dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
FRAU STREICHER: Julius Streicher never bothered about financial affairs at all, neither in the house nor in the firm. Again and again the gentlemen of the firm were disappointed when they wanted to report about annual balances or the like and Julius Streicher would tell them, "Do not worry me with your business matters. There are other things besides that are more important than money."
DR. MARX: How did he take care of the household expenses, then?
FRAU STREICHER: I received 1,000 marks every month from the firm. That provided for the household, presents, and so on.
DR. MARX: Do you know that he is supposed to have acquired shares through illegal pressure against a Jewish banker?
FRAU STREICHER: That is completely out of the question. I consider it quite impossible that Julius Streicher acquired shares that way. I believe that he does not even know what a share looks like.
DR. MARX: Did he not tell you anything about it?
FRAU STREICHER: I only heard that he never received shares.
DR. MARX: How did it come about that you and the defendant were married as late as April 1945? Did you understand the question?
FRAU STREICHER: Yes. Julius Streicher wanted to take part in the fighting in Nuremberg. I wanted to accompany him, so he married me before we left. We wanted to die together.
DR. MARX: Then you left the Pleikershof with him, and where did you go from there?
FRAU STREICHER: First we wanted to go to Nuremberg, and that was refused for fear of difficulties with the authorities. So we drove in the direction of Munich. In Munich we were told to continue in the direction of Passau. From Passau they sent us to Berchtesgaden; from Berchtesgaden they sent us to Kitzbuehel.
DR. MARX: How did it happen that the original intention to die together was not followed up? What caused him to change his mind?
FRAU STREICHER: The cause for that was a conversation with three young soldiers.
DR. MARX: And what was that? I will be through right away, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I do not think you should go into that, Dr. Marx.
DR. MARX: Well, then. I will forego the question. Only one more question: Is it correct that Streicher gave the managers of his publishing firm a written power of attorney which meant that they could dispose of the money as they saw fit?
FRAU STREICHER: Yes, Julius Streicher gave the power of attorney to whoever happened to be the manager of the firm, and thereby gave him his full confidence without any restrictions.
DR. MARX: Mr. President, I have no more questions.
THE PRESIDENT: Do any of the defendants' counsel want to ask any questions? Does the Prosecution wish to ask any questions?
SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: No.
THE PRESIDENT: Then the witness can retire, and the Court will adjourn until 0930 tomorrow morning. [The Tribunal adjourned until 30 April 1946 at 0930 hours.]
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Dodd, were you going to deal with these questions?
MR. DODD: Yes, Mr. President, I am prepared to do so. Shall I proceed to take up those documents about which we have some difficulty?
THE PRESIDENT: If you will, yes.
MR. DODD: Altogether, there are some 118 documents submitted on behalf of the Defendant Von Schirach. As a result of our conversations we have agreed on all but-I believe the number is twelve. The first group, Numbers 30, 31, 45, 68, 73, 101, 109, 124, and 133, are all excerpts from a book entitled, Look, the Heart of Europe , written by a man named Stanley McClatchie. They are excerpts referring to the Hitler Youth organization, and we do object to them on the ground that they are all irrelevant and immaterial here. They describe Hitler Youth meetings at homes and Hitler health programs and Hitler athletic competitions and Hitler Youth Land Service and that sort of thing. There are general descriptions by Mr. McClatchie of some activities of the Hitler Youth organization. They are all, I say, from that same book-none of them written by the defendant himself. They were published in 1937. Then, Document Number 118 (a) is a letter. It is unsigned, except that it is typewritten. It is by Colin Ross and his wife and it appears to be a suicide note setting forth the reasons why Ross and his wife intended to commit suicide. We have been unable to determine its probative value and do not see any probative value in it, insofar as the issues concerning this defendant are concerned. He apparently was acquainted with the Defendant Von Schirach and that is the claim, I assume, of counsel for Von Schirach, that it sheds some light of some kind on Von Schirach's attitude. But it is not clear to us. The third document is Number 121. This is a quotation from the United States Army newspaper, The Stars and Stripes , issue of the 21st of February 1946. It is about the training of young people in Yugoslavia at the present time. With respect to this we also say that we believe it to be immaterial here and not relevant and not bearing on the issues concerning this defendant as charged in the Indictment. Those three-the first group and the two, 118 and 121, are the only documents concerning which we have any controversy.
THE PRESIDENT: Eleven.
MR. DODD: I am sorry. I said twelve.
DR. FRITZ SAUTER (Counsel for Defendant Von Schirach): Mr. President, the first group of documents to which the Prosecution has objected are from a book by an American, McClatchie. This American, as he himself writes in the book, is of Scottish descent, and in the year 1936-that was the year of the Olympic Games-visited Germany he was able to see for himself the conditions in Germany and the development of the German people during the first years of the Hitler regime, and here he describes the impressions he received. Normally I would not attach any special value to this book, if it were not for the fact that the preface shows that the book was written on suggestion of the Defendant Baldur von Schirach. The defendant, as he will explain in the course of his own examination, began very early to build up a pleasant and friendly relationship especially with the United States, and this book by McClatchie is one of the many means which the Defendant Von Schirach used for that purpose. The author himself admits in the preface of his book that he obtained a large part of the material for the book from the Defendant Von Schirach. This fact lends to the book an importance, with respect to its relevancy for the purposes of this Trial in the defense of Von Schirach, entirely different from what it would have been had it been written quite independently of Von Schirach. That is, we have to evaluate the statements and descriptions in this book more or less as though they were statements of the Defendant Von Schirach himself. This is the main reason why I have submitted the book with the request that I be permitted to quote in evidence some short passages, particularly those referring to the Youth Leadership.
DR. FRITZ SAUTER (Counsel for Defendant Von Schirach): The rest of the book, which is also interesting but has no direct connection with the Youth Leadership of the Defendant Von Schirach, I have not mentioned; I refer only to a few short extracts which shed light exclusively on the activity and the aims of the Defendant Von Schirach; and, besides, they are intended to show you, Gentlemen, what impression even a foreigner gained of this activity, although naturally he had come to Germany with a certain prejudice which had to be overcome by his personal impressions. That, Mr. President, is what I wanted to say to the first group, which the prosecutor listed individually from Numbers 30 to 133. The second group consists of Number 118(a) of the Document Book Schirach, and that is a letter of farewell which the explorer, Dr. Colin Ross, left behind. If the prosecutor objects that the letter bears no signature, the fact, in my opinion, is not particularly important. What we have submitted is the original copy of that last letter, and this original copy was found among the papers of Dr. Colin Ross. Now, the Prosecution ask: What has that farewell letter by Dr. Colin Ross to do with the charges against Schirach? I ask the Tribunal to recall that the name of Dr. Colin Ross has been mentioned here repeatedly. He is the explorer-I believe an American by birth but I am not certain at the moment. He is the man who for many years was not only a close friend of Schirach's but one whom the Defendant Von Schirach used again and again in order to prevent the outbreak of a war with the United States, and later, to terminate the war and to bring about peace with the United States. When the evidence is presented, these points will be clarified in detail, I believe. I now submit the last letter of Dr. Colin Ross . . .
THE PRESIDENT: When was it dated?
DR. SAUTER: One moment please. The date is 30 April 1945. I consider the letter-it is only one page long-important for the reason that in it a man, at a moment before he committed suicide with his wife because he was desperate about the future of Germany, at this moment-in the face of death, he again confirmed the fact that he, together with the Defendant Von Schirach, continuously endeavored to maintain peace particularly with the United States. I believe, Gentlemen, that such a man. . .
THE PRESIDENT: Where was he at the time when, as I understand you to say, he committed suicide?
DR. SAUTER: The Defendant Von Schirach . . .
THE PRESIDENT: No, no, the man who wrote the letter.
DR. SAUTER: One moment, please. The Defendant Von Schirach had a small house in Upper Bavaria in Urfeld on the Walchensee, and in that house Colin Ross lived at the time with his wife, and it was here in Schirach's house that he committed suicide. The letter is only one page, and it would not cause any considerable delay in the proceedings if it were read. Then, Gentlemen, the third group to which the Prosecution objects again consists of one number only-a comparatively short article from The Stars and Stripes , Number 121. That edition of which I shall submit the original in evidence is of 21 February 1946, that is, of this year. It explains in detail how the education of youth in Yugoslavia has now been reorganized by Marshal Tito, and the Defendant Von Schirach attaches particular value to this document because it proves that in Yugoslavia a definitely military education of youth has been decided upon this very year. The Defendant Von Schirach therefore desires to make a comparison between the kind of education which he promoted and the Yugoslav education of youth which has been adopted only this year, and which goes very much further than the program of the Defendant Von Schirach did at any time. That is all.
MR. DODD: Mr. President; may I make just one or two short observations? I realize that ordinarily the Tribunal does not want to hear from counsel twice, but there are two matters I feel I should clear up. First of all, this book, Look, the Heart of Europe , which may have been written by this man McClatchie, who, counsel says, is an American of Scotch ancestry-I think it is important that the Tribunal know that it was published in Germany. I am sure that counsel did not mean to imply that it was an American publication because, other than having been written by this man, it was published over here after he attended the Olympic Games in 1936.
THE PRESIDENT: And in the German language, I suppose?
MR. DODD: Yes, and the German title was Sieh: Das Herz Europas . Then with respect to the Colin Ross note, I think it is important to observe that no one knows whether Ross committed suicide or not-at least insofar as the Allied countries are concerned. His body has never been found and only this note which counsel says was found among his effects.
DR. SAUTER: Mr. President, may I make another remark concerning the first group? This book by McClatchie was published by a German publisher. The efforts of the Defendant Von Schirach made the publication possible. That again speaks for the fact that Von Schirach in furthering the publication had a certain purpose in view. That purpose was to bring about enlightenment between America and Germany and to smooth over the difficulties which he was afraid could one day lead to war. The book by McClatchie appeared not only in German, but also in the English language, and it was sold in large numbers in England and in the United States. Of course, it also appeared in German and the German language edition was sold in Germany. That, I believe, is all I wish to say at this point.
THE PRESIDENT: Would you tell the Tribunal what these other documents are that Mr. Dodd has not objected to? Because we understand that there are 160 documents which he has not objected to. What are they all about, and how long are they?
DR. SAUTER: They are short. I have submitted only one Document Book. That is, I have limited myself to the absolute necessities, Gentlemen.
THE PRESIDENT: Of how many pages?
DR. SAUTER: Altogether, 134 pages. Of course, some cover only one-half or one-third of a page, since the majority are relatively short quotations. It was necessary for me to submit these excerpts, because I can produce evidence of the activities of the Defendant Von Schirach as Reich Youth Leader only by showing the Tribunal just what the Defendant Von Schirach told the youth of the German nation, what his teachings were, what his directives to his subordinate leaders were. And in order to do so, I must submit, as I believe the Prosecution realizes, a short report covering the entire period during which Von Schirach was Reich Youth Leader, so as to show that the opinions and theories of the Defendant Von Schirach during the last year of his activity as Reich Youth Leader were exactly the same as those during his first year. He is one of the few men within the Party who did not, in the course of the years, allow themselves to become violent, he did not go to extremes as did most of the others; and that is what I want to show by these comparatively short excerpts. I believe that is all at the moment.
THE PRESIDENT: Then you have the supplementary applications for witnesses, have you not?
DR. SAUTER: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: You'd better deal with those, had you not?
DR. SAUTER: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, one of them, I understand, is a person who made an affidavit which has been used by the Prosecution.
DR. SAUTER: I believe that is the witness Uiberreither.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think it is the other one, is it not? Who are the two?
DR. SAUTER: One is, I believe. . .
THE PRESIDENT: Marsalek.
DR. SAUTER: No, not Marsalek, but Uiberreither. Marsalek, Mr. President, . . .
THE PRESIDENT: I have your application before me for Marsalek. You do not want Marsalek?
DR. SAUTER: No, that must be an error.
THE PRESIDENT: Dated the 15th of April 1946. Anyhow, you do not want him?
DR. SAUTER: No.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, then you only want one, do you?
DR. SAUTER: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: And that is Uiberreither?
DR. SAUTER: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Has the Prosecution any objection to him?
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: No, we have not, Your Honor. That affidavit I believe, was introduced by us in connection with the Kaltenbrunner case, an affidavit by Uiberreither.
THE PRESIDENT: You have no objection?
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: No objection.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well. Thank you, Dr. Sauter. We will consider your application in respect of documents and the witness. We will consider your application, and we will now proceed with the case of Streicher.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: May it please the Tribunal, I should like to make a motion to the case of Streicher. I desire to move that Streicher's testimony found on Pages 8495, and 8496 of April 26th be expunged from the Record, and on Page 8549 of yesterday's testimony.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Marx, do you wish to say anything about that?
DR. MARX: Excuse me, Mr. President. Unfortunately, I did not completely understand the motions made by the Chief Prosecutor, Mr. Justice Jackson. because at that moment I was busy with something else. As far as I understood, he dealt with the deletion.
THE PRESIDENT: I can tell you what the motion was. The motion was that passages on Pages 8494, 8495, and 8496, and on Page 8549 be expunged from the record.
DR. MARX: I understand. I would like to say, from the point of view of the Defense, that I agree that these passages be expunged from the record, because I am of the opinion that they are in no way relevant for the defense of the defendant.
THE PRESIDENT: The passages to which Mr. Justice Jackson has drawn our attention are, in the opinion of the Tribunal, highly improper statements made by the Defendant Streicher. They are, in the opinion of the Tribunal, entirely irrelevant, and they have been admitted by counsel for the Defendant Streicher to be entirely irrelevant, and they will, therefore, be expunged from the record. And now, Dr. Marx.
DR. MARX: May I now, with the permission of the Tribunal, continue with the examination of witnesses? I now call the witness Friedrich Strobel to the stand. [The witness Strobel took the stand.]
THE PRESIDENT: Will you state your full name.
FRIEDRICH STROBEL (Witness): Friedrich Strobel.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you repeat this oath after me: I swear by God--the Almighty and Omniscient-that I will speak the pure truth-and will withhold and add nothing. [The witness repeated the oath in German.] You may sit down.
DR. MARX: Witness, on 3 December 1938 were you at a meeting of the Jurists' association (Rechtswahrerbund) in Nuremberg?
STROBEL: Yes.
DR. MARX: During that meeting the Defendant Streicher is supposed to have spoken; is that correct?
STROBEL: Yes.
DR. MARX: Would you please tell us what the Defendant Streicher stated on that occasion concerning the demonstrations of 9 November 1938?
STROBEL: He said, "I should not have carried out this action in this way. In such a manner it is impossible to fight a power like World Jewry." Then he added, "What has been done cannot be undone," and some more phrases of that kind.
DR. MARX: Is it correct that at that time you were surprised that Streicher in public objected against that action, which had been ordered by the highest authorities?
STROBEL: Yes. Streicher frequently spoke against measures and directives of the Government when he was of a different opinion, as on this occasion. I had the impression that apparently he had been passed over; for in his speech there was a certain malicious undertone to the effect that the matter was having unfavorable aftereffects. I wondered at the time whether Streicher really had a lucid interval and realized how harmful that anti-Jewish action was, or whether merely his vanity was wounded, or whether he felt that a too quick and radical an extermination of the Jews would put an end also to his own importance.
DR. MARX: Witness, these are opinions which you are stating and not facts; I did not ask you about that.
STROBEL: Well, that was my impression.
DR. MARX: All right, I ask you now: On 9 and 10 November 1938 were you present in Nuremberg?
STROBEL: Yes, I believe so. I do not remember exactly, but I believe it was on the night of 8 to 9 November 1938 that that action was carried out. It was on 7 November that Herr Vom Rath was shot, and on the 8th he died, and the night after these things occurred.
THE PRESIDENT: We needn't argue about whether it was the 8th or the 9th. It doesn't matter, does it?
DR. MARX: The question which I want to put to you now is: After that night during which the demonstrations against the Jewish population took place, what observations did you make on the following morning and later, about the attitude of the population in Nuremberg toward these demonstrations?
STROBEL: I was informed about that action by the personnel in my office. Thereupon I walked into the city and looked around in the streets. People were standing in front of the damaged stores. I had the impression that the vast majority of the population was benumbed and speechless. People shook their heads, looked at each other, muttered something, and then walked away. But, generally, I had the impression that people could not speak aloud, and later I heard that those who had objected to these things were treated rather badly, when they were overheard by informers.
DR. MARX: But the general impression was, was it not, that the population definitely disapproved of that action, and that general indignation was recognizable though not loudly expressed?
STROBEL: Yes. The Russian radio at the time hit the nail on the head by saying, "Let it be said to the credit of the German people that they had no part in the events and that they were sleeping." In fact most people heard of the events of the night only on the following morning.
THE PRESIDENT: What has this got to do with the Defendant Streicher?
DR. MARX: Well, the Defendant Streicher has been accused of openly approving this action in his speech on 10 November. The Defendant Streicher also maintains in his defense that it was an action ordered by the top authorities and not a spontaneous demonstration of the people.
THE PRESIDENT: The fact that a number of people in Nuremberg, or even the whole of the people of Nuremberg, disapproved of it wouldn't show that Streicher disapproved of it.
DR. MARX: Yes, but he maintains that there could have been no question of an incitement, since the action had been ordered and directed from the top, whereas, in the case of an incitement, the action would have been started by the people themselves. That was his conclusion.
STROBEL: May I state my opinion about that? The action was definitely not started by the people themselves, because even the majority of the SA men who took part in it did so against their will. It was an order from above; it was an organized affair. The assertion of Dr. Goebbels that the German people had risen spontaneously was an intentional incrimination of the German people.
DR. MARX: I have no more questions to ask of this witness, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Do any other of the defendants' counsel wish to ask him any questions? [There was no response.] Does the Prosecution wish to cross-examine? [There was no response.] Then the witness can retire.
DR. MARX: With the permission of the Tribunal, I now call the witness Ernst Hiemer.
MARSHAL: There is no witness.
THE PRESIDENT: Is he not there?
MARSHAL: We have no witness there.
THE PRESIDENT: He says, Dr. Marx, that he is not there, and that there are no witnesses there.
DR. MARX: Excuse me, Mr. President. The witness Hiemer is in the prison here, and I talked to him personally.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, did you inform the prison authorities yesterday that you were going to call him?
DR. MARX: I spoke to the Marshal on Monday and asked that Hiemer be brought up on Tuesday, as far as I can recall. There must be a misunderstanding.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, have you got any other witnesses besides Hiemer?
DR. MARX: Yes, the witness Wurzbacher.
THE PRESIDENT: Where is he? Where is Wurzbacher?
DR. MARX: Wurzbacher is also here in prison.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, while he is being brought, can you take up the time in dealing with your documents?
DR. MARX: Yes. We can do that.
MARSHAL: They will be here in about 5 minutes.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well. Go on, Dr. Marx.