Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression B. The Nazi conspirators used the legislative and judicial
powers of the German Reich to terrorize all political
opponents.
(1) They created a great number of new political crimes. The
decree of 28 February 1933 punished the inciting of
disobedience to orders given out by State or Reich
Government authorities or the provocation of acts "contrary
to public welfare." (1390-PS) A month later, in order to
give themselves legal justification for murdering by
judicial process their political enemies, the Nazi
conspirators passed a law making the provisions of the above
decree applicable retroactively to acts committed during the
period from 31 January 1933 to 28 February 1933. (2654-PS)
Referring to these laws, the defendant Goering stated:
"Whoever in the future raises a hand against a
representative of the National Socialist movement or of
the State, must know that he will lose his life in a
very short while. Furthermore, it will be entirely
sufficient, if he is proven to have intended the act,
or, if the act results not in a death, but only in an
injury." (2494-PS)
On 21 March 1933 a decree was issued which provided for
penitentiary imprisonment up to two years for possessing a
uniform of an organization supporting the government of the
Nationalist movement without being entitled thereto, or
circulating a statement which was untrue or greatly
exaggerated, or which was apt to seriously harm the welfare
of the Reich or the reputation of the Government, or of the
Party or organizations supporting the Government. (1652-PS)
The Nazi conspirators caused a law to be enacted punishing
whoever undertook to maintain or form a political party
other than the NSDAP. (1388-PS)
The Nazi conspirators enacted a law which made it a crime
deliberately to make false or grave statements calculated to
injure the welfare or the prestige of the Reich, or to
circulate a statement manifesting a malicious or low-minded
attitude toward leading personalities of the
State or the Party. The law also applied to statements of
this kind which were not made in public, provided the
offender counted on his statements being eventually
circulated in public. (1393-PS)
[Page 243]
In commenting on the above law, one of the leading Nazi
conspirators, Martin Bormann, stated:
"Although it must absolutely be prevented that martyrs
are created, one must take merciless action against
such people, in whose attacks a bad character or
attitude, decisively inimical to the State, can be
recognized. For this purpose, I request the Gauleiters
to report here briefly all crimes, which must
absolutely be punished, and which have become known to
the districts, regardless of the report to be made to
the district attorney's office *******.
"The district and local leaderships are to be notified
accordingly. However, if it should be decided from
wherein this or that punishable case, that the
miscreant is to be given a simple or strong reprimand
by the court, I shall give the directive for the
future, that the Districts are informed of the names of
the persons.
"I therefore request, to see to it, that these
compatriots be especially watched by the Ortsgruppen,
and that it be attempted, to influence them in the
National Socialist sense. Otherwise, it will be
necessary to place the activities of such persons, who
do not want to be taught, under exact control. In these cases, it will
eventually be necessary, to notify the Secret State Police." (2639-PS)
On 24 April 1934 the Nazi conspirators passed a law imposing
the death penalty for "any treasonable act." Included in the
law was a declaration to the effect that the creating or
organizing of a political party, or continuing of an
existing one was a treasonable act. (2548-PS)
(2) By their interpretation and changes of the penal law,
the Nazi conspirators enlarged their terroristic methods.
After the enactment of these new political crimes, the Nazi
conspirators introduced into the penal law the theory of punishment by
analogy. This enabled them legally to punish any act
injurious to their political interests even if no existing
statute forbade it. The culpability of the act and the
punishment was determined by the law most closely relating
to or covering the act which was in force at the time. (1962-
PS)
In interpreting this law, Dr. Guertner, Reich Minister of Justice, stated:
"National Socialism substitutes for the idea of formal
wrong, the idea of factual wrong. *******Even without
the threat of punishment, every violation of the goals
toward which the community is striving is a wrong per se. As a
[Page 244]
result, the law ceases to be an exclusive source for the determination of right or wrong." (2549-PS)
Referring to the penal code of Nazi Germany, the defendant
Frank stated in 1935:
"the National Socialist State is a totalitarian State,
it makes no concessions to criminals, it does not
negotiate with them; it stamps them out." (2552-PS)
The Nazi conspirators also revised the criminal law so that
the State could, within one year after a decree in a
criminal case had become final, apply for a new trial, and
the application would be decided by members of a Special
Penal Chamber appointed by Hitler personally. Thus, if a
defendant should be acquitted in a lower court, the Nazi
conspirators could rectify the situation by another trial.
(2550-PS)
In direct contrast to the severity of the criminal law as it
affected the general population of Germany, the Nazi
conspirators adopted and endorsed a large body of unwritten
laws exempting the police from criminal liability for
illegal acts done under higher authority. This principle was
described by Dr. Werner Best, outstanding Nazi lawyer, in
the following terms:
"The police never act in a lawless or illegal manner as long as they act according to the rules laid down by their superiors up to the highest governing body. According to its nature, the police must only deal with what the government wants to know is being dealt with. What the Government wants to know is being dealt with by the police is the essence of the police law and is that which guides and restricts the actions of the police. As long as the police carry out the will of the Government, it is acting legally." (1852-PS)
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Volume
I Chapter VII
Means Used by the Nazi Conspiractors in Gaining Control of the German State
(Part 22 of 55)