch. During the night of November 8th to 9th Hitler, supported by the SA under the defendant Goering, at a meeting in Munich, proclaimed the National Revolution and his dictatorship of Germany, and announced himself as the Chancellor of the Reich. On the following morning the duly constituted authorities of the State, after some bloodshed in Munich, put an end to this illegal attempt to seize the government. Hitler and some of his followers were arrested and tried, and sentenced to imprisonment.
The new era in the National Socialist movement commences with Hitler's parole from prison in December 1924. With the return of its leader, the Party took up its fight for power once again. The prohibitions invoked by the government against the Nazi Party at the time of the Munich Putsch gradually were removed and Hitler, the Fuehrer of the Party, formally announced that in seeking to achieve its aims to overthrow the Weimar Government, the NSDAP would resort only to "legal" means. A valid inference from these facts may well be suggested, viz. that the Party's resort to "legality" was in reality only a condition on which it was permitted to carry on its activities in a democratically organized State. But consistent with its professed resort to "legality" the Party now participated in the popular elections of the German people and generally took part in political activity. At the same time it engaged in feverish activity to expand the party membership, its organizational structure and activities. The SA and the SS recruited numerous new members. Hitler's "Mein Kampf" appeared in 1925. The Hitler Youth was founded.
Newspapers were published, among them the "Voelkischer Beobachter" of which the defendant Rosenberg was editor, and "Der Angriff" published by Goebbels, later the notorious Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment. Meetings of other political parties were interfered with and broken up, and there was much street brawling.
The results of the Party's attempt to win political power made little headway for a number of years despite the strenuous efforts exerted to that end. In 30 elections in which the National Socialists participated from 1925 to 1930 for seats in the Reichstag and in the Landtage or Provincial Diets of the various German states, the Nazis received mandates in but 16 and gained no seats at all in 14 elections.
The National Socialist vote in the 1927 elections did not exceed 4% of the total number of votes cast. The year 1939 marks the first modest success at the polls in the State of Thuringia. The Nazis received over 11% of the popular vote, elected 6 representatives out of a total of 53 to the Diet, and the defendant Frick became Minister of Interior of Thuringia, the first National Socialist chosen to ministerial rank. win support, the Nazi Party redoubled its traditional efforts (by means of terror and coercion). These met with some rebuff on the part of the Reich and various German States. Prussia required its civil servants to terminate their membership in the Party and forbade the wearing of brown shirts, which were worn by the SA of the Party. Baden likewise ruled against the wearing of brown shirts, and Bavaria prohibited the wearing of uniforms by political organizations. New National Socialist writings appeared in Germany. The new "National Socialist Monthly" appeared under the editorship of the defendant Rosenberg, and shortly thereafter, in June 1930, Rosenberg's "Myth of the 20th Century" was published. while dissolved the Reichstag when Chancellor Bruaming failed to obtain a vote of confidence - Germany moved to the polls once more on the 14th September 1930. By this election their representation in the Reichstag was increased from 12 seats to 107 seats out of a total of 577. dressed in brown shirts. Rowdy opposition at once developed intent on causing the fall of the Bruaming Cabinet. Taking advantage of the issues caused by the then prevailing general economic distress, the Nazis sought a vote of non-confidence and dissolution of the Reichstag. Failing in these obstructionary tactics, the Nazis walked out of the Reichstag.
in violence. The obstruction by the Nazi deputies of the Reichstag continued with the same pattern of conduct. Repeatedly motions of non-confidence in Bruening and for dissolution of the Reichstag were offered and were lost. And after every failure the Nazi members stalked out of the chamber nnew.
By spring of 1932 Bruening's position became untenable and the defendant von Papen was appointed Chancellor. The Reichstag was dissolved and new elections held in which the Nazis increased the number of their seats to 230 out of a total of 608. The Nazi Party had now become a strong party in Germany, but it had failed to become the Majority Party. The obstructive tactics of the Nazi deputies in the Reichstag continued, and by the fall of 1932 von Papen's government was no longer able to continue. President von Hindenburg again dissolved the Reichstag and in the new elections of November the Nazi representation in the Reichstag actually decreased to 196 seats. The short lived von Schleicher government then came into being - it was the 3rd December 1932 - and by the end of January 1933 went out of existence. With the support of the Nationalist Party under Hugenberg and other political assistance, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany by designation of von Hindenburg.
sinister story that will be developed by the prosecution in the course of this trial. Let it be noted here, however, and remembered, as the story of the misdeeds and crimes of these defendants and their fellow conspirators are exposed, that at no time in the course of their alleged "legal" efforts to gain possession of the State, did the conspirators represent a majority of the people.
It is commonly said that the Nazi conspirators "seized control" when Hitler became Chancellor of the German Republic on 30 January 1930. It may be more truly said that they seized control upon securing the passage of the Law for the Protection of the People and the State on 24 March 1933. The steps leading to this actual seizure of power are worthy of recital. The Nazi conspirators were fully cognizant of their lack of control over the legislative powers of the republic. They needed, if they were to carry out the first steps of their grand conspiracy under the clock of law, an enabling act which would vest supreme legislative power in Hitler's Cabinet, free from all restraints of the Weimar Constitution. Such an enabling act however required a change in the Constitution which, in turn, required two-thirds of the regular members of the Reichstag to be present, and at least two-thirds of the votes of those present. act, known as the Law for the Protection of the People and the State, is as follows:
1. On January 30th, 1933, Hitler held his first Cabinet meeting and we have the original minutes of that meeting, which will be offered in evidence. The defendants von Papen, von Neurath, Frick, Goering, and Funk were present. According to the minutes of this meeting, Hitler pointed out that the adjournment of the Reichstag would be impossible without the collaboration of the center party.
"We might, however, consider suppressing achieve a majority in the Reichstag."
He expressed the fear, however, that this might result in a general strike. The Reich Minister of Economy, according to these minutes stated that in his opinion, however, it was impossible to avoid the suppression of the Communist Party of Germany, for if that were not done they could not achieve a majority in the Reichstag, certainly not a majority of two-thirds: that, after the suppression of the Communist Party, the passage of an enabling act through the Reichstag would be possible. The defendant Frick suggested that it would be best initially to request an enabling law from the Reichstag. At this meeting Hitler agreed to contact representatives on the center party the next morning to see what could be done by way of making a deal with them.
2. The next event on this timetable was the Reichstag fire on the 28th of February 1933.
3. Taking advantage of the uncertainty and unrest created by the Reichstag fire, and the disturbances being creaded by the SA, the provisions of the Weimar Constitution guaranteeing personal freedom, and other personal liberties were suspended by a decree of the Reich President on February 28, 1933. were held. The Nazis acquired 288 seats out of a total of 647. Cabinet was held, and we also have the original official minutes of that meeting which bears the initials, opposite their names, of the defendants who were present at that meeting signifying that they have read - I contend that it is a reasonable inference to state that it signifies that they read those minutes and approved them. The following defendants were present at this meeting: von Papen, von Neurath, Frick, Goering and Funk. At this meeting, Hitler stated that the putting ever of the enabling act in the Reichstag by a two-thirds majority would, in his opinion, meet with no opposition.
The defendant Frick pointed out that the Reichstag had to ratify the enabling act with a constitutional majority within three days, and that the center party had not expressed itself negatively. He went on to say that the enabling act would have to be broadly conceived in a manner to allow for deviation from the provisions of the Constitution of the Reich. No further stated that as far as the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority was concerned, a total of 432 delegates would have to be present for the ratification of the enabling act. The defendend Goering expressed his conviction at this meeting that the enabling act would be ratified with the required two-thirds vote for, if necessary, the majority could be obtained by refusing admittance to the Reichstag of some Social Democrats. On the 20th of March another Cabinet meeting was held, and we also have the official, original records of this meeting which will be offered in evidence.