Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression THE CONSOLIDATION OF NAZI POWER
We shall now consider the steps, which embraced the most
hideous of crimes against humanity, to which the
conspirators resorted in perfecting control of the German
State and in preparing Germany for the aggressive war
indispensable to their ends.
The Germans of the 1920's were a frustrated and baffled
people as a result of defeat and the disintegration of their
traditional government. The democratic elements, which were
trying to govern Germany through the new and feeble
machinery of the Weimar Republic, got inadequate support
from the democratic forces of the rest of the world. It is
not to be denied that Germany, when world-wide depression
was added to her other problems, was faced with urgent and
intricate pressure in her economic and political life which
necessitated bold measures.
The internal measures by which a nation attempts to solve
its problems are ordinarily of no concern to other nations.
But the Nazi program from the first was recognized as a
desperate program for a people still suffering the effects
of an unsuccessful war. The Nazi policy embraced
ends always recognized as attainable only by a renewal and a
more successful outcome of war. The conspirators' answer to
Germany's problems was nothing 'les than to plot the
regaining of territories lost in the First World War and the
acquisition of other fertile lands of Central Europe by
dispossessing or exterminating those who inhabited 'them.
They also contemplated destroying or permanently weakening
all other neighboring peoples so as to win virtual
domination of Europe and probably of the world. The precise
limits of their ambition we need not define for it was and
is as illegal to wage aggressive war for small stakes as for
large ones.
We find at this period two governments in Germany -- the
real and the ostensible. The forms of the German Republic
were maintained for a time, and it was the outward and
visible government. But the real authority in the State was
outside of and above the law and rested in
the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party.
On February 27, 1933, less than a month after Hitler became
Chancellor, the Reichstag building was set on fire. The
burning of this symbol of free parliamentary government was
so providential for the Nazis that it was believed they
staged the fire
[Page 126]
themselves. Certainly when we contemplate their known
crimes, we cannot believe they would shrink from mere arson.
It is not necessary, however, to resolve the controversy as
to who set the fire. The-significant point is in the use
that was made of the fire and of the state of public mind it
produced. The Nazis immediately accused the Communist Party
of instigating and committing the crime, and turned every
effort to portray this single act of arson as the beginning
of a Communist revolution. Then, taking advantage of the
hysteria, the Nazi met this phantom revolution with a real
one. In the following December, the German Supreme Court
with commendable courage and independence acquitted the
accused Communists, but it was too late to influence the
tragic course of events which the Nazi conspirators had set
rushing forward.
Hitler, on the morning after the fire, obtained from the
aged and ailing President von Hindenburg a Presidential
decree suspending the extensive guarantees of individual
liberty contained in the
Constitution of the Weimar Republic. The decree provided
that:
"Sections 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153 of the
Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until
further notice. Thus, restrictions on personal liberty,
on the right of free expression of opinion, including
freedom of the press, on the right of assembly and the
right of association, and violations of the privacy of
postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications, and
warrants for house-searches, orders for confiscations
as well as restrictions on property, are also
permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise
prescribed. (1390-PS).
The extent of the restriction on personal liberty under the
decree of 28 February 1933 may be understood by reference to the
rights under the Weimar Constitution which were suspended:
"Article 114. The freedom of the person is inviolable.
Curtailment or deprivation of personal freedom by a
public authority is only permissible on a legal basis.
"Persons who have been deprived of their freedom must
be informed at the latest on the following day by whose
authority and for what reasons the deprivation of
freedom was ordered; opportunity shall be afforded them
without delay of submitting objections to their
deprivation of freedom.
"Article 115. Every German's home is his sanctuary and
[Page 127]
inviolable. Exceptions may only be made as provided by
law.
"Article 117. The secrecy of letters and all postal,
telegraphic and telephone communications is inviolable.
Exceptions are inadmissible except by Reich law.
"Article 118. Every German has the right, within the
limit of the general laws, to express his opinions
freely in speech, in writing, in print, in picture form
or in any other way. No conditions of work or
employment may detract from this right and no
disadvantage may accrue to him from any person for
making use of this right. *********
"Article 12. All Germans have the right to assemble
peacefully and unarmed without giving notice and without special permission.
"A Reich law may make previous notification obligatory
for assemblies in the open air, and may prohibit them in the case of immediate danger to the public safety.
"Article 124. All the Germans have the right to form associations or societies for purposes not contrary to criminal law. This right may not be curtailed by preventive measures. The same provisions apply to religious associations and societies.
"Every association may become incorporated (Erwerb der Rechtsfaehigkeit) according to the provisions of the civil law. The right may not be refused to any association on the grounds that its aims are political, social-political or religious.
"Article 153. Property is guaranteed by the Constitution. Its content and limits are defined by the laws.
"Expropriation can only take place for the public benefit and on a legal basis. Adequate compensation shall be granted, unless a Reich law orders otherwise. In the case of dispute concerning the amount of compensation, it shall be possible to submit the matter to the ordinary civil courts, unless Reich laws determine otherwise. Compensation must be paid if the Reich expropriates property belonging to the Lands, Communes, or public utility associations.
"Property carries obligations. Its use shall also serve the common good." (2050-PS).
It must be said in fairness to von Hindenburg that the
Constitution itself authorized him temporarily to suspend
these fun-
[Page 128]
damental rights "if the public safety and order in the
German Reich are considerably disturbed or endangered." It must also be acknowledged that President Ebert previously had invoked this power.
But the National Socialist coup was made possible because
the terms of the Hitler-Hindenburg decree departed from all
previous ones in which the power of suspension had been
invoked. Whenever Ebert had suspended constitutional
guarantees of individual rights, his decree had
expressly revived the Protective Custody Act adopted by the
Reichstag in 1916 during the previous war. This Act
guaranteed a judicial hearing within 24 hours of arrest,
gave a right to have counsel and to inspect all relevant
records, provided for appeal, and authorized compensation
from Treasury funds for erroneous arrests.
The Hitler-Hindenburg decree of February 28, 1933 contained
no such safeguards. The omission may not have been noted by
von Hindenburg. Certainly he did not appreciate its effect.
It left the Nazi police and party formations, already
existing and functioning under Hitler, completely
unrestrained and irresponsible. Secret arrest and indefinite
detention, without charges, without evidence, without
hearing, without counsel, became the method of inflicting
inhuman punishment on any whom the Nazi police suspected or
disliked. court could issue an injunction, or writ
of habeas corpus, or certiorar. The German people were in
the hands of the police, the police were in the hands of the
Nazi Party, and the Party was in the hands of a ring of evil
men, of whom the defendants here before you are surviving
and representative leaders.
The
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Volume I Chapter V
Justice Jackson's Opening Address for the United States of America
(Part 4 of 17)