Chapter XXI: Part I: , Page 1016, Document 1395-PS; the law of 30 January 1934

transferring the sovereignty of the German states to the Reich, _Reichsgesetzblatt_, 1934, Part I, Page 75, Document 3068-PS; the German Municipality Act of 30 January 1935, which gave Frick’s Ministry of the Interior final authority to appoint and dismiss all mayors of municipalities throughout Germany, _Reichsgesetzblatt_, 1935, Part I, Page 49, Document 2008-PS; and, finally, the Nazi Civil Service Act of 7 April 1933 which provided that all civil servants must be trustworthy as defined by Nazi standards and also must meet the Nazi racial requirements, published in _Reichsgesetzblatt_, 1933, Part I, Page 175, Document 1397-PS.

One category of Frick’s activities, however, deserves special notice; that is, the crushing of opposition by legally camouflaged police terror. This is shown by the book _Dr. Wilhelm Frick and His Ministry_, our Document 3119-PS, which is in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-711, written by Frick’s undersecretary and co-conspirator, Hans Pfundtner, apparently written to establish Frick’s eternal contribution to the creation of the Nazis’ thousand-year Reich. It states, and I quote briefly from Page 4, paragraph 4, of the English translation:

“While Marxism in Prussia was crushed by the hard fist of the
Prussian Prime Minister Hermann Göring and a gigantic wave of
propaganda was initiated for the Reichstag elections of 5 March
1933, Dr. Frick prepared the complete seizure of power in all
states of the Reich. All at once the political opposition
disappeared. All at once the Main”—River—“line was eliminated;
from this time on only one will and one leadership reigned in
the German Reich.”

How was this done? On February 28, 1933, the day after the Reichstag fire, civil rights in Germany were abolished. This decree was published in the _Reichsgesetzblatt_, 1933, Page 83; and an English translation of it appears in the document book as 1390-PS. I refer to this decree at this time because it carries the signature of the Reich Minister of the Interior Frick. And now something important. It is stated at the beginning of the decree, which was published on the morning after the Reichstag fire, that the suspension of civil rights is decreed as a defense measure against Communist acts of violence endangering the State. At the time of publication of this decree, the Nazi Government announced that a thorough investigation had proven that the Communists had set fire to the Reichstag building. I do not intend to go into the controversial issue of who set fire to the Reichstag, but I should like to offer proof that the official Nazi statement that the Communists were responsible for the fire was issued without any investigation and that the preamble of the decree which had Frick’s signature was a mere subterfuge.

I offer in evidence a very short excerpt of an interrogation of Defendant Göring, dated October 13, 1945, our Document 3593-PS, Exhibit Number USA-712, and I should like to read the following brief portion, beginning on Page 4:

“My question to Göring: ‘How could you tell your press agent, 1
hour after the Reichstag caught fire, that the Communists did
it, without investigation?’

“Göring’s answer: ‘Did the public relations officer say that at
that time?’

“My answer: ‘Yes. He said you said it.’

“Göring: ‘It is possible when I came to the Reichstag the Führer
and his gentlemen were there. I was doubtful at that time, but
it was their opinion that the Communists had started the fire.’

“My question: ‘But you were the highest law enforcement official
in a certain sense. Daluege was your subordinate. Looking back
at it now, and not in the excitement that was there once, wasn’t
it too early to say without any investigation that the
Communists had started the fire?’

“Göring: ‘Yes, that is possible, but the Führer wanted it this
way.’

“Question: ‘Why did the Führer want to issue at once a statement
that the Communists had started the fire?’

“Answer: ‘He was convinced of it.’

“Question: ‘It is right when I say he was convinced without
having any evidence or any proof of that at this moment?’

“Göring: ‘That is right, but you must take into account that at
that time the Communist activity was extremely strong, that our
new government as such was not very secure.’”

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Kempner, what has that got to do with Frick?

DR. KEMPNER: He signed the decree, as I said before, abolishing civil liberties on the morning after, pointing out that there was a Communist danger. On the other side, this Communist danger was a mere subterfuge and was one of the things which finally led to the second World War.

The Defendant Frick not only abolished civil liberties within Germany, but he also became the organizer of the huge police network of the Nazi Reich.

Parenthetically, I may state that before this time there was no unified Reich police system; the individual German states had police forces of their own.

I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice of the decree of June 17, 1936, signed by Frick and published in the _Reichsgesetzblatt_, 1936, Page 487. An English translation of this decree is in the document book under Document Number 2073-PS.