Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression [Page 57]
Statement of Criminality of Groups and Organizations
The statements hereinafter set forth, following the name of
each Group or Organization named in the Indictment as one
which should be declared criminal, constitute matters upon
which the prosecution will rely inter alia as establishing
the criminality of the Group or Organization:
DIE REICHSREGIERUNG (REICH CABINET)
"Die Reichsregierung (Reich Cabinet)" referred to in the
Indictment consists of persons who were:
(i) Members of the ordinary cabinet after 30 January 1933,
the date on which Hitler became Chancellor of the
German Republic. The term "ordinary cabinet" as used
herein means the Reich Ministers, i.e., heads of
departments of the central government; Reich
[Page 69]
Ministers without portfolio; State ministers acting as
Reich Ministers; and other officials entitled to take
part in meetings of this cabinet.
(ii) Members of der Ministerrat fur die
Reichsverteidigung (Council of Ministers for the
Defence of the Reich).
(iii) Members of der Geheimer Kabinettsrat (Secret
Cabinet Council).
Under the Fuehrer, these persons functioning in the
foregoing capacities and in association as a group,
possessed and exercised legislative, executive,
administrative and political powers and
functions of a very high order in the system of German
government. Accordingly, they are charged with
responsibility for the policies adopted and put into effect
by the government including those which comprehended and
involved the commission of the crimes referred to in-
Counts, One, Two, Three and Four of the Indictment.
DAS KORPS DER POLITISCHEN LEITER DER NATIONAISOZIALISTISCHEN
DEUTSCHEN ARBEITERPARTEI (LEADERSHIP CORPS OF THE NAZI PARTY
"Das Korps der Politischen Leiter der
Nationalsozialistischen Deutschen Arbeiterpartei (Leadership
Corps of the Nazi Party)" referred to in the Indictment
consists of persons who were at any time, according to
common Nazi terminology, "Politischer Leiter" (Political
Leaders) of any grade or rank.
The Politischen Leiter comprised the leaders of the various
functional offices of the Party (for example, the
Reichsleitung, or Party Reich Directorate, and the
Gauleitung, or Party Gau Directorate), as well as the
territorial leaders of the Party (for example, the
Gauleiter).
The Politischen Leiter were a distinctive and elite group
within the Nazi Party proper and as such were vested with
special prerogatives. They were organized according to the
leadership principle and were charged with planning,
developing and imposing upon their followers the policies of
the Nazi Party. Thus the territorial leaders among them were
called Hoheitstraeger, or bearers of sovereignty, and were
entitled to call upon and utilize the various Party
formations when necessary for the execution of Party policies.
Reference is hereby made to the allegations in Count One of
the Indictment showing that the Nazi Party was the central
core of the common plan or conspiracy therein set forth.
The.Politischen Leiter, as a major power within the Nazi
Party proper, and functioning in the capacities above
described and in associ-
[Page 70]
ation as a group, joined in the common plan or conspiracy,
and accordingly share responsibility for the crimes set
forth in Counts One, Two, Three and Four of the Indictment.
The prosecution expressly reserves the right to request, at
any time before sentence is pronounced, that Politischer
Leiter of subordinate grades or ranks or of other types or
classes, to be specified by the prosecution, be excepted
from further proceedings in this Case No. 1, but without
prejudice to other proceedings or actions against them.
DIE SCHUTZSTAFFELN DER NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHEN DEUTSCHEN
ARBEITERPARTEI (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE SS) INCLUDING DIE
SICHERHEITSDIENST (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE SD)
"Die Schutzstaffeln der Nationalsozialistischen Deutschen
Arbeiterpartei (commonly known as the SS) including Die
Sicherheitsdienst (commonly known as the SD)" referred to in
the Indictment consists of the entire corps of the SS and all
offices, departments, services, agencies, branches,
formations, organizations and groups of which it was at any
time comprised or which were at any time integrated in it,
including but not limited to, the Allgemeine SS, the Waffen
SS, the SS Totenkopf Verbaende, SS Polizei Regimente and the
Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsfuehrers-SS (commonly known as
the SD).
The SS, originally established by Hitler in 1925 as an elite
section of the SA to furnish a protective guard for the
Fuehrer and Nazi Party leaders, became an independent
formation of the Nazi Party in 1934 under the leadership of
the Reichsfuehrer-SS, Heinrich Himmler. It was
composed of voluntary members, selected in accordance with
Nazi biological, racial and political theories, completely
indoctrinated in Nazi ideology and pledged to uncompromising
obedience to the Fuehrer. After the accession of the Nazi
conspirators to power, it developed many departments,
agencies, formations and branches and extended its influence
and control over numerous fields of governmental and Party
activity. Through Heinrich Himmler, as Reichsfuehrer-SS and
Chief of the German Police, agencies and units of the SS and
of the Reich were joined in operation to form a unified
repressive police force. The Sicherheitsdienst des
Reichsfuehrers-SS (commonly known as the SD), a department
of the SS, was developed into a vast espionage and counter-
intelligence system which operated in conjunction with the
Gestapo and criminal police in detecting, suppressing and
eliminating tendencies, groups and individuals deemed
hostile or potentially hostile to the Nazi Party, its
leaders, principles and objectives, and eventually was
[Page 71]
combined with the Gestapo and criminal police in a single
security police department, the Reich Main Security Office.
Other branches of the SS developed into an armed force and
served in the wars of aggression referred to in Counts One
and Two of the Indictment. Through other departments and
branches the SS controlled the administration of
concentration camps and the execution of Nazi racial,
biological and resettlement policies. Through its numerous
functions and activities it served as the instrument for
insuring the domination of Nazi ideology and protecting and
extending the Nazi regime over Germany and occupied
territories. It thus participated in and is responsible for
the crimes referred to in Counts One, Two, Three and Four of
the Indictment.
DIE GEHEIME STAATSPOLIZEI (SECRET STATE POLICE, COMMONLY
KNOWN AS THE GESTAPO)
"Die Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police, commonly
known as the Gestapo) " referred to in the Indictment
consists of the headquarters, departments, offices, branches
and all the forces and personnel of the Geheime
Staatspolizei organized or existing at any time after
30 January 1933, including the Geheime Staatspolizei of Prussia
and equivalent secret or political police forces of the
Reich and the components thereof.
The Gestapo was created by the Nazi conspirators immediately
after their accession to power, first in Prussia by the
defendant GOERING and shortly thereafter in all other states
in the Reich.
These separate secret and political police forces were
developed into a centralized, uniform organization operating
through a central headquarters and through a network of
regional offices in Germany and in occupied territories. Its
officials and operatives were selected on the basis of
unconditional acceptance of Nazi ideology, were largely
drawn from members of the SS, and were trained in SS and SD
schools. It acted to suppress and eliminate tendencies,
groups and individuals deemed hostile or potentially hostile
to the Nazi Party, its leaders, principles and objectives,
and to repress resistance and potential resistance to German
control in occupied territories. In performing these
functions it operated free from legal control, taking any
measures it deemed necessary for the accomplishment of its
missions.
Through its purposes, activities and the means it used, it
participated in and is responsible for the commission of the
crimes set forth in Counts One, Two, Three and Four of the
Indictment.
[Page 72]
DIE STURMABTEILUNGEN DER NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHEN DEUTSCHEN
ARBEITERPARTEI (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE SA)
"Die Sturmabteilungen der Nationalsozialistischen Deutschen
Arbeiterpartei (commonly known as the SA)" referred to in
the Indictment was a formation f the Nazi Party under the immediate
jurisdiction of the Fuehrer, organized on military lines,
whose membership was composed of volunteers serving as
political soldiers of the Party. It was one of the earliest
formations of the Nazi Party and the original guardian of
the National Socialist movement. Founded in 1921 as a
voluntary militant formation, it was developed by the Nazi
conspirators before their accession to power into a vast
private army and utilized for the purpose of creating
disorder, and terrorizing and eliminating political
opponents. It continued to serve as an instrument for the
physical, ideological and military training of Party members
and as a reserve for the German armed forces. After the
launching of the wars of aggression, referred to in Counts One
and Two of the Indictment, the SA not only operated as an organization for
military training but provided auxiliary police and security
forces in occupied territories, guarded prisoner-of-war
camps and concentration camps and supervised and controlled
persons forced to labour in Germany and occupied territories.
Through its purposes and activities and the means it used,
it participated in and is responsible for the commission of
the crimes set forth in Counts One, Two, Three and Four of
the Indictment.
GENERAL STAFF AND HIGH COMMAND OF THE GERMAN ARMED FORCES
The "General Staff and High Command of the German Armed
Forces" referred to in the Indictment consist of those
individuals who between February 1938 and May 1945 were the
highest commanders of the Wehrmacht the Army, the Navy, and
the Air Forces. The individuals comprising this group are
the persons who held the following appointments:
Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine (Commander in Chief of the Navy)
Chef (and, formerly, Chef des Stabes) der Seekriegsleitung
(Chief of Naval War Staff)
Oberbefehlshaber de Heeres (Commander in Chief of the Army)
Chef des Generalstabes des Heeres (Chief of the General
Staff of the Army)
[Page 73]
Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (Commander in Chief of the
Air Force)
Chef des Generalstabes der Luftwaffe (Chief of the General
Staff of the Air Force)
Chef des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht (Chief of the High
Command of the Armed Forces)
Chef des Fuehrungstabes des Oerkommandos der Wehrmacht (Chief
of the Operations Staff of the High Command of the Armed
Forces)
Stellvertretender Chef des Fuehrungstabes des Oberkommandos
der Wehrmacht (Deputy Chief of the Operations Staff of the
High Command of the Armed Forces)
Commanders-in-Chief in the field, with the status of
Oberbefehlshaber, of the Wehrmacht, Navy, Army, Air Force.
Functioning in such capacities and in association as a group
at the highest level in the German Armed Forces
Organization, these persons had a major responsibility for
the planning, preparation, initiation and waging of illegal
wars as set forth in Counts One and Two of the
Indictment and for the War Crimes and Crimes against
Humanity involved in the execution of the common plan or
conspiracy set forth in Counts Three and Four of the Indictment.
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Volume
I Chapter III
The First Indictment
Appendix B