dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
COL. STOREY: But I feel I must refer to another statement, for though the seizure of the contents of over 71,000 homes and their shipment to the Reich in upwards of 26,000 railroad cars is by no means a petty operation, the quantities of plundered art treasures and books and their incalculable value, as revealed in the document I am about to offer, will make these figures dwindle by comparison. I next refer to the stacks of leather-bound volumes in front of me, to which the Justice referred in his opening statement. These 39 volumes which are before me contain photographs of works of art secured by the Einsatzstab and are volumes which were prepared by members of the Rosenberg staff. All of these volumes bear our Number 2522-PS, and I offer them in evidence as Exhibit USA-388. I am passing to Your Honors eight of these volumes, so that each one of you-they are all different-might see a sample of the inventory. I caI1 Your Honors' attention to the inside cover page. Most of them have an inventory, in German, of the contents of the book; and then follow true photographs of each one of these priceless objects of art, separated by fine tissue paper. There are 39 of these volumes that were captured by our forces when they overran a part of southern occupied German areas.
THE PRESIDENT: Is there anything known about the articles photographed here?
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir; I will describe them later. I believe each one of them is identified in addition to the inventory.
THE PRESIDENT: I meant whether the articles-the furniture or pictures themselves, have been found.
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir, most of them were found in an underground cavern, I believe in the southern part of Bavaria; and these books were found by our staff in connection with the group of U.S. Army people who have assembled these objects of art. and are now in the process of returning them to the rightful owners. That is where we got these books. I should like to refer, while Your Honors are looking at these, just to the aggregate totals of the different paintings. Here are the totals as shown by Document 1015(b)-PS, which is in the document book. As they are totalled, I don't think Your Honors need to follow the document; you can continue looking at the books if you like. "Up to 15 July 1944 the following had been scientifically inventoried: "21,903 Works of Art: "5,281 paintings, pastels, water colors, drawings; 684 miniatures, glass and enamel paintings, illuminated books and manuscripts; 583 sculptures, terra cottas, medallions, and plaques; 2,477 articles of furniture of art historical value; 583 textiles (tapestries, rugs, embroideries, Coptic textiles); 5,825 objects of decorative art (porcelains, bronzes, faience, majolica, ceramics, jewelry, coins, art objects with precious stones); 1,286 East Asiatic art works (bronzes, sculpture, porcelains, paintings, folding screens, weapons); 259 art works of antiquity (sculptures, bronzes, vases, jewelry, bowls, engraved gems, terra cottas)." The mere statement that 21,903 art works have been seized does not furnish an adequate conception of their value. I refer again soothe statement in the document "The extraordinary artistic and intrinsic value of the seized art works cannot be expressed in figures," and to the fact that they are objects of such a unique character that their evaluation is entirely impossible. These 39 volumes are by no means a complete catalogue. They present, at the most, pictures of about 2,500 of the art objects seized; and I ask you to imagine that this catalogue had been completed and that, in the place of 39 volumes, we had 350 to 400 volumes.
COL. STOREY: In other words, if they were prepared in inventory form as these 39 volumes, to cover all of them it would take 350 to 400 volumes. We had arranged, Your Honor, to project just a. few of these on the screen; but before we do that, which is the end of this part of the presentation, I should like to call Your Honor's attention to Document 015-PS . It is dated April 16, 1943. It is a copy of a letter from Rosenberg to Hitler. The occasion for the writing of this letter was the birthday of the Fuehrer, to commemorate which, Rosenberg presented some folders of photographs of pictures seized by the Einsatzstab. And I imagine, although we have no authentic evidence, that probably some of these were prepared for that occasion. In the closing paragraph of the letter, Document 015-PS , Exhibit USA-387, he says: "I beg of you, my Fuehrer, to give me a chance during my next audience to report to you orally on the whole extent and state of this art-seizure action. I beg you to accept a short, written, preliminary report of the progress and extent of the art-seizure action, which will be used as a basis for this later oral report, and also to accept three volumes of the provisional picture catalogues which, too, show only a part of the collection at your disposal. I shall deliver further catalogues, which are now being compiled, as they are finished." Rosenberg then closes with this touching tribute to the aesthetic tastes of the Fuehrer, tastes which were satisfied at the expense of a continent, and I quote: "I shall take the liberty during the requested audience to give you, my Fuehrer, another 20 folders of pictures with the hope that this short occupation with the beautiful things of art, which are so near to your heart, will send a ray of beauty and joy into your care-laden and revered life."
THE PRESIDENT: Will you read all the passage that you began, five lines above that, beginning with the words, "These photos represent..."?
COL. STOREY: "These photos represent an addition to the collection of 53 of the most valuable objects of art delivered some time ago to your collection. This folder also gives only a weak impression of the exceptional value and extent of these objects of art, seized by my service command"-Dienststelle-"in France and put into a safe place in the Reich." If Your Honors please, at this time we would like to project on the screen a few of these photographs. The photographs of paintings which we are now about to project on the screen are taken from a single volume of the catalogue and are merely representative of the many volumes of pictures of similar works. The other items, photos of which are to be projected, were picked from various volumes on special subjects. For example, the Gobelin tapestry which you are about to see is merely one picture from an entire volume of tapestry illustrations. Each picture that you will see is representative of a number of volumes of similar pictures, and each volume from which these single pictures were taken represents approximately a tenth of the total number of volumes which would be necessary to illustrate all the items actually plundered by the Einsatzstab. We will now have the slides, just a few of them. [Photographs were projected on the screen in the courtroom.] This first picture is a "Portrait of a Woman," painted by the Italian painter Palma Vecchio. The next picture is a "Portrait of a Woman" by the Spanish painter Velasquez. This picture is a "Portrait of Lady Spencer" by the English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. This picture is a painting by the French painter Watteau. This is a painting of `'The Three Graces" by Rubens. This is a "Portrait of an Old Woman" by the famous painter Rembrandt. This painting of a young woman is by the Dutch painter Van Dyck. Now this picture is a sample of 16th century jewelry in gold and enamel, decorated with pearls. This is a 17th century Gobelin tapestry. This picture is of a Japanese painting from the catalogue volume on East Asiatic art. This is an example of famous china.
COL. STOREY: This is a picture of a silver-inlaid Louis XIV cabinet. The last picture is of a silver altarpiece of the 15th or 16th century, of Spanish origin. I call to your attention again that each of the pictures you have just seen is merely representative of a large number of similar items -illustrated in the 39-volume catalogue which is in itself only partially complete. There is little wonder that the Fuehrer's occupation with these beautiful things of art, which were nearest to his heart, should have sent a ray of beauty and joy into his revered life. I doubt that any museum in the world, whether the Metropolitan in New York, the British Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris, or the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow, could present such a catalogue as this; in fact, should they pool their treasures, the result would certainly fall short of the art collection that Germany amassed for itself, at the expense of the other nations of Europe. Never in history has a collection so great been amassed with so little scruple. It is refreshing, however, to know that the victorious Allied armies have recovered most of such treasures, principally hidden away in salt mines, tunnels, and secluded castles; and the proper governmental agencies are now in the process of restoring these priceless works of art to their rightful owners. I shall next refer to Document 154-PS, which is a letter dated the 5th of July 1942 from Dr. Lammers, Reich Minister and Chief of the Chancellery, to the highest Reich authorities and services directly subordinate to the Fuehrer. This letter states and implements the Hitler order that was introduced in evidence and explains that the Fuehrer delegated authority to Rosenberg's staff to search for and seize cultural property by virtue of Reichsleiter Rosenberg's position as representative of the Fuehrer for the supervision of the whole ideological and political education of the NSDAP.
COL. STOREY: The Tribunal will recall, however, that it is by virtue of holding this office that Defendant Rosenberg occupied a place within the Reichsleitung, or Party Directorate of the Leadership Corps. That is Exhibit USA-370, and it is simply offered for the purpose of showing the address to the highest Reich authorities and services directly subordinate to the Fuehrer. In a letter to the Defendant Bormann, dated the 23rd of April 1941, the Defendant Rosenberg protested against the arbitrary removal by the SD and other public services of property from libraries, monasteries, and other institutions; and he proposed that, in the claims by the SD and his representative, the final regulation as to the confiscation should be made by the Gauleiter. This letter has been offered previously as 071-PS; and I quote, beginning with the next to the last sentence at the bottom of Page 1 of the English translation-I am sorry, Your Honor, that is in the other book.
THE PRESIDENT: You cited 071-PS this morning.
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir, and I will forego that at the moment Your Honor, because it refers back to the other book. Finally, in connection with the presentation of this subject, I submit that the summary of evidence establishes that the defendants and the conspirators, Rosenberg and Bormann, acting in their capacity as political leaders of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party and as members thereof, participated in the Conspiracy or Common Plan alleged in Count One of the Indictment and committed acts constituting the crimes alleged. Accordingly we submit: (1) The Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party is a group or organization in the sense in which those terms are used in Article 9 of the Charter ; (2) The defendants and conspirators, Rosenberg and Bormann, committed the crimes defined in Article 6 of the Charter , and in that capacity as members of the political leaders of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party. It was at all times the primary and central design and purpose of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party to direct, engage, and participate in the execution of the conspiracy which contemplated and involved the commission of the crimes as defined in Article 6 of the Charter . And I should like now to call attention again to a chart which was identified in the beginning-I believe by Major Wallis; it was taken from the publication which is entitled The Face of the Party . This chart emphasizes, more clearly than I can state, the total and thorough control over the life of the German, beginning at the age of 10 at the bottom of the chart and continuing through the various categories on up through. Notice the age of 10 to 14, the Jungvolk. Then it goes to the Adolf Hitler School on the right, 12 to 18. The Hitler Jugend, 15 to 18; the SA, the NSKK, NSFK, 19 to 20. And then the labor service over at the left. And then again to the SA, SS, NSKK, NSFK; and then into the Wehrmacht, and on up through to the top box on the left of the top row of men, the political leaders of the NSDAP.
COL. STOREY: And Then finally all of those buildings up there, as I understand, are the academies of the NSDAP. And then finally at the top to the political leaders of the German yolk, showing the evolution. This is the final exhibit, and with that I close the presentation of the Leadership Corps. The next presentation is the Reich Cabinet (the Reichsregierung). We will take just a few moments. If Your Honors please, there is one thing Colonel Seay called my attention to. I simply refer to it for the record. In one of the previous documents, 090-PS, Exhibit USA-372, which is in the other document book, there was a statement that clearly established that the expenses of the Einsatzstab Rosenberg, that is, the staff's operational expenses, were financed by the Nazi Party. If the Tribunal please, I now offer Document Book X, which I believe has been passed to Your Honors; and also Colonel Dostert's staff has prepared a chart of the Reichsregierung in different languages, and I believe Your Honors have copies. There is one copy here in German that I shall be glad to pass to counsel who are especially concerned with this case. They have one copy in German. I don't know who it is...
THE PRESIDENT: You mean counsel for the Reich Cabinet?
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir. May I say also, by preliminary reference, that we examined the records in the collection office this morning and only one letter of intervention has been filed on behalf of the Reich Cabinet and that was by the Defendant Keitel. We will now consider the Reichsregierung. Some preliminary remarks about this group have already been placed before the Tribunal by Mr. Albrecht in his comments upon the government chart. It will be necessary, however, for sake of coherence, to repeat briefly some of the statements made by him, and therefore we beg the indulgence of the Tribunal. The Reichsregierung, meaning Reich Cabinet, unlike most of the other groups named in the Indictment, was not especially created by the Nazi Party to carry out or implement its nefarious schemes and purposes. The Reichsregierung-commonly referred to as the Cabinet-had, before the Nazis came to power, a place in the constitutional and political history of the country. As with other cabinets of duly constituted governments, the executive power of the realm was concentrated in that body. The Nazi conspirators realized this only too well. Their aim for totalitarian control over the State could not be secured, they realized, except by acquiring, holding, and utilizing the top-level machinery of the State. And this they did. Under the Nazi regime the Reichsregierung gradually became a primary agent of the Nazi Party with functions and policies formulated in accordance with the objectives and methods of the Party itself. The institution of the "Reichsregierung" became- at first gradually and then with more rapidity-polluted by the infusion of the Nazi conspirators into the Cabinet. Many of them- 16 to be exact-sit before you today in the dock. There was no plan, scheme, or purpose, however vile or inhuman or illegal in any sense of the word, that was not clothed with the semblance of legality by the Nazi Reichsregierung.
COL. STOREY: It is for that reason that we will ask this Tribunal-after the proof has been offered-to declare that body, as defined in the Indictment, to be a criminal organization. The proof will be divided into two main categories, the first of which will tend to establish the composition and nature of the Reichsregierung under the Nazis, as well as delineating briefly its functions and powers, while the second will tend to establish-and conclusively we believe-the reasons why the brand of criminality should be affixed to that group. The term "Reichsregierung" literally translated reads "Reich Government." Actually, as we said, it was commonly taken to refer to the ordinary Reich Cabinet. In the Indictment the term "Reichsregierung" is defined to include not only those persons who were members of the ordinary Reich Cabinet, but also persons who were members of the Council of Ministers for the Defense of the Reich and the Secret Cabinet Council. However, the really important subdivision of the three is-as the proof will show-the ordinary Cabinet. Between it and the other two there was in reality only an artificial distinction. There existed, in fact, a unity of personnel, actions, functions, and purposes that obliterated any academic separation. As used in the Indictment, the term "ordinary Cabinet" means Reich Ministers, that is, heads of departments of the central government, Reich Ministers without portfolio, State Ministers acting as Reich Ministers, and other officials enticed to take part in meetings. I might state here that altogether there were 48 persons who held positions in the ordinary Cabinet. Seventeen of them are defendants before the Tribunal. Bormann is absent. Of the remaining 31, eight are believed to be dead. Into the ordinary Cabinet were placed the leading Nazi collaborators, the trusted henchmen; and then, when new governmental agencies or bodies were created either by Hitler or the Cabinet itself, the constituents of these new bodies were taken from the roles of the ordinary Cabinet.
COL. STOREY: In 1933 when the first Hitler Cabinet was formed on the 30th of January, there were 10 ministries that could be classified as departments of the Central Government. I have here a typed copy of the minutes of the first meeting of that Cabinet. These were found in the files of the Reich Chancellery and bear the typed signature of one Weinstein, who was described in the minutes as responsible for the protocol, the counsellor of the ministry. That document already appears in Document Book B; but I again refer the Tribunal to Page 4 of the translation, which is Document 351 as shown in your document book and contains a list of those present.
THE PRESIDENT: 351-PS?
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir, 351-PS, Exhibit USA-389. The 10 ministers referred to therein are set forth. They are: Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Defendant Von Neurath; Reich Minister of the Interior, the Defendant Frick; Reich Minister of Finance, Von Krosigk; Reich Minister of Economy and Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Hugenberg; Reich Minister of Labor, Seldte; Reich Minister of Justice-no name is given-the post was filled 2 days later by Gurtner; Reich Defense Minister Von Blomberg; and the Reich Postmaster General and Reich Minister for Transportation, Von Eltz-Rubenach. In addition you will note that the Defendant Goering was there as a Reich Minister-he had no portfolio then-and as Reich Commissar for Aviation. Dr. Gereke was there as Reich Commissar for Procurement of Labor. Two State Secretaries were present: Dr. Lammers of the Reich Chancellery and Dr. Meissner of the Reich Presidential Chancellery.
THE PRESIDENT: In the copy I have the Defendant Goering appears as the Reich Minister for Aviation.
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir. I mentioned that he appears as Reich Minister and as Reich Commissar for Aviation.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I see. I was reading from the first two pages of the document. You were reading from Page 4?
COL. STOREY: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
COL. STOREY: I am informed that the Ministry was created later, but it is given as Reich Commissar for Aviation. In addition the Defendant Funk was present as Reich Press Chief, and the Defendant Von Papen was present as Deputy of the Reich Chancellor and Reich Commissar for the State of Prussia. Not long after that date new ministries or departments were created into which leading Nazi figures were placed. On 13 March 1933 the Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda was created. The decree setting it up appears in the 1933 Reichspesetzblatt, Part I, Page 104, our Document 2029-PS. I assume that the Court will take judicial notice of the laws and decrees, as we have mentioned in the previous proceeding. The late Goebbels was named as Reich Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. On 5 May 1933 the Ministry of Air ( Reichsgesetzblatt 1933, Part I, Page 241, our Document 2089-PS). On 1 May 1934 the Ministry of Education. I refer to 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt , Part I, Page 365, our Document 2078-PS. On 16 July 1935 the Ministry for Church Affairs (1935 Reichsgesetzblatt , Part I, Page 1029, our Document 2090-PS). The Defendant Goering was made Air Minister; Bernhard Rust, Gauleiter of South Hanover, was named Education Minister; and Hans Kerrl named Minister for Church Affairs. Two ministries were added after the war started. On 17 March 1940 the Ministry of Armaments and Munitions was established (1940 Reichspesetzblatt , Part I, Page 513, our Document 2091-PS). The late Dr. Totd, a high Party official, was appointed to this post. The Defendant Speer succeeded him. The name of this department was changed to "Armaments and War Production" in 1943 (1943 Reichsgesetzblatt , Part I, Page 529, our Document 2092-PS). On 17 July 1941, when the seizure of the Eastern Territories was in progress, the Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories was created. The decree appointing the Defendant Rosenberg to the post of Minister of this department has already been received in evidence as Exhibit USA-319.
COL. STOREY: During the years 1933 to 1945 one ministry was dropped-that of Defense which was later called "War". This took place in 1938 when, on 4 February, Hitler took over command of the whole Armed Forces. At the same time he created the "Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces" or, in other words, the Chief of the OKW. This was the Defendant Keitel. The decree accomplishing this change is published in the 1938 Reichspesetzblatt, Part I, at Page 111. It appears in our document book as 1915-PS, and I would like to quote a brief portion of that decree. It begins at the bottom of the second paragraph: "He"-referring to the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces-"is an equal in rank to a Reich Minister. "At the same time, the Supreme Command takes the responsibility for the affairs of the Reich Ministry of War; and by my order, the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces exercises the authority formerly belonging to the Reich Minister." Another change in the composition of the Cabinet during the years in question should be noted. The post of Vice-Chancellor was never refilled after the Defendant Von Papen left on 30 July 1934. In addition to the heads of departments that I have outlined, the ordinary Cabinet also contained Reich Ministers without portfolio. Among these were the Defendants Hans Frank; Seyss-Inquart; Schacht, after he left the Economics Ministry; and Von Neurath, after he was replaced as Minister for Foreign Affairs. There were other positions that were also an integral part of the Cabinet. These were: the Deputy of the Fuehrer, the Defendant Hess, and later his successor; the Leader of the Party Chancellery, the Defendant Bormann; the Chief of Staff of the SA, Ernst Rohm, for 7 months prior to his assassination; the Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Lammers; and, as we have already mentioned, the Chief of the OKW, the Defendant Keitel. These men had either the title of, or the rank of, Reich Minister.