dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
COL. STOREY: In the issue of 2 February 1935, Page 5, "The Jewish World Danger"; on 20 July 1935, Page 4, "Jewish Worries"; on 1 June 1935, Page 1, "Jews Are Not Wanted Here." And then follows a statement: "Then, also, outside of the last German village the sign will stand, 'Jews Are Not Wanted Here'; and then, finally, no German citizen will again cross the threshold of a Jewish store. To achieve this goal is, among others, the mission of the SA man as the political soldier of the Fuehrer. Next to his word and his explanations shall stand his example." Then further on, 17 August 1935, Page 1, "God Save the Jews." Then another, of 5 October 1935, Page 6, the tine "The Face of the Jew" (with a portrait of a Jew holding the hammer and sickle). I will just refer to one or two more of them. Here is one on 23 November 1935, Page 2, the title, "The Camouflaged Benjamin- Jewish Cultural Bolshevism in German Music." Here is one of 2 January 1937, Page 6-a hideous-looking picture-the title being "Romania to the Jews?" I give the final quotation, the last one, 3 February 1939, Page 14, the title being "Friends of World Jewry: Roosevelt and Ickes." The impressive thing about all these articles is the fact that it was not intended that the philosophies expressed in them should be confined to members of the SA; on the contrary, the plan was to educate the members of the SA with this iniquitous philosophy, and for the SA in turn to be employed for its dissemination into the minds of the German people. This fact is demonstrated in the introduction to a series of anti-Jewish articles in the paper of 5 December 1936, at Page 6. I will just read the tine.
COL. STOREY: It is found on Page 28 of the same document and the title is as follows: "Gravediggers of World Culture." Also on that same Page, 28, I quote this statement: "We suggest that the comrades especially take notice of this series of articles and see that they are further circulated." In addition, intensive campaigns were conducted to persuade the public to purchase and read Der SA-Mann and the various issues were posted in public places so that the general public might read them. Der SA-Mann itself contained several photographs which show particular issues posted upon street bulletin boards; and there are several photographs showing advertising displays, one of which, for example, reads as follows-this is in the issue of 31 October 1936: " Der SA-Mann belongs in every house, every hotel, every inn, every waiting room, and every store." Also in- the issue of 24 August 1935, at Page 3, there was a group picture of SA men on trucks and in front of the trucks were large signs, one of which read, "Read Der Sturmer and you will know the Jew." On the same page of the publication I mentioned there is a photograph of what appears to be a public rally, at which there is displayed a large poster reading, "He who knows the Jew, knows the devil!"
THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, the Tribunal expressed their view yesterday that they did not desire to hear cumulative evidence. Isn't this rather cumulative?
COL. STOREY: I agree with Your Honor that possibly it is. I am trying to draw the line on it. I will omit the rest of them. Now we will pass to the final phase of the function of the SA in the conspiracy.
THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps we had better adjourn now for 10 minutes.
COL. STOREY: If Your Honor pleases, I have just started into the function of the SA in the conspiracy, that of its participation in the program for preparation for warfare. In this connection, Your Honors asked this morning a question about the arresting and police activities of the SA, and I mentioned that they had declined after 1934. For fear there was some misapprehension, I would like to state that as a police organization and as an arresting agency they declined steadily after 1934. We go now into the phase where they went into military preparations, the next phase; and that is the phase with which I deal now. If Your Honor pleases, I have here an official government publication issued by the British Government in 1943, the title being, The Nazi Party and Organizations ; and I should like to quote as to the organization and membership of the SA from that publication. It is the most authoritative that I have been able to find, and I would like to quote briefly from it: "The SA was founded in 1921 as a para-military organization to protect Nazi meetings and leaders, to throw out interrupters and hecklers, to fight political enemies, and to provide pre-military training at a time when the legal 'Reichswehr' was limited to 100,000 men. Their highest leader is Hitler himself; his deputy is called the Stabschef (Chief of Staff) of the SA; from 1930 till June 1934 it was Rohm; from then onwards till his death in May 1943, Victor Lutze; since August 1943, Wilhelm Schepmann. In January 1933 the SA had only 300,000 members. After the seizure of power, its strength increased quickly; at present it has a membership of 1,500,000 to 2,000,000." (JN-4) Now, the date of this is 1943. We again find the SA employed to inculcate a particular Nazi ideology into the minds of the people of Germany. At this point it was the function of the SA to prepare Germany mentally for the waging of a vicious and aggressive war.
COL. STOREY: At all times, and especially during the period from 1933 to 1939, SA leaders emphasized to SA members the duty and responsibility of creating and fostering a militaristic spirit throughout Germany. In 1933 Hitler established the so-called SA sports program; and at that time, according to Sturmfuehrer Bayer, in his pamphlet which I have previously introduced in evidence as 2168-PS-on Page 6 of the English translation-it is just one sentence, and I quote: ". . . commissioned to increase and to preserve the warlike power and the fighting spirit as the expression of the soldierlike attitude of a people." In 1937 Hitler renewer the so-called sports program and, as recited in Document 3050-PS, which is the English translation of these newspaper articles, on Page 12, he made a statement "for the fostering of a military spirit." The Organization Book of the Party is to the same effect, in Document 3220-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-323. I quote from as portion of that document-Paragraphs 1 to 3 on Page 1 of the English translation, beginning at the first paragraph: "While the political organization of the NSDAP has to carry out the political leadership, the SA is the training and education instrument of the Party for the realization of an ideologically soldier-like attitude. "In conformity with the directives of the Fuehrer given at the Reich Party meeting of freedom, the SA is, as the voluntary political soldiery, the guarantor of the National Socialist movement, of the National Socialist revolution, and of the resurgence of the German people. "Consequently, the young German in the SA is being inculcated in the first instance from the standpoint of ideology and character, and trained as the bearer of the National Socialist ideas. "Equally significant is a suitable education and training which the SA members have accomplished within the yearly classes which have completed their military service.
COL. STOREY: This prevails until the age they and all their spiritual, mental, and physical powers are ready for use in maintaining the Movement, the people, and the State. They should find their best home in the SA. All that which could divide them economically, culturally, professionally, or because of origin is being overcome in the SA by the spirit of comradeship and manly dignity. "In that manner the SA is developing a decisive factor on the path to a popular community. Its spirit should radiate with soldierly tradition and the possibility of application on all existing units outside of the movement. Their guardianship is thus an important mission of the SA." A number of articles which were obviously designed to serve as war propaganda material have been translated, in other cases only the titles, the tines themselves being so comprehensive that they disclose the nature and substance of the articles. I should like to refer to a few of these tides on this subject. They are shown on the English translation of 3050-PS and they are listed on Page 1. On the question of the Nazi Lebensraum philosophy: The issue of 5 January 1935, Page 13, the article "The German Living Space"; the issue of 10 October 1936, Page 15, "Our Right, Our Colonies"; another, of 14 October 1938, Page 3, the tine "Space and Folk"; "Colonies for Germany," 2 January 1937, Page 4. I should like to quote briefly from that article. I believe that it is on Page 2 of the English translation, 3050-PS: "The German Ambassador in London, Herr Von Ribbentrop recently, on occasion of a reception in the Anglo-German Fellowship . . . has renewed, in a speech which dealt with all problems from a high level, the indubitable claim of Germany for the restitution of its colonies which had been snatched away. "Shortly thereafter the Reich Bank president and Reich Minister of Economics, Dr. Schacht, published in the English magazine, Foreign Affairs, a detailed article on the German colonial problem." That is on Page 2, I believe, of the English translation. "For the rest Dr.
COL. STOREY: Schacht laid out the categorical demand that Germany must, in order to solve the problem of its raw materials, get colonies which must be administered by Germany and in which the German standard currency must be in circulation." Now, the next group are articles dealing with the Versailles Treaty , and I will quote only from a few of them on Page 3 of that same translation. Here is one of 7 April 1934, Page 14, "What is the Situation Regarding Our Battle for Equal Rights?". Another is entitled, "The Dictate of Versailles," 30 June 1934, Page 15. The article reads in part: "The dictate of Versailles established the political, economical, and financial destruction of Germany in 440 artfully-one could also say devilishly-devised paragraphs; this work of ignominy is a sample of endless and partly contradictory repetitions in constantly new forms. Not too many have occupied themselves with this thick book to a great extent, for one could only do it with abomination." Another tine is 7 July 1934, Page 15, "The Unbearable Limitations on our Fleet." Another one: 19 January 1935, Page 13, "Versailles after 15 Years." This article reads in part: "This terrible word 'Versailles', since a blind nation ratified it, has become a word of profanity for all those who are infatuated with the spirit of this enormous production of hatred. The Versailles dictate is German fate in the fullest sense of the word. Every German bore up under the operation of this fate during the past 15 years. Therefore, every last German must also grasp the contents of this dictate so that one single desire of its absolute destruction fills the whole German yolk." I shall omit the other quotation. The last one I shall refer to is February 1937, quoting "Versailles Will Be Liquidated"; and that, if Your Honor pleases, is the last paragraph on Page 4 of the English translation: "The National Socialist movement has again achieved a victory, for upon its flag since the beginning of the fight stands: The liquidation of the Versailles Treaty .
COL. STOREY: For this fight the SA marched year after year." A third group of articles describing preparations for war, purportedly being carried on by other nations, are found on Page 5 of that same document, and I shall refer to just a few of them: The issue of January 26, 1935, Page 14, "Military Training of English Youth," showing pictures of Eton students wearing the traditional Eton dress-tall hats and frock coats-marching with rifles; another one is "The Army of the Soviet Union," dated 16 March 1935, Page 14; another one, 4 April 1936, Page 13, "The Red Danger in the East"; another one, 29 August 1936, Page 10, "Russia Prepared for World War"; another one, 19 June 1937, Page 7, "Red Terrorism Nailed Down." I shall pass the rest of them. Now, the next is the SA participation in the aggressive war phase of the conspiracy-the preparation by SA of the youth of Germany for participation in aggressive warfare. I hardly think I need emphasize that one of the most important steps in carrying out the conspiracy was the training of the youth of Germany in the technique of war and their preparation physically and spiritually for the ravaging of aggressive war. To the SA was delegated this most important responsibility. I have here Document Number 3215-PS, Exhibit Number USA-426, which I offer in evidence; and it is an excerpt from Das Archiv and contains Hitler's characterization of the task of the SA in this respect. It is on Page 1 of the English translation of 3215-PS. I start the reading where it says: "Already in 1920 by the founding of the National Socialist Sports Section (SA) the Fuehrer established the extensive mission of this SA at that time by declaring in the protocol of its charter....
COL. STOREY: 'The Sports Section (SA) shall one day be the bearer of the military thought of a free people."' In the same sense the Fuehrer said in his book, Mein Kampf : "Give the German nation 6 million bodies perfectly trained in sport all fanatically inspired with the love of the fatherland and trained to the highest offensive spirit, and a national state will, if necessary, have created an army out of them in less than 2 years...." The military character of the SA is demonstrated by its organizational composition. I refer to the chart on the wall, which is our Document Number 2168-PS. It is taken from this book, being the pamphlet of the SA Sturmfuehrer; and the chart is taken from the official book. I simply refer to the chart and call to the attention of Your Honor that it was organized into units closely corresponding to those of the German Army. As the Tribunal will see, the organizational scheme consisted of divisions; at the top in that pyramidal structure the division, next the brigade, the regiment, the battalion, the company, the platoon, and the squad. In addition, there were special units and branches, over to the right as Your Honor will notice, including cavalry, signal corps, engineer corps, and medical corps. There were also, as Bayer pointed out in his pamphlet, three officer training schools. Similarly, SA members wore distinctive uniforms adapted to military functions, bore arms, and engaged in training, forced marches, and other military exercises. SA members, moreover, were governed by general regulations which closely resembled service regulations of an armed force. They are contained in Document Number 2820-PS, Exhibit Number USA-427, which I offer in evidence. If Your Honor pleases, they are found at Page 3 of the translation. I will simply refer to a few of them. These regulations provide for punishment, designating them as penal regulations, for disobedience of orders and infractions of regulations.
COL. STOREY: The punishments which are provided demonstrate the militaristic character of the SA and include the following: Reprimand in private; reprimand in presence of superiors and announcement thereof at formations; prohibition of the right to wear service uniform; house arrest, et cetera . Preparation for war through the SA training program was commenced in Germany as early as 1933, but the scope of this program was not made public because of the fact that it actually constituted a violation of the Treaty of Versailles. The strict secrecy with which the program was surrounded is shown in Document D-44, Exhibit Number USA-428, which I offer in evidence. On Page 1 of the English translation-this is from the Supreme Command of the SA, Chief of Staff-and it has to do with publications on the SA: "Further to my instruction Z II 1351/33 dated 11 July 33, I find cause to ask all SA authorities to exercise the greatest caution with regard to any publicity given to the SA service not only in the press but also in the information and news sheets of the individual SA units. "Only during the last few days the Reich Ministry of the Interior at the request of the Foreign Office has given strict instructions to all Reich authorities according to which the most severe control is to be exercised on all publications which might give other countries an occasion to construe German infringements of the terms of the Versailles Treaty . "As is known from the Geneva negotiations, our opponents have piled up material, collected in Germany and submitted to them, which they use against us on every occasion during the conferences. "From this point of view, the information sheets circulating among the subordinate SA units cause the liveliest concern.
COL. STOREY: I hold all higher SA leaders responsible that any such internal information sheets appearing in the district of their command are submitted to the most stringent control before they go into print; and I feel compelled to draw attention to the liability to prosecution for treason, as pronounced in official instructions issued in the last few days, in cases where such reports, printed no doubt in good faith, are published and therefore exposed to the danger of falling into the wrong hands. "On principle, pictures of the special technical units of the SA and SS, in particular of the motorized, signal, and possibly also of the air squads which now exist outside these formations, are forbidden, such pictures enabling other countries to prove the alleged formation of technical troop units." Similarly, secrecy was provided for in the order assigning a Wehrmacht officer to the SA in January 1934 to assist in the SA training program. This Document, 2823-PS, Exhibit Number USA429, which is a copy of a memorandum of SA headquarters dated January 1934, designates an officer of the Wehrmacht to assist in the military training of SA members. and it goes on to provide- and I quote from Paragraph 7 of the English translation: "For the purpose of camouflage, Lieutenant Colonel Auleb will wear SA uniform with the insignia of rank according to more detailed regulations of the Supreme SA leader." The military training program of the SA was for many years conducted under the guise of a sports program. This plan was created by Hitler as early as 1920 by the founding of what he called the sports program. The fact that the so-called sports program was in reality closely associated with, and in fact a means of providing, military training for the German youth is shown by the following characterization of the program by Lutze, the Chief of Staff of the SA, in an article written in 1939.
COL. STOREY: I now refer to Document 3215-PS, Exhibit Number USA-426; and I quote excerpts of the English translation on Page 2: "The decrees issued by the Fuehrer to the SA in 1935 about the renewal, in 1936 regarding the bestowal of the diploma and in 1937 about the repetition of the yearly exercises of the SA sport badge, all served this goal. Parallel to this decree of the Fuehrer for physical strengthening and military indoctrination, adequate measures were taken within the SA, regarding organization and drilling. Out of the idea that the preservation and the advancement of the military power of our people must be specially fostered by military and physical exercises, resulted a particular and systematic training in these fields. "In 25 troop schools and in three Reichsfuehrer schools of the SA 22,000 to 25,000 officers and noncommissioned officers were trained yearly since 1934 in special educational courses until they possessed the education and examination certificates. In clearly outlined training directives, the training goals which had to be achieved yearly were given and at the same time the yearly Reich competitive contests were established. Hand in hand the training of the Fuehrer Corps and the corresponding organizational measures and the training at the front proceeded on the broadest basis." In connection with the military training of the sports program, I refer to Document 2354-PS, Exhibit Number USA-430, which demonstrates the tests and standards required for obtaining the sports award-Page 2 of the English translation. I am not going to read all of it, if Your Honor pleases, but just refer to a few of them: "Group II: Military sports; 25-kilometer march with pack; firing of small-caliber arms; aimed throwing of hand grenades, 200-meter cross-country race with gas masks over four obstacles; swimming or bicycle riding; basic knowledge of first aid in case of accidents." I will pass the others.
COL. STOREY: In 1939 the SA sports program was formally recognized decree issued by Hitler as a military training program, and the SA was openly declared to be an agency for pro- and postmilitary training, that is, for military training prior to and following service in the Wehrmacht. I have Document Number 2383-PS ... It's PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, you have just drawn our attention to a Document Number 3215-PS, which shows that from 1934 onwards, 25,000 officers and noncommissioned officers were trained by the SA.
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Isn't that sufficient to show the military nature of the organization?
COL. STOREY: I think so. This was just the decree of Hitler. May I just refer to it by reference for the record? I will not read the decree.
THE PRESIDENT: Go on; what are you referring to?
COL. STOREY: Document 2383-PS, Page 11 of the English translation, contains a copy of the decree legalizing the training program for pre- and post-military training. It would have been one thing for the SA to conduct a military training program for its members, but the SA program was not confined to its members. The entire youth of Germany was enlisted into a feverish program of military training. I refer to a quotation in Document 2354-PS from the same organization book, which is at Page 2 of the English translation, in which the Chief of Staff Lutze said, and I quote briefly: "In order to give conscious expression to the fostering of a valiant spirit in all parts of the German people, I further decide that this SA sports badge can also be earned and worn by persons who are not members of the movement insofar as they comply racially and ideologically with the National Socialist requirements." Document 2168-PS shows that responsibility for conducting this nation-wide program was lodged in the operational main office of the SA. Page 8 of the English translation says, and I quote: "The latter has, on the basis of the SA sport badge, to prepare a thorough physical training of the bodies of all Germans capable of bearing arms. In order to reach this goal, it has to organize body exercises and sporting advancement so that the masses of the people will be included by it and will be kept fit to bear arms until old age. This martial preparedness must not be achieved only by physical and mental training but also with regard to character and ideology." I pass from that phase now. Document 3215-PS is an excerpt from Das Archiv , and I refer to Pages 2 to 3 of the English translation beginning at the bottom of Page 2, and I quote: "Next to the companies of the SA were the SA sport badge associations, in which entered all the nationals who were capable of bearing arms and who were prepared to voluntarily answer the call of the SA for the preservation of military proficiency.