Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-04/tgmwc-04-35.01
Last-Modified: 1999/09/28

                                                  [Page 289]
THIRTY-FIFTH DAY

WEDNESDAY, 16TH JANUARY, 1946

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: May it please the Tribunal, I now pass to
activities which involve Schirach in the commission of
Crimes against Humanity as they bear directly on Count 1.
The presentation of all specific acts will deal with the
Reichsgau Vienna, but first allow me to refer back to two
important points in the previous proof, which will show that
Schirach bears, responsibility for War Crimes and Crimes
against Humanity which bring in the whole of Europe. Through
his agreements with Himmler he provided, through the Hitler
Youth, many if not most of the S.S. men who administered, in
the main, the concentration camps, and whose War Crimes and
Crimes against Humanity throughout Europe generally are
notorious.

Nor should we pass to further specific acts of Schirach
without mentioning one more thing, that he cannot escape
responsibility for implanting in youth the Nazi ideology
generally, with its tenets of a master race, "sub-human"
peoples, and "Lebensraum" and world domination. For such
notions were the psychological prerequisites for the
instigation and for the tolerance of the atrocities which
zealous Nazis committed throughout Germany and the occupied
countries.

To present Schirach's responsibilities for crimes committed
within the Reichsgau Vienna, where Schirach was Gau Leader
and Reich Governor from July, 1940, until the downfall, the
general basic functions of these two offices must be held in
mind.

The first document I refer to is 1893-PS. This is an extract
from the Party Manual of 1943 and therefore catches Schirach
in midstream in his activities in the Reichsgau Vienna. That
is Page 42 of the document book, and Pages 70, 71, 75, 98,
136 and 140b of the Party Manual, extracts from each of
those pages appearing in your document book.

The following highlights concerning the Gau Leader's
functions will appear, and I propose only to paraphrase.
Since your Honour may take judicial notice of the Party
Manual, you may check at your leisure unless you wish me to
read from any one of these specific orders. These orders
make it appear that the Gau Leader was the highest
representative of Hitler in his Gau, that he was the bearer
of sovereignty, the top "Hoheitstrager," and that he had
sovereign political rights. Beyond that he was responsible
for the entire political situation in his Gau. He could call
- and we believe this is important - he could call upon S.A.
and S.S. leaders as "needed in the execution of a political
mission." Beyond that he was obliged to meet at least once a
month with the leaders of the affiliated Party organisations
within his Gau, and this course included the S.S.

Now, the position of the Reich Governor in Vienna is
somewhat special. After the Anschluss the State of Austria
was abolished and Austria was divided into 7 Reich Gaue. The
most important of these Gaue was the Reichsgau Vienna, of
which Schirach was Governor. Reference to any statistical
manual of the Reich at this time will establish that at that
time Vienna had a population of over two million people.
Therefore it was certainly one of the principal cities of
the Reich., The Tribunal is asked to take judicial notice of
the decree, 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page 777, our
Document 3301-PS, found at Page 107

                                                  [Page 290]

of the document book. This is the basic law on the
administrative reorganisation of Austria. It was enacted in
April, 1939, a little more than a year before Schirach
became Governor. This law shows that Schirach, as Governor,
was the lieutenant of the head of the German State, Hitler;
that he could issue decrees and orders within the
limitations set by the Supreme Reich Authorities; that he
was especially under the administrative supervision of the
defendant Frick, Reich Minister of the Interior; and that he
was also the first mayor of the city of Vienna. For the same
period that Schirach was Gau Leader, and Reich Governor of
Vienna, he was also Reich Defence Commissioner of Vienna,
and after 1940, of course, the Reich was engaged in war.

Because of his far-reaching responsibilities and authority
in these positions, the prosecution contends that Schirach
must be held guilty, specifically, of all the crimes of the
Nazi conspirators in the Reichsgau. Vienna, on the ground
that he either initiated, approved, executed or abetted
these crimes. Specific examples follow which, in fact,
demonstrate that Schirach was actively and personally
engaged in Nazi crimes and that, when he became boastful, a
characteristic never lacking in most of these defendants, he
himself admitted his own involvement in acts which are
crimes within the competence of this Tribunal.

I come first to slave labour.

The slave labour programme naturally played its part in
staffing the industries of as large and important a city as
Vienna. The general nature of this programme and the crimes
flowing therefrom have, in part, been set before you by Mr.
Dodd. The Soviet prosecutors will present further acts later
on. Our Document 3352-PS, found at Page 116 of your document
book, which I would like to offer as Exhibit USA 206, gives
extracts from a number of orders of the Party Chancellery.
Each of these orders, from which the extracts have been
taken, bear on the Gau Leader's responsibility for the
placing and use of manpower. They prove quite simply, and in
unmistakable language, that the Gau Leaders, under the
direction of the experienced old Gau Leader Sauckel, who was
Plenipotentiary for Manpower, became the supreme integrating
and co-ordinating agents of the Nazi conspirators in the
entire manpower programme. At Page 116 of your document book
(Page 508 of the original volume of orders) which I may say
is also indicated at each place there in the quotation
notation, the defendant Goering is shown to have agreed, as
leader of the Four Year Plan, to Sauckel's suggestion that
the Gau Leaders be utilised to assure the highest efficiency
in manpower. At Page 117 of your document book (Page 511 of
the order of the Party Chancellery), Sauckel in July, 1942,
makes the Gau Leaders his special plenipotentiaries for
manpower within their Gaue, with the duty of establishing a
harmonious co-operation of all interests concerned. In
effect the Gau Leader became the supreme arbitrator for all
the conflicting interests that exist during wartime with
respect to claims upon manpower. Under this same order, the
Provisional Labour Offices and their staffs were "directed
to be at the disposal of the Gau Leaders for information and
advice and to fulfil the suggestions and demands of the Gau
Leader for the purpose of improvements in manpower." At
Pages 118 and 119 of your document book (Page 567 of the
Party Chancellery Order) the defendant Sauckel ordered that
his special plenipotentiaries, the Gau Leaders, familiarise
themselves with the general regulations on Eastern workers.
He stated that his immediate objective was "to avoid that
politically inept factory heads - "

THE PRESIDENT: Where is this?

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: That is at Pages 118 and 119, towards the
end of the entire document:

He stated that his immediate objective was "to avoid that
politically inept factory heads give too much consideration
to the care of Eastern workers and thereby cause justified
annoyance among the German workers."

                                                  [Page 291]

We submit to the Tribunal that if Schirach, as Gau Leader,
was required to interest himself in such manpower details as
are concerned with the alleged annoyance of German workers
for the consideration given to Eastern workers, it is
unnecessary to press further into the detailed workings of
the manpower programme to establish Schirach's connection
with, and responsibility for, the Slave Labour Programme in
the Reichsgau Vienna.

I now pass to the persecution of the Churches.

The elimination of the religious youth organisations while
Schirach was Chief Nazi Youth Leader has already been noted.
In March, 1941, two letters, one from the defendant Bormann,
the other from the conspirator Hans Lammers -

THE PRESIDENT: Captain Sprecher, have you any other evidence
which connects von Schirach with the problem of manpower?

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: I had planned on presenting nothing
further, your Honour. I felt that; in view of the fact that
our Soviet colleagues are going further with the details of
the manpower programme, particularly in the East, the main
objective under Count 1 should merely be to show the general
responsibility of the defendant Schirach for the Slave
Labour Programme, and the question of specific acts will
have to be taken from the other proof in the record, which
will come into the record later.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: There is just one further point: When I
come to the treatment of the Jews, in a few minutes, there
will be one or two specific examples.

THE PRESIDENT: You are now going to deal with the
persecution of Churches, is that right?

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: Yes, Sir.

Now, the Tribunal is referred to Document R-146, at Page 5
of the document book. This is offered as Exhibit USA 678.

I am a little in doubt, your Honours, as to whether I should
read all this document, in view of our common anxiety to
pass rapidly on; but perhaps I may paraphrase it, and if you
are not satisfied I will read it.

These documents establish clearly that, during a visit by
Hitler to Vienna, Schirach and two other officials brought a
request to the Fuehrer, that the confiscations of church
property in Austria, made on various pretexts, should be
made in favour of the Gaue rather than of the Reich. Later
the Fuehrer decided the issue in favour of the position
which had been taken by Schirach, namely, in favour of the
Gaue. I use this merely to connect Schirach with the
persecution of the Churches, concerning which there has been
a great deal of evidence before this time.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): None of it is in evidence yet.
You have not put anything in evidence. We cannot take
judicial notice of something unless you ask us to.

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: Your ruling is that this would not be in
evidence unless I read it?

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): I am not making any ruling; I was
merely pointing out to you that we have nothing in evidence
on the last document.

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: I think, under the circumstances, I had
better read this document.

   "Munich, 20th March, 1941, Brown House.
   
   Circular Letter No. 5g.
   
   To all Gau Leaders.
   
   Subject Matter: Sequestration of Church Properties.
   
   Valuable church properties have lately had to be
   sequestered to a large extent, especially in Austria;
   according to reports of the Gauleiter to the Fuehrer,
   these sequestrations were frequently caused by offences
   against
   
                                                  [Page 292]
   
   ordinances relating to war economy (e.g. hoarding of
   food-stuffs of various kinds, textiles, leather-goods,
   etc.). In other cases they were caused by offences
   against the law relating to malicious attacks against
   the State, and in some cases because of prohibited
   possession of firearms. Obviously no compensation is to
   be paid to the Churches for sequestrations made because
   of the above-mentioned reasons.
   
   With regard to further sequestrations, several Austrian
   Gau Leaders have attempted to clarify the question, on
   the occasion of the Fuehrer's last visit to Vienna, 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 14th March, 1941.
   I enclose copy of extracts thereof.
   
   (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 do not wish you to read
anything; I was simply pointing out that, as you had not
read it, it was not in evidence.

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: In that event I will continue, your
Honour. The copy reads as follows:

   "Berlin, 14th 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 inimical to
   People and State.
   
   The Reich Governors 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 inimical to the
   People and State should be made in favour of the Reich,
   and not in favour of the Reich Gaue. As a consequence
   the Fuehrer has informed me that he desires the
   confiscation of such properties to be effected in favour
   of the respective Reich Gau in whose area the
   confiscated property is situated, and not in favour of
   the Reich."

THE PRESIDENT: You need not read any more of it.

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: I pass over now to the Jewish persecution.

The prosecution submits, finally, that Schirach authorised,
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 organisation 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.

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?

CAPTAIN 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 programme of the N.S.D.S.T.B. He extolled
   various activities of the Bund. 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

                                                  [Page 293]
   
   remain there for centuries as inspiration for future
   students, as warning to enemies of the State."

To attempt to visualise 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 S.S. and the Gestapo, in Vienna.

Document 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.

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: Yes, Sir.

THE PRESIDENT: The second, third, and fourth paragraphs.

CAPTAIN 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
   synagogues would be a perpetual monument reminding the
   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 favour 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 Honours, to Document 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.

   "7th November, 1940. Subject: Compulsory labour of able-
   bodied Jews. (1) Notice.
   
   On 5th November, 1940, telephone conversation with
   Colonel (Standartenfuehrer) Huber of the Gestapo. The
   Gestapo has received directions from the Reich Security
   Main Office (R.S.H.A.) as to how able-bodied Jews should
   be drafted for compulsory labour 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 in using the Jews even for the removal of
   the destroyed synagogues.
   
   S.S. Colonel Huber will 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 Fr. Fischer.

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