dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): On the contrary, he continued to collaborate with Frank as before. Neurath says that he heard of Frank's misuses from an official. Who is that official? What is his name? Why was no application made to call him to the witness stand or at least to secure his written testimony? This is simply because nobody spoke to Neurath of Frank having forged his signature on the documents, and nobody could have done so, for there was no forgery. On the contrary, the Tribunal has evidence which confirms the fact that the announcement of 17 November 1939 was signed by Neurath and that the terroristic measures mentioned therein were actually sanctioned by him. I am speaking of two statements of Karl Frank who directly participated in these bloody events. During his interrogation on 26 November 1945 Karl Frank testified: "This document, dated 17 November 1939, was signed by Von Neurath, who did not protest either against the shooting of the nine students or against the deportation of numerous students to the concentration camps." I quote Karl Frank's second testimony on this matter, dated 7 March 1946: "By signing the official announcement which informed the public of the shooting of the students Reich Protector Von Neurath sanctioned this action. I informed Von Neurath in detail of the course of the investigation and he signed the announcement. Had he not agreed and had he demanded a modification of the penalty, or its mitigation-and he had a right to do so -- I would have been obliged to accede to his opinion." In August 1939, in connection with the "extraordinary situation" by which he proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia to be an integral part of the Greater German Reich, Neurath issued a so-called warning. Therein he stipulated that "not only individual perpetrators but the entire Czech population would be responsible for all acts of sabotage" (Document USSR-495). Thereby he established the principle of collective responsibility and introduced the hostage system.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): The events of 17 November 1939, considered in the light of this directive of Neurath, supply more irrefutable proof against the defendant. Starting from 1 September 1939 some 8,000 Czechs were arrested as hostages in Bohen-Aa and Moravia. The majority were sent to concentration camps; many were executed or died of hunger and torture. On this subject you have heard, Your Honors, the testimonies of Bienert, Krejci, and Havelka. There is no doubt that these terror acts against the Czech intellectuals were carried out in conformity with Neurath's warning. I need not relate in detail all the events which took place at Lidice and later in the village of Lestraki as they are already well known. Were not the German invaders acting in accordance with Neurath's warning? Did they not conform to his principle that the entire Czech population, and not the individual persons, must bear the responsibility? It was Neurath who initiated mass terror against the Czechoslovak population in August 1939. He has on his hands the blood of many thousands of women and men, children and old people, murdered and tortured to death. And I see no difference between Baron von Neurath and the other ringleaders of the criminal fascist regime. The Defendant Hans Fritzsche's part in the conspiracy, the War Crimes, and the Crimes against Humanity is certainly greater than it might appear at first glance. The criminal activity of Fritzsche, Goebbels' closest assistant, carried out systematically day after day, constitutes a very important link in the Common Plan or Conspiracy and contributed effectively to the creation of the conditions under which the numerous crimes of the Hitlerites were conceived and nurtured. All the attempts made by the defendant himself and his counsel to minimize his importance and the part he played in the perpetration of these crimes have clearly failed. In Mein Kampf Hitler describes the very special part attributed to mendacious propaganda in Nazi Germany.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): He wrote: "The problem of the revival of German might is not how we will make weapons but how we will create the spirit which will make our people capable of bearing weapons. If this spirit pervades the people, the will power shall discover thousands of ways and each of them will lead to weapons." I am quoting from Pages 365 and 366 of Mein Kampf, sixty-fourth edition, 1933. Neither is it by chance that the following slogans were proclaimed at the Congress of the Nazi Party in 1936 at Nuremberg: "Propaganda helped us to come to power; propaganda helps us to keep power; propaganda will help us to conquer the world." Owing to his position, the Defendant Fritzsche was certainly one of the most outstanding propagandists and also one of the best-informed persons in Nazi Germany. He enjoyed Goebbels' particular confidence. As we know, from 1938 till 1942 Fritzsche, was head of one of the key departments of the Propaganda Ministry, that of the German Press. And from 1942 until the defeat of Hitler's Germany he was head of the German radio communication service. Having grown up as a journalist of the reactionary press of Hugenberg, Fritzsche, who was a member of the Nazi Party since 1933, in his capacity of Government spokesman played an important part in the dissemination of fascist propaganda throughout Germany and in the political and moral disintegration of the German people. This was testified to in detail by witnesses such as former Field Marshal of the German Army Ferdinand Sch"rner and former Vice Admiral Hans Voss. The Defendant Fritzsche's broadcasts, intercepted by the BBC, and submitted to the Tribunal as Document 3064-PS and Exhibit USSR-496, fully confirm these charges of the Prosecution. German propaganda in general, and the Defendant Fritzsche in particular, made full use of provocative methods, lies, and slanderous statements, and this was especially the case when Nazi Germany's acts of aggression had to be justified.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): For did not Hitler himself write in Mein Kampf, Page 302: "With the help of a propaganda skillfully and continually applied even heaven can be represented as hell to the people and on the contrary, the most miserable life can be represented as heaven." Fritzsche turned out to be the best man to carry out this dirty work. In his affidavits, submitted to the Tribunal and dated 7 January 1946, Fritzsche gave a detailed description of the provocative methods applied on such a vast scale by German propaganda and by him personally in connection with the acts of aggression against Austria, the Sudetenland, Bohemia and Moravia, Poland, and Yugoslavia. On 9 April and 2 May 1940 Fritzsche broadcast mendacious explanations of the reasons which led to the occupation of Norway by Germany. He declared, "Nobody was wounded, not one house was destroyed, life and work continued unhindered as before." Meanwhile, the official report presented by the Norwegian Government states: "The German attack against Norway on 9 April 1940 brought war to Norway for the first time in 126 years. For 2 months war was fought throughout the country, causing destruction. Over 40,000 houses were damaged or destroyed, and about 2,000 civilians were killed." German propaganda and Fritzsche personally spread insolent lies in connection with the sinking of the British passenger steamer Athenia. But German propaganda was particularly active on the occasion of Hitler Germany's treacherous attack upon the Soviet Union. The Defendant Fritzsche has attempted to assert that he first heard of the attack upon the Soviet Union when he was called on 22 June 1941 at 5 o'clock in the morning to a press conference held by Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop. As far as the aggressive purposes of this attack were concerned, he allegedly had learned of them only through his personal observations, in 1942. However, these statements are refuted by such documentary evidence as the report of Defendant Rosenberg.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): This document establishes the fact that a long time before the attack upon the U.S.S.R., Fritzsche knew of the appropriate measures which were being taken and that in his capacity of representative of the Propaganda Ministry he participated in the elaboration of propaganda measures for the East by the Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. In answer to the questions put to him by the Soviet Prosecution during his cross-examination Fritzsche stated that he would not have gone with Hitler had he had knowledge of the Hitler Government's criminal orders, of which he heard for the first time here in court. And here again, Fritzsche told the International Military Tribunal an untruth. Thus he was compelled to admit that he had knowledge of the criminal Hitler orders regarding the extermination of Jews and the shooting of Soviet commissars as early as 1942. And yet he continued thereafter to remain at his post and to spread mendacious propaganda. In his broadcasts on 16 June and I July 1944, Fritzsche ballyhooed the new weapons being used, doing his best to, incite the Army and the people to further senseless resistance. And even on the eve of the collapse of Nazi Germany, on 7 April 1945, Fritzsche broadcast an appeal to the German people to continue their resistance to the Allied armies and to join in the Werewolf movement. Thus, the Defendant Fritzsche remained true to the last to the criminal Hitlerite regime. He gave his entire self to the task of realizing the fascist conspiracy and of perpetrating all the crimes which were planned and carried out in order to put that conspiracy into effect. As an active participant in all the Hitlerite crimes, he must bear the fullest responsibility for them.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Your Honors, all the defendants have passed before you-m en without honor or conscience; men who hurled the world into an abyss of misery and suffering and brought enormous calamities upon their own people; political adventurers who stopped at no evil deed in order to achieve their criminal designs; brummagem demagogues who concealed their predatory plans behind a veil of mendacious ideas; hangmen who murdered millions of innocent people-these men formed a gang of conspirators, seized power and transformed the German State machinery into an instrument for their crimes. Now, the hour of reckoning has come. For the past 9 months, we have been observing the former rulers of fascist Germany. In the dock before this Court they have suddenly become meek and humble. Some of them even actually condemned Hitler. But they do not blame Hitler for waging a war or for the exterminating of peoples and plundering of states; the only thing they; cannot forgive him is defeat. Together with Hitler, they were ready to exterminate millions of human beings, to enslave civilized mankind in order to achieve their criminal aim of world domination. But history decided otherwise. Victory did not follow upon the steps of crime. Victory came to the freedom-loving nations. Truth triumphed and we are proud to say that justice meted out by the International Military Tribunal will be the justice of the righteous cause of peace-loving nations. The Defense spoke about humanity. We know that the concepts of civilization and humanity, democracy and humanity, peace and humanity are inseparable. But we, the champions of civilization, democracy, and peace we positively reject that form of humanity which is considerate to the murderers and indifferent to their victims. Counsel for Kaltenbrunner also spoke here of love for mankind. In connection with Kaltenbrunner's name and actions all mention of love for mankind sounds blasphemy. Your Lordship, Your Honors, my statement concludes the case for the Prosecution.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Speaking here on behalf of the peoples of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, I consider all the charges against the defendants as fully proven. And in the name of the sincere love of mankind which inspires the peoples who made the supreme memory of the millions of innocent human beings slaughtered by a gang of murders who are now before the court of civilized mankind, in the name of the happiness and the peaceful labor of future generations, I appeal to the Tribunal to sentence all the defendants without exception to the supreme penalty-death. Such a verdict will be greeted with satisfaction by all progressive mankind.
THE PRESIDENT (Lord Justice Sir Geoffrey Lawrence): Now we will deal with the applications for witnesses and documents by counsel for the SA.
MAJOR J. HARCOURT BARRINGTON (Junior Counsel for the United Kingdom): May it please the Tribunal, there were initially seven witnesses applied for for the SA: four for the General SA; two for the Stahlhelm, and one for the SA Reiterkorps (Riding Corps). Since then there has been an eighth application for a witness for the Stahlhelm, who, I understand, is to be a substitution for the other two for the Stahlhelm. That would reduce the total number of witnesses applied for for the SA to six. All those originally applied for have already been heard by the Commission, but the one recently applied for, by the name of Gruss, has not yet been heard by the Commission; and if the Tribunal approve of that witness, it would involve his being heard by the Commission now. I apprehend that the Tribunal will have the recommendation of the Commission before them when they are deciding this. In the circumstances, the Prosecution only desire to say that they have no objection to these applications.
THE PRESIDENT: That means no objection to any of them?
MAJOR BARRINGTON: No objection to any of them, on the understanding, My Lord, that Grass is applied for in substitution for the other two Stahlhelm witnesses, Waldenfels and Hauffe.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Dr. Böhm? HERR GEORG BÖHM (Counsel for SA): I have applied for the witnesses Juettner, Bock, Kldhn, Schdfer, Van den Borch, and primarily Waldenfels and Hauffe to be heard as witnesses for the SA. The witness Hauffe has been applied for because it has not been possible to bring one witness, who had been allowed, to Nuremberg; that was the witness Gruss. Concerning the witness Grass, I should like to apply for him to be questioned before the Commission so that he can also be heard before the Tribunal. Grass could be called only a few days ago, although my application to hear him had already been made in the month of May, and a search had to be made for him for 2 months. He is an important witness for the Stahlhelm in the SA, and because of his position of Treasurer in the Stahlhelm he knows about conditions throughout Germany, particularly for the period after 1935. But as I can make the application for the witness. to be heard here only after he has been before the Commission, I beg that it be granted that this witness be heard by the Commission. I will not, however, give up the witness Waldenfels, on that account, so that the situation will be that for the SA not six but seven witnesses are to be heard, as had been provided for originally. THE, PRESIDENT: Well, what would be the names? HERR BÖHM: Juettner, Bock, Klähn, Schdfer, Van den Borch, Waldenfels, and Grass. But I should like to ask, Mr. President, since I do not as yet know the extent of the testimony of the witness Grass, to be permitted to choose between the two witnesses Grass and Hauffe. That is, after the witness Grass has been heard by the Commission, I should like to be permitted to decide whether, besides the witness Waldenfels, I shall want to apply for the witness Hauffe or the witness Grass for questioning.
THE PRESIDENT: Is that all you wish to say, Dr. Böhm? HERR BÖHM: In connection with the witnesses, yes, Mr. President, but I should like to speak in connection with the document book for the SA, if I may be permitted.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Barrington, do you wish to say anything more about the application which Dr. Böhm now has, which is for seven, and not for six?
MAJOR BARRINGTON: Well, the Prosecution are of the opinion that one witness for the Stahlhelin would be enough, but Your Lordship will, of course, have the Commission's recommendation on that. They will have been heard. On the question of the choice between Gruss and Hauffe after Gruss has been heard, there would be no objection to that, of course. HERR BÖHM: Mr. President, may I say that the Stahlhelm within the SA comprised about one-fourth of the members of the SA. There were about one million people who had transferred from the Stahlhelm into the SA. And I believe that it would be in the interest of many that the evidence be confirmed by two witnesses before this Court.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will consider that matter. Now will you deal with the documents.
MAJOR BARRINGTON: Would it be convenient to Your Lordship if I started on the documents?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MAJOR BARRINGTON: Agreement has been reached on the document books with the exception of one group of five documents to which the Prosecution object. Before dealing with that group I ought to mention to the Tribunal that among the other documents -which were agreed to be excluded there were a considerable number of photographs of members of the SA Reiterkorps in civilian clothes. The great majority of those photographs were excluded; a few have been included. But I just want to say this, that those photographs were intended to show that the object of the Reiterkorps was purely that of sporting activities. Of course, the Prosecution admit that the object of the Reiterkorps included sporting activities, -although naturally the Prosecution say that was not their only object. With regard to the group of five documents, I think I can take that quite briefly. I have prepared a short summary, which I think the Tribunal have at the back of that sheaf of papers.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MAJOR BARRINGTON: These five documents are all extracts from writings by English writers and publicists during the period, I think, from 1936 to 1939, and they all represent, in my submission, the unofficial opinions and arguments of those writers. Your Lordship can see roughly what they are about. The first one, SA-236, is by Mr. Dawson, in The Nineteenth Century, to the effect that Hitler's policy to the statesmen of Europe is for peace and not war, and that Hitler has saved Germany from chaos and collapse, that he does the same for Europe by his peace proposals. And then SA-237, by Dr. A. J. McDonald, from the book Why I Believe in Hitler's Germany and the Third Reich, says: "Perhaps the best guarantee for the stability of Hitler's regime is his own moral purity and that which he has imposed on Germany. He has tackled the problem of youth..."-and so on. SA-242 is an extract from Das Archiv, quoting Professor Cornell Evans and Professor Dawson again: "Hitler's withdrawal from Locarno and the occupation of the Rhineland was a good thing..." "Hitler's peace proposals are very valuable..." "The Versailles Treaty was unjust...'~-and so forth. And SA-246, another extract from the The Nineteenth Century, illustrates "Germans marching into parts of their own country," and maintains that this is justified. And SA-247, an extract from a book by A. P. Lorry, The Case for Germany, which says, "the complaint that Germany applies force is wrong, and the attack on Austria cannot be called an attack." Now, My Lord, insofar as those extracts are intended to prove facts, they clearly don't prove any direct evidence of facts, but are purely conclusions of fact, and as such they prejudge the issues which are for the Tribunal to decide. If on the other hand, as is possible, they are intended to show that these writings led the SA to believe that the Nazi regime was a thing to be admired or was well thought of abroad, I only need to say two things: First, these were unofficial writings; secondly, there is no evidence to show that they were even read by the SA.
MAJOR BARRINGTON: There is no evidence in any case that they influenced the SA at all, if they were read. That is all I can say.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Böhm? HERR BÖHM: Mr. President, originally I did not intend to discuss the contents to the extent to which the representative of the Prosecution has done it now. I should not like to be accused of trying to make National Socialist propaganda. But we are confronted here with short quotations from English and American writers which cause no difficulties in translating, and from which I did not intend to read anything here in Court as it is. Neither do I intend to read the contents of these documents during my presentation of evidence, but I wanted at least to have the opportunity to refer to them during my final argument. These quotations have appeared in German newspapers. They also appeared in collections as, for example, Das Archiv. Thus they were accessible to the German public and became quite well-known. It is not as if these excerpts were translated only now, and were not previously known to anybody in Germany. They appeared in the Vuelkischer Beobachter and in Das Archiv, and every German could read them and acquaint himself with them. Without regard to the importance of the writers themselves or the people who ' made those statements in their own country, these statements are important for the Germans because the authors were men who expressed their opinions in leading foreign countries on current German problems. I would regret very much if the Court could not decide that I may be permitted to enter them into my document book. They present very little work for translation. They are not extensive and there are no obstacles connected with them.
THE PRESIDENT: Have all the documents been translated? HERR BÖHM: I don't think they have already been translated. A considerable number were requested.
THE PRESIDENT: Are they very long? HERR BÖHM: These five are not very long. The greater part are extracts.
THE PRESIDENT: I don't mean the five. I mean the other things.
MAJOR BARRINGTON: They vary, but for the most part they are short extracts. HERR BÖHM: In my document book only a few documents have been translated entirely, only excerpts which I shall refer to for support during my presentation of evidence and during my final argument. Therefore, the translation of the entire document book will create very little work, and these documents which I shall also have translated certainly will not present any difficulties.
THE PRESIDENT: Is there anything further you wish to say, Dr. Böhm? HERR BÖHM: Mr. President, unfortunately I have to make another application, which I would rather not have made, but circumstances are such that it has to be put in. I request that the witnesses Fuss, Lucke, Waldenfels, Von Alvensleben, Dr. Geyer, and Dr. Meder should also be heard before the Commission. I have already made applications for these witnesses, for the witness Fuss on 25 April; for the witness Lucke, on 7 May; for the witness Waldenfels, on 21 May; for the witness Von Alvensleben, on 20 May; for the witness Dr. Geyer, on 25 April; and for the witness Dr. Meder, on 25 April of this year. These witnesses are important witnesses. To give only one example, the questioning of the witnesses Fuss and Lucke would mean a rebuttal of one of the most important documents in this Trial. That is Document 1721-PS in which it is charged that the Brigadeff1hrer of Brigade 50 had reported to the Gruppenfuehrer the burning down of about 38 synagogues. The other witnesses whose evidence, in order to shorten proceedings, I will not discuss now, whom Colonel Neave has permitted me to question, have not yet arrived. I believe I heard yesterday that possibly Dr. Geyer arrived a few days ago. The subjects of evidence are important, and the length of time for the questioning before the Comn-Assion will be very short. I cannot possibly forego these witnesses whom I have repeatedly requested. These witnesses must be heard, and I believe that they can be brought here in time so that it would be possible still to hear them during the presentation of evidence.