Archive/File: imt/nca/supp-b/nca-sb-02-frick.02 Last-Modified: 1997/12/07 Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression, Supplement B Frick's Part in the Reichstag, and Views on Jewish Rights Testimony of Wilhelm Frick, taken at Nurnberg, Germany, 2 October 1945, 1435-1655, by Mr. H.R. Sackett. Also present: T/5 Gunther Kosse, Interpreter; S/Sgt Horace M. Levy, Court Reporter. [Page 1407] Q. After Hitler got out of jail in 1924, from then on to 1933, you saw him quite often, did you not? A. Yes, I saw him, because I was a member of the Reichstag. Q. When were you made Reichsleiter of the Reichstag? A. At the Party meeting in `33. I was Reichsleiter in my capacity as leader. Q. Leader of the Party faction in the Reichstag? A. The Party was represented in the Reichstag by a faction, and I was the chairman of this faction, and as such, I was the Reich leader. Q. Well, as I understand it, you were the leader of the Party in the Reichstag in 1933, and as such, you were called "Reichsleiter." A. As such, the Fuehrer gave me this title. Q. Were you not the leader of the Party in the Reichstag, prior to 1933? A. My connection with the Party started in 1924, when I was elected to the Reichstag. Even though the Party was not allowed at that time, up to 1925, the people who elected me to the Reichstag were former members of the Party. Q. My question was, prior to 1933 were you not considered by the Party as its leader in the Reichstag? A. Only in 1933, the Fuehrer said, "In order to give you a position in the Party, I am going to make you the Reichsleiter." The faction was a body by itself. I had a special position in the Reichstag. I always consulted Hitler and asked him about the outlines, and what he wanted to have represented in the Reichstag. Q. That was prior to 1933, to which you are referring now? A. That was before `33. I was leader of the faction after the elections in `27. In 1927 and `28, we did not have the Voelkische Arbeitsgemeinschaft (People's Working Community) any more; we only had the National Socialist Party. We were 12 members in the beginning. Q. How many times were you elected to the Reichstag altogether? A. Since 1926, I was elected every time. Q. And how often were elections held? A. In `24; and then maybe again in the fall of `24 or `25; and [Page 1408] then maybe there was an election again in `27; from `24 to `33, there were about four or five elections; and then after `33, there were about four elections. My task also was to choose the candidates for the party. I did all this in the name of the Fuehrer. Q. How did the Fuehrer decide upon who were going to be candidates? A. We made a list of prominent members, such as Gauleiters, and so on, and gave them to the Fuehrer. He approved of them, or sometimes even added some names. Q. Did you assist these people in their campaigns for office? A. There were special representatives of the Party, who prepared the campaigns according to their won territories. Q. Were you in charge of this? A. I had to make the preparation for the others. The lists had to be brought to the election commissioner, and so on. In September 1930, after the elections, we had 107 members instead of 12. Q. How many members did you have in December 1932? A. There was another election in July `32, and then we had about 230 members. Q. And that was out of a total membership of how many, did you say? A. There were more than 500 members. Q. As I understand it, in the early days of 1923, you were not very close to Hitler, but by 1933, you were not very close to Hitler, but by 1933, you were one of his close advisors; is that right? A. Naturally, because the faction in the Reichstag grew larger and larger. Therefore, I had to get to know him better. Q. And it was through the Reichstag and through you that Hitler decided to try to come into power, was it not? A. In a legal democratic way, according to the rules of the Weimar Republic. Q. When was it that Hitler first preached anti-Semitism? A. Shortly after the Raeterepublik in Munich. [The Raeterepublik was the name applied to the brief government formed by the Communists in Bavaria after the 1918 revolution.] Q. To what year are you referring? A. It was already in the program of 1924. Q. On many occasions you talked with Hitler about the Jewish question; did you not? A. During these election campaigns, the Jewish question was not important. Q. Wasn't the Jewish question mentioned in the campaigns? A. Naturally, because it was a point of the Party program. [Page 1409] Q. Well, in general, what was said by the Party speakers on the Jewish question, prior to 1933? A. It was said that the influence in politics by the Jews is a bad one, because the Jews were always considered by the people as a foreign body in the German government. This also could be seen in the Weimar Republic, because many Jews were active in prominent positions, as Ministers, and so on. Q. Well, the Party opposed the Jews whether they were Communists or not; didn't they? A. That is a question of race. Q. Well, I don't know whether I understand you or not. Let me ask you this: Was it your feeling that the Jews should not be entitled to have political rights, but all other constitutional rights that they were guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution, they should be allowed to keep? A. The freedom of speech is not a political right, to be compared with the election to the Reichstag, for instance. A. And you thought that Jews were entitled to freedom of speech; did you? A. That they should not be treated any differently in that respect than the other German citizens. Q. How about their freedom from arrest, search, and seizure? A. Exactly the same as the others, that is, a protection of personal freedom. Q. Why is it you distinguish so much between the rights of the Germans and the Jews to political freedom? A. There is the question of what is the right of the citizen of Germany. Q. You don't think the Jews should be entitled to be citizens? A. They should not be allowed to be a citizen, since this is limited only to people of German blood, just as any foreigners are not allowed to be citizens. Q. But the Party and Hitler advocated the taking away of their property rights as well as their political rights, did they not? A. That was not the case from the beginning on. Q. When did that become the case? A. I believe it was only done in `37, when the first laws in that respect were passed in the economic field. Q. And in 1937, also, you changed your mind about the right of the Jews to own property and enjoy freedom of speech; did you not? A. I was not concerned with these things. All this was discussed in the Ministries of Interior and the Four-Year Plan. [Page 1410] Q. Well, my question was, did you change your mind or not? A. No, I did not change my mind. I considered it better to keep on doing it the way I just mentioned to you. Q. Do you consider the Jewish people an inferior race? A. I look at them as a foreign body in the German State, which should not be allowed to assimilate with the Germans. Q. Well, the Party attitude against the Jews, originally arose out of the fact that they were powerful politically, and the Party wanted to get into power; and they had to dispose of the Jews in politics to do so; did they not? A. In comparison to the number of Jews in Germany, they had a much too strong influence in politics.
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