Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-03-21.12
Last-Modified: 1998/07/02

On the 30th June, 1934, Hitler, as head of the Nazi Party,
directed the massacre of hundreds of S.A. men and other
political opponents. Hitler sought to

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justify these mass murders by declaring to the Reichstag
that "at that hour I was responsible for the fate of the
German nation, and the supreme judge of the German people."
The evidence relating to these events will be presented at a
later stage in connection with the case against the S.A.

On the 3rd July, 1934, the Cabinet issued a decree
describing the murders and the massacre of 30th June, 1934,
in effect, as legitimate self-defence by the State. By this
law the Reich Cabinet moved to make themselves accessories
after the fact of these murders. The domination by the
Party, however, makes the Cabinet's characterisation of
these criminal acts by Hitler and his top Party leaders as
State measures, consistent with political reality. I refer
now to Document 2057-PS, which is the English translation of
the Law Relating to the National Emergency Defence Measures
of 3rd July, 1934, in the Reichsgesetzblatt of that year,
Part I, Page 529, and I quote the single article of that
law, which reads as follows: That is Document 2057. This
still has reference to the blood purge:--

     "The measures taken on 30th June and 1st and 2nd July,
     1934, to counteract attempt at treason and high treason
     shall be considered as national emergency defence."

On 12th July, 1934, there was enacted a law defining the
function of the Academy for German Law. I refer to Document
1391-PS, which is an English translation of the Statute of
the Academy for German Law, 12th July, 1934, 1934
Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Pages 605 and 606.

     "Closely connected with the agencies competent for
     legislation, it" -- the Academy -- "shall further the
     realisation of the National Socialist programme in the
     realm of the law."

On 30th January, 1933, Hitler, the Leader of the Nazi Party
and Fuehrer of the Leadership Corps, was appointed
Chancellor of the Reich. When President Von Hindenburg died
in 1934, the Fuehrer amalgamated into his person the offices
of Chancellor and Reich President. I refer to Document 2003-
PS, which establishes that fact, and I do not quote. It is
Reichsgesetzblatt 1934, Part I, Page 747.

By decree of the 20th December, 1934, Party uniforms and
institutions were granted the same protection as those of
the State. This law was entitled "Law Concerning Treacherous
Acts Against the State and Party and for the Protection of
Party Uniforms." This law imposed heavy penalties upon any
person making false statements injuring the welfare or
prestige of the Nazi Party or its agencies. It authorised
the imprisonment of persons making or circulating malicious
or baiting statements against leading personalities of the
Nazi Party, and it provided punishment by forced labor for
the unauthorised wearing of Party uniforms or symbols. I
again refer to Document 1393, not quoting, which is the
English translation and gives the authority.

Finally, by the law of 15th September, 1934, the swastika
flag of the Party was made the official flag of the Reich. I
refer to Document 2079, which is the English translation of
the Reich Flag Law, found in Reichsgesetzblatt 1935, Part I,
Page 1145. Just this one sentence -- the quotation:--

     "The Reich and National flag is the swastika flag."

The swastika was the flag and symbol of the Leadership Corps
of the Nazi Party. By law it was made the flag of the State;
a recognition that the Party and its corps of political
leaders  were the sovereign powers in Germany.

On 23rd April, 1936, a law was enacted granting amnesty for
crimes which

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the offender had committed "in his eagerness to fight for
the National Socialist ideals". I cite Document 1386, which
is the English translation of the Law Concerning Amnesty,
Reichgesetzblatt 1936, Part I, Page 378.

In furtherance of the conspiracy to acquire totalitarian
control over the German people, a law was enacted on 1st.
December, 1936, which incorporated the entire German youth
within the Hitler Youth, thereby achieving total
mobilisation of the German youth. I cite Document 1392,
containing that law, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page
993. The law further provided that the task of educating the
German youth through the Hitler Youth was entrusted to the
Reichsleiter of the German youth in the N.S.D.A.P. By this
law a monopoly control over the entire German youth was
placed in the hands of the top official, a Reichsleiter, of
the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, the defendant Von
Schirach.

On 4th February, 1938, the Fuehrer of the Leadership Corps
of the Nazi Party, Hitler, issued a decree in which he took
over direct command of the whole German Armed Forces. I cite
Document 1915-PS, 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page 111.
Hitler says:--

     "From now on, I take over directly the command of the
     whole Armed Forces."

By virtue of the earlier law of 1st August, 1934, Hitler
combined the offices of the Reich President and the
Chancellorship. In the final result, therefore, Hitler was
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the Head of the
German State, and the Fuehrer of the Nazi Party.

With respect to this, the Party Manual states as follows,
and I quote from Page 19 of Document 1893-PS:--

     "The Fuehrer created the National Socialist German
     Workers' Party. He filled it with his spirit and his
     will, and with it he conquered the power of the State
     on 30th January, 1933. The Fuehrers will is supreme in
     the Party.
     
     By authority of the law about the Chief of State of the
     German Reich, dated 1st August, 1934, the office of the
     Reich President has been combined with that of the
     Reich Chancellery. Consequently, the powers heretofore
     possessed by the Reich President were transferred to
     the Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler. Through this law, the
     conduct of the Party and State has been combined in one
     hand. By desire of the Fuehrer, a plebiscite was
     conducted on this law on 19th August, 1934. On this
     day, the German people chose Adolf Hitler to be their
     sole leader. He is responsible only to his conscience
     and to the German nation."

A decree of 16th January, 1942, provided that the Party
should participate in legislation and official appointments
and promotions. I cite as proof Document 2100-PS, which is
the English translation of a directive concerning the
application of the Fuehrer decree relating to the Chief of
the Party Chancellery, 1942, Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page
35. The decree further provided that such participation
should be undertaken exclusively by the defendant Bormann,
Chief of the Party Chancellery and Reichsleiter of the
Leadership Corps. The decree provided that the Chief of the
Party Chancellery was to take part in the preparation of all
laws and decrees issued by Reich authorities, including
those issued by the Ministerial Council for Defence of the
Reich, and to give his assent to those of the Laender and of
the Reich governments, the Laender being the German States.
All communications between the State and Party authorities,
unless within the Gau

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only, were to pass through Bormann's hands. This decree is
of crucial importance in demonstrating the ultimate control
and responsibility imputable to the Leadership Corps for
governmental policy and actions taken in furtherance of the
conspiracy.

On or about the 26th April, 1942, Hitler declared in a
speech that, in his capacity as leader of the nation,
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Supreme Head of the
Government, and as Fuehrer of the Party, his right must be
recognised to compel with all means at his disposal, every
German, whether soldier, judge, State official, or party
official, to fulfill his desire. He demanded that the
Reichstag officially recognise this asserted right, and on
the 26th April, 1942, the Reichstag issued a decision in
which full recognition was given to the rights of the
Fuehrer which I have just asserted. I cite Document 1961-PS,
which is the English translation of that decision, found in
1942 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page 247. I quote:--

     "At the proposal of the President of the Reichstag, on
     its session of 26th April, 1942, the greater German
     Reichstag has unanimously approved of the rights which
     the Fuehrer has postulated in his speech, with the
     following decision:--

     There can be no doubt that in the present war, in which
     the German people is faced with a struggle for its
     existence or annihilation, the Fuehrer must have all
     the rights postulated by him which serve to further or
     achieve victory. Therefore, without being bound by
     existing legal regulations, in his capacity as Leader
     of the Nation, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces,
     Governmental Chief and Supreme Executive Chief, as
     Supreme Justice and as Leader of the Party, the Fuehrer
     must be in the position to force with all means at his
     disposal every German, if necessary, whether he be a
     common soldier or officer, low or high, official or
     judge, leading or subordinate official of the Party,
     worker or employer, to fulfill his duties. In case of
     violation of these duties, the Fuehrer is entitled,
     after conscientious examination, regardless of so-
     called well-deserved rights, to mete out due punishment
     and to remove the offender from his post, rank and
     position without introducing prescribed procedures.
     
     At the order of the Fuehrer, this decision is hereby
     made public. Berlin, 26th April, 1942."

Hitler himself perhaps best summarised the political
realities of his Germany which constituted the basis for the
prosecution's submission that the Leadership Corps of the
Nazi Party and its following effectively dominated the
State. The core and crux of the matter was stated by Hitler
in his speech to the Reichstag on 20th February, 1938, when
he declared in effect that every institution in Germany was
under the direction of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi
Party.

I cite as the prosecution's final exhibit in support of the
proposition that the Leadership Corps dominated the German
State with resulting responsibility, Document 2715-PS, which
is the book containing Hitler's speech to the Reichstag on
the 20th February, 1938, as reported in `Das Archiv', Volume
47, February 1938, Pages 1441 and 1442. I quote a brief
excerpt from Document 2715-PS; and introduce it as Exhibit
USA 331:--

     "National Socialism has given the German people that
     leadership which as Party not only mobilises the nation
     but also organizes it, so that on the basis of the
     natural principle of selection, the continuance of a
     
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     stable political leadership is safeguarded for ever.
     National Socialism possesses Germany entirely and
     completely since the day when, five years ago, I left
     the house in Wilhelmsplatz as Reich Chancellor. There
     is no institution in this State which is not National
     Socialist. Above all, however, the National Socialist
     Party in these five years not only has made the nation
     National Socialist, but also has given itself that
     perfect organisational structure which guarantees its
     performance for all the future. The greatest guarantee
     of the National Socialist revolution lies in the
     complete domination of the Reich and all of its
     institutions and organisations, internally and
     externally, by the National Socialist Party. Its
     protection against the world abroad, however, lies in
     the new National Socialist Armed Forces. In this Reich,
     anybody who has a responsible position is a National
     Socialist. Every institution of this Reich is under the
     orders of the supreme political leadership. The Party
     leads the Reich politically, the Armed Forces defend it
     militarily. There is nobody in any responsible position
     in this state who doubts that I am the authorised
     leader of this Reich."

The supreme power which the Leadership Corps exercised over
the German State and Government is pointed out by an article
published in this same authoritative magazine `Der
Hoheitstraeger', in February, 1939. In this article, which
was addressed to all Hoheitstraeger, the Leadership Corps is
reminded that it has conquered the State, and it possesses
absolute and total power in Germany. I cite Document 3230-
PS, which is the English translation of an article entitled
"Fight and Order", and I quote from this article, which
trumpets forth in what we might term as accents of
Caesarism, the battle call of the Leadership Corps in German
life. I quote:--

     "Fight? Why do you always talk of fighting? You have
     conquered the State, and if something does not please
     you, then just make a law and regulate it differently.
     Why must you always talk of fighting? For you have
     every power. Over what grounds do you fight? Outer-
     political? You have the Wehrmacht -- it will wage the
     fight if fight is required. Inner-political? You have
     the law and the police which can change everything with
     which you do not agree."
     
In view of the domination of the German State and Government
by the -----

THE PRESIDENT: Is this a good time to break off?

COLONEL STOREY: Yes, Sir.

(A recess was taken.)

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