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                          Judgment
                           of the
               International Military Tribunal
                           For The
             Trial of German Major War Criminals

                           London
               His Majesty's Stationery Office
                            1951
                                                            
                                                  [Page 141]

IV. Concerning the sentence of the defendant Rudolf Hess.

The Judgment of the Tribunal correctly and adequately
portray the outstanding position which Rudolf Hess occupied
in the leadership of the Nazi Party and State. He was indeed
Hitler's close personal confidant and his authority was
exceedingly great: In this connection it is sufficient to
quote Hitler's decree appointing Hess as his deputy: "I
hereby appoint Hess as my deputy and give him full power to
make decisions in my name on all questions of Party
leadership" (Transcript, Afternoon Session, 7th February,
1946).

But the authority of Hess was not only confined to questions
of Party leadership.

The official NSDAP publication National Socialist "Party
Year Book for 1941", which was admitted as USA Exhibit No.
255, PS-3163, states that: "In addition to the duties of
Party leadership, the deputy of the Fuehrer has far-reaching
powers in the field of the State. These are first:
participation in national and State legislation, including
the preparation of the Fuehrer's order. The Deputy of the
Fuehrer in this way validates the conception of the
Party.... second: Approval of the Deputy of the Fuehrer of
proposed appointments for official and labor service
leaders. Three, securing the influence of the Party over the
self-government of the municipal units." (Doc. USA-255, PS-
3163.)

Hess was an active supporter of Hitler's aggressive policy.
The Crimes against Peace committed by him are dealt with in
sufficient detail in the Judgment. The mission undertaken by
Hess in flying to England should be considered as the last
of these crimes, as it was undertaken in the hope of
facilitating the realization of aggression against the
Soviet Union by temporarily restraining England from
fighting.

The failure of this mission led to Hess's isolation and he
took no direct part in the planning and commission of
subsequent crimes of the Hitler regime. There can be no
doubt, however, that Hess did everything possible for the
preparation of these crimes.

Hess, together with Himmler, occupied the role of creator of
the SS police organisations of German fascism which
afterwards committed the most ruthless Crimes against
humanity. The defendant clearly pointed out the "special
tasks" which faced the SS formations in occupied
territories.

When the Waffen SS was being formed Hess issued a special
order through the Party Chancellery which made aiding the
conscription of Party members into these organisations by
all means compulsory for Party organs. He outlined the tasks
set before the Waffen-SS as follows:

     "The units of the Waffen SS composed of National
     Socialists are more suitable than other armed
     units for the specific tasks to be solved in the
     occupied Eastern territories due to the intensive
     training in regard to questions of race and
     nationality" (GB-267, PS-3245).

As early as 1934 the defendant initiated a proposal that the
so-called SD under the Reichsfuehrer SS (Security Service)
be given extraordinary powers and thus become the leading
force in Nazi Germany.

On 9th June, 1934 Hess issued a decree in accordance with
which the "Security Service of the Reichsfuehrer SS" was
declared to be the "sole political news and defense service
of the Party" (GB-257).

Thus the defendant played a direct part in the creation and
consolidation of the system of special police organs which
were being prepared for the commission of crimes in occupied
territories.

                                                  [Page 142]

We find Hess to have always been an advocate of the man-
hating "master race" theory. In a speech made on 16th
January, 1937 while speaking of the education of the German
Nation, Hess pointed out: "Thus, they are being educated to
put Germans above the subjects of a foreign nation,
regardless of their positions or their origin" (GB-253, PS-
3124).

Hess signed the so-called "Law for the Protection of Blood
and Honor" on 9/1May, 1935 (US-200, PS-3179). The body of
this law states that "the Fuehrer's deputy is authorised to
issue all necessary decrees and directives" for the
practical realization of the "Nuremberg decrees".

On 14 November 1935, Hess issued an ordinance under the
Reich citizenship law in accordance with which the Jews were
denied the right to vote at elections or hold public office
(GB-258, PS-1417).

On 20th May, 1938 a decree signed by Hess extended the
Nuremberg laws to Austria (GB-259, PS-2124).

On 12th October, 1939 Hess signed a decree creating the
administration of Polish occupied territories
(Reichsgesetzblatt, No. 210, 1939, p. 2077). Article 2 of
this decree gave the defendant Frank the power of dictator.

There is sufficiently convincing evidence showing that this
defendant did not limit himself to this general directive
which introduced into the occupied Polish territories a
regime of unbridled terror. As is shown in the letter of the
Reichsminister of Justice to the Chief of the Reich
Chancellery dated 17th April, 1941, Hess was the initiator
in the formation of special "penal laws" for Poles and Jews
in occupied Eastern territories. The role of this defendant
in the drawing up of these "laws" is characterised by the
Minister of Justice in the following words:

"In accordance with the opinion of the Fuehrer's deputy I
started from the point of view that the Pole is less
susceptible to the infliction of ordinary punishment.. Under
these new kinds of punishment, prisoners are to be lodged
outside prisons in camps and are to be forced to do heavy
and heaviest labor.. The introduction of corporal punishment
which the deputy of the Fuehrer has brought up for
discussion has not been included in the draft. I can not
agree to this type of punishment.. The procedure for
enforcing prosecution has been abrogated, for it seemed
intolerable that Poles or Jews should be able to instigate a
public indictment. Poles and Jews have also been deprived of
the right to prosecute in their own names or join the public
prosecution in an action.. From the very beginning it was
intended to intensify special treatment in case of need:
When this necessity became actual a supplementary decree was
issued to which the Fuehrer's deputy refers to in his
letter.." (GB-268, R-96)

Thus, there can be no doubt that Hess together with the
other major war criminals is guilty of Crimes against
humanity.

Taking into consideration that among political leaders of
Hitlerite Germany Hess was third in significance and played
a decisive role in the crimes of the Nazi regime, I consider
the only justified sentence in his case can be death.


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