Chapter II: Part 2

THE PRESIDENT: I assume that there are no further questions at the present stage which Counsel for the Defense wish to ask. They will understand that if at any stage in the future they have inquiries which they wish to make, they should address them to the General Secretary and they will then be considered by the Tribunal.

The Tribunal will now adjourn until 2 o’clock, when the application on behalf of the Defendant Streicher will be heard.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 1400 hours._]

THE PRESIDENT: I understand that there are some counsel for the defendants present here today, who were not here yesterday and who may not understand the use of these earphones and dials. Therefore, I explain to them that Number 1 on the dial will enable them to hear the evidence in the language in which it is given, Number 2 will be in English, Number 3 in Russian, Number 4 in French, and Number 5 in German.

I will now read the judgment of the Tribunal in the matter of the application of counsel for Gustav Krupp von Bohlen for postponement of the proceedings against the defendant.

Counsel for Gustav Krupp von Bohlen has applied to the Tribunal for postponement of the proceedings against this defendant on the ground that his physical and mental condition are such that he is incapable of understanding the proceedings against him and of presenting any defense that he may have.

On November 5 the Tribunal appointed a medical commission composed of the following physicians:

R. E. Tunbridge, Brigadier, O.B.E., M.D., M.Sc., F.R.C.P., Consulting Physician, British Army of the Rhine.

René Piedelièvre, M.D., Professor on the Faculty of Medicine of Paris; Expert for the Tribunal.

Nicholas Kurshakov, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Medical Institute of Moscow; Chief Internist, Commissariat of Public Health, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Eugene Sepp, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Neurology, Medical Institute of Moscow; Member, Academy of Medical Science, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Eugene Krasnushkin, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Medical Institute of Moscow.

Bertram Schaffner, Major, Medical Corps, Neuropsychiatrist, Army of the United States.

The commission has reported to the Tribunal that it is unanimously of the opinion that Gustav Krupp von Bohlen suffers from senile softening of the brain; that his mental condition is such that he is incapable of understanding court procedure and of understanding or cooperating in interrogations; that his physical state is such that he cannot be moved without endangering his life; and that his condition is unlikely to improve but rather will deteriorate further.

The Tribunal accepts the findings of the medical commission, to which exception is taken neither by the Prosecution nor by the Defense.

Article 12 of the Charter authorizes the trial of a defendant _in absentia_ if found by the Tribunal to be “necessary in the interests of justice.” It is contended on behalf of the Chief Prosecutors that in the interest of justice, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen should be tried _in absentia_, despite his physical and mental condition.

It is the decision of the Tribunal that upon the facts presented the interests of justice do not require that Gustav Krupp von Bohlen be tried _in absentia._ The Charter of the Tribunal envisages a fair trial, in which the Chief Prosecutors may present the evidence in support of an indictment and the defendants may present such defense as they may believe themselves to have. Where nature rather than flight or contumacy has rendered such a trial impossible, it is not in accordance with justice that the case should proceed in the absence of a defendant.

For the foregoing reasons, the Tribunal orders that:

1. The application for postponement of the proceedings against Gustav Krupp von Bohlen is granted.

2. The charges in the Indictment against Gustav Krupp von Bohlen shall be retained upon the docket of the Tribunal for trial hereafter, if the physical and mental condition of the defendant should permit.

Further questions raised by the Chief Prosecutors, including the question of adding another name to the Indictment, will be considered later.

The Tribunal will now hear the application on behalf of the Defendant Streicher.

Will the Counsel state his name?

DR. HANS MARX (Counsel for Defendant Streicher): Your Honors, as Counsel for the Defendant Julius Streicher, I took the liberty some time ago of requesting a postponement in the opening date of the Trial, because the time at my disposal for making preparations appeared to me insufficient, in view of the importance of the case.

This morning, however, the President of the Court outlined the course of the proceedings of the Trial and his explanations have made it quite clear that the Defense will have adequate time at its disposal to continue preparations for the case of each client even after the opening of the Trial. Any objections on my part are thereby removed, and accordingly I withdraw my application as unsubstantiated.

Your Honors, may I use this opportunity to make a suggestion with regard to the case of the Defendant Streicher.

In view of the exceptional nature of the case and of the difficulties facing the Defense in handling it, may I suggest that the Tribunal consider whether a psychiatric examination of the Defendant Streicher would not be proper. Defense Counsel should have at his disposal all the evidence on the nature, personality, and motives of the defendant which appears necessary to enable him to form a clear picture of his client.

And this, of course, is also true of the Tribunal.

In my own interests I consider it essential that such an examination be authorized by the Tribunal. I emphasize particularly that this is not a formal motion: “It is not a motion but a proposal.” [_Note: These words were spoken in English._] I deem it necessary as a precaution in my own interests, since my client does not desire an examination of this sort, and is of the opinion that he is mentally completely normal. I myself cannot determine that; it must be decided by a psychiatrist.

I, therefore, ask the Tribunal to consider this proposal, and, if the suggestion, under the circumstances, appears both requisite and necessary, to choose and appoint a competent expert to conduct the examination.

That is what I wished to say before the opening of the proceedings.

THE PRESIDENT: One moment. It appears to the Tribunal that such suggestions as you have now made, ought to be in the form of a formal motion or application and that it ought to be in writing and that if, as you say, the Defendant Streicher does not wish it or is unwilling that such an examination should be made, then your application ought to state in writing that the Defendant Streicher refuses to sign the application.

If you wish to make such a motion you are at liberty to make it, in writing.

DR. MARX: Mr. President, may I be allowed to say briefly that it is precisely because the defendant does object to my submitting such an application that I feel obliged to make this request here publicly, and inform the Tribunal that I am bound by my client’s attitude and therefore not in a position to submit this suggestion in writing. Without my client’s permission I cannot make this suggestion in writing, and I am consequently forced to convey it to the Tribunal verbally, since I myself consider it necessary as a precaution in my own interest.

THE PRESIDENT: But you understand from what I say to you, that if you wish to make this suggestion, you must make the motion in writing and you can, on that writing, state that the Defendant Streicher is not prepared to sign the application.

DR. MARX: Thank you, Mr. President, for your statement; I shall not fail to act, as you suggest.

THE PRESIDENT: Do the Chief Prosecutors wish to make any statement?

COLONEL ROBERT G. STOREY (Executive Trial Counsel for the United States): May it please the Court:

The position of Counsel for Defendant Streicher emphasizes a suggestion made by the Prosecutors this morning, namely, that all motions and all requests from Counsel be reduced to writing, prior to submission to the Court and the suggestions, in writing, were filed with the General Secretary since the meeting this morning.

While I am on my feet, if it may please the Court, may I make a brief statement in connection with the efforts of the Prosecutors to furnish to the Defense Counsel evidence and documents in which they may be interested, if that meets with the approval of the Court.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

COL. STOREY: With reference to Defendant Streicher’s second point in his motion, namely, that the Prosecutors be required to furnish certain documents, they are being furnished, and will be furnished in the future.

Secondly, with reference to the film on concentration camps, which he requests be shown to Defense Counsel in advance of the time of presenting the film, this request will also be complied with by the Prosecutors.

Also, for the information of the Defense Counsel, there has been established in Room 54, in this Courthouse, what is known as the Defendants’ Information Center, operated jointly by the four Chief Prosecutors. In that room there has been deposited a list of documents upon which the Prosecution relies. Secondly, if further documents are relied upon by the prosecutors, lists will be furnished to Defense Counsel before they are introduced into evidence or offered to the Court, and also, they will have the opportunity to examine copies of those documents in their own language.

May I also suggest that most Defense Counsel have availed themselves of that privilege and those who had not, have been notified and they are now, as of this date, all of them, making use of the facilities provided, which include rooms for conferences, typewriters, when necessary, and other assistance.

I want to make that statement for the information of the Defense Counsel.

THE PRESIDENT: I understand the Soviet Chief Prosecutor wishes to address the Tribunal.

COL. POKROVSKY: In connection with the evidence just submitted to the Tribunal by Counsel representing the interests of Defendant Streicher, I consider it my duty to inform the Tribunal that during the last interrogation made by the Delegation of the Soviet Union, the Defendant Streicher, about whom it is specifically said in the Indictment, Counts One and Four, that he had incited to the persecution of the Jews, stated that he had been speaking from a Zionist point of view.

This declaration or, more precisely, this testimony, immediately produced certain doubts as to the mental stability of the defendant.

It is not the first time that persons, now standing their trial, have attempted to delude us about their mental condition. I refer in particular to the Defendant Hess. In the case of Hess the Tribunal, to my knowledge already possesses. . . .

THE PRESIDENT: One moment. We are not hearing any application with reference to Streicher’s sanity now, nor any application with reference to Hess. We have simply informed Counsel for Streicher that if he wishes to make an application in respect of his defendant’s sanity or mental condition, he must make that application in writing. If he does make such an application in writing you will have full opportunity of opposing the application.

COL. POKROVSKY: What I have in mind is not to offer an opinion on the deductions and the petition of the Defense, but to inform the Tribunal of a fact which may cause much complication if we do not act on it immediately. Seeing that the Tribunal has at its disposal a number of competent medical personnel, it would appear to me most expedient that the Tribunal should entrust these specialists with the examination of the Defendant Streicher in order to establish definitely whether he is or is not in full possession of his mental capacities.

If we do not do so now, the necessity may arise in the course of the Trial and if the question of Streicher’s sanity arises after the beginning of the Trial, then it may delay the proceedings and impede our work. If the Tribunal deems my suggestion in order, we would, before the Trial starts, have sufficient time to request from this commission of specialists a statement on his mental condition.

THE PRESIDENT: One moment. If I rightly understand what the Chief Soviet Prosecutor says, it is this: That if any question of the sanity of the Defendant Streicher arises it will be convenient that he should be examined now at once whilst the medical officers of the Soviet Union are in Nuremberg. If that is so, then if you think it is more convenient that Streicher should be examined by doctors at the present moment on account of the presence of the distinguished doctors from the Soviet Union being in Nuremberg, you are at liberty to make a written motion to that effect to the Tribunal at any time.

Do any of the other Chief Prosecutors wish to address the Tribunal?

(There was no response.)

Then the Tribunal will deal with the application of the Defendant Streicher as follows:

His application for postponement, which is numbered 1 on his written application, has been withdrawn. His other two applications, numbered 2 and 3, which are agreed to by the Chief Prosecutors, are granted.

The Tribunal will now adjourn.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 17 November 1945 at 1000 hours._]

PRELIMINARY HEARING
Saturday, 17 November 1945

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal would like to know whether the Chief Prosecutors wish to make a statement with reference to the Defendant Bormann.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE (Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the United Kingdom): May it please the Tribunal, as the Tribunal are aware, the Defendant Bormann was included in the Indictment, which was filed before the Tribunal. There has been no change in the position with regard to the Defendant Bormann; nor has any further information come to the notice of the Chief Prosecutors. I think that the Tribunal are aware of the state of our information when the Indictment was filed, but it might be as well, if the Tribunal approves, if I explained what was the state of our information at the time of the filing of the Indictment, which is also the state of our information today.

There is evidence that Hitler and Bormann were together, with a number of Nazi officials, in the Chancellery area in Berlin on 30 April 1945, and were, at one stage on that day, together in Hitler’s underground air raid shelter in the Chancellery gardens.

On 1 May Bormann and other Germans tried to break out of the Chancellery area in a tank. They got as far as the river Spree and tried to cross a bridge over it. A hand grenade was thrown into the tank by Russian soldiers. Three members of the party who were with Bormann in this tank have been interrogated. Two think that Bormann was killed, and the third that he was wounded. The position is, therefore, that the Prosecution cannot say that the matter is beyond probability that Bormann is dead. There is still the clear possibility that he is alive.

In these circumstances I should submit that he comes within the exact words of Article 12 of the Charter:

“The Tribunal shall have the right to take proceedings against a
person charged with crimes set out in Article 6 of this Charter
in his absence, if he has not been found.”

In other words, it is not necessary to hold the man in these circumstances. The Tribunal laid down in its Rules of Procedure in Rule 2 (b) the procedure applicable to this situation:

“Any individual Defendant not in custody shall be informed of
the Indictment against him and of his right to receive the
documents specified in sub-paragraph (a) above, by notice in
such form and manner as the Tribunal may prescribe.”

The Tribunal prescribed that notice to the Defendant Bormann should be given in the following manner:

The notice should be read over the radio once a week for 4 weeks, the first reading to be during the week of 22 October. It should also be published in four separate issues of a newspaper circulated in the home city of Martin Bormann.

The broadcast was given in the weeks after 22 October, as ordered, over Radio Hamburg and Radio Langenberg, that is, Cologne. The Defendant Bormann’s last place of residence was in Berlin. The notice was, therefore, published in four Berlin papers: The _Tägliche Rundschau_, the _Berliner Zeitung_, _Der Berliner_, and the _Allgemeine Zeitung_ for the 4 weeks which the Tribunal had ordered.

In my respectful submission, the Charter and Rules of Procedure have been complied with. The Tribunal, therefore, has the right to take proceedings _in absentia_ under Article 12. It is, of course, a matter for the Tribunal to decide whether it will exercise that right.

The Chief Prosecutors submit, however, that there is no change in the position since they indicted Bormann and that, unless the Tribunal has any different view, this is a proper case for trial _in absentia_.

I am authorized to make this statement not only on behalf of the British Delegation, but on behalf of the United States and the French Republic. I consulted my friend and colleague, Colonel Pokrovsky, yesterday and he had to take instructions on the matter, and I notice he is here today. I haven’t had the opportunity of speaking to him this morning and no doubt he will be able to tell the Tribunal any thing if he so desires.

I hope that that explains the basis of the matter to the Tribunal. If there are any other facts, I should be only too happy to answer any point.

THE PRESIDENT: It is suggested to me that you should file with the General Secretary proof of the publication to which you have referred.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: With proof of the publication! If it please My Lord, that will be done.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Sir David. Then I will ask the Chief Prosecutor for the Soviet Union if he wishes to address the Tribunal.

COL. POKROVSKY: I thank the Tribunal for their wish to hear the opinion of the Soviet Delegation. I shall avail myself of the privilege granted by the Tribunal to express the complete concurrence of the Soviet Delegation, and to inform you of the attitude adopted by my colleagues where Bormann is concerned. We consider that the Tribunal has every justification, under Article 12 of the Charter, to accept in evidence all the material relative to Bormann’s case and to start proceedings against him in his absence.

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn for a short time and hopes it will be able to give its decision shortly.

[_A recess was taken._]

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal has decided that in pursuance of Article 12 of the Charter, it will try the Defendant Bormann in his absence, and it announces that Counsel will be appointed to defend the Defendant Bormann.

The Tribunal will now adjourn.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 1500 hours._]

THE PRESIDENT: The motion to amend the indictment by adding the name of Alfried Krupp has been considered by the Tribunal in all its aspects and the application is rejected.

The Tribunal will now adjourn.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 20 November 1945 at 1000 hours._]

FIRST DAY
Tuesday, 20 November 1945

_Morning Session_

THE PRESIDENT: Before the defendants in this case are called upon to make their pleas to the Indictment which has been lodged against them, and in which they are charged with Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity, and with a Common Plan or Conspiracy to commit those crimes, it is the wish of the Tribunal that I should make a very brief statement on behalf of the Tribunal.

This International Military Tribunal has been established pursuant to the Agreement of London, dated the 8th of August 1945, and the Charter of the Tribunal as annexed thereto, and the purpose for which the Tribunal has been established is stated in Article 1 of the Charter to be the just and prompt trial and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis.

The Signatories to the Agreement and Charter are the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Government of the United States of America, the Provisional Government of the French Republic, and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The Committee of the Chief Prosecutors, appointed by the four Signatories, have settled the final designation of the war criminals to be tried by the Tribunal, and have approved the Indictment on which the present defendants stand charged here today.

On Thursday, the 18th of October 1945, in Berlin, the Indictment was lodged with the Tribunal and a copy of that Indictment in the German language has been furnished to each defendant, and has been in his possession for more than 30 days.

All the defendants are represented by counsel. In almost all cases the counsel appearing for the defendants have been chosen by the defendants themselves, but in cases where counsel could not be obtained the Tribunal has itself selected suitable counsel agreeable to the defendant.

The Tribunal has heard with great satisfaction of the steps which have been taken by the Chief Prosecutors to make available to defending counsel the numerous documents upon which the Prosecution rely, with the aim of giving to the defendants every possibility for a just defense.

The Trial which is now about to begin is unique in the history of the jurisprudence of the world and it is of supreme importance to millions of people all over the globe. For these reasons, there is laid upon everybody who takes any part in this Trial a solemn responsibility to discharge their duties without fear or favor, in accordance with the sacred principles of law and justice.

The four Signatories having invoked the judicial process, it is the duty of all concerned to see that the Trial in no way departs from those principles and traditions which alone give justice its authority and the place it ought to occupy in the affairs of all civilized states.

This Trial is a public Trial in the fullest sense of those words, and I must, therefore, remind the public that the Tribunal will insist upon the complete maintenance of order and decorum, and will take the strictest measures to enforce it. It only remains for me to direct, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter, that the Indictment shall now be read.

MR. SIDNEY S. ALDERMAN (Associate Trial Counsel for the United States): May it please the Tribunal:

I. The United States of America, the French Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by the undersigned, Robert H. Jackson, François de Menthon, Hartley Shawcross, and R. A. Rudenko, duly appointed to represent their respective governments in the investigation of the charges against and the prosecution of the major war criminals, pursuant to the Agreement of London dated 8 August 1945, and the Charter of this Tribunal annexed thereto, hereby accuse as guilty, in the respects hereinafter set forth, of Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity, and of a Common Plan or Conspiracy to commit those Crimes, all as defined in the Charter of the Tribunal, and accordingly name as defendants in this cause and as indicted on the Counts hereinafter set out:

Hermann Wilhelm Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Robert Ley, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Walter Funk, Hjalmar Schacht, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Martin Bormann, Franz von Papen, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Albert Speer, Constantin von Neurath and Hans Fritzsche, individually and as members of any of the groups or organizations next hereinafter named.

II. The following are named as groups or organizations (since dissolved) which should be declared criminal by reason of their aims and the means used for the accomplishment thereof, and in connection with the conviction of such of the named defendants as were members thereof:

Die Reichsregierung (Reich Cabinet); das Korps der Politischen Leiter der Nationalsozialistischen Deutschen Arbeiterpartei (Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party); die Schutzstaffeln der Nationalsozialistischen Arbeiterpartei (commonly known as the “SS”) and including the Sicherheitsdienst (commonly known as the “SD”); die Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police, commonly known as the “Gestapo”); die Sturmabteilungen der NSDAP (commonly known as the “SA”); and the General Staff and the High Command of the German Armed Forces. The identity and membership of the groups or organizations referred to in the foregoing titles are hereinafter in Appendix B more particularly defined.

COUNT ONE—THE COMMON PLAN OR CONSPIRACY. Reference: the Charter, Article 6, especially Article 6 (a).

III. _Statement of the Offense._

All the defendants, with divers other persons, during a period of years preceding 8 May 1945, participated as leaders, organizers, instigators, or accomplices in the formulation or execution of a Common Plan or Conspiracy to commit, or which involved the commission of, Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity, as defined in the Charter of this Tribunal, and, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter, are individually responsible for their own acts and for all acts committed by any persons in the execution of such plan and conspiracy. The Common Plan or Conspiracy embraced the commission of Crimes against Peace, in that the defendants planned, prepared, initiated, and waged wars of aggression, which were also wars in violation of international treaties, agreements, or assurances. In the development and course of the Common Plan or Conspiracy it came to embrace the commission of War Crimes, in that it contemplated, and the defendants determined upon and carried out, ruthless wars against countries and populations, in violation of the rules and customs of war, including as typical and systematic means by which the wars were prosecuted, murder, ill-treatment, deportation for slave labor and for other purposes of civilian populations of occupied territories, murder and ill-treatment of prisoners of war and of persons on the High Seas, the taking and killing of hostages, the plunder of public and private property, the wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages, and devastation not justified by military necessity. The Common Plan or Conspiracy contemplated and came to embrace as typical and systematic means, and the defendants determined upon and committed, Crimes against Humanity, both within Germany and within occupied territories, including murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against civilian populations before and during the war, and persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, in execution of the plan for preparing and prosecuting aggressive or illegal wars, many of such acts and persecutions being violations of the domestic laws of the countries where perpetrated.

IV. _Particulars of the Nature and Development of the Common Plan or Conspiracy._

(A) The Nazi Party as the central core of the Common Plan or Conspiracy.

In 1921 Adolf Hitler became the supreme leader or Führer of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party), also known as the Nazi Party, which had been founded in Germany in 1920. He continued as such throughout the period covered by this Indictment. The Nazi Party, together with certain of its subsidiary organizations, became the instrument of cohesion among the defendants and their co-conspirators and an instrument for the carrying out of the aims and purposes of their conspiracy. Each defendant became a member of the Nazi Party and of the conspiracy, with knowledge of their aims and purposes, or, with such knowledge, became an accessory to their aims and purposes at some stage of the development of the conspiracy.

(B) Common objectives and methods of conspiracy.

The aims and purposes of the Nazi Party and of the defendants and divers other persons from time to time associated as leaders, members, supporters, or adherents of the Nazi Party (hereinafter called collectively the “Nazi conspirators”) were, or came to be, to accomplish the following by any means deemed opportune, including unlawful means, and contemplating ultimate resort to threat of force, force, and aggressive war: (1) to abrogate and overthrow the Treaty of Versailles and its restrictions upon the military armament and activity of Germany; (2) to acquire the territories lost by Germany as the result of the World War of 1914-18 and other territories in Europe asserted by the Nazi conspirators to be occupied principally by so-called “racial Germans”; (3) to acquire still further territories in continental Europe and elsewhere claimed by the Nazi conspirators to be required by the “racial Germans” as “Lebensraum,” or living space, all at the expense of neighboring and other countries. The aims and purposes of the Nazi conspirators were not fixed or static, but evolved and expanded as they acquired progressively greater power and became able to make more effective application of threats of force and threats of aggressive war. When their expanding aims and purposes became finally so great as to provoke such strength of resistance as could be overthrown only by armed force and aggressive war, and not simply by the opportunistic methods theretofore used, such as fraud, deceit, threats, intimidation, fifth-column activities, and propaganda, the Nazi conspirators deliberately planned, determined upon and launched their aggressive wars and wars in violation of international treaties, agreements, and assurances by the phases and steps hereinafter more particularly described.

(C) Doctrinal techniques of the Common Plan or Conspiracy.

To incite others to join in the Common Plan or Conspiracy, and as a means of securing for the Nazi conspirators their highest degree of control over the German community, they put forth, disseminated, and exploited certain doctrines, among others, as follows:

1. That persons of so-called “German blood” (as specified by the Nazi conspirators) were a “master race” and were accordingly entitled to subjugate, dominate, or exterminate other “races” and peoples;

2. That the German people should be ruled under the Führerprinzip (Leadership Principle) according to which power was to reside in a Führer from whom sub-leaders were to derive authority in a hierarchical order, each sub-leader to owe unconditional obedience to his immediate superior but to be absolute in his own sphere of jurisdiction; and the power of the leadership was to be unlimited, extending to all phases of public and private life;

3. That war was a noble and necessary activity of Germans;

4. That the leadership of the Nazi Party, as the sole bearer of the foregoing and other doctrines of the Nazi Party, was entitled to shape the structure, policies, and practices of the German State and all related institutions, to direct and supervise the activities of all individuals within the State, and to destroy all opponents.

(D) The acquiring of totalitarian control of Germany: political.

1. First steps in acquisition of control of State machinery:

In order to accomplish their aims and purposes, the Nazi conspirators prepared to seize totalitarian control over Germany to assure that no effective resistance against them could arise within Germany itself. After the failure of the Munich Putsch of 1923 aimed at the overthrow of the Weimar Republic by direct action, the Nazi conspirators set out through the Nazi Party to undermine and capture the German Government by “legal” forms supported by terrorism. They created and utilized, as a Party formation, Die Sturmabteilungen (SA), a semi-military, voluntary organization of young men trained for and committed to the use of violence, whose mission was to make the Party the master of the streets.

2. Control acquired:

On 30 January 1933 Hitler became Chancellor of the German Republic. After the Reichstag fire of 28 February 1933, clauses of the Weimar constitution guaranteeing personal liberty, freedom of speech, of the press, of association, and assembly were suspended. The Nazi conspirators secured the passage by the Reichstag of a “Law for the Protection of the People and the Reich” giving Hitler and the members of his then cabinet plenary powers of legislation. The Nazi conspirators retained such powers after having changed the members of the cabinet. The conspirators caused all political parties except the Nazi Party to be prohibited. They caused the Nazi Party to be established as a para-governmental organization with extensive and extraordinary privileges.

3. Consolidation of control:

Thus possessed of the machinery of the German State, the Nazi conspirators set about the consolidation of their position of power within Germany, the extermination of potential internal resistance, and the placing of the German nation on a military footing,

(a) The Nazi conspirators reduced the Reichstag to a body of their own nominees and curtailed the freedom of popular elections throughout the country. They transformed the several states, provinces, and municipalities, which had formerly exercised semi-autonomous powers, into hardly more than administrative organs of the central Government. They united the offices of the President and the Chancellor in the person of Hitler, instituted a widespread purge of civil servants, and severely restricted the independence of the judiciary and rendered it subservient to Nazi ends. The conspirators greatly enlarged existing State and Party organizations, established a network of new State and Party organizations, and “co-ordinated” State agencies with the Nazi Party and its branches and affiliates, with the result that German life was dominated by Nazi doctrine and practice and progressively mobilized for the accomplishment of their aims.

(b) In order to make their rule secure from attack and to instill fear in the hearts of the German people, the Nazi conspirators established and extended a system of terror against opponents and supposed or suspected opponents of the regime. They imprisoned such persons without judicial process, holding them in “protective custody” and concentration camps, and subjected them to persecution, degradation, despoilment, enslavement, torture, and murder. These concentration camps were established early in 1933 under the direction of the Defendant Göring and expanded as a fixed part of the terroristic policy and method of the conspirators and used by them for the commission of the Crimes against Humanity hereinafter alleged. Among the principal agencies utilized in the perpetration of these crimes were the SS and the Gestapo, which, together with other favored branches or agencies of the State and Party, were permitted to operate without restraint of law.

(c) The Nazi conspirators conceived that, in addition to the suppression of distinctively political opposition, it was necessary to suppress or exterminate certain other movements or groups which they regarded as obstacles to their retention of total control in Germany and to the aggressive aims of the conspiracy abroad. Accordingly:

(1) The Nazi conspirators destroyed the free trade unions in Germany by confiscating their funds and properties, persecuting their leaders, prohibiting their activities, and supplanting them by an affiliated Party organization. The Leadership Principle was introduced into industrial relations, the entrepreneur becoming the leader and the workers becoming his followers. Thus any potential resistance of the workers was frustrated and the productive labor capacity of the German nation was brought under the effective control of the conspirators.

(2) The Nazi conspirators, by promoting beliefs and practices incompatible with Christian teaching, sought to subvert the influence of the churches over the people and in particular over the youth of Germany. They avowed their aim to eliminate the Christian churches in Germany and sought to substitute therefore Nazi institutions and Nazi beliefs and pursued a program of persecution of priests, clergy, and members of monastic orders whom they deemed opposed to their purposes, and confiscated church property.

(3) The persecution by the Nazi conspirators of pacifist groups, including religious movements dedicated to pacifism, was particularly relentless and cruel.

(d) Implementing their “master race” policy, the conspirators joined in a program of relentless persecution of the Jews, designed to exterminate them. Annihilation of the Jews became an official State policy, carried out both by official action and by incitements to mob and individual violence. The conspirators openly avowed their purpose. For example, the Defendant Rosenberg stated: “Anti-Semitism is the unifying element of the reconstruction of Germany.” On another occasion he also stated:

“Germany will regard the Jewish question as solved only after
the very last Jew has left the greater German living
space. . . . Europe will have its Jewish question solved only
after the very last Jew has left the continent.”

The Defendant Ley declared:

“We swear we are not going to abandon the struggle until the
last Jew in Europe has been exterminated and is actually dead.
It is not enough to isolate the Jewish enemy of mankind—the Jew
has got to be exterminated.”

On another occasion he also declared:

“The second German secret weapon is anti-Semitism, because if it
is consistently pursued by Germany, it will become a universal
problem which all nations will be forced to consider.”

The Defendant Streicher declared:

“The sun will not shine on the nations of the earth until the
last Jew is dead.”

These avowals and incitements were typical of the declarations of the Nazi conspirators throughout the course of their conspiracy. The program of action against the Jews included disfranchisement, stigmatization, denial of civil liberties, subjecting their persons and property to violence, deportation, enslavement, enforced labor, starvation, murder and mass extermination. The extent to which the conspirators succeeded in their purpose can only be estimated, but the annihilation was substantially complete in many localities of Europe. Of the 9,600,000 Jews who lived in the parts of Europe under Nazi domination, it is conservatively estimated that 5,700,000 have disappeared, most of them deliberately put to death by the Nazi conspirators. Only remnants of the Jewish population of Europe remain.

(e) In order to make the German people amenable to their will, and to prepare them psychologically for war, the Nazi conspirators reshaped the educational system and particularly the education and training of the German youth. The Leadership Principle was introduced into the schools, and the Party and affiliated organizations were given wide supervisory powers over education. The Nazi conspirators imposed a supervision of all cultural activities, controlled the dissemination of information and the expression of opinion within Germany as well as the movement of intelligence of all kinds from and into Germany, and created a vast propaganda machine.

(f) The Nazi conspirators placed a considerable number of their dominated organizations on a progressively militarized footing with a view to the rapid transformation and use of such organizations whenever necessary as instruments of war.

(E) The acquiring of totalitarian control in Germany: economic; and the economic planning and mobilization for aggressive war.

Having gained political power, the conspirators organized Germany’s economy to give effect to their political aims.

1. In order to eliminate the possibility of resistance in the economic sphere, they deprived labor of its rights of free industrial and political association as particularized in paragraph (D) 3 (c) (1) herein.

2. They used organizations of German business as instruments of economic mobilization for war.

3. They directed Germany’s economy towards preparation and equipment of the military machine. To this end they directed finance, capital investment, and foreign trade.

4. The Nazi conspirators, and in particular the industrialists among them, embarked upon a huge re-armament program and set out to produce and develop huge quantities of materials of war and to create a powerful military potential.

5. With the object of carrying through the preparation for war the Nazi conspirators set up a series of administrative agencies and authorities. For example, in 1936 they established for this purpose the office of the Four Year Plan with the Defendant Göring as Plenipotentiary, vesting it with overriding control over Germany’s economy. Furthermore, on 28 August 1939, immediately before launching their aggression against Poland, they appointed the Defendant Funk Plenipotentiary for Economics; and on 30 August 1939 they set up the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich to act as a War Cabinet.

(F) Utilization of Nazi control for foreign aggression.

1. Status of the conspiracy by the middle of 1933 and projected plans.

By the middle of the year 1933 the Nazi conspirators, having acquired governmental control over Germany, were in a position to enter upon further and more detailed planning with particular relationship to foreign policy. Their plan was to re-arm and to reoccupy and fortify the Rhineland, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and other treaties, in order to acquire military strength and political bargaining power to be used against other nations.

2. The Nazi conspirators decided that for their purpose the Treaty of Versailles must definitely be abrogated and specific plans were made by them and put into operation by 7 March 1936, all of which opened the way for the major aggressive steps to follow, as hereinafter set forth. In the execution of this phase of the conspiracy the Nazi conspirators did the following acts:

(a) They led Germany to enter upon a course of secret rearmament from 1933 to March 1935, including the training of military personnel and the production of munitions of war, and the building of an air force.

(b) On 14 October 1933 they led Germany to leave the International Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations.

(c) On 10 March 1935 the Defendant Göring announced that Germany was building a military air force.

(d) On 16 March 1935 the Nazi conspirators promulgated a law for universal military service, in which they stated the peace time strength of the German Army would be fixed at 500,000 men.

(e) On 21 May 1935 they falsely announced to the world, with intent to deceive and allay fears of aggressive intentions, that they would respect the territorial limitations of the Versailles Treaty and comply with the Locarno Pacts.

(f) On 7 March 1936 they reoccupied and fortified the Rhineland, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the Rhine Pact of Locarno of 16 October 1925, and falsely announced to the world that “we have no territorial demands to make in Europe.”

3. Aggressive action against Austria and Czechoslovakia.

(a) The 1936-38 phase of the plan: planning for the assault on Austria and Czechoslovakia.

The Nazi conspirators next entered upon the specific planning for the acquisition of Austria and Czechoslovakia, realizing it would be necessary, for military reasons, first to seize Austria before assaulting Czechoslovakia. On 21 May 1935 in a speech to the Reichstag, Hitler stated that:

“Germany neither intends, nor wishes to interfere in the
internal affairs of Austria, to annex Austria or to conclude an
Anschluss.”

On 1 May 1936, within 2 months after the re-occupation of the Rhineland, Hitler stated:

“The lie goes forth again that Germany tomorrow or the day after
will fall upon Austria or Czechoslovakia.”

Thereafter, the Nazi conspirators caused a treaty to be entered into between Austria and Germany on 11 July 1936, Article I of which stated that:

“The German Government recognizes the full sovereignty of the
Federated State of Austria in the spirit of the pronouncements
of the German Führer and Chancellor of 21 May 1935.”

Meanwhile, plans for aggression in violation of that treaty were being made. By the autumn of 1937 all noteworthy opposition within the Reich had been crushed. Military preparation for the Austrian action was virtually concluded. An influential group of the Nazi conspirators met with Hitler on 5 November 1937, to review the situation. It was reaffirmed that Nazi Germany must have “Lebensraum” in Central Europe. It was recognized that such conquest would probably meet resistance which would have to be crushed by force and that their decision might lead to a general war, but this prospect was discounted as a risk worth taking. There emerged from this meeting three possible plans for the conquest of Austria and Czechoslovakia. Which of the three was to be used was to depend upon the developments in the political and military situation in Europe. It was contemplated during this meeting that the conquest of Austria and Czechoslovakia would, through compulsory emigration of 2 million persons from Czechoslovakia and 1 million persons from Austria, provide additional food to the Reich for 5 million to 6 million people, strengthen it militarily by providing shorter and better frontiers, and make possible the constituting of new armies up to about twelve divisions. Thus, the aim of the plan against Austria and Czechoslovakia was conceived of not as an end in itself but as a preparatory measure toward the next aggressive steps in the Nazi conspiracy.

(b) The execution of the plan to invade Austria: November 1937 to March 1938.

Hitler, on 8 February 1938, called Chancellor Schuschnigg to a conference at Berchtesgaden. At the meeting of 12 February 1938, under threat of invasion, Schuschnigg yielded a promise of amnesty to imprisoned Nazis and appointment of Nazis to ministerial posts—meaning in Austria. He agreed to remain silent until Hitler’s next speech in which Austria’s independence was to be re-affirmed, but Hitler in that speech, instead of affirming Austrian independence, declared himself protector of all Germans. Meanwhile, subversive activities of Nazis in Austria increased. Schuschnigg, on 9 March 1938, announced a plebiscite for the following Sunday on the question of Austrian independence. On 11 March Hitler sent an ultimatum, demanding that the plebiscite be called off or that Germany would invade Austria. Later the same day a second ultimatum threatened invasion unless Schuschnigg should resign in 3 hours. Schuschnigg resigned. The Defendant Seyss-Inquart, who was appointed Chancellor, immediately invited Hitler to send German troops into Austria to “preserve order.” The invasion began on 12 March 1938. On 13 March Hitler by proclamation assumed office as Chief of State of Austria and took command of its armed forces. By a law of the same date Austria was annexed to Germany.

(c) The execution of the plan to invade Czechoslovakia: April 1938 to March 1939.

(1) Simultaneously with their annexation of Austria, the Nazi conspirators gave false assurances to the Czechoslovak Government that they would not attack that country. But within a month they met to plan specific ways and means of attacking Czechoslovakia, and to revise, in the light of the acquisition of Austria, the previous plans for aggression against Czechoslovakia.

(2) On 21 April 1938 the Nazi conspirators met and prepared to launch an attack on Czechoslovakia not later than 1 October 1938. They planned to create an “incident” to “justify” the attack. They decided to launch a military attack only after a period of diplomatic squabbling which, growing more serious, would lead to an excuse for war, or, in the alternative, to unleash a lightning attack as a result of an “incident” of their own creation. Consideration was given to assassinating the German Ambassador at Prague to create the requisite incident. From and after 21 April 1938, the Nazi conspirators caused to be prepared detailed and precise military plans designed to carry out such an attack at any opportune moment and calculated to overthrow all Czech resistance within 4 days, thus presenting the world with a _fait accompli_, and so forestalling outside resistance. Throughout the months of May, June, July, August, and September, these plans were made more specific and detailed, and by 3 September 1938 it was decided that all troops were to be ready for action on 28 September 1938.

(3) Throughout this same period, the Nazi conspirators were agitating the minorities question in Czechoslovakia, and particularly in the Sudetenland, leading to a diplomatic crisis in August and September 1938. After the Nazi conspirators threatened war, the United Kingdom and France concluded a pact with Germany and Italy at Munich on 29 September 1938, involving the cession of the Sudetenland by Czechoslovakia to Germany. Czechoslovakia was required to acquiesce. On 1 October 1938 German troops occupied the Sudetenland.

(4) On 15 March 1939, contrary to the provisions of the Munich Pact itself, the Nazi conspirators caused the completion of their plan by seizing and occupying the major part of Czechoslovakia, i.e. Bohemia and Moravia, not ceded to Germany by the Munich Pact.

4. Formulation of the plan to attack Poland: preparation and initiation of aggressive war: March 1939 to September 1939.

(a) With these aggressions successfully consummated, the conspirators had obtained much desired resources and bases and were ready to undertake further aggressions by means of war. Following the assurances to the world of peaceful intentions, an influential group of the conspirators met on 23 May 1939 to consider the further implementation of their plan. The situation was reviewed, and it was observed that “the past six years have been put to good use and all measures have been taken in correct sequence and in accordance with our aims,” that the national-political unity of the Germans had been substantially achieved, and that further successes could not be achieved without war and bloodshed. It was decided nevertheless next to attack Poland at the first suitable opportunity. It was admitted that the questions concerning Danzig which they had agitated with Poland were not true questions, but rather that the question was one of aggressive expansion for food and “Lebensraum.” It was recognized that Poland would fight if attacked and that a repetition of the Nazi success against Czechoslovakia without war could not be expected. Accordingly, it was determined that the problem was to isolate Poland and, if possible, prevent a simultaneous conflict with the Western Powers. Nevertheless, it was agreed that England was an enemy to their aspirations, and that war with England and her ally France must eventually result, and therefore that in that war every attempt must be made to overwhelm England with a “Blitzkrieg”, or lightning war. It was thereupon determined immediately to prepare detailed plans for an attack on Poland at the first suitable opportunity and thereafter for an attack on England and France, together with plans for the simultaneous occupation by armed force of air bases in the Netherlands and Belgium.

(b) Accordingly, after having denounced the German-Polish Pact of 1934 on false grounds, the Nazi conspirators proceeded to stir up the Danzig issue, to prepare frontier “incidents” to “justify” the attack, and to make demands for the cession of Polish territory. Upon refusal by Poland to yield, they caused German Armed Forces to invade Poland on 1 September 1939, thus precipitating war also with the United Kingdom and France.

5. Expansion of the war into a general war of aggression: planning and execution of attacks on Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, and Greece: 1939 to April 1941.

Thus the aggressive war prepared for by the Nazi conspirators through their attacks on Austria and Czechoslovakia was actively launched by their attack on Poland, in violation of the terms of the Briand-Kellogg Pact, 1928. After the total defeat of Poland, in order to facilitate the carrying out of their military operations against France and the United Kingdom, the Nazi conspirators made active preparations for an extension of the war in Europe. In accordance with these plans, they caused the German Armed Forces to invade Denmark and Norway on 9 April 1940; Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940; Yugoslavia and Greece on 6 April 1941. All these invasions had been specifically planned in advance.

6. German invasion on 22 June 1941 of the U.S.S.R. territory in violation of the Non-Aggression Pact of 23 August 1939.

On 22 June 1941 the Nazi conspirators deceitfully denounced the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the U.S.S.R. and without any declaration of war invaded Soviet territory, thereby beginning a war of aggression against the U.S.S.R.

From the first day of launching their attack on Soviet territory the Nazi conspirators, in accordance with their detailed plans, began to carry out the destruction of cities, towns, and villages, the demolition of factories, collective farms, electric stations, and railroads, the robbery and barbaric devastation of the natural cultural institutions of the peoples of the U.S.S.R., the devastation of museums, churches, historic monuments, the mass deportation of the Soviet citizens for slave labor to Germany, as well as the annihilation of old people, women, and children, especially Bielorussians and Ukrainians. The extermination of Jews was committed throughout the territory of the Soviet Union.

The above-mentioned criminal offenses were perpetrated by the German troops in accordance with the orders of the Nazi Government and the General Staff and High Command of the German Armed Forces.

7. Collaboration with Italy and Japan and aggressive war against the United States: November 1936 to December 1941.

After the initiation of the Nazi wars of aggression the Nazi conspirators brought about a German-Italian-Japanese 10-year military-economic alliance signed at Berlin on 27 September 1940. This agreement, representing a strengthening of the bonds among those three nations established by the earlier but more limited pact of 25 November 1936, stated: “The Governments of Germany, Italy, and Japan, considering it as a condition precedent of any lasting peace that all nations of the world be given each its own proper place, have decided to stand by and co-operate with one another in regard of their efforts in Greater East Asia and regions of Europe respectively wherein it is their prime purpose to establish and maintain a new order of things calculated to promote the mutual prosperity and welfare of the peoples concerned.” The Nazi conspirators conceived that Japanese aggression would weaken and handicap those nations with which they were at war, and those with whom they contemplated war. Accordingly, the Nazi conspirators exhorted Japan to seek “a new order of things.” Taking advantage of the wars of aggression then being waged by the Nazi conspirators, Japan commenced an attack on 7 December 1941 against the United States of America at Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, and against the British Commonwealth of Nations, French Indo-China, and the Netherlands in the Southwest Pacific. Germany declared war against the United States on 11 December 1941.

(G) War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity committed in the course of executing the conspiracy for which the conspirators are responsible.