dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): "The basis of the Party organization is the principle of the Fuehrer idea"--is written in the statute of the Nazi Party. Each Political Leader was sworn in. According to the Party statute the wording of the oath was as follows: "I pledge eternal allegiance to Adolf Hitler; I pledge unconditional obedience to him and to the leaders appointed by him." All Political Leaders were appointed by special selection. The only difference was that some of them, such as Reichsleiter, Gauleitef, and Kreisleiter, were appointed by Hitler himself, whereas the others, heads of departments and division chiefs in Gau and Kreis, as well as Ortsgruppenleiter, were appointed by the Gauleiter. Such Political Leaders as Block- and Zellenleiter were appointed by the Kreisleiter. Many of these Reichsleiter and Gauleiter have appeared here before Your Honors. In the defendants' dock are Reichsleiter Rosenberg, Schirach, Frick; together with the missing Reichsleiter Bormann, Himmler, Ley, and Goebbels they represented the leading group of the Nazi Party, and they were leaders of the Fascist conspiracy as well. Here is the Gauleiter of Franconia, Streicher, and the slave trader Sauckel, the Gauleiter of Thuringia. You have heard of Erich Koch's devilish activity in Ukraine. Erich Koch was a Gauleiter too. The Gauleiter of Lower Styria, Uiberreither, carried out the mass shooting and executions in Yugoslavia. I will quote some short extracts concerning his activity: "20 June 1942. Within the period covered by this report, 105 people were shot in the district of Celje, and 362 arrested.... The chief of the Security Police will Empty the prison in two weeks' time. Part of the imprisoned people will be transferred to other prisons and the others shot. Thus we shall prepare enough room for the next large-scale action. "30 June 1942. Sixty-seven persons were shot in Celje. Among them six women ...... Gauleiter Wagner terrorized people in Alsace, Gauleiter Terboven in Norway.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Gauleiter Bohle, Leader of the Auslands-Organisation, set up and directed a widely ramified terroristic network for espionage and diversionist activities abroad and created the socalled "Fifth Columns" in different countries. According to the decree of I September 1939, 16 Gauleiter were appointed Reich Defense Commissioners. Later, in connection with the mobilization of the military resources, the Gauleiter carried out even more important tasks. Each district was proclaimed a Reich Defense Area, and the Gauleiter became commissioners of these areas. According to the Cabinet Council decree of 16 November 1942, it was laid down that in wartime the Gauleiter were entrusted with extraordinary tasks. During the war, the Gauleiter were in charge of billeting; they were entrusted with important military duties, and all branches of German war economy were co-ordinated by them. And at the end of the war the Gauleiter were the commanders of the Volkssturm in their respective areas. We should remember that when in March 1945 Speer was appointed Hitler's plenipotentiary for the total destruction of industrial objectives, bridges, railways, and other means of communications, he sent his telegraph-order to the Gauleiter, for they were personally supervising the carrying out of the destruction of important objectives on the spot. And now, after all this, the Defense is trying to present Hitler's party as a kind of welfare society, and its leaders as lady patronesses; it is trying to confuse a very clear case by a heap of written documentary evidence collected in various prisons and camps where the arrested Fascists are being held. Counsel Servatius understands that the probative value of this mass of written evidence is highly dubious, and he resorts to the last argument, saying that "the Defense was unable to visit the camps in Austria, no applications having been received from the Soviet Zone." But was the testimony of the witnesses for the Defense more convincing in consequence?
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Does the fact that Servatius did not visit Austria change the situation in the very least? Servatius was given unlimited opportunities of visiting the camps in the Soviet Zone of occupation. He visited certain camps. He knew that the right of the members of the organizations to submit declarations and to make statements before the Tribunal had been repeatedly announced in the newspapers published in the Soviet Zone and broadcast by radio. Servatius knew all this, but nevertheless he still endeavored to deceive the Tribunal. He attempted to do this in other cases as well. When Servatius refers to Hess's directive of 27 July 1935 in order to confirm the fact that the Corps of Political Leaders never existed, and that allegedly the title of "Political Leader" was not an official one, he passes over in silence that it was indicated, in this very same directive, that "naturally the term 'Political Leaders' remains in use." Servatius artificially increases the number of the leading staff of the NSDAP to 2,100,000 persons, in order demagogically to impute to the Prosecution a tendency to punish millions of Germans. At the same time, and in order to shelter outstanding Fascist leaders from all legal responsibility, without any proof whatsoever he affirms that, out of the workers of the Gauleiter organizations, 140,000 were only "honorary workers." The infamous Fascist Kaufmann, summoned by the Defense to the witness-stand, having been a member of the Nazi Party since 1921, and a Gauleiter for 20 years, did not know anything about the crimes of the Hitlerite conspirators. He was a "socialist," and was only entrusted with the welfare of the population. Another Defense witness, Hans Wegscheider, having been an Ortsgruppenleiter for a period of 12 years, went even further in his testimony. He declared that during these 12 years he did not get enough time to read even Mein Kampf . A third witness, Meyer-Wendeborn, a Kreisleiter since 1934, even surpassed Kaufmann in trying to help his accomplices.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Where the latter gave an affirmative answer to the question: "Were Blockand Zellenleiter a kind of Political Leader?" Meyer-Wendeborn answered the question in the negative. It would be very easy, by citing further examples, to prove the inconsistency of the Defense standpoint, but I consider it useless to enter into a discussion with the Defense summoning such witnesses as Kaufmann, Wendeborn, and such like. Among the Political Leaders of Hitlerite Germany (this title was legalized by Hess's decree of 27 July 1935, as shown in Defense Document Number 12) there was within the Party hierarchy a separate group of so-called "Hoheitstraeger," which occupied a special position. Together with the Gauleiter and Kreisleiter, the group of Hoheitstraeger also included the Ortsgruppenleiter, Zellenleiter, and Blockleiter. The special character of Political Leaders called "Hoheitstraeger" is described in the Organization Book of the NSDAP and in the periodical called Der Hoheitstraeger , which was strictly confidential to everybody except to a certain group of the Leadership Corps of the Party, the SS, and the SA. From the contents of this periodical it is quite evident that the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party paid constant attention to the measures and doctrines which were applied as the Fascist conspiracy was being realized. In 1937-38 the following problems were treated in the periodical mentioned. The slanderous anti-Semitic articles, among them some by the well-known Ley, the attacks on the Church, the reasons for the necessity of increasing the Lebensraum and seizing colonies; the motorization of the Armed Forces; the utilization of the Nazi Party cells and blocks to gain votes favorable to the Hitlerites in the elections; the cult of leadership, race theory, et cetera --these problems were treated in each copy of the periodical. And even after this evidence the Defense is trying to assert that the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party was not acquainted with the plans of the Hitlerite conspirators.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): The Nazis are trying now to disavow the compromising relations they had with Gestapo and SD, but these relations are indisputable. As early as 26 June 1935, Bormarm had issued an order which reads: "In order to bring about a closer contact between the Party offices and its organizations with the chiefs of the Gestapo, the Deputy of the Fuehrer requests that the chiefs of the Gestapo be invited to attend all of the larger official Party rallies and its organizations." In another regulation issued on 14 February 1935, and also signed by Bormann, it was stated: "Because the work of the Party is primarily benefited by the work of the SD, it is inadmissible that its expansion be upset by prejudiced attacks when individuals fail. On the contrary, it must be assisted wholeheartedly." The Tribunal has at its disposal numerous proofs of the gravest crimes in which the entire Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party participated, from Reichsleiter to Blockleiter included. I will mention here only a few of them. While carrying out the plans of the Hitlerite conspirators for the enslavement of the Yugoslav people, the Kreisleiter of the Pettau district, assisted by Ortsgruppenleiter and Blockleiter, destroyed all inscriptions, posters, and announcements written in the Slovene language. This Fascist ruler went even so far as to order the Ortsgruppenleiter "to see that all Slovene inscriptions on the saints' images (icons), chapels, and churches should immediately be entirely removed." In his letter of 13 September 1944, addressed to all Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, and Kreisleiter, Bormann informed them of the agreement concluded with the OKW to the effect that the "co-operation of the Party in the commitment of prisoners of war is indispensable." Therefore the officers assigned to the prisoner-of-war organization were instructed to co-operate most closely with the Hoheitstraeger. The commandants of the prisoner-of-war camps had to detail immediately liaison officers to the Kreisleiter.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): What the results of this co-operation were and the way in which the prisoners of war were exploited in Germany is well known. In Goering's decree of 27 March 1942, issued in connection with the appointment of Sauckel as Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor, it was stated that Sauckel was authorized to issue orders "... to the Party organs, to the Party agencies, and to the organizations attached to them." And Sauckel took advantage of this authorization. As he wrote in his "program issued for the Fuehrer's birthday," he, "with the Fuehrer's and the Reich Marshal's consent, as well as with the consent of the Head of the Party Chancellery," appointed all Gauleiter of the German Reich his plenipotentiaries. Sauckel's decree defined the Gauleiter's tasks as follows: "To secure the uninterrupted collaboration of all State, Party, military, and economic authorities in order to attain the greatest effect in the field of the employment of labor." On 25 September 1944, Himmler issued a top-secret directive concerning "the safeguarding of the discipline and efficiency of foreign workers." In this directive Himmler warned that: "The managers and shop stewards in all industries must pay close attention to the frame of mind of the foreign workers. For this purpose close co-operation of the Party, State, and economic authorities with the Gestapo is of the greatest importance...." Further on in this directive, it was stated that all members of the NSDAP working in industries, subject to instructions given them by the Kreisleiter through the Ortsgruppenleiter, are obliged "to watch the foreign workers most carefully and notify the shop stewards immediately about the remarks made in order that they may be communicated to the 'Abwehr' officials." Where there was no permanent Abwehr official the information was to be delivered to the Ortsgruppenleiter.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Himmler's directive prescribed that "in the interests of unified political leadership the Abwehr officials should co-ordinate their work with the Gestapo leaders, who, in case of need, will be summoned by the Kreisleiter." That is exactly what was meant by "political leadership" of Kreisleiter and Ortsgruppenleiter. Similar espionage functions were carried out by the Blockleiter, too, and this was clearly indicated in the Organization Book of the NSDAP . "A Blockleiter should expose all persons spreading pernicious rumors and report them to the Ortsgruppenleiter, in order to enable the latter to report them to the State authorities through official channels." A Blockleiter had the task "of propagating the National Socialist ideology amongst members of the Party and the people entrusted to him." He recruited members for the Hitler Youth, SA, and SS organizations, and for the DAF (German Labor Front), that is, he secured attendance at the Party rallies, participation in demonstrations, et cetera. "A Blockleiter has to carry out a constant National Socialistpropaganda." What kind of Nazi propaganda it was we all know very well. "We want to re-arm again.. .."--wrote Hitler--"Therefore, all available means--starting from the child's A B C up to the latest newspaper, every theater and cinema, every signpost and signboard, are to be put at the service of this great mission." Not every German knew these words of Hitler, but everyone knew the Blockleiter of his block, and this man was continuously spreading the Fascist virus poisoning the people's minds, thus assisting in the realization of the general plans of the Hitlerite conspirators. The Blockleiter appeared as small Fuehrer, but even they were endowed with very positive powers over the population living in the areas entrusted to them. Certainly the Blockleiter did not work out the plans for aggressive wars, but they did contribute very much to the realization of these plans. They formed, too, a very important part of the Nazi Party, which was the center of the Fascist conspiracy.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): That is why we insist on proclaiming the group of the Political Leaders of the Nazi Party as a criminal organization together with all big and little Fuehrer, Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, Ortsgruppenleiter, Zellenleiter, and Blockleiter--that is to say, the whole Leadership Corps of the monstrous machinery of Fascist dictatorship. Among other criminal organizations created by German Fascism special attention should be paid to the so-called "Schutzstaffel" of the Hitlerite party, abbreviated to "SS." The gravest crimes of German Fascism are associated with the title of "SS"-mass murder carried out in concentration camps, merciless butchery of the civilian population and of prisoners of war, fanatical large-scale massacres. Generally speaking, the "SS" men were supposed to carry out the genocide plans of Hitler and his clique. The Reichsfuehrer "SS" Himmler often called the "SS" the "Black Corps.' Das Schwarze Korps was also the title of the official SS newspaper, the organ "of the Reichsfilhrer of the SS." It was not a name picked up at random. The whole system applied by the "SS," starting from the so-called "Allgemeine SS," that is, the "General SS," and up to the camp guards and the Waffen-SS, was actually built up as a special corps of criminal convinced of their own impunity, and purposely trained and taught in the spirit of the most cruel and inhuman Hitlerite "theories." The chief Fascist conspirators needed the mass cadres for carrying out the murder of millions of enslaved people, for the seizure of territories, and the realization of the so-called program of "Germanization." All these tasks were carried out by the SS men. The "SS" organization was created and became famous as Hitler's Praettorian Guard, an organization of pogrom-makers and murderers. During the whole period of its existence, it remained the same.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Among other evidence presented by the Soviet Prosecution, there was a copy of Das Schwarze Korps of 20 August 1942, in which the leading article was entitled "Should We Germanize?" The contents of this article, which represent the Nazi ideas of Himmler, are, of such importance if one seeks a correct illustration of the character of the SS, that I am going to quote a small extract: "...The following slogan has been given out by the Reichsfuehrer SS: It is our task to germanize the East not in the old sense, that is, to teach the people living there the German language and German laws, but to see to it that only German people, that is people with Germanic blood, should live in the East!" This article was published for the information of the SS men at a time when criminal German Fascism was still sure of its victory and had already started to carry out the extermination of millions of people. At a conference of Gruppenfuehrer held in Poznan on 4 October 1943, Himmler, the creator of the SS, in a speech concerning the extermination of the European Jews, stated--I refrain from giving the quotation of this speech because it was quoted by Sir David yesterday. I do not want to dwell upon the history of the SS. One may add only to what has already been said that the "Schutzstaffel," created early in 1925, became, according to Hitler's special decree of 20 July 1934, an independent organization of the Hitlerite party, just after the political murders committed by the SS men on 30 June 1934.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Hitler's decree states as follows: "In consideration of the great meritorious service of the SS, especially in connection with the events of 30 June 1934, I raise it to the status of an independent organization within the NSDAP." The process of development of the SS in the Hitler State points clearly to the steadily increasing consolidation of the SS, the so-called General SS as well as the Waffen-SS, and the police organization of the Gestapo, SD, Einsatzgruppen, and Sonderkommandos who carried out the large-scale "actions," that is, massacres and "filtrations" in the camps, et cetera . This process of development was confirmed on 17 August 1938 by a secret decree of Hitler, in which, explaining the reasons compelling him to unite on 17 June 1936 the offices of the Chief of the German Police and the Reichsfuehrer SS, he stated: "By appointing the Reichsfuehrer SS Chief of the German Police at the Ministry of the Interior on 17 June 1936, I have created a foundation for the consolidation and reorganization of the German Police." In accordance with this measure, the "Schutzstaffel" of the Nazi Party, directed by the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police, entered into close collaboration with the German Police. And only in this close collaboration with the most ruthless members of the Police, created by German Fascism and especially appointed to carry out tortures and extermination, could the exact task of the SS be understood. The Defense unsuccessfully tried to refute this evidence. It has tried to present to the Tribunal this organization as being composed of a number of absolutely independent cells, separated by means of innumerable partitions, such as Allgemeine SS, Waffen-SS, SS Emergency Troops, or the "Totenkopf" Division.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): It appears that outside of a small section of "Totenkopf" not one of the units or sections of the SS had any connection with the Police and the concentration camps, any more than with the police activities conducted by Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, and Kaltenbrunner, or for that matter with the other grave crimes committed by the Hitlerites. As a result, in the opinion of the Defense, the only participants in the crimes perpetrated by these executioners were the Gestapo members Mueller and Eichmann, and the Chief of the "D" administration of the SS, Pohl. To wit, these particular persons murdered and tortured over 10 million people. Among the famous perjurers already known to the Tribunal, witnesses for the defense of the SS, such as the former Fuehrer of the SS and Police of the Oberabschnitt in Munich, SS-Obergruppenfuehrer Baron von Eberstein, Colonel General of the Waffen-SS Hauser, the Chief of the SS Recruiting Section, Brill, or the SS judges Reinecke and Morgen, should by all rights rank foremost for the impudent lies to which they resorted in order to justify the SS and its members. However, even falsehood has its limits. Carried to absurd proportions, it not only did not help the criminals, but instead served to expose them. It seems to me that the Tribunal will duly appreciate the testimony of Judge Morgen of the SS, who describes one of the most brutal SS concentration camps, Buchenwald, as practically a sanatorium for the internees, abounding in good food and playgrounds, in easy work in the open air and a large library. The documents which expose this criminal organization are in complete contradiction to the unintelligent lies of the "witnesses" for the defense of the SS. These lies are also contradicted by the irrefutable logic of facts-facts of the gravest crimes, the organizers and perpetrators of which were members of all the chief sections and organizations of the SS.
GENERAL R. A. RUDENKO (Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): At the beginning of the war the SS organization consisted of the following main links: (1) The so-called Allgemeine SS, where the SS member received general training before being assigned to the Waffen-SS or to one or another of the police organizations. The General SS served as a reservoir from which reinforcements were drawn for special Fascist organizations, such as the Gestapo, the SD, the administration of the ' concentration camps (that is "Group D"), and others. (2) The Waffen-SS, whose activities the Defense and the defendants have so insistently tried to present as the "guard units" of the former German Army, and far removed from police activities. The Waffen-SS included, among other units, those organizations, the criminal character of which even the defense for the SS did not dare challenge. These were the camp commands of the Waffen-SS, who conducted mass extermination of the peaceful population and of the prisoners of war in the concentration camps. It was the "Waffen-SS" which also included the SS police regiments that made up the units responsible for the destruction of populated centers and villages, and the perpetration of innumerable crimes in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union and in the countries of Eastern Europe. (3) The SS system included the SS economic administration in charge of concentration camps, the administration for the consolidation of the German nation, which put into practice the infamous doctrines of racial distinction, and all the Hitlerite police organizations, among them such agencies as Einsatzgruppen and Sonderkommandos. It is hardly worth while disputing the assertions of the defense that the relation of the SS to the Police was "purely external" and is only to be explained simply by Himmler's "personal union." It is well known what importance Himmler attached to the fact that all the officials of the Police had to be members of the General SS, which served as the reservoir and the cementing nucleus of the entire SS police system of German Fascism.