dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
for the future, that the Districts are informed of the names of the persons. "I therefore request, to see to it, that these compatriots be especially watched by the Ortsgruppen, and that it be attempted, to influence them in the National Socialist sense. Otherwise, it will be necessary to place the activities of such persons, who do not want to be taught, under exact control. In these cases, it will eventually be necessary, to notify the Secret State Police." (2639-PS) On 24 April 1934 the Nazi conspirators passed a law imposing the death penalty for "any treasonable act." Included in the law was a declaration to the effect that the creating or organizing of a political party, or continuing of an existing one was a treasonable act. (2548-PS) (2) By their interpretation and changes of the penal law, the Nazi conspirators enlarged their terroristic methods. After the enactment of these new political crimes, the Nazi conspirators introduced into the penal law the theory of punishment by analogy. This enabled them legally to punish any act injurious to their political interests even if no existing statute forbade it. The culpability of the act and the punishment was determined by the law most closely relating to or covering the act which was in force at the time. (1962-PS) In interpreting this law, Dr. Guertner, Reich Minister of Justice, stated: "National Socialism substitutes for the idea of formal wrong, the idea of factual wrong. * * * Even without the threat of punishment, every violation of the goals toward which the community is striving is a wrong per se. As a result, the law ceases to be an exclusive source for the determination of right or wrong." (2549-PS) Referring to the penal code of Nazi Germany, the defendant Frank stated in 1935: "The National Socialist State is a totalitarian State, it makes no concessions to criminals, it does not negotiate with them; it stamps them out." (2552-PS) The Nazi conspirators also revised the criminal law so that the State could, within one year after a decree in a criminal case had become final, apply for a new trial, and the application would be decided by members of a Special Penal Chamber appointed by Hitler personally. Thus, if a defendant should be acquitted in
Nazi conspirators also revised the criminal law so that the State could, within one year after a decree in a criminal case had become final, apply for a new trial, and the application would be decided by members of a Special Penal Chamber appointed by Hitler personally. Thus, if a defendant should be acquitted in a lower court, the Nazi conspirators could rectify the situation by another trial. (2550-PS) In direct contrast to the severity of the criminal law as it affected the general population of Germany, the Nazi conspirators adopted and endorsed a large body of unwritten laws exempting the police from criminal liability for illegal acts done under higher authority. This principle was described by Dr. Werner Best, outstanding Nazi lawyer, in the following terms: "The police never act in a lawless or illegal manner as long as they act according to the rules laid down by their superiors up to the highest governing body. According to its nature, the police must only deal with what the Government wants to know is being dealt with. What the Government wants to know is being dealt with by the police is the essence of the police law and is that which guides and restricts the actions of the police. As long as the police carry out the will of the Government, it is acting legally." (1852-PS) C. The Nazi conspirators created a vast system of espionage into the daily lives of all parts of the population. (1) They destroyed the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications. They enacted a law in February of 1933 providing that violations of privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications were permissible beyond legal limitations. (1390-PS) Dr. Hans Anschuetz, the present District Court Director (Landgerichtsdirektor) at Heidelberg, Germany, recently stated: "Subsequently, the system of spying upon and supervising the political opinions of each citizen which permeated the entire people and private life of Germany, was, of course, also extended to judges." (2967-PS) (2) They used the Secret State Police (Gestapo) and the Security Service (SD) for the purpose of maintaining close surveillance over the daily activities of all people in Germany. The Gestapo had as its primary preventive activity the thorough
life of Germany, was, of course, also extended to judges." (2967-PS) (2) They used the Secret State Police (Gestapo) and the Security Service (SD) for the purpose of maintaining close surveillance over the daily activities of all people in Germany. The Gestapo had as its primary preventive activity the thorough observation of all enemies of the State, in the territory of the Reich. (1956-PS) The SD was an intelligence organization which operated out of various regional offices. it consisted of many hundreds of professional SD members who were assisted by thousands of honorary members and informers. These people were placed in all fields of business, education, State and Party administration, and frequently performed their duties secretly in their own organization. This information service reported on the activities of the people. (2614-PS) D. Without judicial process, the Nazi conspirators imprisoned, held in protective custody and sent to concentration camps opponents and suspected opponents. They authorized the Gestapo to arrest and detain without recourse to any legal proceeding. Officially, this power was described as follows: "The Secret State Police takes the necessary police preventive measures against the enemies of the State on the basis of the results of the observation. The most effective preventive measure is without doubt the withdrawal of freedom which is covered in the form of protective custody. * * * While protective arrests of short duration are carried out in police and court prisons, the concentration camps under the Secret State Police admit those taken into protective custody who have to be withdrawn from public life for a longer time." (1956-PS) The Nazi conspirators issued their own orders for the taking of people into protective custody and these orders set forth no further details concerning the reasons therefor, except a statement such as "Suspicion of activities inimical toward the State." (2499-PS) The defendant Frank stated: "To the world we are blamed again and again because of the concentration camps. We are asked, 'Why do you arrest without a warrant of arrest?' I say, put yourselves into the position of our nation. Don't forget that the very great and still untouched world of Bolshevism cannot forget that we have made final victory
stated: "To the world we are blamed again and again because of the concentration camps. We are asked, 'Why do you arrest without a warrant of arrest?' I say, put yourselves into the position of our nation. Don't forget that the very great and still untouched world of Bolshevism cannot forget that we have made final victory for them impossible in Europe, right here on German soil." (2533-PS) The defendant Goering said in 1934: "Against the enemies of the State, we must proceed ruthlessly. It cannot be forgotten that at the moment of our rise to power, according to the official election figures of March 1933, six million people still confess their sympathy for Communism and eight million for Marxism. * * * Therefore, the concentration camps have been created, where we have first confined thousands of Communists and Social Democrat functionaries. * * *" (2344-PS) U.S. Ambassador George S. Messersmith, former Counsel General in Berlin, Germany, 1930-34, and Raymond H. Geist, former American Counsel and First Secretary of the Embassy in Berlin, Germany, 1929-1939, have recently stated: "Independent of individual criminal acts committed by high functionaries of the German government or the Nazi Party, such as the murders ordered by Hitler, Himmler and Goering, all high functionaries of the German government and of the Nazi Party * * * are guilty in the highest degree of complicity in and furtherance of the cardinal crimes of oppression against the German people, persecution and destruction of the Jews and all of their political opponents." (2386-PS) Commenting further on the Nazi conspirators' use of concentration camps to destroy political opposition, Raymond H. Geist stated: "The German people were well acquainted with the goings on in concentration camps and it was well known that the fate of anyone too actively opposed to any part of the Nazi program was liable to be one of great suffering. Indeed, before the Hitler regime was many months old, almost every family in Germany had had first hand accounts of the brutalities inflicted in the concentration camps from someone either in the relationship or in the circle of friends who had served a sentence there; consequently the fear of such camps was a very effective brake on any
was many months old, almost every family in Germany had had first hand accounts of the brutalities inflicted in the concentration camps from someone either in the relationship or in the circle of friends who had served a sentence there; consequently the fear of such camps was a very effective brake on any possible opposition." (1759-PS) The Nazi Conspirators confined, under the guise of "protective custody" Reichstag members, Social Democrats, Communists, and other opponents or suspected opponents. (2544-PS; L-73; L-83; 1430-PS.) E. The Nazi conspirators created and utilized special agencies for carrying out their system of terror. (See Chapter XV, Sections 5 and 6, on the Gestapo, SS, and SD) F. The Nazi conspirators permitted organizations and individuals to carry out this system of terror without restraint of law. (1) Acts of the Gestapo were not subject to review by the courts. In 1935 the Prussian Supreme Court of Administration held that the orders of the Gestapo were not subject to judicial review; and that the accused person could appeal only to the next higher authority within the State Police itself. (2347-PS) In 1936 a law was passed concerning The Gestapo in Prussia which provided that orders in matters of the Gestapo were not subject to review of the Administrative Courts. (2107-PS) On the same subject, the following article appeared in the official German Lawyer's Journal, 1935. "Once again the court had to decide on the question of whether political measures could be subjected to the review of the ordinary courts. * * * The case in question concerned the official performance of his duty by an official of the NSDAP. * * * The principle of the importance and the mission of the Party and its 'Sovereign Functionaries' cannot be overlooked. Therefore, the plaintiff should have been denied the right to be in court." (2491-PS) (2) Where no definite law protected terroristic acts of Nazi conspirators and their accomplices, proceedings against them were in the first instance suppressed or thereafter their acts were pardoned. In 1935, proceedings against an employee of the Gestapo accused of torturing, beating, and killing of inmates of a concentration camp were suppressed (787-PS; 788-PS). In
Nazi conspirators and their accomplices, proceedings against them were in the first instance suppressed or thereafter their acts were pardoned. In 1935, proceedings against an employee of the Gestapo accused of torturing, beating, and killing of inmates of a concentration camp were suppressed (787-PS; 788-PS). In June 1935 twenty-three SA members and policemen convicted of the beating and murder of inmates of the Hohnstein concentration camp were pardoned (786-PS). The prosecutor was forced to resign from the SA. (784-PS) LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PURGE OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS AND TERRORIZATION DocumentDescriptionVol.Page Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6 (a) .........................I5 International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Section IV (D) 3 (b) .........................I19 Note: A single asterisk (*) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (**) before a document number indicates that the document was referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court. *784-PSLetters from Minister of Justice to Hess and SA Chief of Staff, 5 June 1935, Concerning penal proceedings against merchant and SA leader and 22 companions because of inflicting bodily injury on duty. (USA 732) .........................III559 *786-PSMinister of Justice memorandum, 29 November 1935, concerning pardon of those sentenced in connection with mistreatment in Hohnstein concentration camp. (USA 734) .........................III568 *787-PSMemorandum to Hitler from Public Prosecutor of Dresden, 18 June 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel on account of bodily injury while in office. (USA 421) .........................III568 *788-PSLetters from Secretary of State to the Minister of Justice, 25 June 1935 and 9 September 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel. (USA 735) .........................III571 1388-PSLaw concerning confiscation of Property subversive to
in office. (USA 421) .........................III568 *788-PSLetters from Secretary of State to the Minister of Justice, 25 June 1935 and 9 September 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel. (USA 735) .........................III571 1388-PSLaw concerning confiscation of Property subversive to People and State, 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479 .........................III962 1390-PSDecree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State, 28 February 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 83 .........................III968 1393-PSLaw on treacherous attacks against State and Party, and for the Protection of Party Uniforms, 20 December 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1269 .........................III973 1430-PSCompilation of Leading Men of the System Era, June 1939 .........................IV15 1652-PSDecree of the Reich President for protection against treacherous attacks on the government of the Nationalist movement, 21 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 135 .........................IV160 *1669-PSCorrespondence between Dr. Haushofer and Hess, 24 and 28 August 1933. (USA 741) .........................IV184 *1759-PSAffidavit of Raymond H. Geist. (USA 420) .........................IV288 *1852-PS"Law" from The German Police, 1941, by Dr. Werner Best. (USA 449). (See Chart No. 16) .........................IV490 *1856-PSExtract from book entitled "Hermann Goering - Speeches and Essays", 3rd edition 1939, p. 27. (USA 437)....IV496 *1857-PSAnnouncement of creation of SS as independent formation of NSDAP. Voelkischer Beobachter, 26 July 1934, p. 1. (USA 412)....IV496 1956-PSMeaning and Tasks of the Secret State Police, published in The Archives, January 1936, Vol. 22-24, p. 1342....IV598 1962-PSLaw to change the Penal Code of 28 June 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 839....IV600 2057-PSLaw relating to National Emergency Defense Measures of 3 July. 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 529....IV699 2107-PSLaw on Secret State Police of 10 February 1936. 1936 Preussiche Gesetzsammlung, pp. 21-22....IV732 2344-PSReconstruction of a Nation by Goering, 1934, p. 89....IV1065 2347-PSCourt decisions from 1935 Reichsverwaltungsblatt, Vol. 56, pp. 577-578,
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 529....IV699 2107-PSLaw on Secret State Police of 10 February 1936. 1936 Preussiche Gesetzsammlung, pp. 21-22....IV732 2344-PSReconstruction of a Nation by Goering, 1934, p. 89....IV1065 2347-PSCourt decisions from 1935 Reichsverwaltungsblatt, Vol. 56, pp. 577-578, 20 July 1935....IV1066 *2386-PSJoint affidavit of George S. Messersmith and Raymond H. Geist, 29 August 1945. (USA 750)....V39 *2460-PSAffidavit of Rudolf Diels. (USA 751).....V205 *2472-PSAffidavit of Rudolf Diels, 31 October 1945. (USA 752)....V224 2491-PSExtract from Legal Review, published in Lawyers' Journal, 1935....V235 2494-PSPrime Minister Goering's Press Conference, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, Berlin edition, 23-24 July 1933, p. 1....V236 2496-PSExtract from Goering's address to Public Prosecutors of Prussia on 12 July 1934 from the Archive, 1934, Vols. IV-VI, p. 495....V236 *2499-PSOriginal Protective Custody Order served on Dr. R. Kempner. 15 March 1935. (USA 232)....V236 2533-PSExtract from article "Legislation and Judiciary in the Third Reich", from Journal of the Academy for German Law, 1936, pp. 141-142....V277 2543-PSExtract from The Mission of the SS, published in The National Socialist Magazine, Issue 46, January 1934.....V288 *2544-PSAffidavit of Rudolf Diels, former Superior Government Counsellor of the Police Division of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. (USA 753)....V288 2545-PSExtract from Hitler's cleaning up act in Reich, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, Berlin edition, No. 182-183, 1-2 July 1934, p. 1...V290 2548-PSLaw about changing rules of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure of 24 April 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 34....V291 2549-PSExtract from "Germany's Road to Freedom" as published in Documents of German Politics, Vol. 3....V292 2550-PSLaw on modification of rules of general criminal procedure, 16 September 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1841....V293 2552-PSExcerpt concerning criminals, published in Journal of the Academy for German Law, No. 3, March 1935.....V293 2554-PSLaw concerning adjudication and execution of the death penalties of 29 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 151....V294 2572-PSHitler's speech to the Reichstag on 13 July 1934, printed in The Third Reich, Vol. II, p.
in Journal of the Academy for German Law, No. 3, March 1935.....V293 2554-PSLaw concerning adjudication and execution of the death penalties of 29 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 151....V294 2572-PSHitler's speech to the Reichstag on 13 July 1934, printed in The Third Reich, Vol. II, p. 247.....V302 *2614-PSAffidavit of Dr. Wilhelm Hoettl, 5 November 1945. (USA 918)....V337 2639-PSOrdinances of the Deputy of the Fuehrer, published in Munich 1937....V345 *2950-PSAffidavit of Frick, 19 November 1945. (USA 448).....V654 *2967-PSAffidavit of Dr. Hans Anschuetz, 17 November 1945. (USA 756)....V673 *L-73Affidavit of Bruno Bettelheim, 10 July 1945. (USA 746)...VII818 *L-83Affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, 21 July 1945. (USA 234)....VII859 *L-135Affidavit of Kate Eva Hoerlin, 9 July 1945. (USA 747).... VII883 5. DESTRUCTION OF THE FREE TRADE UNIONS AND ACQUISITION OF CONTROL OVER THE PRODUCTIVE LABOR CAPACITY A. They destroyed the independent organization of German labor. (1) Before the Nazis took control, organized labor held a well established and influential position in Germany. Most of the trade unions of Germany were joined together in two large congresses or federations, the Free Trade Unions (Freie Gewerkschaften) and Christian Trade Unions (Christlichen Gewerkschaften). Unions outside these two large groupings contained only 15 per cent of the total union membership. The Free Trade Unions were a congress of two federations of affiliated unions: (1) the General German Trade Union Federation (Allgemeinen Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbund, or the "ADGB") with 28 affiliated unions of industrial workers; (2) the General Independent Employees Federation (Allgemeinen Freien Angestelltenbund, or the "AFA") with 13 affiliated unions of white collar workers. (392-PS) The membership of the Free Trade Unions, the affiliated organizations of the Christian Trade Unions, and all other unions at the end of 1931 (the last year for which the official government yearbook gives statistics) was as follows (2411-PS): Union GroupNumber of membersPercentage of total Free Trade Unions.......4,569,87665.9 Christian Trade Unions.......1,283,27218.5 Others Unions.......1,081,37115.6 Total.......6,934,519100.0 Under the Weimar Constitution, workers were "called upon to take part on equal terms"
gives statistics) was as follows (2411-PS): Union GroupNumber of membersPercentage of total Free Trade Unions.......4,569,87665.9 Christian Trade Unions.......1,283,27218.5 Others Unions.......1,081,37115.6 Total.......6,934,519100.0 Under the Weimar Constitution, workers were "called upon to take part on equal terms" with employers in regulating conditions of employment. "It was provided that organizations on both sides and agreements between them shall be recognized." Factory Representative Councils (otherwise known as Workmens or Factory Works Councils) had the right, in conjunction with employers' representatives, to take an official part in the initiation and administration of social and economic legislation. (2050-PS) (2) The Nazi conspirators conceived that the free trade unions were incompatible with their objectives. Hitler stated in Mein Kampf: "It (the trade union) created the economic weapon which the international world Jew uses for the ruination of the economic basis of free, independent states, for the annihilation of their national industry and of their national commerce, and thereby for the enslavement of free people in the service of the above-the-state-standing, world finance Jewry (ueberstaatlichen Weltfinanz-Judentums)." (404-PS) In announcing to Germany the seizure of the Free Trade Unions, Dr. Robert Ley, speaking as chairman of the Nazi Committee for the Protection of German Labor, stated: "You may say, what else do you want, you have the absolute power, but we do not have the whole people, we do not have you workers 100 percent, and it is you whom we want; we will not let you be until you stand with us in complete, genuine acknowledgement." (614-PS; see also 2224-PS and 2283-PS.) (3) Soon after coming to power the Nazi conspirators took drastic action to convert the Factory Representative Councils into Nazi controlled organizations. The Nazi conspirators eliminated the independence of the Factory Representative Councils by giving the Governors of the Laender authority to cancel the membership of labor representatives in the councils; by abrogating the right of the councils to oppose the dismissal of a worker when he was "suspected of an unfriendly attitude toward the state" (1770-PS); and finally by