dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): The Defendant Von Schirach, who had been Reich Youth Leader of the NSDAP since 1931, was appointed Youth Leader of the German Reich in June 1933. Soon all the youth organizations had been either dissolved or absorbed by the Hitler Youth, with the exception of the Catholic Youth. The Hitler Youth was organized on strict military lines, and as early as 1933 the Wehrmacht was co-operating in providing premilitary training for the Reich Youth. The Nazi Government endeavored to unite the nation in support of their policies through the extensive use of propaganda. A number of agencies were set up whose duty was to control and influence the press, the radio, films, publishing firms, et cetera , in Germany, and to supervise entertainment and cultural and artistic activities. All these agencies came under Goebbels' Ministry of the People's Enlightenment and Propaganda, which together with a corresponding organization in the NSDAP and the Reich Chamber of Culture, was ultimately responsible for exercising this supervision. The Defendant Rosenberg played a leading part in disseminating the National Socialist doctrines on behalf of the Party, and the Defendant Fritzsche, in conjunction with Goebbels, performed the same task for the State. The greatest emphasis was laid on the supreme mission of the German people to lead and dominate by virtue of their. Nordic blood and racial purity; and the ground was thus being prepared for the acceptance of the idea of German world supremacy. Through the effective control of the radio and the press, the German people, during the years which followed 1933, were subjected to the most intensive propaganda in furtherance of the regime. Hostile criticism, indeed criticism of any kind, was forbidden, and the severest penalties were imposed on those who indulged in it. Independent judgment, based on freedom of thought, was rendered quite impossible.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): Measures of Rearmament During the years immediately following Hitler's appointment as Chancellor, the Nazi Government set about reorganizing the economic life of Germany, and in particular the armament industry. This was done on a vast scale and with extreme thoroughness. It was necessary to lay a secure financial foundation for the building of armaments, and in April 1936 the Defendant Goering was appointed co-ordinator for raw materials and foreign exchange, and empowered to supervise All State and Party activities in these fields. In this capacity he brought together the War Minister, the Minister of Economics, the Reich Finance Minister, the President of the Reichsbank, and the Prussian Finance Minister to discuss problems connected with war mobilization, and on the 27th of May 1936, in addressing these men, Goering opposed any financial limitation of war production and added that "all measures are to be considered from the standpoint of an assured waging of war." At the Party Rally in Nuremberg in 1936, Hitler announced the establishment of the Four Year Plan and the appointment of Goering as the plenipotentiary in charge. Goering was already engaged in building a strong air force and on 8 July 1938 he announced to a number of leading German aircraft manufacturers that the German Air Force was already superior in quality and quantity to the English. On the 14th of October 1938, at another conference, Goering announced that Hitler had instructed him to organize a gigantic armament program, which would make insignificant all previous achievements. He said that he had been ordered to build as rapidly as possible an air force five times as large as originally planned, to increase the speed of the rearmament of the Navy and Army, and to concentrate on offensive weapons, principally heavy artillery and heavy tanks. He then laid down a specific program designed to accomplish these ends. The extent to which rearmament had been accomplished was stated by Hitler in his memorandum of the 9th of October 1939, after the campaign in Poland.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): He said: "The military application of our people's strength has been carried through to such an extent that within a short time at any rate it cannot be markedly improved upon by any manner of effort.... "The warlike equipment of the German people is at present larger in quantity and better in quality for a greater number of German divisions than in the year 1914. The weapons themselves, taking a substantial cross-section, are more modern than is the case with any other country in the world at this time. They have just proved their supreme war-worthiness in their victorious campaign.... There is no evidence available to show that any country in the world disposes of a better total ammunition stock than the Reich.... The A.A. artillery is not equalled by any country in the world." In this reorganization of the economic life of Germany for military purposes, the Nazi Government found the German armament industry quite willing to co-operate and to play its part in the rearmament program. In April 1933, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen submitted to Hitler on behalf of the Reich Association of German Industry a plan for the reorganization of German industry, which he stated was characterized by the-desire to co-ordinate economic measures and political necessity. In the plan itself, Krupp stated that "the turn of political events is in line with the wishes which I myself and the board of directors have cherished for a long time." What Krupp meant by this statement is fully shown by the draft text of a speech which he planned to deliver in the University of Berlin in January 1944, though the speech was in fact never delivered. Referring to the years 1919 to 1933, Krupp wrote: "It is the one great merit of the entire German war economy that it did not remain idle during those bad years, even though its activity could not be brought to light, for obvious reasons. Through years of secret work, scientific and basic groundwork was laid in order to be ready again to work for the German Armed Forces at the appointed hour, without loss of time or experience....
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): Only through the secret activity of German enterprise together with the experience gained meanwhile through the production of peacetime goods, was it possible after 1933 to fall into step with the new tasks arrived at, restoring Germany's military power." In October 1933 Germany withdrew from the International Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations. In 1935 the Nazi Government decided to take the first open steps to free itself from its obligations under the Treaty of Versailles. On 10 March 1935 the Defendant Goering announced that Germany was building a military air force. Six days later, on 16 March 1935, a law was passed bearing the signatures, among others, of the Defendants Goering, Hess, Frank, Frick, Schacht, and Von Neurath, instituting compulsory military service and fixing the establishment of the German Army at a peacetime strength of 500,000 men. In an endeavor to reassure public opinion in other countries, the Government announced on 21 May 1935 that Germany Would, though renouncing the disarmament clauses, still respect the territorial limitations of the Versailles Treaty, and, would comply with the Locarno Pacts. Nevertheless, on the very day of this announcement, the secret Reich Defense Law was passed and its publication forbidden by Hitler. In this law, the powers and duties of the Chancellor and other Ministers were defined, should Germany become involved in war. It is clear from this law that by May of 1935 Hitler and his Government had arrived at the stage in the carrying out of their policies when it was necessary for them to have in existence the requisite machinery for the administration and government of Germany in the event of their policy leading to war. At the same time that this preparation of the German economy for war was being carried out, the German Armed Forces themselves were preparing for a rebuilding of Germany's armed strength. The German Navy was particularly active in this regard.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): The official German Naval historians, Assmann and Gladisch, admit that the Treaty of Versailles had only been in force for a few months before it was violated, particularly in the construction of a new submarine arm. The publications of Captain Schuessler and Oberst Scherff, both of which were sponsored by the Defendant Raeder, were designed to show the German people the nature of the Navy's effort to rearm in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. The full details of these publications have been given in evidence. On 12 May 1934 the Defendant Raeder issued the top-secret armament plan for what was called the "Third Armament Phase." This contained the sentence: "All theoretical and practical A-preparations[2]) are to be drawn up with a primary view to readiness for a war without any alert period ." One month later, in June 1934, the Defendant Raeder had a conversation with Hitler in which Hitler instructed him to keep secret the construction of U-boats and of warships over the limit of 10,000 tons which was then being undertaken. And on 2 November 1934, the Defendant Raeder had another conversation with Hitler and the Defendant Goering, in which Hitler said that he considered it vital that the German Navy "should be increased as planned, as no war could be carried on if the Navy was not able to safeguard the ore imports from Scandinavia." The large orders for building given in 1933 and 1934 are sought to be excused by the Defendant Raeder on the ground that negotiations were in progress for an agreement between Germany and Great Britain, permitting Germany to build ships in excess of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. This agreement, which was signed in 1935, restricted the German Navy to a tonnage equal to one-third of that of the British, except in respect of U-boats where 45 percent was agreed, subject always to the right to exceed this proportion after first informing the British Government and giving them an opportunity of discussion.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): The Anglo-German Treaty followed in 1937, under which both powers bound themselves to notify full details of their building program at least 4 months before any action was taken. It is admitted that these clauses were not adhered to by Germany. In capital vessels, for example, the displacement details were falsified by 20 percent, whilst in the case of U-boats, the German historians Assmann and Gladisch say: "It is probably just in the sphere of submarine construction that Germany adhered the least to the restrictions of the German-British Treaty." The importance of these breaches of the Treaty is seen when the motive for this rearmament is considered. In the year 1940 the Defendant Raeder himself wrote: "The Fuehrer hoped until the last moment to be able to. put off the threatening conflict with England until 1944-45. At that time, the Navy would have had available a fleet with a powerful U-boat superiority, and a much more favorable ratio as regards strength in all other types of ships, particularly those designed for warfare on the high seas." The Nazi Government, as already stated, announced on 21 May 1935 their intention to respect the territorial limitations of the Treaty of Versailles. On 7 March 1936, in defiance of that Treaty, the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland was entered by German troops. In announcing this action to the German Reichstag, Hitler endeavored to justify the re-entry by references to the recently concluded alliances between France and the Soviet Union, and between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. He also tried to meet the hostile reaction which he no doubt expected to follow this violation of the Treaty by saying: "We have no territorial claims to make in Europe." The Common Plan or Conspiracy and Aggressive War The Tribunal now turns to the consideration of the Crimes against Peace charged in the Indictment. Count One of the Indictment charges the defendants with conspiring or having a common plan to commit crimes against peace.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): Count Two of the Indictment charges the defendants with committing specific crimes against peace by planning, preparing, initiating, and waging wars of aggression against a number of other states. It will be convenient to consider the question of the existence of a common plan and the question of aggressive war together, and to deal later in this Judgment with the question of the individual responsibility of the defendants. The charges in the Indictment that the defendants planned and waged aggressive wars are charges of the utmost gravity. War is essentially an evil thing. Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but affect the whole world. To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. The first acts of aggression referred to in the Indictment are the seizure of Austria and Czechoslovakia; and the first war of aggression charged in the Indictment is the war against Poland begun on 1 September 1939. Before examining that charge it is necessary to look more closely at some of the events which preceded these acts of aggression. The war against Poland did not come suddenly out of an otherwise clear sky; the evidence has made it plain that this war of aggression, as well as the seizure of Austria and Czechoslovakia, was premeditated and carefully prepared, and was not undertaken until the moment was thought opportune for it to be carried through as a definite part of the preordained scheme and plan. For the aggressive designs of the Nazi Government were not accidents arising out of the immediate political situation in Europe and the world; they were a deliberate and essential part of Nazi foreign policy. From the beginning, the National Socialist movement claimed that its object was to unite the German people in the consciousness of their mission and destiny, based on inherent qualities of race, and. under the guidance of the Fuehrer.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): For its achievement, two things were deemed to be essential; the disruption of the European order as it had existed since the Treaty of Versailles, and the creation of a Greater Germany beyond the frontiers of 1914. This necessarily involved the seizure of foreign territories. War was seen to be inevitable, or at the very least, highly probable, if these purposes were to be accomplished. The German people, therefore, with all their resources, were to be organized as a great political-military army, schooled to obey without question any policy decreed by the State. Preparation for Aggression In Mein Kampf Hitler had made this view quite plain. It must be remembered that Mein Kampf was no, mere private diary in which the secret thoughts of Hitler were set down. Its contents were rather proclaimed from the housetops. It was used in the schools and universities and among the Hitler Youth, in the SS and the SA, and among the German people generally, even down to the presentation of an official copy to all newly-married people. By the year 1945 over 6 1/2 million copies had been circulated. The general contents are well-known. Over and over again Hitler asserted his belief in the necessity of force as the means of solving international problems, as in the following quotation: "The soil on which we now live was not a gift bestowed by Heaven on our forefathers. They had to conquer it by risking their lives. So also in the future our people will not obtain territory, and therewith the means of existence, as a favor from any other people, but will have to win it by the power of a triumphant sword." Mein Kampf contains many such passages, and the extolling of force as an instrument of foreign policy is openly proclaimed. The precise objectives of this policy of force are also set forth in detail.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): The very first page of the book asserts that "German-Austria must be restored to the great German Motherland," not on economic grounds, but because "people of the same blood should be in the same Reich." The restoration of the German frontiers of 1914 is declared to, be wholly insufficient, and if Germany is to exist at all, it must be as a world power with the necessary territorial magnitude. Mein Kampf is quite explicit in stating where the increased territory is to be found: "Therefore we National Socialists have purposely drawn a line through the line of conduct followed by prewar Germany in foreign policy.... We put an end to the perpetual Germanic march towards the South and West of Europe, and- turn our eyes towards the lands of the East. We finally put a stop to the colonial and trade policy of the prewar times, and pass over to the territorial policy of the future. "But when we speak of new territory in Europe today, we must think principally of Russia and the border states subject to her." Mein Kampf is not to be regarded as a mere literary exercise, nor as an inflexible policy or plan incapable of modification. Its importance lies in the, unmistakable attitude of aggression revealed throughout its pages. The Planning of Aggression Evidence from captured documents has revealed that Hitler held four secret meetings to which the Tribunal proposes to make special reference because of the light they shed upon the question of the common plan and aggressive war. These meetings took place on 5 November 1937, 23 May 1939, 22 August 1939, and 23 November 1939. At these meetings important declarations were made by Hitler as to his purposes, which are quite unmistakable in their terms. The documents which record what took place at these meetings have been subject to some criticism at the hands of defending counsel.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): Their essential authenticity is not denied, but it is said, for example, that they do not purport to be verbatim transcripts of the speeches they record, that the document dealing with the meeting on 5 November 1937 was dated 5 days after the meeting had taken place, and that the two documents dealing with the meeting of 22 August 1939 differ from one another and are unsigned. Making the fullest allowance for criticism of this kind, the Tribunal is of the opinion that the documents are documents of the highest value, and that their authenticity and substantial truth are established. They are obviously careful records of the events they describe, and they have been preserved as such in the archives of the German Government, from whose custody they were captured. Such documents could never be dismissed as inventions, nor even as inaccurate or distorted; they plainly record events which actually took place. Conferences of 23 November 1939 and 5 November 1937 It will perhaps be useful to deal first of all with the meeting of 23 November 1939, when Hitler called his supreme commanders together. A record was made of what was said, by one of those present. At the date of the meeting, Austria and Czechoslovakia had been incorporated into the German Reich, Poland had been conquered by the German armies, and the war with Great Britain and France was still in its static phase. The moment was opportune for a review of past events. Hitler informed the commanders that the purpose of the conference was to give them an idea of the world of his thoughts, and to tell them his decision. He thereupon reviewed his political task since 1919, and referred to the secession of Germany from the League of Nations, the denunciation of the Disarmament Conference, the order for rearmament, the introduction of compulsory armed service, the occupation of the Rhineland, the seizure of Austria, and the action against Czechoslovakia. He stated: "One year later, Austria came; this step also was considered doubtful. It brought about a considerable reinforcement of the Reich.
MR. JUSTICE BIRKETT (Alternate member of the Tribunal for the United Kingdom): The next step was Bohemia, Moravia, and Poland. This step also was not possible to accomplish in one campaign. First of all, the western fortification had to be finished. It was not possible to reach the goal in one effort. It was clear to me from the first moment that I could not be satisfied with the Sudeten German territory. That was only a partial solution. The decision to march into Bohemia was made. Then followed the erection of the Protectorate and with that the basis for the action against Poland was laid, but I was not quite clear at that time whether I should start first against the East and then in the West or vice versa.... Basically I did not organize the Armed Forces in order not to strike. The decision to strike was always in me. Earlier or later I wanted to solve the problem. Under pressure it was decided that the East was to be attacked first." This address, reviewing past events and reaffirming the aggressive intentions present from the beginning, puts beyond any question of doubt the character of the actions against Austria and Czechoslovakia, and the war against Poland. For they had, all been accomplished according to plan; and the nature of that plan must now be examined in a little more detail. At the meeting of 23 November 1939 Hitler was looking back to things accomplished; at the earlier meetings now to be considered, he was looking forward, and revealing his plans to his confederates. The comparison is instructive. The meeting held at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin on 5 November 1937 was attended by Lt. Col. Hossbach, Hitler's personal adjutant, who compiled a long note of the proceedings, which he dated 10 November 1937 and signed. The persons present were Hitler, and the Defendants Goering, Von Neurath and Raeder, in their capacities as Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, Reich Foreign Minister, and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy respectively, General Von Blomberg, Minister of War, and General Von Fritsch, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army.