dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
CAPT. SPRECHER: I think, under the circumstances, I had better read this document: "Munich, 20 March 1941, Brown House, Personal-Secret. "To: All Gau leaders. Subject: Sequestration of Church properties (Monastery property, et cetera). "Recently, valuable church properties have had to be sequestered on a large scale, especially in Austria; according to reports of the Gauleiter to the Fuehrer these sequestrations were often because of violations of ordinances relating to war economy (for example, hoarding of foodstuffs of various kinds, textiles, leather goods, et cetera). In other cases they were for violations of the law relating to subversive acts against the State and in some cases because of illegal possession of arms. Obviously no compensation is to be paid 'to the churches for sequestrations made for the above-mentioned reasons. "With regard to further sequestrations, several Austrian Gau leaders, on the occasion of the Fuehrer's last visit to Vienna, attempted to clarify the question of who should acquire such sequestered properties. Please take note of the Fuehrer's decision, as contained in the letter written by Reich Minister Dr. Lammers to the Reich Minister of the Interior, dated 14 March 1941. 1 enclose copy of extracts of the same." -Signed- "M. Bormann." I had offered that document as Exhibit USA-678. Do you still wish me to read the enclosure that went with it?
THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): I don't wish you to read anything; I was simply pointing out that, as you had not read it, it was not in evidence.
CAPT. SPRECHER: In that event I will continue, Your Honor. The copy reads as follows: "Berlin, 14 March 1941; The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery. "To the Reich Minister of the Interior. Subject: Draft of an ordinance supplementing the provisions on confiscation of property of enemies of the People and State. "The Reichsstatthalter and Gauleiter Von Schirach, Dr. Jury and Eigruber complained recently to the Fuehrer that the Reich Minister of Finance still maintains the point of view that confiscation of property of enemies of the People and State should be made in favor of the Reich and not in favor of the Reich Gaue. Consequently the Fuehrer has informed me that he desires the confiscation of such properties to be effected in favor of the Reich Gau in whose area the confiscated property is situated, and not in favor of the Reich...."
THE PRESIDENT: You need not read any more of it.
CAPT. SPRECHER: I pass over now to the Jewish persecution. The Prosecution submits, finally, that Schirach authorized, directed, and participated in anti-Semitic measures. Of course, the whole ideology and teaching of the Hitler Youth was predicated upon the Nazi racial myth. Before the war, Schirach addressed a meeting of the National Socialist German Students' League, the organization he headed from 1929 to 1931. Document 2441-PS is offered as Exhibit USA-679, an affidavit by Gregor Ziemer. I wish to read merely from the bottom of Page 95 of the document book to the end of the first paragraph at the top of Page 96 of the document book. The deponent Ziemer is referring to a meeting at Heidelberg, Germany, which he personally attended some time before the war, at which Baldur von Schirach addressed the Students' League, which he himself had at one time led....
THE PRESIDENT: What is this document?
CAPT. SPRECHER: It is -an affidavit of Gregor Ziemer: "He" - meaning Schirach-" declared that the most important phase of German university life in the Third Reich was the program of the NSDSTB. He extolled various activities of the League. He reminded the boys of the service they had rendered during the Jewish purge. Dramatically he pointed across the river to the old university town of Heidelberg where several burnt-out synagogues were mute witnesses of the efficiency of Heidelberg students. These skeleton buildings would remain there for centuries as inspiration for future students as warning to enemies of the State." To attempt to visualize the true extent of the fiendish treatment of Jews under Schirach, we must look to his activities in the Reichsgau Vienna and to the activities of his assistants, the SS and the Gestapo, in Vienna. Document Number 1948, Page 63 of your document book, is offered as Exhibit USA-680. You will note it is on the stationery of the last Governor of Vienna.
THE PRESIDENT: Captain Sprecher, I have been reading on in this Document 2441-PS, on Page 96 of the document book. It seems to me you ought to read the next three paragraphs on Page 96 from the place where you left off.
CAPT. SPRECHER: Yes, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: The second, third, and fourth paragraphs.
CAPT. SPRECHER: "Even as old Heidelberg Castle was evidence that Old Germany had been too weak to resist the invading Frenchmen who destroyed it, so the black remains of the synagogue s would be a perpetual monument reminding coming generations of the strength of New Germany. "He reminded the students that there were still countries which squandered their. time and energy with books and wasteful discussions about abstract topics of philosophy and metaphysics. Those days were over. New Germany was a land of action. The other countries were sound asleep. "But he was in favor of letting them sleep. The more soundly they slumbered, the better opportunity for the men of the Third Reich to prepare for more action. The day would come when German students of Heidelberg would take their places side by side with legions of other students to conquer the world for the ideology of Nazism." I was about to refer, Your Honors, to Document Number 1948-PS, which is found at Page 63 of your document book, and which I offer as Exhibit USA-680. This, you will note, is on the stationery of the Reich Governor of Vienna, the Reichsstatthalter in Vienna. "... 7 November 1940. "Subject: Compulsory labor of able-bodied Jews. "1. Notice: On 5 November 1940 telephone conversation with Colonel"--Standartenfuehrer-"Huber of the Gestapo. The Gestapo has received secret directions from the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) as to how able-bodied Jews should be drafted for compulsory labor service. Investigations are being made at present by the Gestapo to find out how many able-bodied Jews are still available, in order to make plans for the contemplated mass projects. It is assumed that there are not many more Jews available. If some should still be available, however, the Gestapo has no scruples to use the Jews even for clearing away the destroyed synagogues. "SS Standartenfuehrer Huber will make a report personally to the Regierungsprasident in this matter. "I have reported to the Regierungsprasident accordingly. The matter should be kept further in mind." The signature is by Dr. Fischer.
CAPT. SPRECHER: I want to call the Court's attention to the significance of the title Regierungsprasident The SS Colonel, you will note, was to report to the Regierungsprasident. If you will refer back again to the decree which set up the Reichsgau Vienna, 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I Page 777 (Document 3301-PS), you will find that the Regierungsprasident was Schirach's personal representative within the governmental administration of Vienna. Now, it seems to us that this Document Number 1948-PS, which was signed by Fischer, concerning compulsory labor of able- bodied Jews, answers the argument that persons of the rank of Gauleiter were ignorant of the atrocities of the Gestapo and the SS in their own locality. It shows further that even the assistants of the Gau leaders were informed of the details of the persecution projects which were afoot at the time. Schirach also had concern for, and knowledge of, the housing shortage in Vienna, which was alleviated for some members of the alleged master race who succeeded to the houses of the luckless Jews who were moved into oblivion in Poland. On December 3, 1940, the conspirator Lammers wrote a letter to Schirach. It is our Document 1950-PS, Page 64 of your document book, and it is offered in evidence as Exhibit USA-681. The letter is very short: "Berlin, 3 December 1940..." It is on the stationery of the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery, and it is marked "secret": "To the Reich Governor in Vienna, Gauleiter Von Schirach: "As Reichsleiter Bormann informs me, the Fuehrer has decided, after receipt of one of the reports made by you, that the 60,000 Jews still residing in the Reichsgau Vienna will be deported most rapidly" - that is, still during the war-"to the Government General, because of the housing shortage prevalent in Vienna. I have informed the Governor General in Krakow, as well as the Reichsfuehrer SS, about this decision of the Fuehrer and I request you also to take cognizance of it."-Signed -Lammers.
CAPT. SPRECHER: As a last piece of illustrative evidence against this youngest member of the defendants in the dock, I take something from his own lips, which was published for all Vienna and, indeed, for all Germany and the world to know, even at that time. It appears in the Vienna edition of the Volkischer Beobachter, on the 15th of September 1942, Document 3048-PS, your document book, Page 106. It is already in evidence as Exhibit USA-274. I would like to point out that these words were uttered before the so-called European Youth League in Vienna in 1942. The Tribunal will recall that Schirach was still Reich Leader for Youth Education in the NSDAP at that time: "Every Jew who exerts influence in Europe is a danger to European culture. If anyone reproaches me with having driven from this city, which was once the European metropolis of Jewry, tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of Jews into the ghetto of the East, I feel myself compelled to reply, 'I see in this an action contributing to European culture.' " Although Schirach's principal assistance to the conspiracy was made in his commission of the German youth to the conspirators' objectives, he also stands guilty of heinous Crimes against Humanity as a Party and governmental administrator of high standing, after the conspiracy had reached its inevitable involvement in wars of aggression. This completes, Your Honors, the presentation on the individual responsibility of the Defendant Schirach. The Prosecution will next take up the responsibility of the Defendant Martin Bormann, and the presentation will be made by Lieutenant Lambert.
DR. SAUTER: Mr. President, as to the various errors made in the case against Schirach, I shall state my position when the Defense has its turn. But I should like to take the opportunity now of pointing out an error in translation in one of the documents. It is in Document 3352-PS. It is an order of the Reich Chancellery to the subordinate offices, and this order mentions that the labor offices had to be at the disposal of the Gauleiter under certain circumstances. In the German original of this order it reads as follows: "Anregungen und Wunsche." Now "Anregungen und Wunsche," that is...
THE PRESIDENT: Which page of the document is it?
DR. SAUTER: I think, Page 512 of Document 3352-PS, on Page 117 of the document book. This German expression "Anregungen und Wunsche" has been translated by "suggestions" (for "Anregungen") and "demands" (for "Wunsche"). The first translation, the translation for "Anregungen," we consider to be correct; but the second translation, namely, "demands" for "Wunsche," we consider false, because, so far as we know, this word is "Befehle" or "Forderungen" in German. We should consider it correct if the English translation "demands" could be translated by another word, "wishes," which is an exact translation of the word "Wunsche," I do not know whether I have pronounced the word correctly in English. That is all I have to say for the time being. Thank you very much.
THE PRESIDENT (to Captain Sprecher): Do you wish to say anything about that?
CAPT. SPRECHER: I think that Dr. Sauter has made a very good point. I have checked with the translator beside me, Your Honor, and the German word "Wunsche" has been translated too strongly.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well. LIEUTENANT THOMAS F. LAMBERT, JR. (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): May it please the Tribunal, the Prosecution comes now to deal with the Defendant Bormann and to present the proofs establishing his responsibility for the crimes set forth in the Indictment . And, if the Tribunal will allow, we should like to observe on the threshold that because of the absence of the Defendant Bormann from the dock we believe that we should make an extra effort to make a solid record in the case against Bormann, out of fairness to Defense Counsel and for the convenience of the Tribunal. I offer the document book supporting this trial address as U.S. Exhibit JJ, together with the trial brief against the Defendant Bormann. The Defendant Bormann bears a major responsibility for promoting. the accession to power of the Nazi conspirators, the consolidation of their total power over Germany, and the preparation for aggressive war set forth in Count One of the Indictment. Upon the Record of this Trial the Nazi Party and its Leadership Corps were the main vehicles of the conspiracy and the fountainhead of the conspiracy. Now, following the flight of the Defendant Hess to Scotland in May 1941, Bormann became executive chief of the Nazi Party. His official title was Chief of the Party Chancellery. Before that date Bormann was chief of staff to the Defendant Hess, the Deputy to the Fuehrer By virtue of these two powerful positions-Chief of the Party Chancellery and Chief of Staff to the Deputy to the Fuehrer - Bormann stands revealed as a principal architect of the conspiracy. Subject only-and we stress-subject only to the supreme authority of Hitler, Bormann engineered and employed the vast powers of the Party, its agencies, and formations, in furtherance of the Nazi conspiracy; and he employed the Party to impose the will of the conspirators upon the German people; and he then directed the powers of the Party in the drive to dominate Europe.
THE PRESIDENT: Accordingly, the Defendant Bormann is blameworthy for the multiple crimes of the conspiracy, for the multiple crimes committed by the Party, its agencies, and the German people, in furthering the conspiracy. It might be helpful to give a very brief sketch of the career in conspiracy of the Defendant Bormann. Bormann began his conspiratorial activities more than 20 years ago. In 1922, only 22 years of age, he joined the Organization Rossbach, one of the illegal groups which continued the militaristic traditions of the German Army and employed terror against the small struggling pacifist minority in Germany. While he was district leader for this organization in Mecklenburg, he was arrested and tried for his part in a political assassination, which, we suggest, indicates his disposition to use illegal methods to carry out purposes satisfactory to himself. On 15 May 1924 he was found guilty by the State Tribunal for the Protection of the Republic and sentenced to 1 year in prison. Upon his release from prison in 1925 Bormann resumed his subversive activities. He joined the militarist organization "Frontbann," and in the same year he joined the Nazi Party and began his ascent to a prominent position in the conspiracy. In 1927 he became press chief for the Party Gau of Thuringia. In other words, relating back to the case against the Leadership Corps, he became an important staff officer of a Gauleiter. On I April 1928 he was made District Leader (Bezirksleiter) in Thuringia and business manager for the entire Gau. We come now to a particularly important point involving Bormann's tie-up with the SA. From 15 November 1928 to August 1930 he was on the staff of the Supreme Command of the SA. Now the Tribunal has heard the demonstration of the criminality of the SA and knows full well that this was a semi-military organization of young men whose main mission was to get control of the streets and to impose terror on oppositional elements of the conspiracy.
THE PRESIDENT: Our submission at this stage is that, by virtue of Bormann's position on the staff of the Supreme Command of the SA, he shares responsibility for the illegal activities of the SA in furtherance of the conspiracy. In August 1930 Bormann organized the Aid Fund (Hilfskasse) of the Nazi Party, of which he became head. Through this fund he collected large sums for the alleged purpose of aiding the families of Party members who had been killed or injured while fighting for the Party. As the Tribunal knows, on 30 January 1933 the conspirators and their Party took over the Government of Germany. Shortly thereafter, in July 1933, Bormann was given the number three position in the Party, that of chief of staff to the Defendant Hess, the Deputy to the Fuehrer At the same time he was made a Reichsleiter; and as the Tribunal knows, that makes him a member of the top level of the alleged illegal organization, the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party. In November 1933 he was made a member of the Reichstag. I request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of the authoritative German publication The Greater German Reichstag, edition of 1943. The facts which I have recited in the foregoing sketch of Defendant Bormann's career are set forth on Page 167 of that publication, the English translation of which appears in Document 2981-PS of the document book now before the Tribunal. With respect to Bormann's conviction for political murder, I offer in evidence Document 3355-PS, Exhibit USA-682, which is the affidavit of Dr. Robert M. W. Kempner, and I quote therefrom briefly as follows: "I, Robert M. W.
THE PRESIDENT: Kempner, an expert consultant of the War Department, appeared before the undersigned attesting officer and, having been duly sworn, stated as follows: "In my capacity as Superior Government Counsellor and Chief Legal Advisor of the pre-Hitler Prussian Police Administration, I became officially acquainted with the criminal record of Martin Bormann, identical with the Defendant, Martin Bormann now under indictment before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. "The official criminal record of Martin Bormann contained the following entry: "Bormann, Martin, sentenced on May 15, 1924, by the State Tribunal for the Protection of the Republic, in Leipzig, Germany, to 1 year in prison, for having been an accomplice in the commission of a political murder." - Signed - "Robert M. W. Kempner." - End of quotation.
THE PRESIDENT: Lieutenant Lambert, I don't think it is necessary for you, when dealing with a document of that sort, to read the formal parts.. If you state the nature of the document and read the material part, you needn't deal with the formal parts, for instance, "I, Robert Kempner, an expert consultant," and an that. Do you understand me?
LT. LAMBERT: Thank you very much, Sir, for a very helpful suggestion. As Defendant Hess' chief of staff, Bormann was responsible for receiving and channelling up to the Defendant Hess the demands of the Party in all fields of State action. These demands were then secured by the Defendant Hess by virtue of his participation in the legislative process, his power with respect to the appointment and promotion of government officials, and by virtue of his position in the Reich Cabinet. I come now, as it seems to us, to an important point, which ties up the Defendant Bormann with the SD and the Gestapo. As chief of staff of the Defendant Hess, Bormann took measures to reinforce the grip of the Gestapo and the SD over the German civil population. I request the Tribunal to notice judicially a Bormann order of 14 February 1935, set forth in the official publication Decrees of the Deputy of the Fuehrer Edition 1937, Page 257. 1 quote merely the pertinent portions of that decree, the English version of which is set forth in our Document 3237-PS, which reads as follows. That is our Document 3237-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: If it is a document of which we can take judicial notice, it is sufficient for you to summarize it without reading it.
LT. LAMBERT: I appreciate that, Sir. This quotation is so succinct and so brief that we perhaps could avoid summarization.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well, go on.
LT. LAMBERT: "The Deputy to the Fuehrer expects that Party offices will now abandon all distrust of the SD and will support it wholeheartedly in the performance of the difficult tasks with which it has been entrusted for the protection of the Movement and our people. "Because the work of the SD is primarily to the benefit of the work of the Party, it is inadmissable that its development be upset by uncalled-for attacks when individuals fall short of expectations. On the contrary, it must be wholeheartedly assisted."--Signed-"Bormann, Chief of Staff to the Deputy to the Fuehrer That is with respect to Bormann's support of the SD. I deal now with Bormann's effort to support the work of the Gestapo.
THE PRESIDENT: Lieutenant Lambert, wouldn't it be sufficient to say that document indicates the support Bormann promised to the SD?
LT. LAMBERT: I was anxious merely on one point, Sir, that a document was not in evidence unless it had been quoted.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you began by asking us to take judicial notice of it. If we can take judicial notice of it, it need not be quoted.
LT. LAMBERT: Then, with respect to Bormann's efforts to reinforce the grip of the Gestapo, I request the Tribunal to notice judicially a Bormann order of 3 September 1935, calling on Party agencies to report to the Gestapo all persons who criticize Nazi institutions or the Nazi Party. This decree appears in the official Party publication Decrees of the Deputy of the Fuehrer 1937, at Page 190. The English translation is set forth in our Document 3239-PS. I shall summarize the effect of this document shortly. In its first paragraph it refers to a law of 20 December 1934. As the Tribunal will recall, this law gave the same protection to Party institutions and Party uniforms as enjoyed by the State; and in the first and second paragraphs of this decree it is indicated that whenever a case came up involving malicious or slanderous attack on Party members or the Nazi Party or its institutions, the Reich Minister of Justice would consult with the Deputy of the Fuehrer in order to take joint action against the offenders. Then, in the third paragraph, Bormann gives his orders to all Party agencies with respect to reporting to the Gestapo individuals who criticized the Nazi Party or its institutions. quote merely the last paragraph.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I took down what you said in your first sentence, which was that the document showed that he was ordering that a report should be made to the Gestapo on anyone criticizing the Party. Well, that is sufficient, it seems to me, and all that you said after is cumulative.