DR. SAUTES:Thank you very much, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT:I understand that the Prosecution then wishes the Court to receive the plea of Dr. Meissner in his absence by his counsel?
GENERAL TAYLOR:Yes, Your Honor, with the further suggestion that when the defendant is able to appear in Court, the plea should be taken again so that it is entered in the record in his own person.
DR. SAUTER:Of course. Thank you very much, Your Honor.
JUDGE POWERS:You may proceed.
THESECRETARY-GENERAL: Defendant Otto Dietrich
JUDGE POWERS:Defendant Otto Dietrich, have you counsel?
OTTO DIETRICH:Yes.
JUDGE POWERS:Has the Indictment in the German language been served upon you at least 30 days ago?
OTTO DIETRICH:Yes.
JUDGE POWERS:Have you read the Indictment?
OTTO DIETRICH:Yes.
JUDGE POWERS:Defendant Otto Dietrich, how do you wish to plead to this Indictment, guilty or not guilty?
OTTO DIETRICH:Not guilty.
JUDGE POWERS:You may be seated.
THESECRETARY-GENERAL: Defendant Gottlob Berger.
JUDGE POWERS:Defendant Gottlob Berger, have you counsel?
GOTTLOB BERGER:Yes.
JUDGE POWERS:Has the Indictment in the German language been served upon you in this case at least 30 days ago?
GOTTLOB BERGER:Yes.
JUDGE POWERS:Have you read the Indictment?
GOTTLOB BERGER:Yes.
JUDGE POWERS:How do you wish to plead to the Indictment, guilty or not guilty?
GOTTLOB BERGER:Not guilty.
JUDGE POWERS:You may be seated.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Walter Schellenberg.
Defendant, Walter Schellenberg, have you counsel?
DEFENDANT SCHELLENBERG:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Has the indictment in the German language been served upon you at least thirty days ago?
DEFENDANT SCHELLENBERG:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Have you read the indictment?
DEFENDANT SCHELLENBERG:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Walter Schellenberg, how plead you to this indictment? Guilty or not guilty?
DEFENDANT SCHELLENBERG:Not Guilty.
JUDGE McGUIRE:You may be seated.
THE SECRETARY GENERAL:Defendant Lutz Schwering von Krosign.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Lutz Schwering von Krosign, have you counsel?
DEFENDANT KROSIGN:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Has the indictment in the German language been served upon you at least thrity days ago?
DEFENDANT KROSIGN:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Have you read the indictment?
DEFENDANT KROSIGN:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Lutz Schwering von Krosign, how plead you to this indictment, Guilty or not Guilty?
DEFENDANT KROSIGN:Not Guilty.
JUDGE McGUIRE:You may be seated.
THE SECRETARY GENERAL:Defendant Emil Puhl.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Emil Puhl, have you counsel?
DEFENDANT PUHL:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Has the indictment in the German language been served upon you at least 30 days ago?
DEFENDANT PUHL:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Have you read the indictment?
DEFENDANT PUHL:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Emil PUHL, how do you plead to the indictment, Guilty or Not Guilty?
DEFENDANT PUHL:You may be seated.
THE SECRETARY GENERAL:Defendant Karl Rasche.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Karl Rasche, have you counsel?
DEFENDANT RASCHE:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Has the indictment in the German Language been served upon you at least 30 days ago?
DEFENDANT RASCHE:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Karl Rasche, how do you plead to the indictment, Guilty or Not Guilty?
DEFENDANT RASCHE:Not Guilty.
JUDGE McGUIRE:You may be seated.
THE SECRETARY GENERAL:Defendant Paul Koerner.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Paul Koerner, have you counsel?
DEFENDANT KOERNER:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Has the indictment in the German language been served upon you at least 30 days ago?
DEFENDANT KOERNER:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Have you read the indictment?
DEFENDANT KOERNER:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Paul Koerner, how plead you to the indictment, Guilty or Not Guilty?
DEFENDANT KOERNER:Not Guilty.
JUDGE McGUIRE:You may be seated.
THE SECRETARY GENERAL:Defendant Paul Pleiger.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Paul Pleiger, have you counsel?
DEFENDANT PLEIGER:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Has the indictment in the German language been served upon you at least 30 days ago?
DEFENDANT PLEIGER:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Have you read the indictment?
DEFENDANT PLEIGER:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Paul Pleiger, how plead you to the indictment, Guilty or Not Guilty?
DEFENDANT PLEIGER:Not Guilty.
JUDGE McGUIRE:You may be seated.
THE SECRETARYGENERAL 1/4 General Hans Kehrl.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant Hans Kehrl, have you counsel?
DEFENDANT KEHRL:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Has the indictment in the German language been served upon you at least 30 days ago?
DEFENDANT KEHRL:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Have you read the indictment?
DEFENDANT KEHRL:Yes.
JUDGE McGUIRE:Defendant, Has Kehrl, how plead you to the indictment, Guilty or Not Guilty?
DEFENDANT HANS KEHRL:I am Not Guilty.
JUDGE McGUIRE:You may be seated.
The Pleas of the defendants will be entered by the Secretary General in the records of this Tribunal.
THE SECRETARY GENERAL:Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE McGUIRE:It is the intention of the Tribunal to recess until the 6th of January. At that time it is our understanding that the Prosecution will be ready to make its opening statement. Immediately following the completion of the opening Statements the Tribunal expects the Prose cution to be ready to proceed with the submission of its case.
Accordingly , the Tribunal will be in recess to the 6th of January 1948 at nine-thirty AM.
THE MARSHAL:The Tribunal will recess until 0930 hours 6 January 1948.
(Tribunal IVa in recess until 6 January 1948, at 0930 hours.)
Official Transcript of the American Military Tribunal IV in the matter of the United States of America against Ernst von Weizsaecker, et al, defendants, sitting at Nurnberg, Germany, on 6 January 1948, 1000 hours, the Honorable William C. Christianson, presiding.
THE MARSHAL:The Honorable, the Judges of Military Tribunal IV. Military Tribunal IV is now in session. God save the United States of America and this honorable Tribunal.
There will be order in the court.
THE PRESIDENT:Mr. Marshal, are the defendants all present in the courtroom?
THE MARSHAL:May it please your Honors, all the defendants are present in the court except Meissner, sick in hospital.
THE PRESIDENT:Dr. Sauter, you are counsel for Mr. Meissner, are you not?
DR. SAUTER:Yes indeed.
THE PRESIDENT:And we understand that he is still hospitalized?
DR. SAUTER:Yes, he is still in hospital and he is expected to go to Munich in a few days so that he can undergo his second operation.
THE PRESIDENT:I understand it is agreeable to you that we proceed in his absence?
DR. SAUTER:Certainly, your Honor. I have seen my client about this. I have explained to him the Advantages and disadvantages of these proceedings. He himself is a legal expert and he has asked me to express his wish to the Tribunal that they should proceed in his absence, against him. As soon as he is in a position to appear before this Court he will do so without hesitation, in order to be at the Court's disposal. We are therefore quite agreeable to the suggested procedure.
THE PRESIDENT:Very well. He will be excused for the time being and we will proceed in his absence.
DR. SAUTER:Thank you very much, your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT:Is the prosecution prepared to make its opening statement at this time?
GENERAL TAYLOR:Yes, your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT:Very well, we will now hear you.
GENERAL TAYLOR:May it please your Honors.
THE PRESIDENT:General Taylor.
GENERAL TAYLOR:This case is wider in scope and variety than any other which has been brought before these Military Tribunals. It is not limited to crimes charged against the leaders of a single agency of the Third Reich, such as the army or the SS, or of a single industrial enterprise, such as I. G. Farben or Krupp, or of a single German profession, such as the law or medicine. There are no members of the Wehrmacht in the dock, but with this exception the defendants are drawn from nearly every important sphere of activity under the Third Reich.
This case is concerned with the central political and economic administration of the Third Reich at Berlin. Krupp was based at Essen and Farben at Frankfurt-am-Main; hostages, partisans, and einsatzgruppen call to mind the unhappy territories recently occupied by Germany; medical experiments are associated with the concentration camps scattered all over Europe. In this case we return to the center of things Berlin is the symbolic common denominator of this case.
In fact, most of the acts which form the basis of this indictment occurred on or within a stone's throw of a particular street in Berlin called Wilhelmstrasse, the German counterpart of London's Whitehall and Downing Street and Paris's Quai d'Orsay. Again and again, during the last century, Wilhelmstrasse has been the focus of attention of the anxious capitals of the world. "What will Wilhelmstrasse say?" Europe asked in 1870, when Bismarck was brewing the France-Prussian war. "What will Wilhelmstrasse say?" the world asked in June 1914, when the successor to the Austrian throne was assassinated. "What will Wilhelmstrasse do?" everyone asked again in 1933 after the National Socialist regime came to power. Everyone realized that, ruthless and determined as were Hitler, Goering, Hess and the other party leaders, much would depend on the attitude of the top officials entrenched in the semi classic government buildings in the center of Berlin.
The gentlemen of Wilhelmstrasse could do much to obstruct or further Hitler's general plans.
After the establishment of the Third Reich in 1933, the grey eminences of Wilhelmstrasse entered upon a period of power such as was never accorded to them before. No longer did they have to consider parliamentary control because the German Reichstag was rendered impotent. No longer did they have to consider public opinion, because freedom of speech and assembly was trampled under foot and the press and radio became a chamber of mendacious echoes. But they were confronted with a historic decision: whether to support the evil designs of the adventurous Austrian paperhanger, or to endeavor to develop and enforce lawful, sane, and peaceful state policies. We will see what choice they made.
If, about ten years ago, we had walked along Wilhelmstrasse, we would have found most of these men at work behind its august facades. At 76 Wilhelmstrasse was the German Foreign Office itself; here we would have found the eight defendants -- including Bohle, Weizsaecker, Keppler, and Steengracht -- who were Ribbentrop's immediate deputies in the field of foreign affairs. Next door to the Foreign Office were the Reich Chancellery and the Presidential Chancellery. In the Reich Chancellery, second only to Hitler himself, we would have found the defendant Lammers. A few motors away, at the Presidential Chancellery, the defendant Meissner was reaching the peak of a Wilhelmstrasse career which dates back to the earliest days of the Weimar Republic under President Ebert.
Elsewhere on Wilhelmstrasse, we would have found the headquarters of the SS and the defendants Berger and Schellenberg; the Food and Agriculture Ministry, headed by the defendant Darre; and the offices of the Four Year Plan, the central Planning Board, and the Herman Goering Works, in which the defendants Koerner, Pleiger, and Kohrl were leaders. Nearby, at the Wilhelmplatz, was the Reich Treasury, under the charge of Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk, and the Press and Propaganda Ministry, in which the defendant Dietrich was second only to Goebbels. A block or two away stood the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, in which the defendant Stuckart functioned as Wilhelm Trick's deputy.
A five minute walk from Wilhelmstrasse was the great Reichsbank, of which the defendant Puhl was Vice President. And finally, near the Reichsbank, was the main office of the Dresdner Bank -- the second largest commercial bank in Germany -- Where the defendant Rasche was a principal member of the directorate. Thus, we have indicted in this case the chief civil executives of the Third Reich, other than those who were tried before the first International Military Tribunal. Here are the men who transferred the plans and ideologies of the Third Reich into action. Without their administration and implementation, and without the directives and orders which they prepared, no Hitler, no Goering, could have planned and waged aggressive wars; no Himmler could have wiped out 6,000,000 Jews and other victims of Nazi Aggression and ideology. Without some of these men, the little trigger men and concentration camp executioners would never have received the murderous orders which many have recently expiated with their own lives.
The charges to be tried before this Tribunal, accordingly, like those heard by the IMT, involve the whole sweep of politics and economy in the Third Reich. Unlike the case before the IMT the military leaders are to be tried separately in the twelth and last case before these Tribunals. Again unlike the IMT case, the evidence has obliged us to include here a leading private financier -- Karl Rasche of the Dresdner Bank. But in most respects, the charges in this case and in the IMT case are parallel, and the defendants are government and party officials of the same type.
For the most part, too, these man are of comparable importance. We must except, of course, the five or six men who were the closest personal associates of Hitler. The latter include the protean Hermann Goering, next in line of succession to Hitler and the leading rank and office holder of all time; Rudolf Hess, next in succession after Goering and the executive head of the Nazi party; Martin Bormann, who replaced Hess;
Heinrich Himmler, the main spring of the police state; Joseph Goebbels; and, probably, Joachim von Ribbentrop. Goering, Hess, and Ribbentrop sat in this dock before the first International Military Tribunal, Himmler and Goebbels were suicides at the end of the war, and Bormann is dead or a convicted fugitive. These men wielded the greatest political power.
Nearly as powerful, however, were other key government ministers and party leaders -- men such as Frick, Speer, and Rosenberg in the IMT case, and the defendants Lammers, Darre, von Krosigk, and Dietrich in this case. It will assist the Tribunal in understanding the role and responsibility of each defendant, we believe, to begin this statement with a very brief sketch of the structure of the Third Reich government and the Nazi party, in order to show how each defendant fits into the general scheme of things.
In theory, at least, Hitler derived his authority from two distinct sources. He was at once the "Fuehrer" of the NSDAP and the "Reich Chancellor" of the German state. As time went on, and after the Nazi party became the only political party recognized by law, the line between state and party grew more shadowy. Numerous high party officials were also the heads of government ministries. Particularly in the field of police and security matters, state and party were fused into a single organization by Himmler. But, in many other respects, the government and the party remained separate organizations, and clarity will best be achieved by discussing them separately.
It must be remembered, of course, that we are discussing a government in which the legislature lost all power and importance. During 1933, the German Reichstag became nothing but an audience for Hitler's state speeches. It ceased to be even the formal source of most legislation. Although the Weimar constitution, which safeguarded civil liberties and vested the law-making power in democratically elected legislature, was never repealed, it was largely superseded by a series of acts and decrees upon which the Nazi regime based its authority. A Presidential decree of 28 February 1933 suspended the constitutional guarantees of freedom, and provided a pseudo-legal basis for the arrest of numerous anti-Nazi members of the Reichstag.
Thereafter, on 23 March 1933, under the pressure of threats from Hitler that opposition would mean "war", the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act which was its own death warrant. Under this act, "Reich laws can be enacted by the Reich Cabinet as well as in accordance with the procedure established in the constitution". Furthermore "the national laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet may deviate from the constitution."
As a result of the Enabling Act, legislative power passed into the hands of Hitler, Lammers and their associates; acts passed by these men, althouth termed "laws", were actually decrees promulgated in the name of the Reich Cabinet and signed by Hitler and the responsible Reich ministers. Subsequently, legislative power was vested in other Reich offices, such as the Reich Defense Council, the Plenipotentiary General for the Four Year Plan, and other agencies.
Other laws were soon enacted to consolidate the dictatorship. The Law Securing the Unity of Party and State of December 1, 1933 declared the NSDAP inseparably united with the State. The Law of August 1, 1934, promulgated immediately after the death of President von Hindenburg, combined the powers of the Reich President and Reich Chancellor in the person of Hitler. The Law of April 7, 1933 integrated the "Laender" (States) with the Reich by providing for the appointment of Reich Governors whose duty it was to rule the Laender in the name of the Reich, according to the policies laid down centrally in Berlin. Thus, Germany became a totalitarian state with a highly centralized governmental system.
As Chancellor of the Reich, Hitler was immediately assisted by the Presidential Chancellery and the Reich Chancellery. The former was in charge of activities and arrangements arising out of the Reich Chancellor's status as sovereign head of the state. The defendant Meissner was chief of the Presidential Chancellery, with the title "State Minister" and the rank of a Reich Minister.
The Reich Chancellery was more directly concerned with the functioning of the Reich governmental machinery. It was, in effect, a central office for the coordination of the activities of all supreme Reich agencies. According to the German official handbook for 1936, it was the duty of the Chief of the Reich Chancellery to inform the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor on current questions of policy, and prepare directives to carry out his decisions. The defendant Lammers headed the Reich Chancellery, with the title and rank of Reich Minister.
The main body of work of the Reich government was handled by about 15 "ministries" which correspond in general to the "departments" in the United States government. Each ministry was headed by a "Reich Minister." Two of the defendants in this case were Reich Ministers in charge of a ministry. The defendant Darre was Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture, and the defendant von Krosigk was Reich Minister of Finance. These may be compared to the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Agriculture in the United States government. The Foreign Office, with which eight of the defendants were associated, was comparable in structure and purpose to our Department of State and to the British Foreign Office.
The Ministry for Propaganda and Public Enlightenment, of which the defendant Dietrich was the Deputy in charge of all press matters, happily finds no close parallel in our form of government; it was, however, one of the most important ministries of the Third Reich and its activities are especially significant for purposes of this case.
Another formidably powerful ministry was that of the Interior, in which the defendant, Stuckart was Himmler's principal deputy. The scope of this Ministry was far broader than that of its namesake department in the American, government. The Reich Minister of the Interior had important legislative functions, and controlled the national, state, and local administrations and the Civil Service, as well as performing various important functions in connection with medicine, health, and public welfare. During the war, it exercised important occupational functions. Still more important, the Ministry of the Interior controlled the German State Police system. A somewhat complicated situation arose when Heinrich Himmler, as head of the SS, brought the German police system increasingly under his control, but in 1943 Himmler succeeded Frick as Minister of the Interior, and even before this time there had been a more or less complete fusion of the state and SS police systems.
In the field of war economy, three important Ministries of which we will hear much in this case, were the Ministry of Economics, the Ministry for Armament and War Production, and the Ministry of Labor. Associated with these Ministries were various special agencies, and quasi-governmental associations representing important industries such as coal and iron. The defendants Pleiger and Kehrl held high positions within this large governmental complex.
Only one other Ministry need be specially mentioned in this outline. The Ministry for the Occupied Eastern territories was established under Alfred Rosenberg after the outbreak of war to coordinate occupational policies in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union, The defendant Berger, as well as holding a high position in the SS, headed the Political Department of this Ministry.
The six remaining Ministries comprised the Ministry of Justice, the leaders of which have recently been tried before Military Tribunal III, Herman Goering's Air Ministry, of which Fieldmarshal Erhard Milch was the Deputy Chief, and the Ministries of Transportation, Posts, Churches, and Science and Education.
As might be expected, the stresses and strains of preparation for war, did not leave the structure of the German government untouched. Some ministries disappeared, such as the Ministry for War, which was abolished when Hitler took personal command of the armed forces in 1938. Other ministries lost influence as compared to newly created special agencies which arose to meet emergency needs. In the early years of the Hitler regime, Hjalmar Schacht wielded great influence as "Plenipotentiary General for War Economy". In 1936, Goering replaced Schacht as the overall coordinator of war production and war economy, and established the Office of the Four Year Plan, in which the defendant Koerner was Goering's immediate deputy. These special agencies, like the ministries, were directly responsible to Hitler, and were usually headed by cabinet ministers or officials of ministerial rank. Furthermore, there were other non-departmental agencies, such as the Reichsbank, which were directly under Hitler. Finally, as Commander-in-Chief, Hitler directed the Wehrmacht through the "High Command of the Armed Forces"(OKW).
The Reich Cabinet itself consisted of the heads of the 15 Ministries (such as the defendants Darre and von Krosigk), seven or eight other Reich Ministers "without portfolio" such as the defendant Lammers and the Chiefs of the Army and the Navy, and eight or nine other high officials who were given the rank of Reich Minister or who were allowed to participate in cabinet meetings on matters pertaining to their field (Himmler, von Schirach, and the defendants Meissner, Dietrich, and Bohle fell within this category). It should be noted, however, that the Reich Cabinet became, after 1937, merely a designation for those 30-odd men who held positions of cabinet rank; despite its name, the Reich Cabinet ceased to function as a group.
Hitler much preferred to deal with his immediate subordinates singly or in small groups, and this may account for the atrophying of the functions of the Reich Cabinet and ether ex officio groups of high ranking officials such as the Reich Defense Council. This rested even greater responsibility and independence in the individual ministers in their respective fields.
As Fuehrer of the Nazi party, Hitler was also assisted by two Chancelleries; the Chancellery of the Fuehrer, which was of relatively minor importance, and the Party Chancellery, which was of the greatest importance. In the line of succession in case of his death, Hitler placed Goering first and Hess second; but within the party Hess, not Goering, was the real power -- the political boss -- through his capacity as Deputy to the Fuehrer and Chief of the Party Chancellery. After Hess' spectacular flight to England, Martin Bormann succeeded to Hess' functions and influence, though not to all of his titles. Below Hitler and the Party Chancellery, the central organization of the Nazi party was divided into 16 principal officers, each headed by a "Reichsleiter". Many of the Reichsleiter were at the same time government ministers in a comparable sphere of activity, Thus, Rosenberg, von Schirach, Ley, Himmler, Goebbles, Frick, and other highly placed government ministers and officials were at the same time Reichsleiter -- Rosenberg as the "Delegate for Ideological Training" for the NSDAP, Himmler as the "Delegate of Folkdom", and Goebbels as "Propaganda Leader". Two of the defendants in this case -Darre and Dietrich -- were among the Reichsleiter, the former as head of the "Reich Office for Agriculture," and the latter as "Reich Press Chief". The defendant Keppler, at a comparable level in the party hierarchy, was called the special economic advisor to the Fuhrer.
In the regional organization of the Nazi party, in accordance with the so-called "Fuehrer prinzip", authority was vested in 42 gauleiters, who directed Party affairs in the 42 "gaus" or "districts" which constituted the largest geographical subdivisions of "Greater Germany" for party purposes. Joseph Goebbels (For Berlin), Julius Streicher (For Franconia, of which the capital was Nurnberg), Fritz Sauckel and Baldur von Schirach were numbered among the gauleiters.
The defendant Bohle headed the socalled "43rd Gau", which was actually the Nazi party foreign organization, "Auslands organisation", or("AO"). For this same task, Bohle also had the rank and title of State Secretary in the Foreign Office. Below the gauleiters, the regional organization was carried down to "kreisleiters", and the leaders of still smaller units.
In addition to the party proper, the NSDAP included several special party formations, of which, after 1934, the "Schutzstaffeln" or SS was by far the most important. The Sturmabteilung" (SA of "storm troopers") became far less important after its leader, Ernst Roehm, was murdered on Hitler's orders in 1934. The Hitler Youth, headed first by von Schirach and later by Axmann, dwindled in significance after the outbreak of war. Other special party formations in this same category included the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) and the National Socialist Women's League.
We must, however, devote a few more words to Himmler's SS. As we have mentioned, the German regular police and the secret state police (Gestapo) were all subordinated to Himmler in his dual capacity as Reichsfuehrer of the SS and Chief of the German Police and, later, in his third capacity as Minister of the Interior. As a party organization, two of the main branches of the SS will be of particular importance in this proceeding. One is the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA), of which Ernst Kaltenbrunner was the head after the death of the notorious Reinhard Heydrich. The defendant Schellenberg headed one of the offices under Kaltenbrunner. The other is the so-called "Central Office" of the SS, which was in charge of recruiting for the SS and Waffen-SS, and the administration and education of SS personnel. This office was headed by the defendant Berger.
Other main offices of the SS of which we will hear considerable mention are the Economic and Administrative Department (WVHA) of which the chief, Oswald Pohl, and his principal associates have recently been tried by Military Tribunal II, and the Race and Resettlement Office, founded by the defendant Darro, of which the principal officials are now on trial before Military Tribunal I. We should also note that, in addition to all the functions just mentioned, Himmler created a large SS army -- the Waffen SS -- which ultimately comprised well over half a million men and more than thirty divisions and which fought during the war with the regular divisions of the Wehrmacht.
From the very early days of the Hitler regime, Heinrich Himmler followed a policy of according high rank in the SS to leading government and party officials and other prominent men whose support Himmler wished to recognize or to obtain. Thus, in addition to the defendants Berger and Schellenberg, who were full time career officers in the SS the former a Lieutenant General and the latter a Brigadier-General we find that twelve other defendants also held ranks in the SS ranging from Lieutenant Colonel to Lieutenant General. These defendants were listed as members of the staff of the Reichsfuehrer-SS; they were entitled to wear the black SS uniform, and supported the SS with their personal prestige and in a variety of other ways.
As we will see, various of the defendants also had close political, social, and business relations with Himmler and the SS. The defendants Keppler, Rasche, and Kehrl were members of a group of business, government, and SS leaders which met regularly with Himmler and made large sums of money available to him. The defendants Schwerin-Krosigk, Rasche and Puhl closely connected with the financial end of SS activities, and particularly with the extension of credit to the industrial enterprises managed by Oswald Pohl's WVHA, which were operated largely with concentration camp labor.
****** The foregoing summary of the Reich Government and the Nazi party emphasizes the breadth and depth of the charges in this case.
The defendants performed a wide variety of functions, and each occupied a position of great responsibility. But it can be seen that they fall into five general categories. Eight of the defendants -- Weizsaecker, Steengracht, Keppler, Bohle, Woermann, Ritter, Erdmansdorff, and Veesenmayer-- were associated with the German Foreign Office, perhaps the most important of the several Reich Ministries represented in this preceeding.
Six other defendants were in charge of, or second in command of, other important Ministries or offices; these six, who were perhaps the most politically powerful individual defendants in the dock, comprise Lammers, Stuckart, Darro, Meissner, Dietrich and von Krosigk. Two other defendants -- Puhl and Rasche -- were leading bankers, and two more -- Berger and Schellenberg -were prominent in the SS. The remaining three defendants Koerner, Pleiger, and Kehrl -- occupied leading positions in the field of government economics and war economy, and Keppler, too, was active in this field as well as in that of foreign affairs.
This breakdown is very general and will be subject to numerous exceptions in the course of the trial, but in general it can be said that foreign affairs, government administration, banking, war economy, and the SS are the five principal spheres of activity in the Third Reich with which this case will be concerned, and that each of the defendants falls into one of these categories, as indicated above. And it is clear, we believe, that the defendants were at or near the top of political and economic management in the Third Reich; they had great power in the Third Reich and they have much to answer for before this Tribunal.
We will pass now to the charges in the indictment which, if it please your Honors, is not merely a set of allegations made by the prosecution. It is also a synopsis and digest of charges drawn up by these defendants against themselves, in the form of German official documents written by the defendants and their associates in the government.
Because of the number of defendants and wide subject matter of this proceeding, we will make no effort to detail the charges exhaustively but will attempt rather to sketch the main outlines and indicate the general nature of the evidence which we will produce. With respect to part of the case, it will be meet convenient to proceed by subject matter, and to show the respective parts which the several defendants played in particular criminal enterprises described in the indictment.
In other cases, it will be more appropriate to focus attention on an individual defendant or several defendants, in order to see the overall pattern of his or their activities. We will begin with the charges set forth in Count One of the indictment -- crimes against peace -- with particular emphasis on the role played by the Foreign Office defendants therein.
With your Honors' permission, Dr. Kempner, the Deputy Chief of Counsel will continue reading the statement.
DR. KEMPNER:From its inception, the Third Reich dedicated itself to the creation of "Greater Germany" and the complete subjugation of surrounding territories. This goal, which contemplated the total destruction of the existing European order, was the motivating force behind the sacrifices exacted from the German people as the Reich mobilized for war. The domination of Europe, and later of the world, was the flaming creed of German Nazism and militarism.
In the course of carrying out this creed of conquest, the defendants and other leaders of the Third Reich committed crimes under international law which are described as "crimes against peace" in Control Council law No. 10, from which this Tribunal draws its jurisdiction. More particularly, and in conformity with the statutory language, the defendants are charged in Count One of the indictment with planning, preparing, initiating, and waging invasions and aggressive wars. In Count Two, they are charged with conspiracy to commit crimes against peace. Conspiracy, is thus charged as a separate and distinct offense, but no additional evidence is relied on in support of the charge of conspiracy in Count Two. In sketching the evidence which supports the indictment, therefore, Counts One and Two may be considered together.
It goes without saying that the invasions and aggressive wars waged by the Third Reich were planned and prepared over a long period of time. The task of gearing a great nation for war is a Herculean one. As Mr. Justice Jackson stated in his opening address before the International Military Tribunal:1"Whatever else we may say of those who were the authors of this war, they did achieve a stupendous work in organization." And, as the International Military Tribunal found in its judgment2: "Immediately following Hitler's appointment as Chancellor, the Nazi gouvernment ---------------------1. Vol. II, Trial of the Major War Criminals, p. 104. 2. Vo. I, Trial of the Major War Criminals, p. 182 set about reorganizing the economic life of Germany and in particular the armament industry.