Chapter IX: Part I: , Page 713 (1)

Another one with reference to restrictions as to the use of the theater, on May 15, 1934, 1934 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 411.

Now, passing from those illustrative laws, the ordinary Cabinet in fact enacted most of the legislation which set the stage for and put into execution the Nazi conspiracy described under Count One of the Indictment. Many of these laws have been referred to previously by the Prosecution. All of the laws to which I shall refer or have referred were enacted specifically in the name of the Cabinet. A typical introductory paragraph reads, and I quote: “The Reich Cabinet has enacted the following law which is hereby promulgated.” In other words, that shows it is a Cabinet law.

THE PRESIDENT: That applies to all the ones you have just given us?

COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir. That is a typical heading.

In connection with the acquiring of control of Germany, under Count One of the Indictment, I refer to some of the following laws.

Here is a law of the 14th of July 1933 against the establishment of new parties. I believe I referred to that yesterday. That is 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 479.

Another of 14 July 1933 provided for the confiscation of property of Social Democrats and others, 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 479.

I have already referred to that law of 1 December 1933 which consolidated the Party and the State, which is found in 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 1016. In the course of consolidating the control of Germany these laws were enacted, and I give a few illustrations: 21 March 1933, creating special courts—that is in 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 136; law of the 31st of March 1933 for the integration of all the states into the Reich, 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 153.

THE PRESIDENT: Will you repeat that. Integration of what?

COL. STOREY: Integration of the states—that is the separate states into the Greater Reich.

Here is one of 30 June 1933, eliminating non-Aryan civil servants or civil servants married to non-Aryans, 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 433; then the law of the 24th of April 1934 creating the People’s Court, 1934 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 341—and that was the same court Your Honors saw functioning in one of the movies exhibited last week.

Here is the law of 1 August 1934, uniting the office of President and Chancellor, 1934 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 747.

I am not introducing all of them or referring to all of them.

Here is a law of the 18th of March 1938 that provides for the submission of one list of candidates to the electorate of the entire Reich, 1938 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 258.

Nazi extermination of political internal resistance in Germany through the purge of their political opponents and through acts of terror, which are set forth in Paragraph III(D) 3(b) of Count One, was facilitated or legalized by the following Cabinet laws, translations being found in Document Book F, which has previously been submitted. I will just refer to a few of these as they are translated in that book.

Here is one of 14th of July 1933 that prohibits the establishment of new parties and contains a penal clause. That is found in 1933 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 479. Here is one of 20th December 19 . . .

THE PRESIDENT: You have already given that one.

COL. STOREY: I believe so; yes, Sir.

Here is a law of the 3rd of July 1934 concerning measures for emergency defense of the State, and which legalized their own purge. That is in 1934 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 529.

Here is a law of the 20th of December 1934 on treacherous acts against the State and Party and for protection of the Party uniforms, 1934 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 1269.

Here is one of the 24th of April 1934 that makes the creation of a new, or continuance of existing, political Parties an act of treason, 1934 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 341.

Here is one of the 28th of June 1935 that changes the Penal Code, 1935 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 839.

Here is the final one I will mention: 16 September 1939, permitting second prosecution of an acquitted person before a special court, the members of which were named by Hitler, 1939 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 1841.

Now, next are some laws that related to the extermination of the Trade Unions, which I have already cited, and they are in Document Book G. I will not refer to them. Then the laws abolishing collective bargaining—I have referred to those; I will pass them.

In fact, even the infamous Nuremberg Laws of September 15, 1935, although technically passed by the Reichstag, were nevertheless worked out by the Ministry of the Interior. This is verified by a work of Dr. Franz A. Medicus, Ministerialdirigent, published in 1940. It is Document 2960-PS, Exhibit USA-406. I would like to refer to the paragraphs at Page 62 of the original publication, and translated in our Document 2960-PS. Beginning the first paragraph:

“The work of the Reich Ministry of Interior forms the basis for
the three ‘Nuremberg Laws’ passed by a resolution of the
Reichstag on the occasion of the Reich Party Meeting of Freedom.

“The ‘Reich Citizenship Law’ as well as the ‘Law for the
Protection of German Blood and German Honor’ opened extensive
tasks for the Ministry of the Interior not only in the field
. . . of administration. The same applies to the ‘Reich Flag
Law’ that gives the basis for the complete revision of the
national flags.”

A few decrees of the Council of Ministers which similarly supplied the legal basis for the criminal acts and conduct of the conspirators, about which the Tribunal has already heard and will hear more, relate to those of August 5, 1940, which imposed a discriminatory tax on Polish workers in Germany, and that is in 1940 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 1077; also the law of 4 December 1941, which imposed penal measures against the Jews and the Poles in the eastern occupied countries, 1941 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 759. The last one was concerning the employment of Eastern Workers, which I referred to this morning.

Almost immediately upon Hitler’s coming into power, the Cabinet commenced to implement the Nazi conspiracy to wage aggressive war. Three of the documents that establish this point have already been introduced in evidence. They are EC-177, 2261-PS, and 2194-PS, respectively. Document EC-177, which is Exhibit USA-390, is a long copy of the minutes; and I beg the indulgence of the Tribunal for referring to it again. It is EC-177 . . .

THE PRESIDENT: Is it in this book?

COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir, EC-177. Your Honors, I didn’t intend to quote from that. I am simply referring to it as being the minutes of the second session of the working committee of the delegates for Reich defense and being signed by the Defendant Keitel.

Document 2261-PS consists of a letter dated the 24th of June 1935. That transmits a copy of a secret, unpublished defense law of 21 May 1935 and also a copy of a decision of the Reich Cabinet of the same date, in the Council for Defense of the Reich. These have been previously introduced, but they are illustrative laws passed by this Cabinet.

Document 2194-PS also transmits a copy of the secret, unpublished Reich Defense Law, 4 September 1938.

I will skip down to the laws passed by the Reich Defense Council, on Page 50, for the record.

The Reich Defense Council was a creation of the Cabinet. On 4 April 1933 it was decided to form that agency. The decision of the Cabinet attached to Document 2261-PS, which is Exhibit USA-24, Page 4 of the translation, Paragraph 1, proves that fact. The two secret laws contained in Document 2261-PS, as well as 2194-PS, were passed by the Cabinet; nor was this a case of one group setting up an entirely distinct group to do its dirty work. The Cabinet put itself into the picture. This might have been a difficult task to accomplish before the Nazis assumed power, but with the Nazis in control, things could move swiftly; and I now refer again to Document EC-177, but I will not undertake to quote from that, although the quotation is set out here.

There is only one point in that connection which would not be cumulative. It is Page 5 of the translation and Page 8 of the original of EC-177, on the question of security and secrecy, that I think would be pertinent to the criminal nature. I quote:

“The question has been brought up by the Reich Ministries. The
secrecy of all Reich defense work has to be maintained very
carefully. Communications with the outside, by messenger service
only, has been settled already with the Ministry of Posts,
Ministry of Finance, Prussian Ministry of the Interior, and the
Reichswehr Ministry. Main principle of security: no document
must be lost, since otherwise enemy propaganda would make use of
it. Matters communicated orally cannot be proved; they can be
denied by us in Geneva. Therefore the Reichswehr Ministry has
worked out security directives for the Reich Ministries and the
Prussian Ministry of the Interior.”

I will skip the next reference. I believe I will skip over to the affidavit of Defendant Frick, on Page 60.

THE PRESIDENT: What is that?

COL. STOREY: It is, if Your Honor pleases, Document 2986-PS. It is Exhibit USA-409. It is the original affidavit, signed by the Defendant Frick. I believe Defendant Frick sums up pretty well how the work was carried on.

“I, Wilhelm Frick, being first duly sworn, depose and say:

“I was Plenipotentiary General for the Reich Administration from
the time when this office was created until 20 August 1943.
Heinrich Himmler was my deputy in this capacity. Before the
outbreak of the war my task as Plenipotentiary General for Reich
Administration was the preparation of organization in the event
of war, such as, for instance, the appointment of liaison men in
the different ministries who would keep in touch with me. As
Plenipotentiary General for Reich Administration I, together
with the Plenipotentiary General for Economy and the OKW, formed
a so-called ‘Three-Man College.’ We were also members of the
Reich Defense Council, which was to plan preparations and
decrees in case of war, which later were published by the
Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich. Since, as soon as
the war had started, everything would have to be done speedily
and there would be no time for planning, such war measures and
decrees were prepared in advance. All one then had to do was to
pull out of the drawer the war orders that had been prepared.
Later on, after the outbreak of the war, these decrees were
enacted by the Ministerial Council for Defense of the
Reich.”—Signed and sworn to by Dr. Wilhelm Frick, on the 19th
of November 1945.

To sum up this particular phase of the proof, the Cabinet by its own decision and its own laws created a large war-planning body—the Reich Defense Council—the members of which were taken from the Cabinet. Within the Council they set up a small working committee, again composed of Cabinet members and certain defense officials, a majority of whom were appointed from the Cabinet members. And to streamline the action, they placed all of its ministries—except Air, Propaganda, and Foreign Affairs—into the groups headed respectively by the Plenipotentiaries for Economy and Administration, and the OKW; and everything was organized in and for the greatest of secrecy.

That is this Three-Man College.

Now, in conclusion, if Your Honor pleases, I would like at this time to summarize briefly the proof concerning the Reichsregierung.

From 1933 to the end of the war, the Reichsregierung comprised the dominant body of influence and leadership below Hitler in the Nazi Government. The three subdivisions were included in the term Reichsregierung in the Indictment: the ordinary Cabinet, the Secret Cabinet Council, and the Council of Ministers for Defense of the Reich. Yet in reality there existed only an artificial, illusory boundary between the three.

The predominant subdivision was, of course, the ordinary Cabinet, which was commonly referred to as the Reichsregierung. In it were the leading political and military figures in the Nazi Government. Seventeen of the 22 defendants before this Tribunal were integral parts of the ordinary Cabinet.

I should like now to name these defendants and to indicate the positions they held in the Reichsregierung:

Martin Bormann, Leader of the Party Chancellery; Karl Dönitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy; Hans Frank, Reich Minister without Portfolio; Wilhelm Frick, Minister of the Interior, Plenipotentiary for Reich Administration; Walter Funk, Minister of Economics, Plenipotentiary for Economy; Hermann Göring, Minister for Air, Reich Forest Master; Rudolf Hess, Deputy of the Führer; Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the OKW; Constantin H. K. von Neurath, Minister for Foreign Affairs, President of the Secret Cabinet Council; Franz von Papen, Vice-Chancellor; Erich Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy; Joachim von Ribbentrop, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Alfred Rosenberg, Minister of the Occupied Eastern Territories; Hjalmar Schacht, Acting Minister of Economics, Reich Minister without Portfolio, President of the Reichsbank, Plenipotentiary for War Economy; Baldur von Schirach, Reich Youth Leader; Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Reich Minister without Portfolio; and finally, Albert Speer, Minister for Armaments and War Production.

From the ordinary Cabinet there came not only the members of the Secret Cabinet Council and the Council of Ministers for Defense of the Reich, but also the members of the war planning group, the Nazi secret Reich Defense Council. When it was deemed essential for the purposes of the conspiracy to wage aggressive war, that power was concentrated in a few individuals. Again these individuals were drawn from the ordinary Cabinet. Thus the Plenipotentiaries for Economy and Administration were also Ministers of the ordinary Cabinet, and they were also members of the Reich Defense Council and Ministerial Council.

Under them were grouped practically all the ministers of the ordinary Cabinet.

Where political considerations of foreign policy required that another select group be chosen to act as advisors, the secret Cabinet was created and populated with members of the ordinary Cabinet.

The Reichsregierung was dominated by the Nazi Party through the control exercised over its legislation by the Deputy of the Führer, Hess, and later by the Leader of the Party Chancellery, Bormann. Party control was also effected through the individual membership of all members and the union of various key Cabinet and Party positions in one man. As a result of this fusion of the Party and State, an enormous concentration of political power was gathered into the Cabinet.

The laws enacted by the Cabinet established the framework within which the Nazi conspirators established their control of Germany, set forth in Count One of the Indictment, by virtue of which they were enabled to commit the crimes alleged in Counts One, Two, Three, and Four of the Indictment. The Cabinet enacted harsh penal laws, discriminatory laws, confiscatory laws, in violation of the principles of justice and humanity. Decrees enacted by the Ministerial Council during the war clothed the criminal acts of the Nazi conspirators with a semblance of legality. As an instrument of the Party, the Cabinet effectively implemented the notorious points of the Party program. Finally, the Cabinet, almost immediately upon the coming into power of Hitler, became a war-planning group through its establishment in 1933 of a Reich Defense Council and its active participation in the schemes and plans for waging aggressive war.

It is therefore most respectfully submitted that, by virtue of all of the foregoing, the Reichsregierung, as defined in Appendix D, Page 35, of the Indictment, should be declared a criminal group within the meaning of Article 9 of Section II of the Charter.

That concludes, if Your Honor pleases, this presentation, and the next subject is the SA. It will take just about a couple of minutes to be ready for that.

May it please the Tribunal, I passed up Document Book Y, which contains the English translations of the documents relied upon in this presentation.

The organization which I shall now present for your consideration is the Sturmabteilung, the organization which the world remembers as the “Brown Shirts” or “Storm Troops,” the gangsters of the early days of Nazi terrorism. It came to be known in latter years as the SA, and I shall refer to it in that manner in the course of my presentation.

The SA was the first of the organizations conceived and created by the Nazis as the instrument and weapon to effectuate their evil objectives, and it occupied a place of peculiar and significant importance in the scheme of the conspirators. Unlike some of the other organizations, the functions of the SA were not fixed or static. On the contrary, it was an agency adapted to many designs and purposes, and its role in the conspiracy changed from time to time—always corresponding with the progression of the conspiracy through its various phases towards the final objective: abrogation of the Versailles Treaty and acquisition of the territory of other peoples and nations. If we might consider this conspiracy as a pattern, with its various parts fitting together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, we would find that the piece representing the SA constituted a link in the pattern vitally necessary to the presentation and development of the entire picture.

The SA participated in the conspiracy as a distinct and separate unit having a legal character of its own. This is shown by Document 1725-PS, which is tabbed in the document book, of which the Court will take judicial notice. It is an ordinance passed in March 1935, _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 502. It declares that the SA and certain other agencies were thereafter to be considered “components” of the Nazi Party. This ordinance further provided in Article 5—and it is on the second page of the English translation, right after the word “Article 5”—I quote, “The affiliated organizations can have their own corporate identity.”

Similarly the _Organization Book_ of the Nazi Party characterizes the SA as an “entity.” Document 3220-PS, which I now offer, is an excerpt from the 1943 edition of the _Organization Book_, Page 358 of the original, and I quote from the English translation. It is there declared:

“The Führer prescribes the law of conduct and commands its use.
The Chief of Staff represents the SA as a complete entity on the
mandate of the Führer.

I am sure the evidence will demonstrate and characterize the SA as an entity and organization having a legal character of its own. This evidence will show that, while the SA was composed of many individual members, these members acted collectively and cohesively as a unit. They were closely bound and associated together by many common factors, including: uniform membership standards and disciplinary regulations; a common and distinctive uniform; common aims and objectives; common activities, duties, and responsibilities; and—probably the most important factor of all—a fanatical adherence to the philosophies and ideologies conceived by the Nazi conspirators.

This is partially demonstrated by Document Number 2354-PS, which again is simply an excerpt from the _Organization Book_; and it is found on Page 7 of the English translation. It provides that membership in the SA was voluntary but that the SA man should withdraw if “he can no longer agree with SA views or if he is not in a position to fulfill completely the duties imposed upon him as a member of the SA.”

The SA man was well schooled in the philosophies, attitudes, and activities which he was expected and required to adopt and reflect in his daily life. Cohesion of thought and uniformity of action with respect to such matters was in part obtained by the publication and distribution of a weekly periodical entitled _Der SA-Mann_ (_The SA Man_). This publication was principally devoted to the creation and fostering of the various aspects of Nazi ideology which constituted the doctrinal motives of many of the conspirators.

May I digress from my text and say to the Tribunal that we have here on the table all of these publications, beginning with the year 1934, up through and including the year 1939. The official weekly newspaper entitled _Der SA-Mann_, meaning _The SA Man_, published in Munich, had wide distribution and was on sale at news stands and distributed throughout Germany and occupied countries.

In addition, _Der SA-Mann_ served to report upon and document the activities of the SA as an organization and those of its constituent groups. I shall have occasion at a later point to refer to certain portions of this publication for the consideration of the Tribunal.

The general organizational arrangement or plan of the SA will be demonstrated to the Tribunal by the documents which will subsequently appear. At this point I may say simply that this proof will show that the SA developed from scattered bands of street ruffians to a well-knit, cohesive unit organized on a military basis with military training and military functions and, above all, with an aggressive, militaristic, and warlike spirit and philosophy. The organization extended throughout the entire Reich territory and was organized vertically into local groups and divisions. Horizontally, there were special units including military cavalry, communications, engineer, and medical units. Your Honors will observe the chart that I will introduce officially a little later on the wall. Co-ordination of these various groups and branches was strictly maintained by the SA headquarters and operational offices, and those offices were located in Munich.

The relationship between the SA and the NSDAP is the next subject.

The case against the SA is a strong one and its basis or foundation consists of its significant and peculiar relationship and affiliation with the Nazi Party and the principal conspirators.

It is submitted that a relationship or association among the alleged conspirators constitutes important and convincing evidence of their joint participation in an established conspiracy; and this principle is particularly applicable because the affiliation between the SA and the Nazi leaders was closely maintained and adhered to and was adapted to the purpose of enabling the conspirators to employ the SA for any use or activity which might be necessary in the course of effectuating the objectives of the conspiracy.

Thus we find that the SA was, in fact, conceived and created by Hitler himself in the year 1921 at the very inception of the conspiracy. Hitler retained direction of the SA throughout the period of the conspiracy, delegating the responsibility for its leadership to a Chief of Staff. Hitler, in fact, was often known throughout Germany as OSAF, or “Oberster SA Führer,” or, translated, meaning the highest SA Führer.

The Defendant Göring was an early member of the SA and he maintained a close affiliation with it throughout the course of the conspiracy.

The Defendant Hess participated in many of the early battles of the SA and was leader of an SA group in Munich.

The Defendants Frank, Streicher, Von Schirach, and Sauckel each held a position of Obergruppenführer in the SA, a position corresponding to the rank of Lieutenant General; and the Defendant Bormann was a member of the staff of the SA High Command.

The close relationship between the SA and the leaders of the Nazi Party is demonstrated by the fact that the Hoheitsträger of the Nazi Leadership Corps were authorized to call upon the SA for assistance in carrying out particular phases of the Party program. This was established yesterday by Document 1893-PS, which, Your Honors will recall, I quoted from a number of times in connection with the presentation of the Leadership Corps. It was declared in that excerpt, Page 11 of the English translation, as Your Honors will recall, that the Hoheitsträger were empowered to call upon the SA for the execution of political missions connected with the movement. This responsibility of the SA to the Party is also shown by Document 2383-PS, which is an ordinance for the execution of the Hitler decree, which I now offer in evidence as Exhibit USA-410. I quote from Page 3 of the English translation. If Your Honors will turn to Page 3 of the English translation, it is the fourth paragraph on Page 3:

“The affiliates of the NSDAP, with exception of the SS, for whom
special provisions apply, are subordinated to the Hoheitsträger
politically and for assignment to duty. Responsibility for the
leadership of the units rests in the hands of the unit leader.”

It was in accordance with such authority, as proved yesterday in the Leadership Corps presentation, that the SA was used in the seizure of trade union properties.

In addition the SA demonstrated its close affiliation to the Nazi Party by participating in various ways in election proceedings. This is shown in Document 2168-PS, which is a pamphlet entitled _The SA_, which is Exhibit USA-411; and this pamphlet depicts the history and general activities of the SA, written by an SA Sturmführer named Bayer upon orders from SA headquarters. In that pamphlet, and I quote on Page 4 of the English translation, down towards the bottom of the page, the last paragraph, beginning on line 3:

“The labor and the struggle of the SA was not in vain. They
stood at the foremost front of election contests.”

Adolf Hitler himself, on the 2d of September 1930, took over the leadership of the SA as the Supreme SA Führer. He himself guided his SA in the fateful election fight of the year 1930.

Further evidence of the interest and participation of Nazi leaders in the activities of the SA is to be found in these five bound volumes, which consist of the issues of the SA newspaper, _Der SA-Mann_, from the year 1934 to 1939 inclusive; and I should like at this time to ask that each of these bound volumes be marked for identification, because each of them will be referred to from time to time during this presentation. They will begin with Exhibit USA-414, 415, 416, 417, and 418 and they are referred to by appropriate document numbers, which I will refer to when the quoted portions come in the English translation.

Throughout these volumes there appear photographs portraying the participation of Nazi leaders in SA activities. I should like at this time to describe a few of the photographs, and I will indicate the page numbers upon which they appear.

If Your Honors please, we set out a number of these pictures and a number of photographs; but I should like, at this time, to exhibit to the Tribunal and pass into evidence one of the photographs appearing in the January 1937 issue. It is a photograph of Göring at the ceremonies held upon the occasion of his being made Obergruppenführer of the Feldherrnhalle Regiment of the SA on the 23rd of January 1937, and we offer in evidence the photograph and the page of the newspaper. We will pass it up to Your Honors if you would like to see it. We offer it in evidence.

Another photograph of Göring, leading the Feldherrnhalle Regiment of the SA in parade on the 18th of September 1937, is shown at Page 3. The other photograph was at Page 3 of the 1937 January edition of the _SA-Mann_.

I call the attention of Your Honors to a few of the other photographs that appear. There is a photograph of Hitler greeting Hühnlein, bearing the caption, “The Führer greets Corps Führer Hühnlein at the opening of the International Automobile Fair—1935.” That is dated the 23rd of March 1935, at Page 6.

Here is another photograph of Himmler and Hühnlein, who was the Führer of the NSKK, and Lutze, who was Chief of Staff of the SA, bearing the caption, “They lead the soldiers of National Socialism,” 15th of June 1935, Page 1.

Another photograph of Hitler at an SA ceremony, carrying the SA battle flag; and the picture bears the caption, “As in the fighting years, the Führer, on the Party Day of Freedom, dedicates the new regiments with the Blood Banner,” 21 September 1935, Page 4.

I pass on. Here is a photograph of Göring in the SA uniform, reviewing SA marching troops, under the caption, “Honor Day of the SA,” 21 September 1935, Page 3.

THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, is there any doubt that Hitler and Göring were members of the SA?

COL. STOREY: No, Sir; but the purpose in showing those photographs, if Your Honors please, was to show the militaristic character of the SA. If there is no question about that and it is cumulative, then I will pass on.

The work of the SA did not end with the seizure by the Nazis of the German Government, but affiliation between the SA and the Nazi leaders was continued after the acquisition by the Nazis of the control of the German State. The importance of the SA in connection with the Nazi Government and control of Germany is shown by the law of December 1, 1933. I have already referred to that, that is, the union of Party and State. However, there is one paragraph that has not been quoted before, if Your Honors please, and I would like to call Your Honors’ attention to it. It is our Document 1395-PS, and it appears in the English translation on Page 1, and I quote Article 2:

“The Führer’s Deputy and the Chief of Staff of the SA become
members of the Reich Government in order to insure close
co-operation of the offices of the Party and SA with the public
authorities.”

Similarly, in Document 2383-PS, which I referred to a moment ago—I will simply refer to it—that is 2383-PS, Page 11, the last paragraph:

“The Party and State offices must support the SA in this
training program and value the certificate of award of the SA
defense medal accordingly.”

That the Nazis at all times possessed complete control of the SA is shown by the so-called Röhm Purge of June 1934. Evidence concerning this matter is to be found in the _Völkischer Beobachter_ of 1 July 1934, at Page 1. I will not quote from that.

Röhm had been Chief of Staff of the SA for several years and was responsible for the development of the SA into a powerful organization with definite programs and objectives.

Members of the SA were required to take a personal oath of fidelity to him. But when his policies conflicted with those of the Nazi leaders, he was removed and murdered and replaced by Victor Lutze. This drastic action was accomplished without revolt or dissension in the ranks of the SA and with no change in the objectives or program of the organization. The SA remained “a reliable and strong part of the National Socialist Movement”—and I am quoting; this is Document 2407-PS, Exhibit USA-412, the English translation of the _Völkischer Beobachter_. It is the last paragraph in the English translation, just above the name “Adolf Hitler.” I will say for the translators that the quotation is included in our text. If we might go on, I quote:

“It is my wish that the SA be built up as a reliable and strong
part of the National Socialist movement, full of obedience and
blind discipline. They must help to create and form the new
German citizens.”

The importance of the SA in the Nazi plan for the utilization of the people of Germany is shown in Hitler’s pronouncement, “The Course for the German,” which appears in the issue of _Der SA-Mann_ of the 5th of September 1936, at Page 22. It is our Document 3050-PS, Exhibit Numbers USA-414 and USA-418; and it is at Page 29 of the English translation—Page 29 of Document 3050-PS, the paragraph in the middle of the page; and I quote:

“. . . the young boy will enter the Jungvolk, and the adolescent
will enter the Hitler Youth; the young man of the Hitler Jugend
will go into the SA, the SS, and other units, and the SA and SS
men will one day enter into the labor service and from there the
Army, and the soldier of the Volk will return again into the
organization of the Movement, of the Party, into the SA and SS,
and never again will our Volk decay as it once had decayed.”

And so we see that at all times during the conspiracy the relationship between the SA and the Nazi Party was such that the SA was constantly available to the conspirators as an instrument to further their aims. The SA was created by the conspirators at the inception of the Nazi movement. It was at all times subject to the direction of Adolf Hitler. Seven of the defendants held positions of leadership and responsibility in the organization, and at all times the SA was subject to the call of the Hoheitsträger. The SA stood at the forefront of the election fights; and co-operation between the offices of the Party, of the SA, and of the State was assured by law.

And so it was declared by Victor Lutze, the former Chief of Staff of the SA, in a pamphlet entitled _The Nature and Tasks of the SA_; and it is our Document Number 2471-PS. The original we offer in evidence as Exhibit USA-413; and I quote from the top of Page 1 of the English translation, 2471-PS. I believe I will read that whole paragraph, the first paragraph on the top of the page:

“Before touching the real subject matter, I must tell you first,
in order to clear up any uncertainty about my own position, that
I never speak primarily as a member of the SA, but as a National
Socialist, since the SA cannot be independent of the National
Socialist movement but can only exist as a part of it.”

I should next like to present to the Tribunal evidence which will demonstrate the principal functions and activities performed by the SA pursuant to the relationship which I have described above and in furtherance of the objectives of the conspiracy. These activities may be logically classified or divided into four distinct phases or aspects, each of which, I might add, corresponds with a particular phase in the progression of the conspiracy toward the objectives alleged in the Indictment.

The first phase consists of the use of the SA and its members as the instrument for the dissemination of ideology and fanaticism of the Nazis throughout Germany. The employment of the SA for this purpose continued throughout the entire period of the conspiracy as will, I am sure, be apparent from the evidence.

The second phase relates to the period prior to the Nazi seizure of power. During this period the SA was a militant and aggressive group of fighters or gangsters whose function was to combat, physically and violently, all opponents of the Party.

The third phase relates to the period of several years following the Nazi seizure of power. During this period the SA participated in various measures designed to consolidate the control of the Nazis, including such Nazi-inspired programs as the dissolution of the trade unions, the persecution of the Church, and the Jewish persecutions to which I have already alluded. During this period they continued to serve as a force of political soldiers whose purpose was physically to combat members of political parties which were considered hostile or opposed to the Nazi Party.

The fourth aspect of the SA activities consisted of its employment as an agency for the building up of an armed force in Germany in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and for the preparation of the youth of Germany—mentally and physically—for the waging of an aggressive war.

I should now like to discuss what I consider the highlights of the evidence relating to these four phases.

The first phase is in connection with the dissemination of ideology.

The first function of the SA consisted of its responsibility to disseminate the doctrines and ideologies, acceptance of which was necessary for the fulfilment of the Nazi objectives. From the very start the Nazi leaders emphasized the importance of this mission. During the course of the conspiracy the SA undertook many duties and responsibilities, but one responsibility which remained constant throughout was that of being propagandist of the National Socialist ideology.

I now refer, Your Honors, to the English translation of Document 2760-PS, Exhibit USA-256, which is an excerpt from _Mein Kampf_, and it is shown at Page 5 of the translation of the document. This is the third paragraph on Page 5 of the document, quoting:

“As the directing idea for the inner training of the
Sturmabteilung, the intention was always dominant, aside from
all physical education, to teach it to be the unshakeably
convinced defender of the National Socialist idea. . . .”

I might add that Hitler’s pronouncement as to the function of the SA in this respect became, in effect, the guiding principle of SA members, for _Mein Kampf_ was taken to express the basic philosophy of the SA.

In Document Number 2354-PS, which is an excerpt from the _Organization Book_ of the Party, on Page 1 of the English translation—it is quoted in the text—I quote Paragraph 1:

“Education and training, according to the doctrines and aims of
the Führer as they are set down in _Mein Kampf_ and in the Party
program, for all phases of our living and of our National
Socialist ideology. . . .”

This same document—the _Organization Book_ of the Party—refers to the SA’s function as the propagandist of the Party.

I believe the next one, if Your Honor pleases, would simply be cumulative of what we have already referred to. I next refer to an article . . .

THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps this would be a convenient time to break off.

COL. STOREY: All right, Sir.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 19 December 1945 at 1000 hours._]

TWENTY-THIRD DAY
Wednesday, 19 December 1945

_Morning Session_

DR. FRITZ SAUTER (Counsel for the Defendant Von Schirach): Mr. President, yesterday a table depicting the construction of the Reich Cabinet, one of the accused organizations, was shown on the screen here. On this chart the Defendant Von Schirach was also listed under the heading, “Other participants in the meetings of the Cabinet.” The Defendant Von Schirach has explained to me and asked me to inform the Tribunal that he never took part in any meeting of the Reich Cabinet, that he was never named a member of the Reich Cabinet, and that he never had a part in any decision of the Reich Cabinet.

THE PRESIDENT: The point that you are taking seems to the Tribunal to be premature. This is not the stage at which you are to argue the question whether your client is a member of the Reich Cabinet or not. The argument upon the whole question will take place after the evidence and after the Prosecution have had the opportunity of putting forward their arguments as to the criminal nature of the Reich Cabinet. You or other counsel on behalf of those concerned will be able to put forward your arguments. We do not desire to hear arguments now about the criminal nature, but to hear the evidence. Is that clear?

DR. SAUTER: Yes. I shall then return to this point during the examination of witnesses, and prove that the Defendant Von Schirach was never a member of the Reich Cabinet. Thank you.

COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, yesterday afternoon we had just started on the participation of the SA in the first point—the dissemination of ideology or propaganda. In an article which appeared in _Der SA-Mann_, at Page 1 of the issue of January 1934, which is Document 3050-PS; and I refer to Page 25 of the English translation, if Your Honor pleases, the portion shown in red brackets—it is dated the 6th of January 1934:

“The new Germany would not have been without the SA man; and the
new Germany would not go on existing if the SA man would now,
with the feeling of having fulfilled his duty, quietly,
unselfishly, and modestly step aside, or if the new State would
send him home much like the Moor who has done his duty. On the
contrary, the SA man, following the will of the Führer, stands
as a guarantor of the National Socialist revolution before the
gates of power and will remain standing there at all times. For
gigantic missions still await fulfillment which would not be
thinkable without the presence and the active co-operation of
the SA.

“What has been accomplished up till now, the taking over of the
power in the State and the ejection of those elements which are
responsible for the pernicious developments of the postwar years
as bearers of Marxism, liberalism, and Capitalism, are only the
preliminaries, the springboard, for the real aims of National
Socialism.

“Being conscious of the fact that the real National Socialist
construction work would be building in an empty space without
the seizure of power by Adolf Hitler, the Movement and the SA
man as the fighting bearer of its will, primarily have directed
all of their efforts thereupon, to achieve the platform of
continued striving and to obtain the foundation or the
realization of our desires. . . .

“Out of this comes the further mission of the SA for the
completion of the German revolution: First, to be the guarantor
of the power of the National Socialist State against all attacks
from without as well as from within; second, to be the high
institute of education of the people for the living National
Socialism.”

The function of SA as the propagandist of the Party was more than a responsibility which SA took unto itself. It was the responsibility recognized by the law of Germany. From Document 1395-PS, which is the copy of the law entitled, “Law on Securing the Unity of Party and State,” which I have referred to before—and it was promulgated by the Reich Cabinet in 1933—I desire to read Article 3, on Page 1 of the English translation:

“The members of the National Socialist German Labor Party and
the SA, including their subordinate organizations, as the
leading and driving force of the National Socialist State, will
bear greater responsibility toward the Führer, people, and
State. In case they violate these duties they will be subject to
special jurisdiction by Party and SA. The Führer may extend
these regulations in order to include members of other
organizations.”

Thus were the SA members the ideology bearers of the Nazi Party—the soldiers of an idea—to use the expression employed by the Nazi writers. And permit me to emphasize that the SA was the propagandist agency, the principal agency employed by the conspirators to disseminate their fanaticism among the people of Germany.

I need hardly point out the importance of this function to the successful effectuation of the conspiracy, for it is self-evident that the Nazis could not have carried their conspiracy to the stages which they did, had not the minds of the people of Germany been cruelly and viciously influenced and infected with their evil ideologies.

I now proceed to the other functions of the SA which I mentioned previously. The next is its use in the early stages of the conspiracy as the “strong-arm” of the NSDAP. In the early stages of the Nazi movement, the employment of the SA as the propagandist instrument of the Party, involved and was combined with the exercise of physical violence and brutality.

As said by Hitler in _Mein Kampf_—and this excerpt appears at Page 4 of Document 2760-PS, Page 4 of the English translation, Exhibit Number USA-256:

“The young Movement, from the first day, espoused the
stand-point that its idea must be put forward spiritually, but
that the defense of this spiritual platform must, if necessary,
be secured by strong-arm means.”

I will read the rest of that paragraph:

“Faithful to its belief in the enormous significance of the new
doctrine, it seems obvious to the Movement that for the
attainment of its goal no sacrifice can be too great.”

And so, in the early days of the Nazi movement, so that the Nazis might better spread their fanatical philosophies, the SA was employed as a terroristic group, in order to gain for the Nazis possession and control of the streets. That is another way of saying that it was a function of the SA to beat up and terrorize all political opponents. The importance of this function is indicated in Document 2168-PS, Exhibit Number USA-411, which was written by SA Sturmführer Bayer on orders from SA headquarters. I refer to Page 3 of the English translation of Document 2168-PS, the third paragraph from the bottom:

“Possession of the streets is the key to power in the State—for
this reason the SA marched and fought. The public would never
have received knowledge of the agitative speeches of the little
Reichstag faction and its propagandists or of the desires and
aims of the Party if the martial tread and battle song of the SA
companies had not beat the measures for the truth of a
relentless criticism of the state of affairs in the governmental
system. They wanted the young Movement to keep silent. Nothing
was to be read in the press about the labor of the National
Socialists, not to mention the basic aims of its platform. They
simply did not want to awaken any interest in it. However, the
martial tread of the SA took care that even the drowsiest
citizens had to see at least the existence of a fighting troop.”

The importance of the work of the SA in the early days of the Movement was indicated by Goebbels in a speech which appeared in _Das Archiv_, October 1935. This is our Document 3211-PS, Exhibit Number USA-419. It is on the first page of the English translation:

“The inner-political opponents did not disappear due to
mysterious unknown reasons, but because the Movement possessed a
strong arm within its organization; and the strongest arm of the
movement is the SA. The Jewish question will not be solved
separately but by laws which we enact, for we are an anti-Jewish
government.”

Specific evidence of the activities of the SA during the early period of the Nazi movement, from 1922 to 1931, is found in a series of articles appearing in _Der SA-Mann_ entitled, “SA Battle Experiences Which We Will Never Forget.” Each of these articles is an account of a street or a meeting-hall battle waged by the SA against a group of political opponents in the early days of the Nazi struggle for power. These articles demonstrate that during this period it was the function of the SA to employ physical violence in order to destroy and subvert all forms of thought and expression which might be considered hostile to the Nazi aims or philosophy.

A number of such articles have been translated, and the titles are sufficiently descriptive to constitute evidence of the activities of the SA in the early stages of the movement. I should like to quote from a few of these titles by giving the page reference of this big newspaper volume.

Here is one of 24 February 1934, Page 4—the title: “We Subdue the Red Terror.” From the 8th of September 1934, Page 12; the article is entitled: “Nightly Street Battles on the Czech Border.” From 6th of October 1934, Page 5: “Street Battle in Chemnitz.” Another one of 20 October 1934, Page 7—the title: “Victorious SA.” I will skip several of them. Here is one of 26 January 1935, Page 7—the title: “The SA Conquers Rastenburg.” Another on 23 February 1935, Page 5: “Company 88 Receives Its Baptism of Fire.” One of 20 October 1934, Page 7—the article is: “SA against Sub-humanity.” Finally, I mention the one of 10 August 1935, Page 10—the title is: “The Blood Sunday of Berlin.” And then there is a portrait in the article of 11 September 1937, Page 1, which symbolizes the SA man as the master of the streets.

For an example of the nature of these articles, one appeared in the Franken edition of the _SA-Mann_ for 30 October 1937, Page 3. It is entitled: “9 November 1923 in Nuremberg,” and I should like to quote from Pages 14 and 15 of Document 3050-PS, which is an English translation of this article:

“We stayed overnight in the Colosseum (that means Nuremberg).
Then in the morning we found out what had happened in Munich.
‘Now a revolution will also be made in Nuremberg’, we said. All
of a sudden the police came from the Maxtor police station and
told us that we should go home, that the Putsch in Munich had
failed. We did not believe that and we did not go home. Then
came the State Police with fixed bayonets and drove us out of
the hall. One of us then shouted: ‘Let’s go to the Cafe
Habsburg!’ By the time we arrived, however, the police again had
everything surrounded. Some shouted then, ‘The Jewish place will
be stormed. . . . Out with the Jews!’ Then the police started to
beat us up. Then we divided into small groups and roamed through
the town, and wherever we caught a Red or a Jew we knew, blows
ensued.

“Then in the evening we marched, although the police had
forbidden it, to a meeting in Fürth. In the Hornschuch promenade
the police again attempted to stop us. It was all the same to
us. In the next moment we attacked the police in our anger so
that they were forced to flee. We marched on to Geissmann Hall.
There again they tried to stop us. But the Landsturm, which was
also there, attacked the policemen like persons possessed and
drove them from the streets. After the meeting we dissolved and
went to the edge of town. From there we marched in close column
back to Nuremberg. In Willstrasse, at the Plärrer, the police
came again. We simply shoved them aside. They did not trust
themselves to attack, for that would have meant a blood bath. We
decided beforehand not to take anything from anyone. In Fürth,
too, they had already noticed that we were up to no good. A
large mass of people accompanied us on the march. We marched
with unrolled flags and sang so that the streets resounded:
Comrade reach me your hand; we want to stand together; even
though they have false impressions, the spirit must not die;
swastika on the steel helmet, black-white-red armband; we are
known as Storm Troop (SA) Hitler!”

I now skip to the use of the SA to consolidate the power of the Party. The third function of the SA was to carry out various programs designed to consolidate Nazi control of the German State, including particularly the dissolution of the trade unions and the Jewish persecutions.

The SA groups were employed to destroy political opposition by force and brutality wherever necessary. An example of this is shown in Document Number 3221-PS, Exhibit Number USA-422; and that is an original affidavit made in the State of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, by William F. Sollman, which we now quote in its entirety:

“William F. Sollman, Pendle Hill School, Wallingford,
Pennsylvania, being duly sworn according to law, deposes and
says: From 1919 until 1933 I was a Social Democrat and a member
of the German Reichstag. Prior to March 11th, 1933, I was
editor-in-chief of a chain of daily newspapers with my office in
Cologne, Germany, which led the fight against the Nazi Party.

“On March 9th, 1933, members of the SS and SA came to my home in
Cologne and destroyed the furniture and my personal records. At
that time I was taken to the Brown House in Cologne, where I was
tortured, being beaten and kicked for several hours. I was then
taken to the regular government prison in Cologne, where I was
treated by two medical doctors and released the next day. On
March 11th, 1933, I left Germany. (Signed and sworn to).”

Prior to the organization of the Gestapo on a national scale, local SA meeting-places were designated as arrest points; and the SA members were employed in the taking into custody of Communists and other persons who were actually or supposedly hostile to the Nazi Party. This activity is described in Document Number 1759-PS, Exhibit Number USA-420, which is an original affidavit made by Raymond H. Geist. Mr. Geist was formerly United States Consul in Berlin. He is now in Mexico City. I should like to quote from a portion of his affidavit, the first being on Page 5 of the English translation, about the middle of the page, starting:

“At the beginning of the Hitler regime, the only organization
which had meeting-places throughout the country was the SA
(Storm Trooper). Until the Gestapo could be organized on a
national scale, the thousands of local SA meeting-places became
the arrest points. There were at least 50 of these in Berlin.
Communists, Jews, and other known enemies of the Nazi Party were
taken to these points, and if they were enemies of sufficient
importance they were immediately transferred to the Gestapo
headquarters. During 1933 and 1934, when the Gestapo became
universally organized, the SA were gradually eliminated as
arresting agents, and the SS were incorporated as administrative
and executive officials into the Gestapo. By the end of 1934,
the SA had been fairly well eliminated and the SS, the members
of which wore elegant black suits and were therefore called
Elite Guards, became almost identical as functionaries with the
Gestapo.”

I now pass to Page 7 of this same document, Page 7 of the English translation. It begins . . .