Archive/File: imt/nca/nca-02/nca-02-15-criminality-02-06
Last-Modified: 1997/08/21

In a declaration to the 1935 Party Congress at Nurnberg,
Hitler stated:

     "It is not the State which gives orders to us, it is we
     who give orders to the State." (2775-PS)

That categorical statement of the Fuehrer of the Leadership
Corps affirms the dominance of Party over State which the
evidence makes undeniably clear.

On 30 June 1934 Hitler, as Head of the Nazi Party, directed
the massacre of hundreds of SA-men and other political opponents.
Hitler sought to justify these mass murders by declaring to
the Reichstag that "at that hour I was responsible for the
fate of the German nation and supreme judge of the German
people." (The evidence relating to these events is discussed
in Section 4, infra.) On 7/3/1934 the Cabinet issued a
decree describing the murders of 30 June 1934, in effect, as
legitimate self-defense by the State. By this law the Reich
Cabinet made themselves accessories after the fact of these
murders. The domination of State by Party, however, makes
the Cabinet's characterization of these criminal acts by
Hitler and his top Party Leaders as state measures
consistent with political reality. The single article of the
law of 3 July 1934 reads as follows:

     "The measures taken on 30 June 1934 and 1 July 1934 and
     2 July 1934 to counteract attempt at treason and high
     treason shall be considered as national emergency
     defense." (2057-PS)

On 12 July 1934 there was enacted a law defining the
function of the Academy for German law:

     "Closely connected with the agencies competent for
     legislation, it [the Academy] shall further the
     realization of the National Socialist program in the
     realm of the law." (1391-PS)

On 30 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

                                                   [Page 46]
                                                            
Fuehrer amalgamated in his person the offices of Chancellor
and Reich President. (2003-PS)

By a decree of 20 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 authorized
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 unauthorized wearing of Party uniforms or symbols. (1393-
PS)

By a law of 15 September 1934, the Swastika flag of the
Party was made the official flag of the Reich (2079-PS).
This law, enacted by the Reichstag, indicates on its face
that it issued from Nurnberg on the Party Day of 15
September 1935. Article 2 of the law reads as follows:

     "The Reich and National flag is the swastika flag."
     (2079-PS) The Swastika was the flag and symbol of the
     Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party. The law making it
     the flag of the State constituted a recognition that
     the Party and its Corps of Political Leaders were the
     sovereign powers in Germany.

On 23 April 1936, a law was enacted granting amnesty or
crimes which the offender had committed "in his eagerness to
fight for the National Socialist Ideal." (1386-PS)

In furtherance of the Conspiracy to acquire totalitarian
control over the German people, a law was enacted on 1
December 1936, which incorporated the entire German youth
within the Hitler Youth, thereby achieving a "total
mobilization of German youth" (1392-PS). The law further
provided that the task of educating the German youth through
the Hitler Youth was entrusted to the Reichsleiter of German
Youth in the NSDAP. By this law a monopoly control over the
entire German youth was placed in the hands of a top
official, a Reichsleiter, of the Leadership Corps of the
Nazi Party, the defendant von Schirach.

On 4 February 1938, the Fuehrer of the Leadership Corps of
the NSDAP, Hitler, issued a decree in which he took over
directly the command of the whole Armed Forces (1915-PS). In
this decree, Hitler declared, in part, as follows:

"From now on, I take over directly the command of the whole
Armed Forces." (1915-PS)

By the decree of 4 February 1938, Hitler became Supreme Com-

                                                   [Page 47]
                                                            
mander of the Armed Forces. He was, at the time of its
issuance fuehrer of the leadership Corps of the Nazi Party.
By virtue the earlier law of 1 August 1934, he combined the
office of Reich President with that of the Chancellorship.
In the final result, therefore, Hitler was Supreme Commander
of the Armed Forces, Head of the German State, and Fuehrer
of the Nazi Party. With respect to the foregoing point, the
Party Manual (1893-PS) states as follows:

     "*** 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
     30 January 1933. The Fuehrer's will is supreme in the
     Party.
     
     "By authority of the law about the Chief of State of
     the German Reich, dated 1 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 Party and State has been combined in one
     hand. By desire of the Fuehrer, a plebiscite was
     conducted on this law on 19 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." (1893-PS)
     
A decree of 16 January 1942 provided that the Party should
participate in legislation, official appointments, and
promotions (2100-PS). The decree further provided that such
participation Id be undertaken exclusively by Bormann, Chief
of the Party Chancellery and a Reichsleiter of the
Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party. 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 Defense of the Reich, and to give his assent to
those of the Laender and the Reich governors; all
communications between State and Party authorities, unless
within one Gau only, were to pass through his 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. (2100-PS)

On or about 26 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 recognized to compel
with all means at his disposal, every German, whether
soldier, judge, State

                                                   [Page 48]
                                                            
official, or party official, to fulfill his desire. He
demanded that the Reichstag officially recognize this
asserted right. On 26 April 1942, the German Reichstag
issued a decision in which full recognition was given to the
rights which the Fuehrer had asserted (1961-PS). The
Reichstag decreed as follows:

     "At the proposal of the President of the Reichstag, on
     its session of 26 April 1942, the greater German
     Reichstag has 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 Leader of the Party the Fuehrer
     must be in a position to force with all means at his
     disposal every German, if necessary, whether he be
     common soldier or officer, low or high official or
     judge, leading or subordinate official of the Party,
     worker or employee -- 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, 26 April 1942." (1961-PS)

Hitler himself perhaps best summarized the political
realities of his Germany, in showing the domination of the
German State and Government by the Leadership Corps and its
following. The core of the matter was stated by Hitler in
his speech to the Reichstag on 2/20/1938, when he declared
in effect that every institution in Germany was under the
direction of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party:

     "National Socialism has given the German people that
     leadership which as Party not only mobilizes the nation
     but also organizes it, so that on the basis of the
     natural principle of selection, the continuance of a
     stable political leadership is safeguarded forever ***
     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
     
                                                   [Page 49]
                                                            
     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 organizational structure
     which guarantees its permanence for all future. The
     greatest guarantee of the National Socialist revolution
     lies in the complete domination of the Reich and all
     its institutions and organizations, internally and
     externally by the National Socialist Party. Its
     protection against the world abroad, however, lies in
     its 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 authorized leader of this Reich." (2715-PS)

The supreme power which the Leadership Corps exercised over
the German State and Government is sharply pointed up by an
article published in the February 1939 issue of the
authoritative magazine, "Der Hoheitstraeger". In this
article, addressed to all Hoheitstraeger, the Leadership
Corps is reminded that it has conquered the State and that
it possesses absolute and total power in Germany. The
article is significantly entitled, "Fight and Order -- Not
Peace and Order." It trumpets forth, in the accents of
Caesarism, the battle call of the Leadership Corps of German
life:

     "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 do you fight? Outer-politically?
     You have the Wehrmacht -- it will wage the fight if it
     is required. Inner-politically? You have the law and
     the police which can change everything which does not
     agree with you." (3230-PS)

Home ·  Site Map ·  What's New? ·  Search Nizkor