Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-04/tgmwc-04-35.02
Last-Modified: 1999/09/28


I want to call the Court's attention to the significance of
the title "Regierungsprasident." The S.S. Colonel, you will
note, was to report to the Regierungsprasident. If you will
refer back again to the decree which set up the Reichsgau
Vienna, 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part 1, page 777, you will
find that the Regierungsprasident was Schirach's personal
representative within the governmental administration of
Vienna.

                                                  [Page 294]

Now, it seems to us that this Document 1948-PS which was
signed by Fischer, concerning compulsory labour of able-
bodied Jews, answers the argument that persons of the rank
of Gauleiter were ignorant of the atrocities of the Gestapo
and the S.S. in their own locality. It shows further that
even the assistants of the Gau Leaders were informed of the
details of the persecution projects which were afoot at the
time.

Schirach also had concern for, and knowledge of, the housing
shortage in Vienna, which was alleviated for some members of
the alleged "Master Race" who succeeded to the houses of the
luckless Jews who were moved into oblivion in Poland.

On 3rd December, 1940, the conspirator Lammers wrote a
letter to Schirach. It is our Document 1950-PS, Page 64 of
your document book, and it is offered in evidence as Exhibit
USA 681. The letter is very short:

   "Berlin, 3rd December, 1940."

It is on the stationery of the Reich Minister and Chief of
the Reich Chancellery, and it is marked "secret." To the
Reich Governor in Vienna, Gauleiter von  Schirach:

   "As Reichsleiter Bormann informs me, the Fuehrer has
   decided, after receipt of one of the reports made by
   you, that the 60,000 Jews still residing in the
   Reichsgau Vienna shall be deported as rapidly as
   possible - that is, while the war is still going on - to
   the Government General, because of the housing shortage
   prevalent in Vienna.
   
   I have informed the Governor General in Cracow, as well
   as the Reichsfuehrer S.S., about this decision of the
   Fuehrer, and I request you also to take cognisance of
   it."

Signed " Lammers."

As a last piece of illustrative evidence against this
youngest member of the defendants in the dock, I take
something from his own lips, which was published for all
Vienna, and indeed, for all Germany and the world to know,
even at that time. It appears in the Vienna edition of the
"Volkischer Beobachter," on 15th September, 1942, Document
3048-PS, your document book, Page 106. It is already in
evidence as Exhibit USA 274.

I would like to point out that these words were uttered
before the so-called European Youth League in Vienna in
1942.

The Tribunal will recall that Schirach was still Reich
Leader for Youth Education in the N.S.D.A.P. at that time:

   "Every Jew who exerts influence in Europe is a danger to
   European culture. If anyone reproaches me with having
   driven from this city, which was once the European
   metropolis of Jewry, tens of thousands upon tens of
   thousands of Jews into the ghetto of the East, I feel
   myself compelled to reply, 'I see in this an action
   contributing to European culture'."

Although Schirach's principal assistance to the conspiracy
was made in his commitment of the German Youth to the
conspirators' objectives, he also stands guilty of heinous
Crimes against Humanity, as a Party and governmental
administrator of high standing after the conspiracy had
reached its inevitable involvement in wars of aggression.

This completes, your Honours, the presentation on the
individual responsibility of the defendant Schirach.

The prosecution will next take up the responsibility of the
defendant Martin Bormann, and the presentation will be made
by Lieutenant Lambert.

DR. FRITZ SAUTER (Counsel for defendant von Schirach): Mr.
President, as to the various errors made in the case against
Schirach, I shall state my position when the defence has its
turn. But I should like to take the opportunity now of
pointing out an error in translation in one of the
documents. It is in Document 3352-PS.

                                                  [Page 295]

It is an order of the Reich Chancellery to the subordinate
offices, and this order mentions that the work departments
had to be at the disposal of the Gauleiter under certain
circumstances. In the German original of this order it reads
as follows: "Anregungen und Wunsche."

THE PRESIDENT: Which page of the document is it?

DR. SAUTER: I think, Page 512 of Document 3352-PS, on Page
117 of the document book.

This German expression "Anregungen und Wunsche" has been
translated "suggestions" (for "Anregungen") and "demands"
(for "Wunsche").

The first translation, the translation for "Anregungen," we
consider to be correct; but the second translation, namely,
"demands" for "Wunsche," we consider false, because, so far
as we know, this word is "Befehle" or "Forderungen" in
German. We should consider, it correct if for the English
translation "demands" could be substituted by another word,
"wishes," which is an exact translation of the word
"Wunsche." I do not know whether I have pronounced the word
correctly in English. That is all I have to say for the time
being. Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT: Do you wish to say anything about that?

CAPTAIN SPRECHER: I think that Dr. Sauter has made a very
good point. I have checked with the translator beside me,
your Honour, and the German word "Wunsche" has been
translated too strongly.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

LIEUTENANT THOMAS F. LAMBERT, JR.: May it please the
Tribunal, the prosecution comes now to deal with the
defendant Bormann, and to present the proofs establishing
his responsibility for the crimes set forth in the
Indictment. And if the Tribunal will allow, we should like
to observe on the threshold that, because of the absence of
the defendant Bormann from the dock, we believe that we
should make an extra effort to make a solid record in the
case against him, out of fairness to defence counsel and for
the convenience of the Tribunal.

I offer the document book supporting this trial address as
Exhibit USA JJ, together with the trial brief against the
defendant Bormann.

The defendant Bormann bears a major responsibility for
promoting the accession to power of the Nazi conspirators,
the consolidation of their total power over Germany and the
preparation for aggressive war set forth in Count 1 of the
Indictment.

Upon the record of this trial the Nazi Party and its
Leadership Corps were the main vehicles and the fountain-
head of the conspiracy.

Now, following the flight of the defendant Hess to Scotland,
in May, 1941, Bormann became Executive Chief of the Nazi
Party. His official title was Chief of the Party Chancery.
Before that date Bormann was Chief of Staff to the defendant
Hess, the Deputy of the Fuehrer.

By virtue of these two powerful positions - Chief of the
Party Chancery and Chief of Staff to the Deputy of the
Fuehrer - Bormann stands revealed as a principal architect
of the conspiracy. Subject only, and we stress, subject only
to the supreme authority of Hitler, Bormann engineered and
employed the vast powers of the Party, its agencies and
formations, in furtherance of the Nazi conspiracy, he
employed the Party to impose the will of the conspirators
upon the German people, and he then directed the powers of
the Party in the drive to dominate Europe.

Accordingly, the defendant Bormann is blameworthy for the
multiple crimes of the conspiracy, and for the multiple
crimes committed by the Party, its agencies and the German
people, in furthering the conspiracy.

It might be helpful to give a very brief sketch of the
career in conspiracy of the defendant Bormann.

Bormann began his conspiratorial activities more than 20
years ago. In 1922, When only 22 years of age, he joined the
Organisation Rossbach, one of

                                                  [Page 296]

the illegal groups which continued the militaristic
traditions of the German Army, and employed terror against
the small struggling pacifist minority in Germany. While he
was District Leader for this organisation in Mecklenburg, he
was arrested and tried for his part in a political
assassination which, we suggest, indicates his disposition
to use illegal methods to carry out purposes satisfactory to
himself. On 15th May, 1924, he was found guilty by the State
Tribunal for the Protection of the Republic, and sentenced
to one year in prison.

Upon his release from prison in 1925, Bormann resumed his
subversive activities. He joined the militarist
organisation, "Frontbann," and in the same year he joined
the Nazi Party and began his ascent to a prominent position
in the conspiracy. In 1927 he became Press-Chief for the
Party Gau of Thuringia. In other words, referring back to
the case against the Leadership Corps, he became an
important staff officer of a Gauleiter. On 1st April, 1928,
he was made District Leader, Bezirksleiter, in Thuringia,
and business manager for the entire Gau.

We come now to a particularly important point involving
Bormann's link with the S.A. From 15th November, 1928, to
August, 1930, he was on the staff of the Supreme Command of
the S.A. Now, the Tribunal has heard the demonstration of
the criminality of the S.A., and knows full well that this
was a semi-military organisation of young men, whose main
mission was to get control of the streets, and to impose
terror on oppositional elements of the conspiracy.

Our submission at this stage is that, by virtue of Bormann's
position on the staff of the Supreme Command of the S.A., he
shares responsibility for the illegal activities of the S.A.
in furtherance of the conspiracy.

In August, 1930, Bormann organised the Aid Fund,
"Hilfskasse," of the Nazi Party, of which he became head.
Through this fund he collected large sums for the alleged
purpose of aiding the families of Party members who had been
killed or injured while fighting for the Party.

As the Tribunal knows, on 30th January, 1933, the
conspirators and their Party took over the Government of
Germany. Shortly thereafter, in July, 1933, Bormann was
given the number three position in the Party, that of Chief
of Staff to the defendant Hess, the Deputy of the Fuehrer.
At the same time, he was made a Reichsleiter and, as the
Tribunal knows, that makes him a member of the top level of
the alleged illegal organisation, the Leadership Corps of
the Nazi Party.

In November, 1933, he was made a member of the Reichstag.

I request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of the
authoritative German publication "The Greater German
Reichstag" edition of 1943. The facts which I have recited
in the foregoing sketch of defendant Bormann's career are
set forth on Page 167 of that publication, the English
translation of which appears in Document 2981-PS of the
document book now before the Tribunal.

With respect to Bormann's conviction for political murder, I
offer in evidence Document 3355-PS, Exhibit USA 682, which
is the affidavit of Dr. Robert M. W. Kempner, and I quote
therefrom briefly as follows:

   "I, Robert M. W. Kempner, an expert consultant of the
   War Department, appeared before the undersigned
   attesting officer and, having been duly sworn, stated as
   follows:
   
   In my capacity as Superior Government Counsellor and
   Chief Legal Advisor of the pre-Hitler Prussian Police
   Administration, I became officially acquainted with the
   criminal record of Martin Bormann, identical with the
   defendant Martin Bormann now under indictment before the
   International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.
   
   The official criminal record of Martin Bormann contained
   the following entry:
   
                                                  [Page 297]
   
   Bormann, Martin, sentenced on 15th May, 1924, by the
   State Tribunal for the Protection of the Republic, in
   Leipzig, Germany, to one year in prison, for having been
   an accomplice in the commission of a political murder.
   Signed: Robert M. W. Kempner." End of quotation.

THE PRESIDENT: Lt. Lambert, I do not think it is necessary
for you, when dealing with a document of that sort, to read
the formal parts. If you state the nature of the document
and read the material part, you need not deal with the
formal parts; for instance, "I, Robert Kempner, an expert
consultant," and all that. Do you understand me?

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: Thank you very much, Sir, for a very
helpful suggestion.

As defendant Hess' Chief of Staff, Bormann was responsible
for receiving and passing on to the defendant Hess the,
demands of the Party in all fields of State action. These
demands were then guaranteed by the defendant Hess by virtue
of his participation in the legislative process, his power
with respect to the appointment and promotion of government
officials, and his position in the Reich Cabinet.

I come now, to what seems to be an important point, which
ties up the defendant Bormann with the S.D. and the Gestapo.
As Chief of Staff of the defendant Hess, Bormann took
measures to reinforce the grip of the Gestapo and the S.D.
over the German civil population. I request the Tribunal to
notice judicially a Bormann order of 14th, February, 1935,
set forth in the official publication, "Decrees of the
Deputy of the Fuehrer," Edition 1937, Page 257.

I quote merely the pertinent portions of that decree, The
English version of which is set forth in our Document 3237-
PS, which reads as follows.

THE PRESIDENT: If it is a document of which we can take
judicial notice, it is sufficient for you to summarise it
without reading it.

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: I appreciate that, Sir. This quotation
is so succinct and so brief that we perhaps could avoid
summarisation.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well, go on.

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT:

   "The Deputy of the Fuehrer expects that Party Offices
   will now abandon all distrust of the S.D. and will
   support it wholeheartedly in solving the difficult tasks
   with which it has been entrusted in order to protect the
   Movement and our people.
   
   Because the Work of the Party is primarily benefited by
   the work of the S.D., it is inadmissible that its
   expansion be upset by prejudiced attacks when
   individuals fail. On the contrary, it must be
   wholeheartedly assisted. Signed, Bormann Chief of Staff
   to the Deputy of the Fuehrer."

That is with respect to Bormann's support of the S.D.

I deal now with Bormann's effort to support the work of the
Gestapo.

THE PRESIDENT: Lt. Lambert, would not it be sufficient to
say that that document indicates the support Bormann
promised to the S.D.?

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: I was anxious merely on one point, Sir,
that a document was not in evidence unless it had been
quoted.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you began by asking us to take judicial
notice of it. If we can take judicial notice of it - it need
not be quoted.

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: Then with respect to Bormann's efforts
to reinforce the grip of the Gestapo, I request the Tribunal
to notice judicially a Bormann order of 3rd September, 1935,
calling on Party agencies to report to the Gestapo all
persons who criticise Nazi institutions or the Nazi Party.
This decree appears in the official Party publication
"Decrees of the Deputy of the Fuehrer," 1937, at Page 190.
The English translation is set forth in our Document 3239-
PS. I shall summarise the effect of this document shortly.
In its first

                                                  [Page 298]

paragraph it refers to a law of 20th December, 1934. As the
Tribunal will recall, this law gave the same protection to
Party institution and Party uniforms as enjoyed by the
State; and in the first and second paragraphs of this decree
it is indicated that: whenever a case came up involving
malicious or slanderous attack on Party members or the Nazi
Party or its institutions, the Reich Minister of Justice
would consult with the Deputy of the Fuehrer in order to
take joint action against the offenders. Then, in, the third
paragraph, Bormann gives his orders to all Party agencies
with respect to reporting to the Gestapo, individuals who
criticised the Nazi Party or its institutions. I quote
merely the last paragraph.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I took down what you said in your first
sentence, which was that the document showed that he was
ordering that a report should be made to the Gestapo on
anyone criticising the Party. Well, that is sufficient, it
seems to me, and all that you said after that is cumulative.

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: There is, however, one brief point, if I
may be permitted, which I should like to emphasise, about
the last paragraph, because I think it is helpful to the
prosecution's case against the Leadership Corps of the Nazi
Party.

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