The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

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I next refer the Tribunal to Document 089-PS, previously put
in as Exhibit USA 360. The Tribunal will recall that this
was a letter from Bormann to Reichsleiter Amann, dated 8th
March, 1940, in which Bormann instructed

                                                  [Page 303]

Amann, Reichsleiter of the Press, to make a sharper
restriction in paper distribution against religious
writings, in favour of publications, more acceptable to the
Nazi ideology.

I next offer in evidence Document 066-PS, as Exhibit USA
689. This is a letter from the defendant Bormann to the
defendant Rosenberg, dated 24th June, 1940, transmitting a
draft of a proposed discriminatory Church Law for Danzig and
West Prussia. This decree is a direct abridgement of
religious freedom, for in paragraph 1 - I do not quote, but
briefly and rapidly summarise - the approval of the Reich
Deputy, for Danzig and West Prussia is required as a
condition for the legal competence of all religious
organisations.

Paragraph 3 of the decree suspended all claims of religious
organisations and congregations to State or municipal
subsidies, and prohibited religious organisations from
exercising their right of collecting dues without the
approval of the Reich Deputy.

In paragraph 5 of the decree, the acquisition of property by
religious organisations was made subject to the approval of
the Reich Deputy. All credit rights acquired by religious
organisations prior to 1st January, 1940, were required to
be ratified by the Reich Deputy in order to become
actionable.

I now offer in evidence Document 1600-PS, Exhibit USA 690.
This comprises correspondence of Bormann during 1940 and
1941, relating to the confiscation of religious art
treasures. I quote the text of the second letter set forth
on Page 1 of the English translation of Document 1600-PS,
which is a letter from the defendant Bormann to Dr. Posse of
the State Picture Gallery in Dresden, dated 16th January,
1941, which reads as follows, and I quote:

   "Dear Dr. Posse:
   
   Enclosed herewith I am sending you the picture of the
   altar from the convent in Hohenfurt, near Kruman. The
   convent and its entire property will be confiscated in
   the immediate future because of the attitude, hostile to
   the State, of its inhabitants. It will be up to you to
   decide whether the pictures shall remain in the convent
   at Hohenfurt or be transferred to the museum at Linz
   after its completion.
   
   I shall await your decision in the matter.
   
   Bormann."

The Tribunal may know that, in what is described as Hitler's
last will and testament, he makes a bequest of all the art
treasures he had in the museum at Linz, and from a legal
point of view he uses the euphemism "art treasures which I
have bought."

This document, on its face, suggests how at least certain of
the properties, the art treasures in the museum at Linz,
were acquired.

Finally, as the war drew increasing numbers of German youth
into the Armed Forces, the defendant Bormann took measures
to exclude and eliminate all religious influence from the
troops. The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document
101-PS, previously put in as Exhibit USA 361. The Tribunal
will recall that this is a letter from the defendant Bormann
dated 17th January, 1940, in which Bormann pronounced the
Party's opposition to the circulation of religious
literature to the members of the German Armed Forces. In
this letter Bormann stated that if the influence of the
Church upon the troops was to be effectively fought, this
could only be done by producing, in the shortest possible
time, a large amount of Nazi pamphlets and publications.

I now offer in evidence Document 100-PS, as Exhibit USA 691.
This is a letter from the defendant Bormann to Rosenberg,
dated 18th January, 1940, in which Bormann declares, that
the publication of Nazi literature for army recruits as a
counter measure to the circulation of religious writings was
the "most essential demand of the hour."

                                                  [Page 304]

I forbear from quoting from that document. Its substance is
indicated.

I now request the Tribunal to notice judicially the
authoritative Nazi publication entitled "Decrees of the
Deputy of the Fuehrer," edition of 1937, and I quote from
Page 235 of this volume, the pertinent and important decree
issued by the defendant Bormann to the Commissioner of the
Party Directorate, dated 7th January, 1936, the English
version of which is set forth in the English, translation of
our Document 3246-PS. In this one sentence Bormann aims and
directs the terror of the Gestapo against dissident church
members, who crossed the conspirators, and I quote:

   "If parish priests or other subordinate Roman Catholic
   leaders adopt an attitude of hostility towards the State
   or Party, it shall be reported to the Secret State
   Police (Gestapo) through official channels.
   
   (Signed) Bormann."

By leave of the Tribunal, I come now to deal with the
responsibility of the defendant Bormann for the persecution
of the Jews.

Again, the prosecution seeks not to rehash the copious
evidence in the record on the persecution of the Jews, but
rather to limit itself to evidence fastening on the
defendant Bormann his individual responsibility for that
persecution. Bormann shares the deep guilt of the Nazi
conspirators for their odious programme in the persecution
of the Jews. It was the defendant Bormann, we would note,
who was charged by Hitler with the transmission and
implementation of the Fuehrer's orders for the liquidation
of the so-called Jewish problem.

Following the Party-planned and Party-directed programme of
8th and 9th November, 1938, in the course of which a large
number of Jews were killed and harmed, Jewish shops pillaged
and wrecked, and synagogues set ablaze all over the Reich,
the defendant Bormann, on orders from Hitler, instructed the
defendant Goering to proceed to the "final settlement of the
Jewish question" in Germany.

The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document 1816-
PS, previously put in as Exhibit USA 261. The Tribunal is
well acquainted with this document. It has frequently been
referred to. The Tribunal knows that it is the minutes of a
conference on the Jewish question, held under the direction
of Goering on the 12th November, 1938. I quote only the
first sentence of that document which fastens the
responsibility upon Bormann and which reads as follows:

   "Goering (speaking): Gentlemen, to-day's meeting is of a
   decisive nature. I have received a letter written on the
   Fuehrer's orders by the Chief of Staff of the Fuehrer's
   Deputy, Bormann, requesting that the Jewish question be
   now, once and for all, co-ordinated and solved in one
   way or another."

The Tribunal is well aware of the proposals, the discussions
and the actions taken in this conference that constituted
the so-called "settlement of the Jewish question."

As a result of this conference, a series of anti-Jewish
decrees and measures were issued and adopted by the Nazi
conspirators. I offer in evidence Document 069-PS, Exhibit
USA 589. This is a decree of Bormann, dated 17th January,
1939, in which Bormann demands compliance with the new anti-
Jewish regulations, rising and flowing from the Goering
conference just referred to, under which Jews were denied
access to housing, travel and other facilities of ordinary
life. I quote the Bormann order, which appears at Page 1 of
the English translation of Document 069-PS, which reads as
follows:

   "According to a report of General Field Marshal Goering,
   the Fuehrer has made some basic decisions regarding the
   Jewish question. The decisions are brought to your
   attention on the enclosure. Strict compliance with these
   directives is requested.
   
   (Signed) Bormann."

                                                  [Page 305]

In the interests of expediting the proceedings, I shall
resist the temptation to quote extensively from the enclosed
order in Bormann's letter of transmittal. In effect, the
crux of it is that Jews are denied sleeping compartments in
trains, the right to give their trade to certain hotels in
Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg and the like. They are
banned and excluded from swimming pools, certain public
squares, resort towns, mineral baths and the like. The
stigma, the degradation and the inconvenience in the
ordinary affairs of life promoted by this decree are plain.

I next request the Tribunal to notice judicially the decree
of 12th November, 1938, 1938 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part 1, Page
1709, quite familiar to this Tribunal, for it was the decree
which excluded Jews from economic life. This decree forbade
Jews to operate retail shops and it was a decree which went
far to eliminate Jews from economic life.

Now, Bormann also acted through other State agencies to wipe
out the economic existence of large sections of the Jewish
population. In that respect I request the Tribunal to notice
judicially the authoritative Nazi publication entitled
"Decrees of the Deputy of the Fuehrer," edition of 1937, our
Document 3240-PS. At Page 383 of this publication there
appears a decree of the defendant Bormann, dated 8th
January, 1937, reproducing an order of the defendant Frick,
issued at Bormann's instigation, denying financial
assistance to government employees who employed the services
of Jewish doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, morticians and
other professional classes. I shall forbear from quoting the
text of that decree. Its substance is as given. I If it
please the Tribunal, for the benefit of the translators I
shall continue reading from Page 25 of the manuscript.

After the outbreak of war, the anti-Jewish measures
increased in intensity and brutality. Thus, the defendant
Bormann participated in the arrangements for the deportation
to Poland of 60,000 Jewish inhabitants of Vienna - in co-
operation with the S.S. and the Gestapo. I have no doubt
that the Tribunal received this document in connection with
the case against von Schirach, it is our Document 1950-PS,
and on its face it points out - "Lammers says - Bormann has
informed von Schirach of your proposal to bring about the
deportations." I limit myself to pointing out that single,
solitary fact.

When Bormann succeeded the defendant Hess as Chief of the
Party Chancery, he used his vast powers in such a way that
he was a prime mover in the programme of starvation,
degradation, spoliation and extermination of the Jews, and
we use those terms advisedly, subject to the Draconian rule
of the conspirators.

I request the Tribunal to notice judicially the decree of
31st May, 1941, 1941 Reichsgesetzb1att, Part 1, Page. 297,
which was signed by the defendant Bormann and which extends
the discriminatory Nuremberg laws to the annexed Eastern
Territories. I request the Tribunal to notice judicially the
Eleventh Ordinance under the Reich Citizenship Law of 25th
November, 1941, 1941 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part 1, Page 722,
signed by defendant Bormann, which ordered the confiscation
of the property of all Jews who had left Germany or who had
been deported.

I request the Tribunal to notice judicially an order of
Bormann's dated 3rd October, 1941.

THE PRESIDENT: You have not given us the PS numbers of
either the decree of 31st May, 1941, or the one after that.

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: I confess dereliction of duty there.
These decrees, in translated form, are all in the document
book. I have not, in my manuscript, their PS citation.
However, in the brief now filed with or soon to be delivered
to the Tribunal, these decrees are given with their PS
numbers opposite.

THE PRESIDENT: 3354-PS and 3241-PS.

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: That is very good of you, Sir, thank
you.

                                                  [Page 306]

I request the Tribunal to notice judicially an order of the
defendant Bormann, dated 3rd October, 1941, Volume 11 of the
publication "Decrees, Orders and Announcements," Page 147.
This is our Document 3243-PS, which announces a Ministry of
Food's decree, issued at Bormann's instigation, which
deprived Jews of many essential food items, all special
sickness and pregnancy rations for expectant mothers, and
ordered confiscation of food parcels sent to the beleaguered
Jews from the sympathetic outside world.

I now request the Tribunal to notice judicially the
Thirteenth Ordinance under the Reich Citizenship Law of 1st
July, 1943, 1943 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part 1, Page 372, signed
by the defendant Bormann, under which all Jews were
completely withdrawn from the protection of the ordinary
courts and handed over to the exclusive jurisdiction of
Himmler's police. This is our Document 1422-PS.

With leave of the Tribunal, I respectfully request the
opportunity to underline the significance of that decree. In
a society which desires to live under the rule of law, men
are judged only after appearance before and adjudication by
a Court of Law. The effect of this decree was to remove all
alleged Jewish offenders from the jurisdiction of the Courts
of Law and to turn them over to the police. The police were
to have jurisdiction over alleged Jewish offenders, not the
Courts of Law.

The result of this law was soon forthcoming, a result for
which the defendant Bormann shares the responsibility. On
3rd July, 1943, Himmler issued a decree, out Document 3085-
PS, 1943 Ministry of Interior Gazette, Page 1085. I
respectfully request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of
this decree, which charged the Himmler police and Gestapo
with the execution of the foregoing
ordinance, closing the courts to the Jews and entrusting
them to Himmler's police.

Finally, with respect to Bormann's responsibility for the
persecution of the Jews, I request the Tribunal to notice
judicially a decree of Bormann's dated 9th October, 1942,
Volume 11, Decrees, Regulations and Announcements, Pages 131-
2. It declared that the problem of eliminating for ever,
millions of Jews from Greater German territory, could no
longer be solved by emigration merely, but only by the
application of ruthless force in special camps in the East.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): To what are you referring there?

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: That, Sir, is Document 3244-PS.

We had desired at the outset, Sir, to quote this decree in
full, as an irrefutable answer to a question put by defence
counsel some days ago in cross-examination, as to whether or
not the anti-Semitic policies of the conspirators were the
policies merely of certain demented members of the
conspiracy, and not the concerted, settled policy of the
conspiracy itself. Time does not permit the full quotation
of this decree, but with the indulgence of the Tribunal, I
will offer the essence of this decree in a brief sentence or
two.

Bormann starts out by saying: "Recently, rumours have been
spread throughout the Reich as to violent things we are
doing with respect to the Jews. These rumours are being
brought back to the Reich by our returning soldiers, after
what they saw in the East. If we are to combat their effect,
then our attitude, as I now outline it to you officially,
must be communicated to the German civil population."
Bormann then reviews what he terms the two-thousand-year-old
struggle against Judaism, and he divides the Party's
programme into two spheres: the first, the effort of the
Party and the conspirators to expel the Jews from the
economic and social life of Germany. Then he adds: "When we
started rolling with our war, this measure by itself was not
enough; we had to resort to forced emigration and set up our
camps in the East." He then goes on to say, "as our armies
have advanced in the East, we have overrun the lands to
which we have sent the Jews and now these emigration
measures, our second proposal, are no longer sufficient."

                                                  [Page 307]

Then he comes to the proposal, the considered proposal of
himself and the Party Chancery - "We must transport these
Jews Eastward and farther Eastward and place them in special
camps for forced labour" - and I quote now merely the last
sentence of Bormann's decree:

  "It lies in the very nature of the matter that these
  problems, which in part are very difficult, can be solved
  only with ruthless severity in the interest of the final
  security of our people. Bormann."

With leave of the Tribunal, I come now to deal -

THE PRESIDENT: Is it signed by Bormann? It does not appear
to be. I thought you said, "Bormann."

LIEUTENANT LAMBERT: That is what I said, true, Sir.

If the Tribunal will refer to Document 3244-PS, it will be
clear that this is a Bormann decree, issued from the Office
of the Deputy of the Fuehrer. It is true, in this
translation of the decree, Sir, Bormann's name is not
affixed, but in the original volume it is very clear that
this is a decree of Bormann's, issued from the Party
Chancery. The prosecution so assures the Tribunal and
accepts responsibility for that submission.

With leave of the Tribunal, I now come to deal with the
responsibility of the defendant Bormann for overt acts, for
the commission and planning of a wide variety of crimes in
furtherance of the conspiracy. The Tribunal knows the vast
powers that Bormann possessed; that has already been put in
evidence. Our point is that he used these powers, buttressed
by his position as Secretary to the Fuehrer, attending all
the conferences at the Fuehrer's Headquarters - that he used
these vast powers in the planning, the authorisation and the
participation in overt acts, denominated War Crimes and
Crimes against Humanity.

The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document L-221,
previously put in as Exhibit USA 317. The Tribunal knows
that this document is a comprehensive report, dated 16th
July, 1941, made by the defendant Bormann just three weeks
after the invasion of the territory of the Soviet Union by
Germany. It is a report of a twenty-hour conference at
Hitler's Field Headquarters with the defendants Goering,
Rosenberg, Keitel, and with Reich Minister Lammers. This
conference resulted in the adoption of detailed plans and
directives for the enslavement, depopulation, Germanisation
and annexation of extensive territories in the Soviet Union
and other countries of Eastern Europe.

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