Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-04/tgmwc-04-30.09
Last-Modified: 1999/09/23

Much of the A.P.A.'s achievements were brought about through
the subtle exploitation of personal relationships. Reading
from the middle of the first paragraph on Page 2 of the
translation, which refers to activities in Hungary, we learn
that:

   "The first foreign State visit after the seizure of
   power took place through the mediation of the Foreign
   Affairs Bureau. Julius Gombos, who in former years had
   himself pursued anti-Semitic and racial tendencies, had
   reached the Hungarian Premier's chair. The Bureau
   maintained a personal connection with him."

The A.P.A. endeavoured to strengthen the war economy by
shifting the source of food imports to the Balkans, as
stated in paragraph 3 on Page 2 of the translation:

   "Motivated by reasons of War Economy, the Bureau
   advocated the transfer of raw material purchases from
   overseas to the areas accessible by overland traffic
   routes."

Then he goes on to point out that they had successfully
shifted the source of food imports, particularly fruit and
vegetable imports, to the Balkans, as a result of the
Bureau's activities.

Activities in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg were confined,
according to the report, to "observation of existing
conditions" - a phrase which may have broad connotations -
and "to the establishment of relations, especially of a
commercial nature."

In Iran, the A.P.A. achieved a high degree of economic
penetration, in addition to promoting cultural relations. I
quote from the middle of the third paragraph on Page 3:

   "The Bureau's initiative in developing, with the help of
   commercial circles, entirely new methods for the
   economic penetration of Iran, found expression, in an
   extraordinarily favourable way, in reciprocal trade
   relations. Naturally, in Germany, too, this initiative
   encountered a completely negative attitude and
   resistance on the part of the competent State
   authorities, an attitude that at first had to be
   overcome. In the course of a few years, the volume of
   trade with Iran was multiplied fivefold, and in 1939,
   Iran's trade turnover with Germany had attained first
   place."

In the last sentence on Page 3 -

THE PRESIDENT: Well, now, Mr. Brudno, will you kindly
explain to the Tribunal how the paragraph that you just read
bears upon the guilt of Rosenberg on this trial?

                                                  [Page 127]

MR. BRUDNO: If your Honour please, we submit that the
conspirators used, as one of the tools of conspiracy, the
economic penetration of those countries which they deemed
strategically necessary to have within the Axis orbit. The
activities of Rosenberg in the field of foreign trade
contributed materially, we submit, to the advancement of the
conspiracy, as charged in the Indictment.

THE PRESIDENT: Are you suggesting that it is a crime to try
and stimulate trade in foreign countries?

MR. BRUDNO: If your Honour pleases, the expression of
ideological opinions or the advancement of foreign trade do
not, in themselves, constitute a crime, we agree.

THE PRESIDENT: There is nothing here about ideological
considerations. It is simply a question of trade.

MR. BRUDNO: Further on, your Honour, he mentions the
cultural activities.

THE PRESIDENT: I was confining myself, in order to try to
get on, to the particular paragraph that you bad just cited.

MR. BRUDNO: I see, your Honour, we are merely trying to
show, Sir, that the Germans used the foreign trade weapon as
a material part of the conspiratorial programme.

THE PRESIDENT: As I have said before, it is not possible for
me or for any member of this Tribunal to conduct the case of
the prosecution for them. We can only tell them when we
think they are being irrelevant and cumulative and ask them
to try to cut down their presentation. It is for you to cut
it down.

MR. BRUDNO: Rosenberg goes on to state, if your Honour
pleases, at Page 3 of the translation, that:

   "Afghanistan's neutral position to-day is largely due to
   the Bureau's activity."

In connection with Arabia, he says:

   "The Arab question, too, became part of the work of the
   Bureau. In spite of England's tutelage of Iraq, the
   Bureau established a series of connections to a number
   of leading personalities of the Arab world, smoothing
   the way for strong bonds to Germany. In this connection,
   the growing influence of the Reich in Iran and
   Afghanistan did not fail to have repercussions in
   Arabia."

Rosenberg concludes his report with the statement that, with
the outbreak of war, he was entitled to consider his task as
terminated, and then he says,

   "The exploitation of the many personal connections in
   many lands can be resumed under a different guise."

I now turn to Annex Two of the report, which is found at
Page 9 of the translation. This Annex deals with activities
in Roumania. Here the A.P.A.'s intrigue was more insidious,
its interference in the internal affairs of a foreign nation
more pronounced. After describing the failure of what
Rosenberg terms a "basically sound anti-Semitic tendency,"
due to dynastic squabbles and party fights, Rosenberg
describes the A.P.A.'s influence in the unification of
conflicting elements. I quote, beginning with the ninth line
of the translation:

   "What was lacking was the guiding leadership of a
   political personality. After manifold groping trials the
   Bureau believed it had found such a personality - the
   former Minister and poet, Octavian Goga. It was not
   difficult to convince this poet, pervaded by instinctive
   inspiration, that a Greater Roumania, though it had to
   be created in opposition to Vienna, could be maintained
   only together with Berlin. Nor was it difficult to
   create in him the desire to link the fate of Roumania
   with the future of the National Socialist German Reich
   in the future. By bringing continuing influence to bear,
   the Bureau succeeded in inducing Octavian Goga as well
   as Professor Cuza to amalgamate the parties under their
   leadership on an

                                                  [Page 128]
   
   anti-Semitic basis. Thus they could carry on with united
   strength the struggle for Roumania's renaissance
   internally and her Anschluss with Germany externally.
   Through the Bureau's initiative both parties, which had
   heretofore been known by distinct names, were merged as
   the National Christian Party, under Goga's leadership
   and with Cuza as Honorary President."

Rosenberg's man, Goga, was supported by two parties, which
had not joined the anti-Semitic trend, and Rosenberg states:

   "Through intermediaries, the Bureau maintained constant
   contact with both tendencies."

Goga, the man supported by Rosenberg, was appointed Prime
Minister by the King in December, 1937. The pernicious
influence of Rosenberg's ideology had achieved a major
triumph, for he states:

   "Thus a second government on racial and anti-Semitic
   foundations had appeared in Europe, in a country in
   which such an event had been considered completely
   impossible."

I will not deal at any length with the details of the
political turmoil that plagued Roumania during the ensuing
period.

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Brudno, I think the Tribunal are
satisfied that Rosenberg - I mean satisfied, subject to what
Rosenberg himself or his counsel may say that Rosenberg
tried to spread his ideology abroad, and we do not require
any further detailed proof of that, and we are also
satisfied that we have heard enough of the activities of the
A.P.A.

MR. BRUDNO: Certainly, your Honour. We feel that if the
Tribunal is satisfied, we can pass on.

THE PRESIDENT: Subject, as I said, to anything that
Rosenberg may prove.

MR. BRUDNO: Surely. I would merely like to conclude with the
statement that the activities of the A.P.A. were, as
indicated in this Document 007-PS, primarily responsible for
Roumania's joining the Axis. It was a vital link in
Germany's chain of military strategy.

I would further like to call to your Honour's attention the
evidence which has already been submitted on the activities
of the A.P.A. in Norway, activities which led to the treason
of Quisling and Hagelin, for which they have been condemned.

I come now to the final phase of the case against the
defendant Rosenberg. We have seen how he aided the Nazi rise
to power and directed the psychological preparation of the
German people for waging aggressive war. I will now offer
proof of his responsibility for the planning and execution
of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity committed in the
vast areas of the occupied East, which he administered for
over three years. These areas included the Baltic States,
White Ruthenia, the Ukraine and the Eastern portion of
Poland.

I will not attempt, at this stage, to chronicle again the
tale of mass murder, spoliation and brutality. We feel that
that has already been sufficiently put in evidence, and
further evidence on this point will be presented by the
prosecution for the U.S.S.R. and for the Republic of France.

We anticipate, however, that Rosenberg will contend that
some of these crimes were committed against his wishes, and,
indeed, there is some evidence that he protested on occasion
- not out of humanitarian reasons but on grounds of
political expediency.

We also anticipate that Rosenberg will attempt to place the
blame for these crimes on other agencies and on other
defendants. The evidence will prove, however, that he
himself formulated the harsh policies, in the execution of
which the crimes were committed; that the crimes were
committed for the most part by persons and agencies within
his jurisdiction and control; that any other agencies which
participated in the commission of these crimes were invited
by

                                                  [Page 129]

Rosenberg to co-operate in the administration of the East,
although the brutal methods customarily employed by them
were common knowledge; and, finally, that his Ministry lent
full co-operation to their activities, despite the criminal
methods that were employed.

Rosenberg was actively participating in the affairs of the
East as early as 20th April, 1941, two months prior to the
German attack upon the Soviet Union. On that date he was
designated by Hitler as Commissioner for the Central Control
of Questions Connected With the East European Region.

The Hitler Order, by virtue of which he received this
appointment, has been read into the record in its entirety
as Exhibit USA 143, our Document 865-PS.

The initial preparations undertaken by Rosenberg for
fulfilment of his task indicated the extent to which he co-
operated in promoting the military plans for aggression.
They also show that he understood his task, at the
inception, as requiring the assistance of a multitude of
Reich agencies and that he invited their co-operation.

Shortly after his appointment by Hitler, Rosenberg conducted
a series of conferences with representatives of various
Reich agencies, conferences which are summarised in Document
1039-PS, previously offered as Exhibit USA 146. This
document indicated the co-operation of the following
agencies. It indicated that the co-operation of these
agencies was both contemplated and solicited by Rosenberg.
The agencies are as follows: O.K.W., O.K.H. and O.K.M.,
Ministry of Economies, Commissioner for the Four Year Plan,
Ministry of the Interior, Reich Youth Leadership, the German
Labour Front, Ministry of Labour, the S.S., the S.A. and
several others.

These arrangements, it should be noted, were made by
Rosenberg in his capacity as Commissioner on Eastern
Questions, before the attack on the Soviet Union, before he
was appointed as Reich Minister for the Occupied East, in
fact, before there was any Occupied East for Germany to
administer.

I would like to refer briefly to some of Rosenberg's basic
attitudes regarding his new task and the directives which he
knew he would be expected to follow.

Your Honours will recall that on 29th April, 1941, in
Document 1024-PS, previously introduced as Exhibit USA 278,
Rosenberg stated that:

   "A general treatment is required for the Jewish problem
   for which a temporary solution will have to be
   determined (forced labour for the Jews, creation of
   Ghettos, etcetera)."

On 8th May, 1941, he prepared instructions for all Reich
Commissars in the Occupied Eastern Territories. These
instructions are found in Document 1030-PS, previously
introduced as Exhibit USA 144. The last paragraph, which has
not been called to your Honour's attention, reads as
follows:

   "From the point of view of cultural policy, the German
   Reich is in a position to promote and direct national
   culture and science in many fields. It will be necessary
   that in some territories an uprooting and resettlement
   of various racial stocks will have to be effected."

In Document 1029-PS, which has been introduced as Exhibit
USA 145, Rosenberg directs that the "Ostland" be transformed
into a part of the Greater German Reich by Germanising
racially possible elements, colonising Germanic races, and
banishing undesirable elements.

In a speech which Rosenberg made on 20th June, 1941, your
Honour will recall, he stated that the job of feeding
Germans was the acme of Germany's claim on the East; that
there was no obligation to feed the Russian peoples; that
this was a harsh necessity bare of any feelings; that a very
extensive evacuation would be necessary; and that the future
would hold many hard years in store for the Russians. This
speech, your Honour, is in the record as Document 1058-PS,
Exhibit USA 147.

On 4th July, 1941, still prior to Rosenberg's appointment as
Reich Minister for the Occupied East, a representative of
Rosenberg's Bureau attended a

                                                  [Page 130]

conference on the subject of utilisation of labour, and
especially of the labour of Soviet prisoners of war.
Document 1199-PS is a memorandum of this conference, and I
offer it into evidence as Exhibit USA 604. It states that
the participants were, among others, representatives of the
Commissioner for the Four Year Plan, of the Reich Labour
Ministry, of the Reich Food Ministry, and of the Rosenberg
Bureau. The first sentence states, and I quote:

   "After an introduction by Lieutenant-Colonel Dr. Krull,
   Lieutenant-Colonel Breyer of the P.W. Department
   explained that actually there was in effect a
   prohibition by the Fuehrer against bringing Russian
   P.W.'s into the Reich for employment, but that one might
   count on this prohibition being relaxed a little."

The last paragraph records that:

   "The chairman summarised the results of the discussion,
   as indicating that all the interested bureaus
   unqualifiedly advocated and supported the demand for
   utilisation of P.W.'s because of manpower needs in the
   Reich."

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