Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression
It is the prosecution's contention that the SS, as defined
in Appendix B of the Indictment, was unlawful. Its
participation in every phase of the conspiracy alleged in
Count One is clear. As an organization founded on the
principle that persons of "German blood" were a "master
race," it exemplified a basic Nazi doctrine. It served as
one of the means through which the conspirators acquired
control of the German government. The operations of the SD,
and of the SS Totenkopf Verbaende in concentration camps,
were means used by the conspirators to secure their regime
and terrorize their opponents as alleged in Count One. All
components of the SS were involved from the very beginning
in the Nazi program of Jewish extermination. Through the
Allgemeine SS as a para-military organization, the SS
Verfuegungstruppe and SS Totenkopf Verbaende as professional
combat forces, and the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle as a fifth
column agency, it participated in preparations for
aggressive war, and, through its militarized units, in the
seizure of Austria, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the
attack on Poland, and the waging of aggressive war in the
West and in the East, as set forth in Counts One and Two of
the Indictment. In the course of such war, all components of
the SS had a part in the war crimes and crimes against
humanity, set forth in Counts Three and Four, the murder and
ill treatment of civilian populations in occupied territory,
the murder and ill treatment of prisoners of war, and the
Germanization of occupied territories.
The evidence has shown that the SS was a single enterprise-a
unified organization. Some of its functions were, of course,
performed by one branch or department or office, some by
another. No single branch or department participated in
every phase of its activity. But every branch and department
and office was necessary to the functioning of the whole.
The situation is much same as in the case of the individual
defendants at the bar. Nat all participated in every act of
the conspiracy; but all performed a contributing part in the
whole criminal scheme.
[Page 236]
The evidence has shown, not only that the SS was an
organization of volunteers but that applicants had to meet
the strictest standards of selection. It was not easy 'to
become an SS member. That was true of all branches of the
SS. During the course of the war, as the demands for
manpower increased and the losses of the Waffen SS grew
heavier and heavier, there were occasions when men drafted
for compulsory military service were assigned to units of
the Waffen SS rather than to the Wehrmacht. Those instances
were relatively few. Evidence of recruiting standards of the
Waffen SS in 1943 has shown that membership in that branch
was as essentially voluntary and highly selective as in
other branches. The fact that some individuals may have been
arbitrarily assigned to some Waffen SS unit has no bearing
on the issue before the tribunal, which is this, whether the
SS was or was not an unlawful organization. Doubtless some
of the members of the SS, or of other of the organizations
alleged to be unlawful, might desire to show that their
participation in the organization was small or innocuous,
that compelling reasons drove them to apply for membership,
that they were not fully conscious of its aims, or that they
were mentally irresponsible when they became members. Such
facts might or might not be relevant if they were on trial.
But in any event this is not the forum to try out such
matters.
The question before this Tribunal is simply this, whether
the SS was or was not an unlawful organization. The evidence
has fully shown what the aims and activities of the SS were.
Some of these aims were stated in publications. The
activities were so widespread and so notorious, covering so
many fields of unlawful endeavor, that the illegality of the
organization could not have been concealed. It was a
notorious fact, and Himmler himself admitted that in 1936,
when he said:
It was at all times the exclusive function and purpose of
the SS to carry out the common objectives of the
conspirators. Its activities in carrying out those functions
involved the commission of the crimes defined in Article 6
of the Charter. By reason of its aims and the means used for
the accomplishment thereof, the SS should be declared a
criminal organization in accordance with Article 9 of the Charter.
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Volume II
Criminality of Groups and Organizations
The Schutzstaffeln (SS)
(Part 15 of 16)
F. Conclusion.
"I know that there are people in Germany now who become
sick when they see these black coats. We know the
reason and we don't expect to be loved by too many."