He took part in the preparation of all laws and decrees issued by the Reich authorities and gave his assent to those of the subordinate governments.
I now refer to Document 2473-PS, USA Exhibit No. 324. You will find the English translation to contain a list of the Reichsleiter of the NSDAP set forth on page 170 of this book. It was edited by the Late Defendant and Reichsleiter for Party Organization, Robert Ley.
The following 15 Reichsleiter were in office in 1943, and I quote from pages 1 and 2 of Document 2473-PS, which read as follows.
If the Tribunal please, I don't believe I will read all of them, but Will call attention to only certain of them. There were 15; there is shown on the board most of them:
Martin Bormann, Chief of the Party Chancery.
Then we skip over to Wilhelm Frick, Leader of the National Socialist faction in the Reichstag, shown on the big chart over at the second box from the end on the right.
Joseph Goebbels, Reichs Propaganda Leader of the NSDAP, shown also on the same level.
Heinrich Himmler, Reich Leader of the SS; the Deputy of the NSDAP for all questions of Germandom.
Robert Ley, Reich Organization Leader of the NSDAP and leader of the German Labor Front.
Victor Lutze, Chief of Staff of the SA.
Alfred Rosenberg, Representative of the Fuehrer for the supervision of all mental and ideological training and education of the NSDAP.
Baldur von Schirach, Reich Leader for the education of youth of the National Socialist Party.
And then, finally, Franz Schwarz, Reich Treasurer of the National Socialist Party.
The principal functions of the Reichsleiter, which we might call directors, included the responsibility of carrying out the tasks and missions assigned to them by the Fuehrer or by the Chief of the Party Chancellery, the Defendant Martin Bormann. The Reichsleiter were further charged with insuring that Party policies were being executed in all the subordinate areas of the Reich. They were also responsible for insuring a continual flow of new leadership into the Party.
With respect to the function and responsibilities of the Reichsleiter, I now quote from page 20 of Document No.1893-PS -- you will find the number at the bottom of the page, page 20, of No. 1893-PS.
"The NSDAP represents the political conception, the political conscience, and the political will of the German nation. Political conception, political conscience and political will are embodied in the person of the Fuehrer. Based on his directives and in accordance with the program of the NSDAP, the organs of the Reich Directorate directionally determine the political aims of the German people. It is in the Reich Directorate -- or Reichsleiter -- that the arteries of the organization of the German people and the State merge. It is the task of the separate organs of the Reich Directorate to maintain as close a contact as possible with the life of the nation through their sub-offices in the Gau.
"The structure of the Reich Directorate is thus that the channel from the lowest Party office upwards shows the most minute weaknesses and changes in the mood of the people.
"Another essential task of the Reich Directorate is to assure a good selection of leaders. It is the duty of the Reich Directorate see that there is leadership in all phases of life, a leadership which is firmly tied to National Socialist ideology and which promotes its dissemination with all its energy "It is the supreme task of the Reich Organization Leader to preserve the Party as a well-sharpened sword for the Fuehrer."
The domination of the German Government by the top members of the Leadership Corps was facilitated by a circular decree of the Reich Minister of Justice, dated 17 February 1934, which established equal rank for the offices within the Reichsleitung of the Leadership Corps and the Reich offices of the German Government. In this decree it was expressly provided that "the supreme offices of the Reich Party Directorate are equal in rank to the supreme Reich Government authorities." The Party Manual termed the control exercised ever the machinery of the Government by the Leadership Corps "the permeation of the State apparatus with the political will of the Party."
At a later stage In this proceeding it will be shown that the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party incontestably dominated the German State and Government. The control by the Leadership Corps of the German Government was facilitated by uniting in the same Nazi chieftains both high office within the Reichsleitung and corresponding offices within the apparatus of government. For example, as shown in Document 2903-PS, Goebbels was Reichsleiter in charge of Party propaganda, but he was also a cabinet minister in charge of propaganda and public enlightenment.
Himmler held office within the Reichsleitung as head of the Main Office for Volkdom -- you will notice the box right below his name -and also was Reichsfuehrer SS. At the same time, Himmler held the governmental position of Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of Germandom, and was the governmental head of the German police system.
As will be shown, this personal union of high office in the Leadership Corps and high governmental position in the same Nazi Leaders greatly accommodated the plan of the Leadership Corps to dominate and control the German State and Government.
In addition to the Reichsleiter, the Party Directorate included about 11 Hauptamter, or main offices, and about four Amter, or offices.
As set forth in the above exhibit, the Hauptamter of the Party included such main organizations as those for personnel, training, technology, which was headed by the Defendant Speer, Volkdom, headed by Himmler, civil servants, communal policy, and the like. The Amter, or offices, of the Party within the Reichsleitung included the Office for Foreign Policy under the Defendant Rosenborg which, the evidence will show, actively participated in plans for the launching of the war of aggression against Norway, the Office for Colonial Policy, the Office for Geneology, and the Office of Racial Policy.
As will be shown by the chart of the Leadership Corps in the folder which Your Honors have, certain of the main offices and offices within the Reichsleitung would appear again within the Gauleitunp, or Gau Party Directorate, and Kreisleitung, or Party County Directorate. It is thus shown that the Reichsleiter and the main office and office holders within the Reichsleitung exercised, through functional channels--that is in this little one, with the dotted lines--running down functional channels, through the subordinate offices on lower regional levels, a total control over the various sectors of the national life of Germany.
I shall next take up the Gauleiter, and I shall now offer evidence with respect to the Gauleiter within the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party. As will be seen from this organizational chart of the Nazi Party now before the Tribunal as USA Exhibit No. 2, for Party purposes Germany was divided into major administrative regions, Gaue, which in turn were sub-divided into Kreise (Countie Ortsgruppen (local chapters), Zellen (cells), and in Blocks (blocks). Each Gau was in charge by a Gauleiter who was the political leader of the Gau, or district. Each Gauleiter was appointed by and was responsible to Hitler himself. I quote from page 18 of the English translation of Document 1893-PS, the Organization Book of the NSDAP:
"The Gau represents the concentration of a number of Party counties, or Kreise.
The Gauleiter is directly subordinate to the Fuehrer."
Your Honor find it? It is page 18 in the English translation. Document 1893-PS.
"The Gauleiters bear overall responsibility to the Fuehrer for the sector of sovereignty entrusted to him.
The rights, duties, and jurisdiction of the Gauleiter result primarily from the mission assigned by the Fuehrer, and apart from that, from detailed direc tives."
End of quotation.
The responsibility and function of the Gauleiter and his staff officers or office holders were essentially a political one, namely to insure the authority of the Nazi Party within his area, to coordinate the activities of the Party, and all its affiliated, and supervised organizations, and to enlarge the influence of the Party over people and life in his Gaue generally. Following the outbreak of the war, when it became imperative to coordinate the various phases of the German war effort, the Gauleiter were given additional important responsibilities. The Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich, which was a sort of general staff for civil defense, and the mobilization of the German war economy, by a decree of 1 September 1939, 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, page 1565, appointed about sixteen Gauleiter as Reich Defense Commissars, concerning which I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice. Later, under the impact of mounting military reverses, and an increasingly strained war economy, more and more important administrative functions were put on a Gaue basis. The Party Gaue became the basic defense areas of the Reich, and each Gauleiter became a Reich Defense Commissar. Decree of the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich of 16 November 1942. 1942 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, page 649, which I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of. In the course of the war, additional functions were entrusted to the Gauleiter, so that at the end, with the exception of certain special matters, such as police affairs, almost all phases of the German war economy were, coordinated and supervised by them. For instance, regional authority ever price control was put under the Gauleiter as Reich Defense Commissars, and housing administration was placed under the Gauleiter as Gau Housing Commissar. Toward the end of the war, the Gauleiter were charged even with the military and quasi-military tasks. They were made commanders of the as the evacuation of civilian population in the path of the advancing Allied Volkssturm in their areas, and were entrusted with such important functions armies, as well as measures for the destruction of vital installations.
The structure and organization of the Party Gaue were substantially repeated in the lower levels of the Party organization such as the Kreise, Ortsgruppen, Cells, and Blocks. Each of these was headed by a political leader who, subject to the Fuehrer principle, and the orders of superior political leaders, was sovereign within his spere.
The Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party was in effect a "Hierarchy of descending Caesars."
Each of the subordinate Party levels, such as Kreise, Ortsgruppen, and so on, was organized into offices, or Amter dealing with the various specialized functions of the Party. But the number of such departments and offices deminished as the Party unit dropped in the Hierarchy, so that, while the Kreise office contained all, or most of the offices in the Gaue (such as the deputy, the staff office leader, an organization leader, school-leader, propaganda leader, press office leader, treasurer, judge of the Party Court, inspector, and the like), the Ortsgruppe had less, and the Zellen and Blocke still fewer.
The Kreisleiter:
The Kreisleiter was appointed and dismissed by Hitler upon the nomination of the Gauleiter, and directly subordinate to the Gauleiter in the Party Hierarchy. The Kreis usually comprised a single county. The Kreisleiter within the Kreis, had in general the same position, powers, and prerogatives granted the Gauleiter in the Gau. In cities they constituted the very core of Party power and organization. I quote now from page 17 of the English translation, Document 1893-PS. Page 17 of the English translation. Quote:
"The Kreisleiter carries over-all responsibility towards the Gauleiter within his zone of sovereignty for the political, end ideological training and organization of the Political Leaders, the Party members, as well as the population."
Unquote. The Ortsgruppenleiter, who was the local chapter leader, The area of the Ortsgruppenleiter comprised of one or more communes, or, in a town a certain district. The Ortsgruppe was composed of a combination of blocks and cells and, according to local circumstances, contained up to 1500 households. The Ortsgruppenleiter also had a staff of office leaders to assist him in the various functional activities of the Party. All other political leaders in his area of responsibility were subordinate to and under the direction of the Ortsgruppenleiter. For example, the leaders of the various affiliated organizations of the Party, within his area, such as the German Labor Front, and the Nazi organization for lawyers, students, and civil servants, were all subordinate to the Ortsgruppenleiter.
In accordance with the Fuehrer principle, the Ortsgruppenleiter, or Local Chapter Leaders were appointed by the Gauleiter, and were directly under the subordinate to the Kreisletier.
The Party Manual provides as follows with respect to the Ortsgruppenleiter, and I quote from pages 16 and 17 of Document 1893-PS, previously introduced in evidence, and I quote: "As Hoheitstraeger, Bearer-----" From page 16 and 17, Your Honor please.
THE PRESIDENT:Thank you.
"As Hoheitstraeger (Bearer of Sovereignty) all expressions of the Party wall emanate from the Ortsgruppenleiter; he is responsible for the political and idealogical leadership and organization within his zone of sovereignty.
"The Ortsgruppenleiter carries the over-all responsibility for the political results of all measures initiated by the offices, organizations, and affiliated associations of the Party . . .The Ortsgruppenleiter has the right to protect to the Kreisleiter against any measures contrary to the interests of the Party with regard to an outside political appearance in public."
End of quotation.
The Zellenleiter:
The Zelenleiter was responsible for four to eight blocks. He was the immediate superior of and had control and supervision over the Blockleiter (Block Leader). His mission and duties, according to the Party Manual, corresponded to the missions of the Blockleiter. I quote from the last paragraph of page 15 of the English translation of Document 1893-PS, which is only a line in the same document: "The missions of the cell leader correspond to the missions of the blockleader." Unquote.
The Blockleiter:
The Blockleiter was the one Party official who was peculiarly in a position to have continuous contact with the German people. The block was the lowest unit in the Party pyramidal organization.
The block of the Party comprised of 40 to 60 households; and was regarded by the Party as the focal point upon which to press the weight of its propaganda.
I quote from pages 13 and 14 of this same document:
"The household is the basic community upon which the block and cell system is built.
The household is the organizational focal point of all Germans united in an apartment, and includes roomers, domestic help, etc.
. . The blockleiter has jurisdiction over all matters within his zone relating to the movement, and is fully responsible to the Zeilenleiter."
The Blockleiter, as in the case of other political leaders, was charged with planning, disseminating, and developing a receptivity to the policies of the Nazi Party among the population in his area of responsibility. It was also the expressed duty of the Blockleiter to spy on the population. I quote from pages 14. and 15 of this same document:
It is the duty of the Blockleiter to find people disseminating damaging rumors, and to report them to the Ortsgruppe, so that "they may be reported to the respective State authorities."
"The Blockleiter must not only be preacher, and defender of the National Socialist ideology towards the members of national and Party entrusted to his political care, but he must also strive to achieve practical collaboration of the Party members within his block zone.
"The Blockleiter shall continuously remind the Party members of their particular duties towards the people and the State. The Blockleiter keeps a list, card file, about the households. In principle, the Blockleiter will settle his official business verbally, and he will receive massages verbally, and pass them on in the same way. Correspondence will only be used, in cases of absolute necessity. The Blockleiter conducts National Socialist propaganda from mouth to mouth. He will eventually awaken the understanding of the eternally dissatisfied as regards the frequently misunderstood, or wrongly interpreted measures and laws of the National Socialist Government. It is not necessary to him to fall in with complaints and gripes about possibly obvious shortcomings of any kind in order to demonstrate solidarity....A condition to gain the confidence of all people is to maintain absolute secrecy in all matters." End of quotation.
It will be shown that there were in Germany around half a million of these Blockleiters. Large though this figure may appear, there can be no doubt that these officials were in and of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party. Though they stood at the broad base of the Party pyramid, rather than at its summit, where rested the Reichsleiter, by virtue of this fact, they were stationed at close intervals throughout the German civil population.
THE PRESIDENT:I think also it would be an assistance to the Tribunal if you could tell us, that is, sometime convenient to yourself, approximately how many there were in all of these ranks in the corps.
COLONEL STOREY: Your Honor, please, that is the next subject.
THE PRESIDENT:Very well.
COLONEL STOREY:It may be doubted that the average German ever looked upon the face of Heinrich Himmler. But the man in the street in Nazi Germany could not have avoided an uneasy acquaintance with the Blockleiter in his neighborhood. As it is the "cop on the beat" rather than the Chief Magistrate of a nation who symbolizes law enforcement to average men and women, so it was the blockleiters who represented to the People of Germany the police-state of Hitler's Germany. In fact, as may be inferred from the evidence, the Blockleiters were "Little Fuehrers", with real and literal power over the civilians in their domains. As proof of the authority of the Blockleiter to exercise coercion, and the threat of force upon the civil population, I quote from Document 2833-PS, which is an excerpt from page 7 of the magazine published entitled "The Face of the Party", Document 2833-PS. It is just a line of quotation.
"Advice and sometimes also the harsher form of education is employed if the faulty conduct of an individual harms this individual himself, and thus also the community."
Before I get to the numbers, I want to deal with the Hoheitstrager.
THE PRESIDENT:Don't you think it is time to break off.
COLONEL STOREY:Yes.
THE PRESIDENT:Until two o'clock.
(Whereupon at 1245 hours the hearing of the Tribunal adjourned to reconvene at 1400 hours.)
Official transcript of the International Military Tribunal, in the matter of:
The United States of America, the French Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, against Hermann Wilhelm Goering, et al, Defendants sitting at Nurnberg, Germany, on 17 December 1945 1400--1700, Lord Justice Lawrence presiding.
COLONEL STOREY:Your Honors will notice that we have substituted an enlarged chart of the photostatic copy of that which was introduced in evidence this morning. Another thing to which I would like to call Your Honors' attention is the fact that the other chart, the big one, was dated 1945, and therefore did not show the Defendant Hess, because of his flight to England in 1941 and it will be recalled the defendant has occupied the position before Bormann, directly under the Fuhrer in the party organization.
We now take up the Hoheitstrager. The Hoheitstrager, diverting from the text is shown on this chart very well and all those shown in the black block constitute the Hoheitstrager beginning with the Fuhrer and going down the vertical column clear down to the black line.
Within the leadership corps of the Nazi Party, certain of the Political leaders possessed a higher degree of responsibility than others, were vested with special prerogatives, and constituted a distinctive and elite group within the Party hierarchy. Those were the so-called "Hoheitstrager" (Bearers of Sovereignty) who represented the party within their area of jurisdiction which is a section of Germany the so-called Hoheitsgebiet. I now quote from page 9 of the English translation of Document 1893-PS:
"Among the Political Leaders, the Hoheitstrager assumed a special position.
Contrary to the other Political Leaders who have departmental missions, the Hoheitstrager themselves are in charge of a geographical sector known as the Hoheitsgebiet, (Sectors of Sovereignty).Hoheitstrager are:
The Fuehrer The Gauleiter The Kreisleiter The Ortsgruppenleiter The Zallenleiter The Blockleiter Hoheitsgebiet are:
The Reich The Gau The Kreis The Ortsgruppe The Zelle The Block "Within their sector of sovereignty the Hoheitstrager have sovereign political rights.
They represent the Party within their sector. The Hoheitstrager supervise all Party officers within their jurisdiction and are responsible for the maintenance of discipline. The directors of offices, etc. and of the affiliated organisations are responsible to their respective Hoheitstrager as regards their special missions. The Hoheitstrager are superior to all Political Leaders, managers, etc., within their sector. As regards personal considerations, Hoheitstrager are endowed with special rights.
"The Hoheitstrager of the Party are not to be administrative officials, but are to move in a continuous vital contact with the Political Leaders of the population within their sector. The Hoheitstrager are responsible for the proper and good supervision of all members of the nation within their sector.
"The Party intends to achieve a state of affairs in which the individual German will find his way to the Party."
The distinctive character of the Politischer Leiter constituting the Hoheitstrager end their existence and operation as an indefinable group are indicated by the publication of a magazine, entitled "Der Hoheitstrager" whose distribution was limited by regulation of the Reich Organization Leader, to the Hoheitstrager and certain other designated Politischer Leiter.
I now refer to Doc. 2660 - PS U.S.A.
Exhibit No. 325, which I offer in evidence; and I quote from the inside cover of this magazine which reads as follows:
"Der Hoheitstrager, the contents of which is to be handled confidentially, serves only for the orientation of the competent leaders.
It may not be loaned out to other persons.
(Then follows a list of the Hoheitstrager and other Political Leaders authorized to receive the magazine)" The magazine states in addition, that the following were entitled to receive it--I would like to emphasize the ones to receive it:
"Commandants, Unit Commanders and Candidates of Order Castles ; the Reich, Shock Troop and Gaus Speakers of the NSDAP; the Lieutenant Generals and Major Generals of SA, SS, RSFK, and NSKK; Lieutenant Generals and Major Generals of the HJ."
That is the Hitler Jugend.
The fact that this magazine existed, that it derived its name from the Commanding Officers of the Leadership Corps, that it was distributed to the elite of the Leadership Corps, in other words, that a House Bulletin was circulated down the command channels of the Leadership Corps is probative of the fact that the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party was a group or organization within the meaning of Article 9 of the Charter.
An examination of the contents of the magazine, Der Hoheitstrager, reveals a continuing concern by the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party in measures and doctrines which were employed throughout the course of the conspiracy charged in the indictment. I shall not trouble the Tribunal nor encumber the record by offering in evidence exhaustive enumeration of these matters; but it may serve to clarify the plans and policies of the inner elite of the Leadership Corps by indicating that a random sampling of articles published and policies advocated in various issues of the magazine Der Hoheitstrager from February 1937 to October 1938 included the following: slanderous anti-Semitic articles, attacks on Catholicism and the Christian religion and clergy; the need for motorized armament; the urgent need for expanded Lebensraum and colonies; persistent attacks on the League of Nations; the use of the Block and Cell in achieving favorable votes in Party plebiscites; the intimate association between the Wehrmacht and the Political Leadership; the racial doctrines of Fascism; the cult of "leadership"; the role of the Gaus; Ortsgruppen, and Zellen in the expansion of Germany; and related matters all of which constituted elements and doctrinal techniques in the carrying out of the conspiracy charged in the Indictment.
The Political Leaders were organized according to the leadership principle. I quote from the 4th paragraph, of page 2 at the bottom of the page and top of page 3.
"The basis of the Party organization is the Fuehrer thought.
the public is unable to rule itself either directly or in directly ... All Political Leaders stand as appointed by the Fuehrer and are responsible to him.
They possess full authority toward the lower echelons ... Only a man who has absorbed the school of subordinate functions within the Party has a claim to the higher Fuehrer offices.
We can only use Fuehrers who have served from the ground up.
Any Political Leader who does not conform to these principles is to be dismissed or to be sent back to the lower offices, as Blockleiter, Zellenleiter, for further training.
The Political Leader is not an office worker by the Political Deputy of the Fuehrer ... Within the Political Leadership of the State ... The type of the Political Leader is not characterized by the office which he represents/ There is no such thing as a Political Leader of the NSBO, etc.
, but there is only the Political Leader of the NSDAP."
Each Political Leader was sworn in yearly. According to the Party Manual, the wording of the oath was as follows; and I quote from the second paragraph of page 3, Document 1893-PS:
"I pledge eternal allegiance to Adolf Hitler, I pledge un conditional obedience to him and the Fuehrers appointed by him".The organization Book of the NSDAP also provides, and I quote from page 3, paragraph 4, of the same document:
"The Political Leader is inseparable tied to the idealogy and the organization of the NSDAP.
His oath only ends with his death or with his expulsion from the National Socialist Community."
Appointment of Political Leaders:
With respect to the appointment of the political leaders constituting the Leadership Corps of the Party, I quote from page 4 of the Organization Book, which is document 1893:
"The Fuehrer appointed the following political Leaders:
a. All Reichsleiter and all Political Leaders within the Reichs leitung (Reich Party Directorate), including women's leaders.
b. All Gauleiters, including the Political Leaders holding offices in the Gaulietung (Gau Party Directorate), including Gau women's leaders.
c.All Kreisleiter.
"The Gauleiter appointed:
a. The Political Leaders and women's leaders within the Gau Party Directorate.
b. The Political Leaders and the directors of women's leagues in the Kreis Party Directorate.
c.All Ortsgruppenleiter.
"The Kresileiter appoints the Political Leaders and the Directors of the Women's Leagues of the Ortsgruppen including the Blood and Cell Leaders."
The Power of Hoheitstrager to Call upon party formations.
The Hoheitstrager among the Leadership Corps were entitled to call upon and utilize the various Party Formations as necessary for the execution of the Nazi Party policies.
The Party Manual provides with respect to the pwer and authority of the Hoheitstrager to requisition the services of the SA; and I quote from page 11 of this same Document 1893-PS:
"The Hoheitstrager is Responsible for the entire political appearance of the Movement within his zone.
The SA leader of that zone is tied to the directives of the Hoheitstrager in that respect.
The Hoheitstrager is the ranking representative of the Party to include all organizations within his zone.
He may requisition the SA located within his zone from the respective SA leader if they are needed for the execution of a political mission.
The Hoheitstrager will then assign the mission to the SA.
Should the Hoheitstrager need more SA for the execution of political mission than is locally available, he then applies to the next higher office of sovereignty which, in turn, requests the SA from the SA office in his sector."
According to the Party Manual, the Hoheitstrager had the same authority to call upon the services of the SS and NSKK as they possessed with respect to the SA.
With respect to the authority of the Hoheitstrager to call upon the services of the Hitler Youth, HJ, the Party Manual follows --and I quote from page 11, the last paragraph of that translation:
"The Political leader has the right to requisition the HJ in the same manner as the Sa for the execution of a political action.
"In appointing leaders of the HJ and the DJ, the office of the HJ must procure the approval of the Hoheitstrager of his zone.
This means that the Hoheitstrager can prvent the appointment of leaders unsuited for the leader ship of youth.
If his approval has not been procured, an appointment may be cancelled if he so requests."
An example of the use of the Party Formations of the call of the Leadership Corps of the Party is provided by the action taken by the Reichsleiter for Party Organization of the National Socialistic Party, Dr. Robert Ley, leading to the deliberate dissolutions of the Free Trade Unions on 2 May 1933. I quote from Document 392PS, U.S.A. Exhibit No. 326, which is a copy of the directive issued by the defendant Ley on 21 April 1933, reproduced on pages 51-52 of the "Social Life in New Germany" by Professor Mueller. In this directive the late defendant, Ley directed the employment of the SA and the SS in the occupation of trade union properties and for taking trade union leaders into protective custody. I now quote from paragraph 6 of page 1 of Doc. 392-PS. It is the third and fourth paragraphs from the bottom of the page:
"SA as well as SS are to be employed for the occupation of trade union properties and for the taking or personalities who come into question into protective custody.
The Gauleiter (i.e. Regional Director) is to proceed with his measures on a basis of the closest understanding with competent Regional Factory Calls Director."
I also quote from the second paragraph of page 2 from this same document:
"The following are to be taken into protective custody:
All Trade Union Chairmen; the District Secretaries and the Branch Directors of the 'Bank for Workers, Employees and Officials, Inc.
'" I now offer in evidence Doc.
2474-PS, U.S.A. Exhibit No. 327 which is a copy of a decree issued by the Defendant Hess, as Deputy of the Fuehrer, dated 25 October 1934, which underwrites the authority of the Hoheitstrager with respect to the Party Formations.
I quote from the numbered paragraphs 1, 5 and 6 of page 1 of Document 2474-PS which reads as follows:
"The political leadership within the Party and its political representation towards all offices, State or others, which are outside of the Party, lie solely and exclusively with the H heitstrager (Bearers of Sovereignty), which is to say with me, the Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, and Ortsgruppenleiter.
..
The departmental workers of the Party organization, as well as Reichsleiter, office directors, etc.
, as well as the leaders of the SA, SS, HJ and the subordinate affiliations, may not enter into binding agreements of a political nature with State and other offices except when so authorized by their Hoheitstrager.
In places where the territories of the units of the SA, SS, HJ and the subordinate affiliations do not conincide with the zones of the Hoheitstrager, the Hoheitstrager will give his political directives to the ranking leader of each unit within his zone of sovereignty."
It was the official policy of the Leadership Corps to establish close and cooperative relations with the Gestapo. The Tribunal will recall that the Head of the German Police and SS, Himmler, was a Reichsleiter on the top level of the Leadership Corps. Without offering in evidence a decree dated 26 June 1935, issued by the Defendant Bormann, as Chief of Staff, Deputy of the Fuehrer, I ask the court to take judicial knowledge, and I quote:
"In order to effect a closer contact between the offices of the Party and its organizations with the Directors of the Secret State Police (Gestapo), the Deputy of the Fuehrer requests that the Directors of the Gestapo be invited to attend all of the larger official rallies of the Party and its organization."
That is from the 1937 edition, page 143, dated the 26th June 1935, "The Decrees of the Deputy of the Fuehrer."
With reference to the meetings and conferences among the Hoheitstrager of the Leadership Corps, it is the contention of the Prosecution that the members of the Leadership Corps constitute a distinctive and identifiable group or organization. This contention is strongly supported by the fact that the various Hoheitstrager were under an abolsute obligation to meet and confer periodically not only with the staff officers on their own staffs, but with the political leaders and staff officers immediately subordinate to them.