Chapter XXXI: Part I: , p. 2125 (1)

Nevertheless, in his capacity as Commissioner of the Four-Year Plan, or as Chairman of the Ministerial Council for National Defense, Goering himself signed several anti-Jewish decrees for occupied territories, including the following:

1939 Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 1703, Verordnung ueber die
Ammeldung der Vermoegens von Juden in den sudetendeutschen
Gebieten, 2 December 1938 (Order concerning the registration of
the property of Jews in the Sudeten German territories), which
was the preliminary for sequestration of such property,

1939 Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 702, Verordnung ueber die
Einfuehrung der Luftschutzgesetzes in den sudetendeutschen
Gebieten, 31 March 1939 (Order concerning the introduction of
the Air Defense Law in the Sudeten German territories),
discriminating against Jews,

1940 Reichsgesetzblatt, I, p. 1270, Verordnung ueber die
Behandlung von Vermoegen der Angehoerigen des ehemaligen
polnischen Staates, 17 September 1940 (Order concerning
treatment of property of nationals of the former Polish State),
by which the property of Polish Jews was confiscated,

1940 Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 1547, Kriegsachschaeden Verordnung
(War Damages Law), 30 November 1940, also discriminating against
Jews, and

1941 Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 759, Decree regarding
Administration of Criminal Law against Poles and Jews in the
Incorporated Eastern Territories, 4 December 1941, which
introduced especially stringent penal laws for Jews.

During the later years of the war, the program of the Nazi conspirators for the complete physical annihilation of all Jews in Europe achieved its full fury. While the execution of this program was for the most part handled by the SS and the Security Police, Goering remains implicated in the final phases of the Nazi “Solution” of the Jewish problem. On 31 July 1941, he wrote the following letter to the conspirator Heydrich:

“Complementing the task that was assigned to you on 24 January
1939, which dealt with arriving at—through furtherance of
emigration and evacuation, a solution of the Jewish problem, as
advantageous as possible, I hereby charge you with making all
necessary preparations in regard to organizational and financial
matters for bringing about a complete solution of the Jewish
question in the German sphere of influence in Europe.

“Wherever other governmental agencies are involved, these are to
cooperate with you.

“I charge you furthermore to send me, before long, an overall
plan concerning the organizational, factual and material
measures necessary for the accomplishment of the desired
solution of the Jewish question.” (_710-PS_)

* * * * *

LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO HERMANN WILHELM
GOERING

│ │ │
Document │ Description │ Vol. │ Page
│ │ │
│Charter of the International Military │ │
│ Tribunal, Article 6. │ I │ 6
│International Military Tribunal, │ │
│ Indictment Number 1, Section IV (H);│ │
│ Appendix A. │ I │ 29, 57
│ ———— │ │
│Note: A single asterisk (*) before a │ │
│document indicates that the document │ │
│was received in evidence at the │ │
│Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (**)│ │
│before a document number indicates │ │
│that the document was referred to │ │
│during the trial but was not formally │ │
│received in evidence, for the reason │ │
│given in parentheses following the │ │
│description of the document. The USA │ │
│series number, given in parentheses │ │
│following the description of the │ │
│document, is the official exhibit │ │
│number assigned by the court. │ │
│ ———— │ │
069-PS │Letter from Bormann to Rosenberg, 17 │ │
│January 1939, enclosing order of 28 │ │
│December 1938, concerning decisions on│ │
│Jewish question. (USA 589) │ III │ 116
│ │ │
*141-PS │Goering Order, 5 November 1940, │ │
│concerning seizure of Jewish art │ │
│treasures. (USA 368) │ III │ 188
│ │ │
*343-PS │Letter from Milch, Chief of the │ │
│Personal Staff, to Himmler, 31 August │ │
│1942, and letter from Milch to Wolff, │ │
│20 May 1942. (USA 463) │ III │ 266
│ │ │
*375-PS │Case Green with wider implications, │ │
│report of Intelligence Division, │ │
│Luftwaffe General Staff, 25 August │ │
│1938. (USA 84) │ III │ 280
│ │ │
*376-PS │Top secret memorandum signed by Major │ │
│Falkenstein, 29 October 1940, │ │
│concerning current military questions,│ │
│including question of occupation of │ │
│Atlantic Islands referring to the │ │
│United States. (USA 161) │ III │ 288
│ │ │
*386-PS │Notes on a conference with Hitler in │ │
│the Reich Chancellery, Berlin, 5 │ │
│November 1937, signed by Hitler’s │ │
│adjutant, Hossbach, and dated 10 │ │
│November 1937. (USA 25) │ III │ 295
│ │ │
*440-PS │Directive No. 8 signed by Keitel, 20 │ │
│November 1939, for the conduct of the │ │
│war. (GB 107) │ III │ 397
│ │ │
*447-PS │Top Secret Operational Order to Order │ │
│No. 21, signed by Keitel, 13 March │ │
│1941, concerning Directives for │ │
│special areas. (USA 135) │ III │ 409
│ │ │
*638-PS │Extract from minutes of Dr. Joel, 6 │ │
│October 1942, concerning Special │ │
│Purpose Group for Commando activities.│ │
│(USA 788) │ III │ 452
│ │ │
686-PS │Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich │ │
│Chancellor to strengthen German │ │
│Folkdom, 7 October 1939, signed by │ │
│Hitler, Goering, Lammers and Keitel. │ │
│(USA 305) │ III │ 496
│ │ │
*710-PS │Letter from Goering to Heydrich, 31 │ │
│July 1941, concerning solution of │ │
│Jewish question. (USA 509) │ III │ 525
│ │ │
*789-PS │Speech of the Fuehrer at a conference,│ │
│23 November 1939, to which all Supreme│ │
│Commanders were ordered. (USA 23) │ III │ 572
│ │ │
*798-PS │Hitler’s speech to │ │
│Commanders-in-Chief, at Obersalzberg, │ │
│22 August 1939. (USA 29) │ III │ 581
│ │ │
*1014-PS │Hitler’s speech to │ │
│Commanders-in-Chief, 22 August 1939. │ │
│(USA 30) │ III │ 665
│ │ │
*1015-I-PS │Letter from Goering to Rosenberg, 30 │ │
│May 1942. (USA 385) │ III │ 670
│ │ │
*1117-PS │Goering Order, 1 May 1941, concerning │ │
│establishment of Einsatzstab Rosenberg│ │
│in all Occupied Territories. (USA 384)│ III │ 793
│ │ │
*1157-PS │Report on conference, 29 April 1941, │ │
│concerning top secret plan for │ │
│Economic exploitation of Soviet Areas │ │
│(Oldenburg Plan). (USA 141) │ III │ 811
│ │ │
*1183-PS │Letter of Commissioner for Four-Year │ │
│Plan, 29 January 1942, concerning │ │
│increased mobilization of manpower │ │
│from Occupied Territories and │ │
│preparation for mobilization by force.│ │
│(USA 585) │ III │ 830
│ │ │
1188-PS │Decree of Fuehrer concerning economy │ │
│in newly Occupied Eastern Territories,│ │
│20 May 1941, and attached comment. │ III │ 832
│ │ │
1193-PS │Letter, 14 November 1941, transmitting│ │
│report of conference of 7 November │ │
│1941 about employment of Soviet │ │
│Russians. (USA 785) │ III │ 834
│ │ │
*1206-PS │Notes of Goering’s remarks at the Air │ │
│Ministry, 7 November 1941, concerning │ │
│employment of laborers in war │ │
│industries. (USA 215) │ III │ 841
│ │ │
*1208-PS │Goering Order, 10 December 1938, │ │
│concerning Jewish question. (USA 590) │ III │ 845
│ │ │
*1301-PS │File relating to financing of armament│ │
│including minutes of conference with │ │
│Goering at the Air Ministry, 14 │ │
│October 1938, concerning acceleration │ │
│of rearmament. (USA 123) │ III │ 868
│ │ │
*1317-PS │Top secret notes taken by Hamann of a │ │
│discussion of the economic │ │
│exploitation of Russia, presided over │ │
│by General Thomas, 28 February 1941. │ │
│(USA 140) │ III │ 911
│ │ │
*1375-PS │Letter from Frank to Goering, 25 │ │
│January 1940. (USA 172) │ III │ 925
│ │ │
1406-PS │Decree for reporting of Jewish-owned │ │
│property, 26 April 1938. 1938 │ │
│Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 414. │ III │ 1001
│ │ │
1412-PS │Decree relating to payment of fine by │ │
│Jews of German nationality, 12 │ │
│November 1938. 1938 Reichsgesetzblatt,│ │
│Part I, p. 1579. │ IV │ 6
│ │ │
*1584-I-PS │Teletype from Goering to Himmler, 14 │ │
│February 1944, concerning formation of│ │
│7th Airforce Group economy in newly │ │
│Occupied Eastern Territories, 20 May │ │
│1941, and attached comment. │ III │ 832
│ │ │
1584-III-PS │Correspondence between Himmler and │ │
│Goering, 9 March 1944, concerning use │ │
│of concentration camp inmates in │ │
│aircraft industry. (USA 457) │ IV │ 118
│ │ │
**1654-PS │Law of 16 March 1935 reintroducing │ │
│universal military conscription. 1935 │ │
│Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 369. │ │
│(Referred to but not offered in │ │
│evidence.) │ IV │ 163
│ │ │
1665-PS │Order concerning treatment of property│ │
│of Nationals of the former Polish │ │
│State, 17 September 1940. 1940 │ │
│Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1270. │ IV │ 173
│ │ │
*1666-PS │Decree appointing Sauckel General │ │
│Plenipotentiary for Manpower, 21 March│ │
│1942 and decree of Goering conferring │ │
│certain powers on Sauckel, 27 March │ │
│1942. 1942 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, │ │
│pp. 179-180. (USA 208) │ IV │ 182
│ │ │
*1709-PS │Report of Special Delegate for art │ │
│seizures, July 1943. (USA 378) │ IV │ 211
│ │ │
*1742-PS │Directives to Army Commands from │ │
│Goering, 26 October 1942, concerning │ │
│combatting of partisan activities. │ │
│(USA 789) │ IV │ 262
│ │ │
*1743-PS │Guiding principles for the economic │ │
│operations in the newly occupied │ │
│Eastern territories, June 1941. (USA │ │
│587) │ IV │ 263
│ │ │
*1746-PS │Conference between German and │ │
│Bulgarian Generals, 8 February 1941; │ │
│speech by Hitler to German High │ │
│Command on situation in Yugoslavia, 27│ │
│March 1941; plan for invasion of │ │
│Yugoslavia, 28 March 1941. (GB 120) │ IV │ 272
│ │ │
1780-PS │Excerpts from diary kept by General │ │
│Jodl, January 1937 to August 1939. │ │
│(USA 72) │ IV │ 360
│ │ │
*1809-PS │Entries from Jodl’s diary, February │ │
│1940 to May 1940. (GB 88) │ IV │ 377
│ │ │
*1816-PS │Stenographic report of the meeting on │ │
│The Jewish Question, under the │ │
│Chairmanship of Fieldmarshal Goering, │ │
│12 November 1938. (USA 261) │ IV │ 425
│ │ │
1862-PS │Ordinance for execution of Four Year │ │
│Plan, 18 October 1936. 1936 │ │
│Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 887. │ IV │ 499
│ │ │
*2018-PS │Fuehrer’s decree establishing a │ │
│Ministerial Council for Reich Defense,│ │
│30 August 1939. 1939 │ │
│Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1539. │ │
│(GB 250) │ IV │ 650
│ │ │
*2031-PS │Decree establishing a Secret Cabinet │ │
│Council, 4 February 1938. 1938 │ │
│Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 112. (GB│ │
│217) │ IV │ 654
│ │ │
2089-PS │Decree relating to Reich Air Ministry,│ │
│5 May 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, │ │
│Part I, p. 241. │ IV │ 719
│ │ │
2104-PS │Law on organization of Secret State │ │
│Police office, 26 April 1933. 1933 │ │
│Preussische Gesetzsammlung, p. 122. │ IV │ 730
│ │ │
2105-PS │Law on Secret State Police of 30 │ │
│November 1933. 1933 Preussische │ │
│Gesetzsammlung, p. 413. │ IV │ 731
│ │ │
2107-PS │Law on Secret State Police of 10 │ │
│February 1936. 1936 Preussische │ │
│Gesetzsammlung, pp. 21-22. │ IV │ 732
│ │ │
2108-PS │Decree for execution of Law on Secret │ │
│State Police of 10 February 1936. 1936│ │
│Preussische Gesetzsammlung, pp. 22-24.│ IV │ 732
│ │ │
2168-PS │Book by SA Sturmfuehrer Dr. Ernst │ │
│Bayer, entitled “The SA”, depicting │ │
│the history, work, aim and │ │
│organization of the SA. (USA 411) │ IV │ 772
│ │ │
*2194-PS │Top secret letter from Ministry for │ │
│Economy and Labor, Saxony, to Reich │ │
│Protector in Bohemia and Moravia, │ │
│enclosing copy of 1938 Secret Defense │ │
│Law of 4 September 1938. (USA 36) │ IV │ 843
│ │ │
*2233-A-PS │Frank Diary, │ │
│Abteilungsleitersitzungen, 1939-1940. │ │
│Minutes of conferences, December and │ │
│May 1940. (USA 173) │ IV │ 883
│ │ │
*2261-PS │Directive from Blomberg to Supreme │ │
│Commanders of Army, Navy and Air │ │
│Forces, 24 June 1935; accompanied by │ │
│copy of Reich Defense Law of 21 May │ │
│1935 and copy of Decision of Reich │ │
│Cabinet of 12 May 1935 on the Council │ │
│for defense of the Reich. (USA 24) │ IV │ 934
│ │ │
*2292-PS │Interview of Goering by representative│ │
│of London Daily Mail, concerning the │ │
│German Air Force, from German report │ │
│in The Archive, March 1935, p. 1830. │ │
│(USA 52) │ IV │ 995
│ │ │
*2324-PS │Extracts from Reconstruction of a │ │
│Nation, by Hermann Goering, 1934. (USA│ │
│233) │ IV │ 1033
│ │ │
2344-PS │Reconstruction of a Nation by Goering,│ │
│1934, p. 89. │ IV │ 1065
│ │ │
*2385-PS │Affidavit of George S. Messersmith, 30│ │
│August 1945. (USA 68) │ V │ 23
│ │ │
2523-PS │Account of conversations between │ │
│Goering and Bunjes. (USA 783) │ V │ 258
│ │ │
2532-PS │Extract from The Third Reich, by Gerd │ │
│Ruehle. │ V │ 268
│ │ │
*2801-PS │Minutes of conversation between │ │
│Goering and Slovak Minister Durkansky │ │
│(probably late fall or early winter │ │
│1938-39). (USA 109) │ V │ 442
│ │ │
*2827-PS │Extract from The Third Reich, │ │
│concerning Four Years Plan, pp. │ │
│250-253. (USA 577) │ V │ 474
│ │ │
*2836-PS │Affidavit of offices and positions │ │
│held by Goering. (USA 4) │ V │ 503
│ │ │
2875-PS │Decree on exclusion of Jews from │ │
│German economic life, 12 November │ │
│1938. │ V │ 536
│ │ │
*2949-PS │Transcripts of telephone calls from │ │
│Air Ministry, 11-14 March 1938. (USA │ │
│76) │ V │ 628
│ │ │
*2950-PS │Affidavit of Frick, 19 November 1945. │ │
│(USA 448) │ V │ 654
│ │ │
*2962-PS │Minutes of meeting of Reich Cabinet, │ │
│15 March 1933. (USA 578) │ V │ 669
│ │ │
*2986-PS │Affidavit of the defendant, Wilhelm │ │
│Frick, 19 November 1945. (USA 409) │ V │ 688
│ │ │
*3005-PS │Letter from Reich Labor Ministry to │ │
│Presidents of Regional Labor Offices, │ │
│26 August 1941, concerning use of │ │
│Russian PWs. (USA 213) │ V │ 727
│ │ │
*3042-PS │Affidavit of Dr. Kajetan Muehlmann, 19│ │
│November 1945. (USA 375) │ V │ 754
│ │ │
**3047-PS │File notes on conference in Fuehrer’s │ │
│train on 12 September 1939; report on │ │
│execution of Jews in Borrisow; and │ │
│entries from diary of Admiral Canaris.│ │
│(USA 80) (Referred to but not offered │ │
│in evidence.) │ V │ 766
│ │ │
3051-PS │Three teletype orders from Heydrich to│ │
│all stations of State Police, 10 │ │
│November 1938, on measures against │ │
│Jews, and one order from Heydrich on │ │
│termination of protest actions. (USA │ │
│240) │ V │ 797
│ │ │
*3054-PS │“The Nazi Plan”, script of a motion │ │
│picture composed of captured German │ │
│film. (USA 167) │ V │ 801
│ │ │
*3058-PS │Letter from Heydrich to Goering, 11 │ │
│November 1938, reporting action │ │
│against the Jews. (USA 508) │ V │ 854
│ │ │
3251-PS │Extracts from Reconstruction of a │ │
│Nation by Hermann Goering. │ V │ 956
│ │ │
*3252-PS │Extract from book Hermann Goering, The│ │
│Man and His Work, by Eric Gritzbach, │ │
│1937. (USA 424) │ V │ 957
│ │ │
*3259-PS │Extract from book Hermann Goering, The│ │
│Man and His work, by Eric Gritzbach, │ │
│p. 69. (USA 424) │ V │ 1007
│ │ │
3440-PS │Speech of Goering entitled The Victory│ │
│over Communism in Germany, published │ │
│in The Archive, November-December │ │
│1934, pp. 1153-4. │ VI │ 150
│ │ │
*3441-PS │Speech by Goering, published in │ │
│Speeches and Papers, 1939, p. 242. │ │
│(USA 437) │ VI │ 150
│ │ │
*3442-PS │Hitler’s address to the Reichstag, 13 │ │
│July 1934, published in The Archive, │ │
│Vols. 4-6, p. 505. (USA 576) │ VI │ 151
│ │ │
*3458-PS │Speech by Hermann Goering on 15 │ │
│September 1935, from The Third Reich. │ │
│(USA 588) │ VI │ 158
│ │ │
*3460-PS │Speech by Goering, from Hermann │ │
│Goering Speeches and Papers. (USA 437)│ VI │ 160
│ │ │
3461-PS │Excerpt from Hermann Goering: │ │
│Reconstruction of a Nation. │ VI │ 160
│ │ │
*3471-PS │Letter from Keppler to Bodenschatz, 21│ │
│February 1938, with enclosures noting │ │
│activity of Leopold as leader of │ │
│Austrian Nazis and possible │ │
│appointment of Klausner as his │ │
│successor. (USA 583) │ VI │ 195
│ │ │
*3472-PS │Letter from Keppler to Goering, 9 │ │
│February 1938, requesting that Leopold│ │
│be forbidden to negotiate with │ │
│Schuschnigg except with approval of │ │
│Reich authorities. (USA 582) │ VI │ 196
│ │ │
*3473-PS │Letter from Keppler to Goering, 6 │ │
│January 1938, giving details of Nazi │ │
│intrigue in Austria. (USA 581) │ VI │ 197
│ │ │
*3474-PS │Manuscript notes by Bodenschatz on │ │
│conference of German Air Forces │ │
│leaders, 2 December 1936. (USA 580) │ VI │ 199
│ │ │
*3568-PS │Letter from SS Main Office, 25 July │ │
│1942, concerning enrollment into SS of│ │
│Reichsminister Albert Speer. (USA 575)│ VI │ 256
│ │ │
*3740-PS │Affidavit of Franz Halder, 6 March │ │
│1946. (USA 779) │ VI │ 635
│ │ │
3766-PS │Report prepared by the German Army in │ │
│France 1942 concerning removal of │ │
│French art objects through the German │ │
│Embassy and the Einsatzstab Rosenberg │ │
│in France. │ VI │ 646
│ │ │
3775-PS │Letter from Goering to his │ │
│brother-in-law, 21 November 1940, │ │
│concerning bomb destruction in │ │
│England. │ VI │ 652
│ │ │
3786-PS │Stenographic transcript of a meeting │ │
│in the Fuehrer’s Headquarters, 27 │ │
│January 1945. (USA 787) │ VI │ 655
│ │ │
*3787-PS │Report of the Second Meeting of the │ │
│Reich Defense Council, 25 June 1939. │ │
│(USA 782) │ VI │ 718
│ │ │
*C-10 │OKW directive, 28 November 1939, │ │
│signed by Keitel, subject: Employment │ │
│of 7th Flieger Division. (GB 108) │ VI │ 817
│ │ │
*C-39 │Timetable for Barbarossa, approved by │ │
│Hitler and signed by Keitel. (USA 138)│ VI │ 857
│ │ │
*C-59 │Order signed by Warlimont for │ │
│execution of operation “Marita”, 19 │ │
│February 1941. (GB 121) │ VI │ 879
│ │ │
*C-62 │Directive No. 6 on the conduct of war,│ │
│signed by Hitler, 9 October 1939; │ │
│directive by Keitel, 15 October 1939 │ │
│on Fall “Gelb”. (GB 106) │ VI │ 880
│ │ │
*C-63 │Keitel order on preparation for │ │
│“Weseruebung”, 27 January 1940. (GB │ │
│87) │ VI │ 883
│ │ │
*C-72 │Orders postponing “A” day in the West,│ │
│November 1939 to May 1940. (GB 109) │ VI │ 893
│ │ │
*C-75 │OKW Order No. 24 initialled Jodl, │ │
│signed Keitel, 5 March 1941, │ │
│concerning collaboration with Japan. │ │
│(USA 151) │ VI │ 906
│ │ │
*C-120 │Directives for Armed Forces 1939-40 │ │
│for “Fall Weiss”, operation against │ │
│Poland. (GB 41) │ VI │ 916
│ │ │
*C-126 │Preliminary Time Table for “Fall │ │
│Weiss” and directions for secret │ │
│mobilization. (GB 45) │ VI │ 932
│ │ │
*C-139 │Directive for operation “Schulung” │ │
│signed by Blomberg, 2 May 1935. (USA │ │
│53) │ VI │ 951
│ │ │
C-140 │Directive for preparations in event of│ │
│sanctions, 25 October 1935, signed by │ │
│Blomberg. (USA 51) │ VI │ 952
│ │ │
*C-159 │Order for Rhineland occupation signed │ │
│by Blomberg, 2 March 1936. (USA 54) │ VI │ 974
│ │ │
*C-174 │Hitler Order for operation │ │
│“Weseruebung”, 1 March 1940. (GB 89) │ VI │ 1003
│ │ │
*D-729 │Notes on conversation between Goering │ │
│and Mussolini on 23 October 1942. (GB │ │
│281) │ VII │ 177
│ │ │
*D-730 │Statement of PW Walther Grosche, 11 │ │
│December 1945. (GB 279) │ VII │ 177
│ │ │
*D-731 │Statement of PW Ernst Walde, 13 │ │
│December 1945. (GB 278) │ VII │ 183
│ │ │
*D-769 │Telegram signed by Gen. Christiansen, │ │
│21 September 1940, relative to │ │
│application of capital punishment in │ │
│connection with Railway strike in │ │
│Holland. (GB 304) │ VII │ 229
│ │ │
*D-775 │Draft of directive, 14 June 1944, from│ │
│OKW to Supreme Commander of │ │
│“Luftwaffe”, regarding treatment of │ │
│Allied “Terrorist”-flyers, (GB 308) │ VII │ 232
│ │ │
*D-776 │Draft of directive of Chief of OKW, 15│ │
│June 1944, to German Foreign Office at│ │
│Salzburg, concerning treatment of │ │
│Allied “Terrorist”-flyers. (GB 309) │ VII │ 233
│ │ │
*D-777 │Draft of directive, 15 June 1944, from│ │
│OKW to Supreme Commander of │ │
│“Luftwaffe” concerning treatment of │ │
│Allied “Terrorist”-flyers. (GB 310) │ VII │ 234
│ │ │
D-779 │Letter from Reichsmarshal to Chief of │ │
│OKW, 19 August 1944, regarding │ │
│treatment of Allied │ │
│“Terrorist”-flyers. (GB 312) │ VII │ 235
│ │ │
*D-780 │Draft of communication from Ambassador│ │
│Ritter, Salzburg, to Chief of OKW, 20 │ │
│June 1944, on treatment of Allied │ │
│“Terrorist”-flyers. (GB 313) │ VII │ 236
│ │ │
*D-781 │Note of OKW to Supreme Commander of │ │
│“Luftwaffe”, 23 June 1944, regarding │ │
│treatment of Allied │ │
│“Terrorist”-flyers. (GB 314) │ VII │ 239
│ │ │
*D-783 │Note of a telephone communication, 26 │ │
│June 1944, with regard to treatment of│ │
│“Terrorist”-aviators. (GB 316) │ VII │ 240
│ │ │
*D-785 │Note from OKW to Supreme Commander of │ │
│“Luftwaffe”, 4 July 1944, concerning │ │
│“Terror”-flyers. (GB 318) │ VII │ 241
│ │ │
*EC-3 │Letter of Liaison Staff at Supreme │ │
│Headquarters, Armament Procurement │ │
│Office directed to General Thomas, │ │
│Chief of Wi Rue Amt, Berlin, 25 │ │
│November 1941. (USA 318) │ VII │ 242
│ │ │
*EC-126 │Economic Policy Directive for Economic│ │
│Organization, East, Agricultural │ │
│Group, 23 May 1941. (USA 316) │ VII │ 295
│ │ │
*EC-286 │Correspondence between Schacht and │ │
│Goering, March-April 1937, concerning │ │
│price control. (USA 833) │ VII │ 380
│ │ │
*EC-305 │Minutes of meeting on 12 February │ │
│1940, under Chairmanship of Goering │ │
│concerning labor supply in the East. │ │
│(USA 303) │ VII │ 402
│ │ │
EC-317 │Order of Goering, 7 September 1943, │ │
│concerning evacuation of harvest crops│ │
│and destruction of means of production│ │
│in agricultural and food economy in │ │
│parts of Occupied Eastern Territories.│ │
│(USA 786) │ VII │ 405
│ │ │
*EC-408 │Memorandum report about the Four Year │ │
│Plan and preparation of the war │ │
│economy, 30 December 1936. (USA 579) │ VII │ 465
│ │ │
*EC-410 │Appendix to Goering’s directive of 19 │ │
│October 1939 concerning the economic │ │
│administration of Occupied │ │
│Territories. (USA 298) │ VII │ 466
│ │ │
*EC-472 │Directives of Reich Marshal Goering │ │
│concerning economic organization of │ │
│Occupied Eastern Territories. (USA │ │
│315) │ VII │ 539
│ │ │
**L-3 │Contents of Hitler’s talk to Supreme │ │
│Commander and Commanding Generals, │ │
│Obersalzberg, 22 August 1939. (USA 28)│ │
│(Referred to but not offered in │ │
│evidence.) │ VII │ 752
│ │ │
*L-79 │Minutes of conference, 23 May │ │
│1939,”Indoctrination on the political │ │
│situation and future aims”. (USA 27) │ VII │ 847
│ │ │
*L-83 │Affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, 21 July│ │
│1945. (USA 234) │ VII │ 859
│ │ │
*L-151 │Report from Ambassador Bullitt to │ │
│State Department, 23 November 1937, │ │
│regarding his visit to Warsaw. (USA │ │
│70) │ VII │ 894
│ │ │
*L-221 │Bormann report on conference of 16 │ │
│July 1941, concerning treatment of │ │
│Eastern populations and territories. │ │
│(USA 317) │ VII │ 1086
│ │ │
R-133 │Notes on conference with Goering in │ │
│Westerland on 25 July 1939, signed │ │
│Mueller, dated Berlin 27 July 1939. │ │
│(USA 124) │ VIII │ 202
│ │ │
*R-140 │Secret letter from Goering’s adjutant,│ │
│Major Conrath, 11 July 1938, enclosing│ │
│transcript of Goering’s speech of 8 │ │
│July to representatives of aircraft │ │
│industry. (USA 160) │ VIII │ 221
│ │ │
R-148 │Letter from Goering to Supreme Reich │ │
│authorities, 8 March 1940, concerning │ │
│treatment of male and female civilian │ │
│workers of Polish nationality; also │ │
│letters, orders, and memoranda │ │
│relating thereto. │ VIII │ 251
│ │ │
*TC-27 │German assurances to Czechoslovakia, │ │
│11 and 12 March 1938, as reported by │ │
│M. Masaryk, the Czechoslovak Minister │ │
│to London to Viscount Halifax. (GB 21)│ VIII │ 377
│ │ │
Statement IX │My Relationship to Adolf Hitler and to│ │
│the Party, by Erich Raeder, Moscow, │ │
│fall 1945. │ VIII │ 707
│ │ │
*Chart No. 1 │National Socialist German Workers’ │ │
│Party. (2903-PS; USA 2) │ VIII │ 770
│ │ │
*Chart No. 10 │1938 Proposals for Luftwaffe Expansion│ │
│1938-1950. (L-43; GB 29) │ VIII │ 779

2. RUDOLF HESS

A. _POSITIONS HELD BY HESS._

(1) _Between 1919 and 1941, Hess held the following positions_:

(_a_) Member of the Nazi Party, 1920-1941 (_3191-PS_).

(_b_) Deputy to the Fuehrer, 21 April 1933 to 10 May 1941 (_3196-PS_).

(_c_) Reich Minister without Portfolio, 1 December 1933—10 May 1941 (_3178-PS_).

(_d_) Member of the Reichstag, 5 March 1933—10 May 1941 (_3192-PS_).

(_e_) Member of the Council of Ministers for the Defense of the Reich, 30 August 1930—10 May 1941 (_2018-PS_).

(_f_) Member of the Secret Cabinet Council, 4 February 1938—10 May 1941 (_1377-PS_).

(_g_) Successor Designate to the Fuehrer, after Goering, 1 September 1939—10 May 1941 (_3190-PS_).

(_h_) General in the SS (_3198-PS_).

(_i_) Private Secretary and A. d. C. to Hitler, 1925-1932 (_3192-PS_).

(_j_) Head of the Central Political Committee of the N.S.D.A.P., appointed 15 December 1932 (_3132-PS_).

(_k_) _Reichsleiter_ of the N.S.D.A.P. (Member of the Party Directorate) (_3198-PS_).

(_l_) Member of the Reichs Defense Council (_2261-PS_).

B. _PROMOTION OF THE NAZI CONSPIRATORS’ ACCESSION TO POWER._

The Nazi Party was the conspiracy’s main instrument of control. As its directing head, Hess used this instrument vigorously to advance the purposes of the conspiracy. He thus played a decisive part in the preparation and execution of its criminal designs.

Hess began his conspiratorial activities immediately upon the termination of World War I by joining militaristic and nationalistic organizations. He became a member of the Thule Society and of the Free Corps Epp. In June 1920 he joined the Nazi Party, receiving membership card No. 16 (_3191-PS_; _3347-PS_).

By 1923 Hess was an SA leader and head of the Nazi University Organization in Munich. He took part in the Nazi Putsch of 8-9 November 1923. As a result he was tried and convicted on a charge of high treason (_3132-PS_). He spent 7½ months of his 18 months’ sentence with Hitler at the Landsberg Fortress (_3191-PS_). There Hitler dictated _Mein Kampf_ to him (_3132-PS_).

After their release, Hess remained extremely close to Hitler. In 1925, he became officially his private secretary and A. d. C. (_3192-PS_).

During the Party crisis which resulted from the sudden resignation of Gregor Strasser, head of the Party’s Political Organization, in December 1932, Hitler called on Hess to take charge of the newly formed Central Political Committee of the Party, in order to restore its strength and unity (_3132-PS_).

Shortly thereafter, Hess took part in the decisive negotiations which brought the Nazi conspirators into power on 30 January 1933 (_3132-PS_).

C. _ESTABLISHMENT OF TOTALITARIAN CONTROL OVER GERMANY._

Upon the conspirators’ accession to power, Hess was appointed Deputy to the Fuehrer of the NSDAP (_3196-PS_). His broad powers and responsibilities in that position were officially described as follows:

“All the threads of the Party work are gathered together by the
Deputy of the Fuehrer. He gives the final word on all
intra-Party plans and all questions vital for the existence of
the German people. The Deputy of the Fuehrer gives the
directives required for all the Party work, in order to maintain
the unity, determination and striking power of the N.S.D.A.P. as
the bearer of the National-Socialist philosophy.” (_3163-PS_;
_Chart Number 15_).

Through Hess the Conspirators established the control of the Party over the State. As a first step he obtained a seat in the Cabinet, which had in effect become the sole legislative organ of the Reich (_2001-PS_; _2426-PS_; _1395-PS_). As a Cabinet Minister, Hess signed the laws which further strengthened the political power of the Nazi Party. Among these enactments were the law of 1 August 1944 consolidating the positions of Chief of State and Leader of the Party (_2003-PS_); and the law of 20 December 1934 against treacherous attacks on Party and State (_1393-PS_).

Through a long series of decrees Hess obtained control over every aspect of public and private life in Germany, in order to subvert it to the aims of the conspiracy, as represented by the Party.

(1) _Hess gained control over all legislation._

A Hitler Decree of 27 July 1934 provided for Hess’s participation in the drafting of all legislation (_D-138_). In a circular to Cabinet members on 9 October 1939, Hess stated that he would in the future veto every bill which reached him too late to allow him enough time for its thorough study from the Party point of view (_D-139_). A letter from Chief of the Reich Chancellery Lammers, on 12 April 1938, announced a supplementary decree extending Hess’s participation, especially with regard to the drafting of laws affecting individual States (_D-140_; see _1942-PS_).

(2) _Hess gained control over all government appointments, including those of the judiciary and university teachers._

A decree of 24 September 1935 provided for the consultation of Hess in the appointment of Reich and State civil servants (_3180-PS_). A decree of 10 July 1937 provided for the participation of the Fuehrer’s Deputy in the appointment of Reich and State civil servants (_3184-PS)_. A decree of 14 October 1936, signed by Hess, regulated the status of Reich and State civil servants (_3183-PS_). A further decree of 3 April 1936 provided for Hess’s participation in the appointment of Labor Service officials (_3182-PS_).

(3) _Hess gained control over Local Government Administration._

This control was effected through the German Municipality Act of 30 January 1935 provided for the participation of Party delegates (_2008-PS_).

(4) _Hess gained control over the administration of annexed territories._

Thus, the Ordinance of 10 June 1939 provided for Hess’s participation in the administration of Austria (_Reichsgesetzblatt_ 1939, Part I, p. 995) while another Ordinance of the same date provided for Hess’s participation in the administration of the Sudetenland (_Reichsgesetzblatt_ 1939, Part I, p. 997).

(5) _Hess, in his capacity as Deputy Leader of the Party, gained control over the German Youth._

An order of 10 July 1934 set up a University Commission of the NSDAP under Hess; an Order of 18 July 1934 placed the NS German Student League directly under Hess; and an Order of 14 November 1934 delegated to the Student League exclusive jurisdiction over the political and ideological education of German students (_3132-PS_). A Hess Decree of 3 June 1936 established the NS Aid Fund for the Struggle in the Universities (_3203-PS_; see also _3132-PS_ and _1392-PS_).

The success of this entire program of legislation was described by Hitler as follows:

“In this Reich everybody who has a responsible position is a
National Socialist * * * Every institution of this Reich is
under the orders of the supreme political leadership * * * The
Party leads the Reich (_2715-P_S; see _1774-PS_ and _3163-PS_).

In order to enable the conspirators to buttress their power through the armed terror of the SA and SS, Hess, while not actually in control of these Party formations, nevertheless gave them active support. Thus, he was instrumental in establishing the Hitler Grant (a large fund contributed annually by heavy German industry under the chairmanship of Krupp) and in directing part thereof to the support of the SA and SS (_D-151_).

When several SA men were convicted for mistreatment of inmates of the Hohnstein concentration camp, two members of the jury which had voted the conviction were expelled from the party (_784-PS_).

Finally, when Himmler, Reich Leader of the SS, organized the SD, Hess issued an order establishing the SD as the sole political information service of the Nazi Party, its functions to be exercised through the SS (_3385-PS_).

Hess also sought to destroy the influence of the independent churches among the German people, in order to wipe out every opposition to the aims of the conspirators. Thus, Hess’s Chief of Staff, Bormann, issued numerous orders and communications from Hess’s office against the independent churches. Among these were the Secret Order of 27 July 1938 making clergymen ineligible for party offices (_113-PS_); the Party Directive of 14 July 1939 making the clergy and theology students ineligible for Party membership (_840-PS_); the letter of 22 February 1940 discussing ways and means of eliminating religious instruction from the schools (_098-PS_); the report of 25 April on the progressive substitution of National Socialist mottoes in place of morning prayers in the schools (_070-PS_); the letter to Rosenberg of 17 January 1940 concerning the undesirability of religious literature for members of the _Wehrmacht_ (_101-PS_); the instructions of 8 March 1940 against the further issuance of newsprint to confessional newspapers (_089-PS_); and the letter to the Minister of the Interior, in May 1938, agreeing to the invalidation of the Concordat between Austria and the Holy See (_675-PS_; _838-PS_ and _107-PS_).

D. _PREPARATION FOR WAR._

Hess was one of the members of the conspiracy who professed as early as 1933 the aim of complete world domination (_2385-PS_).

In pursuance of that aim Hess threw the power of the Party which he directed, behind the war preparations of the conspiracy. Hess himself described the Party, in this connection, as the mechanism with which to “organize and direct offensively and defensively the spiritual and political strength of the people” (_2426-PS_).

Hess’s tasks in the preparations for aggressive wars fell mainly into the fields of military preparedness, political planning, and fifth-column activities.

(1) _Rearmament._ Even before 1933 Hess took a personal interest in the secret military training program of the uniformed Party organizations (_1143-PS_).

After the conspirators had come to power, Hess was one of those who echoed the cry of “guns for butter” in his speeches (_2426-PS_).

Hess signed the law which reintroduced universal military conscription in Germany on 16 March 1935 (_1654-PS_). Hess admitted that signing this law was no mere formality for him, but rather the realization of one of his most important aims, when he declared in a speech to Army officers in 1937:

“When I spoke about conscription after the 16th of March 1935,
in what used to be the most radical industrial plant of Munich *
* * to thousands and thousands of the same workers who but a few
years before had been singing the Internationale, I was
interrupted again and again by such applause and cheers as I
would never have believed possible. That was the most beautiful
and at the same time the most moving demonstration of my life
(_3124-PS_).

When the Nazi conspirators were ready to launch their aggressive wars in the fall of 1938, Hess and the Party agencies under his control cooperated with the Army High Command in the mobilization of the German Army (_388-PS, Item 32_).

(2) _Political Planning for War._ When the Reich Defense Council was reorganized in September 1938, Hess became one of its members with the express assignment of assuring “the political direction of the nation” (_2261-PS_).

Hess was also made a member of the Ministers’ Council for the Defense of the Reich upon its creation in 1939. Here he continued to exercise an important war-planning function with the specific task of “guaranteeing the unity between Party and State” within that body (_2018-PS_; _2608-PS_).

Hess’s functions in the field of political planning for war were not limited to the domestic sphere. He was also a member of the Secret Cabinet Council formed to advise Hitler on foreign policy planning (_1377-PS_; _3189-PS_).

(3) _Fifth Column Activities._ Hess’ most important contribution to the conspirators’ preparations for aggressive war lay in his organization of the German fifth-columns abroad through the Foreign Organization (_Auslands Organisation_ (AO)) of the Nazi Party and its various affiliated semi-official organizations. Through these channels Hess succeeded in building up conspiratorial shock-troops in foreign countries, composed of citizens of these countries who were of German “racial stock.” These foreign citizens were incited by Hess to acts of treason against their country in furtherance of the plans of the conspiracy. It was the subversive activities of these fifth-column groups which prepared the way for the conspirators’ destruction of independence of many countries. Principal among these were Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.

As his chief instrument in this conspiratorial campaign Hess created the Foreign Organization of the Nazi Party on 3 October 1933. This office was placed directly under Hess, who from then on was known to take the greatest personal interest in its rapid development and expansion (_3258-PS_; _3401-PS_; _3254-PS_).

The Foreign Organization extended its activities not only to German citizens living abroad but to all persons allegedly of German ancestry regardless of their foreign citizenship. In the early years after the conspirators’ rise to power and up to 1937 this aim was openly admitted by the responsible heads of the Foreign Organization (_3258-PS_).

Hess announced that it was the task of the Foreign Organization to organize all persons of the German race who lived abroad and to turn them into active Nazi supporters, thus making them subservient to the purposes of the conspiracy. In his speech at the 1937 Congress of the Foreign Organization, Hess declared:

“You stand before me as a slice of the great German racial
community, the racial community which extends beyond the borders
of our Reich, for National Socialism has not only at home
created a national community transcending all classes and groups
in a way previously unknown, but it has also included German
racial comrades [_Volks-Genossen_] in foreign countries. It has
made them conscious and proud members of this racial community!
* * *

“Under the leadership of the Foreign Organization, Germandom
abroad is also becoming more and more _filled with the National
Socialist spirit_. The Foreign Organization, of the NSDAP has
brought together the Germans out there, who even long after the
seizure of power were disunited and split by class differences,
and joined them with Adolf Hitler’s Reich. The National
Socialist care for Germandom abroad is maintaining an enormous
number of Germans for the nation, who otherwise would be
absorbed as cultural fertilizer for other nations” (_3258-PS_).

The same principle was expressed bluntly by Gauleiter Ernst Bohle, head of the Foreign Organization of the NSDAP directly under Hess from 1933 to 1945, who stated in his address at the Nurnberg Party Congress of 1936:

“The Fuehrer had to come in order to hammer into all of us the
fact that the German cannot choose and may not choose whether or
not he will be German but that he was sent into this world by
God as a German, that God thereby had laid upon him as a German
duties of which he cannot divest himself without committing
treason to Providence. _Therefore we believe and we know that
the German everywhere_ is a _German_—whether he lives in the
Reich or in Japan, in France or in China or anywhere else in the
world. _Not countries or continents, not climate or environments
but blood and race determine the world of ideas of the German._”
(_3258-PS_).

Hess was also in control of all other semi-official organizations associated with the Foreign Organization in fifth-column work among foreign citizens of German ancestry, for the purpose of gaining foreign support for the conspiracy. Thus, by a Secret Circular of 3 February 1939, Hess ordered the consolidation of the undercover activities of all organizations active in the foreign field, subject to the central direction of SS Gruppenfuehrer Werner Lorenz, head of the _Volks-deutsche Mittelstelle_ (Central Agency for Racial Germans) (_837-PS_).

The two most important of these semi-official agencies were the VDA (League for Germandom Abroad) and the DAI (German Foreign Institute). The VDA was a vast world-wide organization giving financial support to various activities of German groups abroad without regard to their nationality. Its large funds were collected in Germany with the aid of the Nazi Government (_3258-PS_). The aim of the activities of the VDA was to establish a great German world empire of 100,000,000 inhabitants, containing all persons of German “racial stock” everywhere, including millions of American citizens (_3258-PS_). The DAI was a world-wide information intelligence and propaganda service (_3258-PS_).

Hess repeatedly stressed the importance of using Germans abroad for spreading Nazi propaganda (_3124-PS_).

The DAI also based its activities on the proposition that all persons of German ancestry belonged to the Nazi German Reich, though they held citizenship in foreign countries. This was stated by Nazi Minister-President Mergenthaler of Wuerttemberg in his address at the 1933 annual meeting of the DAI:

“The liberalist ideology which has been overcome dealt with the
formal concept of the citizen. We have gotten rid of that. Today
the blood-united German racial comrade stands in the center.
That is the new foundation upon which we must build * * *. Hence
I want to impress on the DAI: Join us therefore in taking care
that the spirit of National Socialism also becomes alive among
the German racial comrades in foreign countries so that streams
of energy may emanate from it.” (_3258-PS_).

At the annual meeting held by the DAI in 1937, Frick restated in his address the fundamental aim of this organization: to unite every person of German “racial stock” under the control of the Nazi conspirators.

“* * * the new Germany has recognized that its attention and
devotion to the welfare of the millions of Germans who have not
the fortune to owe political allegiance to Germany, but who are
condemned to live abroad, are not merely a matter of natural
sympathy and solidarity but are in a higher degree dictated by
the strong political and economic interests of the Reich.”
(_3258-PS_).

It is noteworthy that the DAI was closely affiliated with the German-American Bund, a subversive Nazi organization in the United States. The DAI’s official periodical, “Germandom Abroad” (_Deutschtum im Ausland_), was edited during the war by Walter Kappe, former press chief of the Bund (_3258-PS_). Walter Kappe and Fritz Gissibl, another former leader in the Bund, established on the premises of the DAI in Stuttgart an organization called “Comradeship U. S. A.” The purpose of this “Comradeship U. S. A.” was to maintain during the war an organization for all Nazi Party members who had been active in the Bund in the United States (_3258-PS_). Even before the outbreak of the war, in the spring of 1939, Walter Kappe had undertaken to collect a complete archive of Nazi activities in the U. S. on behalf of the DAI and the Nazi Party (_3258-PS_).

The success of this world-wide fifth column directed by Hess is now a matter of historical record. Hess himself guided the subversive foreign groups which he had created until the day when the conspirators were ready to annex the countries which they had undermined.

Thus, the annexation of Austria was principally due to the efforts of the Nazi Party’s work within that country under the orders of Hess. As early as 1934 Hess had appointed Reinthaler leader of the Nazi peasants in Austria, and thus placed him in a position to take over the leadership of the Nazi Fifth Column in Austria (_812-PS_). Hess took a major part in the negotiations carried on by Seyss-Inquart and other members of the conspiracy in preparation of the Anschluss (_3254-PS_; _3425-PS_). When on 12 March 1938 Germany invaded Austria, Hess, accompanied by Himmler, was the first member of the conspiracy to arrive in Vienna at noon on the same day (_L-292_). The next day Hess signed the decree by which the conspirators destroyed the independence of Austria (_2307-PS_; _3075-PS_).

Once the conspirators had achieved their aim, Hess did not hesitate to admit publicly that he had approved of the steps which led to the final subjection of Austria. On 24 July 1938 he addressed a meeting held on the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss by members of the 89th SS Regiment. He devoted the larger part of his speech to a justification of that assassination (_L-273_).

When the conspirators turned their attention to their next victim, Czechoslovakia, Hess was again in the forefront directing the German fifth-column in the Sudetenland. In his speech at the annual meeting of the Foreign Organization of the NSDAP on 28 August 1938, Hess declared that Nazi Germany was giving full backing to the demands of the Sudeten German agitators. What such support meant in fact became very clear when Hess pointed to the success of the Nazi policy in Austria (_3258-PS_). All through the summer of 1938 Hess was engaged in consultations with Karl H. Frank and Konrad Henlein, leaders of the Nazi Sudeten German Party (_3061-PS_).

A few months later Hess could mark up another success for his fifth-column. When the Munich Agreement forced Czechoslovakia to surrender the Sudeten territory to Germany, Hess went to Reichenberg, the capital of that district, as Hitler’s representative in order to accept the official incorporation of the Sudeten German Party into the Nazi Party on 5 November 1938. In his address on that occasion he emphasized repeatedly that the Nazi conspirators had been ready to go to war for the possession of the Sudetenland (_3204-PS_).

Hess also put his signature to the Act of 14 April 1939 setting up the government of the Sudetenland as an integral part of the Reich (_3076-PS_).

Later during the same year, after the conspirators had loosed their first aggressive war, Hess signed the laws incorporating first Danzig and then a large portion of Poland into the Reich (_3077-PS_; see also Decree 8 October 1939 (RGBl 1939, Part I, p. 2042); Decree of 12 October 1939, Part I, p. 2077).

When in July 1941 the Nazi conspirators occupied Greece, the members of the local Nazi Party were ready to take over as an auxiliary Army service (_3258-PS_).

Thus, wherever the conspirators sent their invading armies Hess’ fifth-column had prepared the soil.

E. _PARTICIPATION IN THE CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY._

Hess, as Deputy Leader of the Nazi Party, had the task of realizing its “ideological” program (_3200-PS_).

One of the demands of this conspiratorial program was the destruction of so-called inferior racial stock. Persons who suffered from hereditary insanity or other hereditary diseases were considered useless to the Nazi community. They were therefore to be killed or at least to be prevented from procreating their kind.

In order to carry out this plan Hess established a special Racial Policy Division on his Staff under Dr. Walter Gross, by his order of 17 November 1933. This Division was to “participate with the competent government agencies in all race and population measures” (_3322-PS_; _3163-PS_). In addition, other agencies of the Nazi Party, under Hess, actively cooperated in the administration of this criminal program (_D-181_; _842-PS_; _1969-PS_).

In 1937 Hess publicly claimed credit for having used his Party organization in order to gain the nation’s approval for compulsory sterilization (_3124-PS_; _3067-PS_).

More important still in the Nazi program were the persecution and extermination of religious and racial minorities. Hess vigorously propagated the doctrine of the superiority of the German race with which the conspirators sought to justify these persecutions (_3124-PS_).

The Nurnberg Laws, which constituted the legal basis of this campaign, were the work of the Party. This was solemnly announced by Hitler in the peroration of the address in which he announced these laws to the Reichstag in Nurnberg 15 September 1935:

“I now propose to the Reichstag the acceptance of those laws
which Party member Goering will read to you.

“The first and second laws fulfill the program of the National
Socialist Party in one important respect, and thereby pay a debt
of gratitude to the Movement under whose symbol Germany has
regained her freedom.

“The second law constitutes an attempt to solve by legislation a
problem, the final solution of which, if it should again fail,
will then have to be referred by law to the National Socialist
Party. All three laws are backed by the National Socialist Party
and with it and behind it by the German Nation.

“I ask you to accept these laws.” (_3419-PS_).

Hess, along with Frick, was placed in charge of the administration of the Nurnberg Laws and of the issuance of ordnances and regulations thereunder (_1416-PS_; _3179-PS_; _1417-PS_; _2124-PS_).

With the launching of their aggressive wars, the Nazi conspirators embarked on the execution of their plan to exterminate the non-German populations which fell into their hands. This plan, especially insofar as it concerned the Jews, had been bluntly revealed by Hitler well in advance in his address to the Reichstag on 30 January 1939:

“If inter-national finance-Jewry inside and outside Europe
should succeed in throwing the nations into another _World War_,
the result will not be the Bolshevization of the earth and thus
the victory of Jewry, but the _destruction of the Jewish race in
Europe_!” (_3418-PS_).

In support of this campaign, which was continued by his co-conspirators after his flight to Scotland, Hess issued an order through his Party Chancery on behalf of the SS, which had been put in charge of the extermination program. In this order, Hess demanded the support of all Party members for the recruiting drive of the SS Army Corps (Waffen SS). Hess added that these SS formations were scheduled for service in the Eastern occupied areas, where their “special training in race matters” could be used to best advantage (_3245-PS_).

By a series of further legislative and administrative measures, Hess participated in the establishment of a special regime in Poland which deprived the inhabitants of that country of their legal protection, and thus initiated their wholesale extermination (_R-139_; _R-96_; _R-141_).

In pursuance of the same policy Hess signed the decree which forced certain groups of Polish citizens to surrender their original national allegiance and to accept German citizenship (Decree of 24 October 1939, RGBl 1939, Part I, p. 2077).

Hess also signed the decree establishing the German Racial Register, under which Allied nationals of German stock were registered and then compelled to accept German nationality and to remove to German territory (_2917-PS_).

Hess also used Party channels in order to incite the German people to violations of the rules of war. Thus, he ordered that the population be instructed to seize Allied parachutists or to “liquidate them” (_062-PS_).

Hess also issued instructions to enforce Hitler’s orders prohibiting the reconstruction of the city of Warsaw or of any of Poland’s destroyed industries (_EC-411_).

On 10 May 1941, Hess flew to Scotland for the purpose of seeking an end to the war with England, and support for Germany’s demands against Russia. Upon his arrival, he was incarcerated and thus forcibly eliminated from further participation in the crimes of the conspiracy (_D-614_).

F. _CONCLUSION._