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aggression, conquest, domination, and violation of other nations. It may sometimes be difficult to refute prejudices--but to prove this slogan to be unfounded nonsense is fairly easy. The attitude and mentality which find its characteristic expression in the General Staff are known to have been created by men like Fred... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 30,600 | 31,100 |
my expectations center around a murderous battle... It is expected of me that I should win a great success, but decisive and great successes in war are mostly achieved at the cost of considerable losses. How many death sentences does my order of attack involve? It is this thought that weighs heavily on me whenever I gi... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 31,050 | 31,550 |
the anti-Church attitude adopted by the Party under the leadership of Himmler and Bormann, were sharply rejected. The attempt of the SA to take the place of the Armed Forces, and that of the SS to constitute a second Armed Force in addition, to the Wehrmacht, met with the strongest opposition. This was the typical atti... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 31,500 | 32,000 |
unable to achieve? A soldier bases his judgment primarily on his surroundings. In at least three cases during the last decade, he noted that perpetrators of an alleged crime of a war of aggression were not persecuted. Neither after Italy's war against Greece, nor after the Abyssinian war, nor after the war of the Sovie... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 31,950 | 32,450 |
declared on 15 February 1932, that "the demand for equality of rights and equality of security is shared by the entire German nation. Any German Government will have to put forward this demand." The endeavor to regain control of the lost German territories was not a matter for the generals alone, but was a common objec... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 32,400 | 32,900 |
followed by Hitler's later plans. But what was the actual military situation, say in 1935? Germany had an Army of a maximum strength of 250,000 men including reservists, no modern arms, no guns of more than 105 nun. caliber, no Air Force, and entirely obsolete fortifications. The Navy had only 15,000 men, was not allow... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 32,850 | 33,350 |
found as much as a trace of German "militarism" as a precursor and advance planner of Hitler's schemes of aggression? The officers of that period worked only in a spirit of peace and humanity, in order to render defense possible in the case of an enemy attack. The military leaders had no part in the political events of... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 33,300 | 33,800 |
able to defeat the Czech Army within a few weeks, she would subsequently not be in a position to offer any serious resistance to the French forces which would, in the meantime, have crossed the Rhine and invaded Southern and Central Germany; so that the initial success against Czechoslovakia would bring in its wake a f... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 33,750 | 34,250 |
not an "influential group of Nazi conspirators meeting Hitler to consider the situation," but Hitler, in his capacity as head of the State, had convened some military leaders and the Foreign Minister for a meeting. He developed his own ideas. He began by declaring that the problem of Austria and Czechoslovakia must be ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 34,200 | 34,700 |
February 1938 is particularly well illustrated by the words which Hitler spoke some time later: "I selected my most brutal-looking generals to appear as supernumeraries in order to demonstrate the seriousness of the situation to Schuschnigg." The actual march into Austria and the occupation of that country were politic... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 34,650 | 35,150 |
prerequisite for a German attack. On 16 September 1938 the military preparations began at the frontier. But political negotiations were opened simultaneously. On 1 October 1938 the territories ceded were peacefully occupied in accordance with the political agreements. The Protectorate was occupied as a consequence of a... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 35,100 | 35,600 |
aggression. The first military directive of April 1939 amounted to nothing more than the preparation for an "eventuality." If a military leader considered the situation realistically, the assurances of British and French help for Poland were bound to make the idea of a war of aggression against Poland appear absurd. Th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 35,550 | 36,050 |
a few days 68 27 Aug. 46 later upon orders from Stalin. Once the war had begun, the words of Napoleon carried weight with the military leaders: "You must remember, Gentlemen, that in war obedience comes before courage." However, the Prosecution holds the military leaders responsible not only for the outbreak of the war... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 36,000 | 36,500 |
against these countries? 69 27 Aug. 46 The reasons for the Western campaign and its prerequisites have also been discussed conclusively. The attitude which the generals adopted in this case constitutes a particularly striking refutation of the assumption made by the Prosecution. The Army High Command itself strongly ob... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 36,450 | 36,950 |
subsequently induced them to make such plans, he justified this by the necessity to forestall a threatened intervention by Russia. Russia's action against Finland, the Baltic states, 70 27 Aug. 46 and Bessarabia appeared to confirm the correctness of this opinion. Reliable information about strong Russian troop concent... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 36,900 | 37,400 |
If even the Army High Command was confronted with the accomplished fact, how could the other military leaders have had any knowledge of Hitler's intention to begin this war? As regards the Navy, which 71 27 Aug. 46 could only play a part in waging this war as long as the land or air forces of the United States did not ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 37,350 | 37,850 |
results with which we are faced today, they are in the last analysis the intellectual starting point from which originated the second World War with all its consequences. There is another aspect which must not be overlooked in 72 27 Aug. 46 any just evaluation of the general trend of events, in particular as regards th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 37,800 | 38,300 |
after the outbreak of war it became manifest also, in this instance that the military leaders did not in any way agree with Hitler's revolutionary ideas on the methods of warfare and, refused to make these ideas their own. The generals were firmly resolved to conduct the war according to the old traditions, which impli... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 38,250 | 38,750 |
the other--the conduct of the war, from the highest levels immediately below Hitler down to the lowest executive organs, was sharply separated. The Armed Forces were concerned with the purely military conduct of the war, while anything connected with the parallel ideological and political struggle was entrusted to poli... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 38,700 | 39,200 |
the front line there remained therefore as the task of the commanders-in-chief only military security and the establishment of local administration within the areas of operation. Moreover, they were kept so busy in the areas of operation with the tasks connected with the conduct of operations, the supplying of their tr... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 39,150 | 39,650 |
long periods. In spite of great difficulties which the Defense had to overcome in the collection of their evidence, I was able to submit to the Tribunal very comprehensive Defense evidence together with observations and comments which I made so far as I was given an opportunity. As I am again working under a time limit... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 39,600 | 40,100 |
be expected of the military leaders? The order did not emanate from them, they did not pass it on, they did not execute it, they endeavored to have it rescinded, and finally reached their objective. Herein lies their solidarity and their unanimity, and precisely the handling of the Commissar Order is evidence of the mo... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 40,050 | 40,550 |
out of account in this connection, since they are concerned with individual acts which have already been the subject of special investigations, or will be investigated later. But they do not in any way reflect the typical attitude adopted by the military leaders, which alone is relevant in this Trial. It seems to me th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 40,500 | 41,000 |
the Germans issued special regulations for partisan warfare in 1942, and a revised edition in 1944. The other orders issued in this connection, which. refer to "most energetic intervention," or speak of "annihilation of the enemy," that is to say, annihilation of his combat force, were likewise the consequence of the t... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 40,950 | 41,450 |
thinks he can assume that General Wagner was fully informed by Heydrich in June 1941 of the planned mass exterminations. When did this witness arrive at this incriminating assumption? Towards the end of 1945 when he was taken into custody, and when he was looking to his own advantages. Under my cross-examination, he wa... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 41,400 | 41,900 |
General Hoeppner, allegedly entertained particularly close co-operation with the Einsatzgruppen. Is not the use of such a report highly dangerous to the finding of the truth, particularly since it only contains the views of its author? Then, too, it does not contain any indication as to the nature of this co-operation,... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 41,850 | 42,350 |
to submit really conclusive evidence. The question concerning the shooting of hostages must be left out of account in this Trial, because the territorial military commanders in the occupied territories, insofar as they ordered any shootings of hostages at all, are not included in the group of persons represented by me.... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 42,300 | 42,800 |
an action. directed against the authority of the State. But can there be any question of a crime if the order requires action which is not directed against the authority of the State, but on the contrary is demanded by that authority? And even if we reply to this question in the affirmative, what citizen of any country... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 42,750 | 43,250 |
Chief of the General Staff, Beck, raised political warnings, and was relieved of his functions. General Adam also opposed the intended policies, and was discharged. The OKH opposed the offensive in the West and the infringements of neutrality, and was eliminated. The Commander-in-Chief of the Army remonstrated in conne... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 43,200 | 43,700 |
sentence he carries out. But the case may be different with a man who by virtue of his rank or the elasticity of the orders given him could act as he saw fit." This view was not shared by the generals. On the contrary, a simple soldier's disobedience is easily offset in its effect by punishment, but the disobedience of... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 43,650 | 44,150 |
end of the war. This is proved by a short survey of the fate of the military leaders: Out of 17 Field Marshals who were serving in the Army, 10 were relieved of their functions in the course of the war. Three lost their lives in connection with the events of 20 July 1944. Two were killed in action, one was taken prison... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 44,100 | 44,600 |
as the greatest of all Germans. If Churchill said of him, on 4 October 1938, that "...Our leadership must have at least a fraction of the spirit of that German corporal who, when everything around him had fallen in ruins, when Germany seemed to have sunk into chaos for all times, did not hesitate to march against the f... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 44,550 | 45,050 |
organization, since they were not politicians but "only" soldiers, they could do nothing on their part to bring about a change of conditions. They could only obey to the last, in spite of the fact that they knew how desperate the military situation was. The German military leaders found themselves hemmed in between the... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 45,000 | 45,500 |
These men are not a gang of criminals. (2) That the invented collective term "General Staff and High Command," with which the Prosecution designates these officers, represents in reality a purely arbitrary combination, of holders of the most varied service posts from quite different periods and from fundamentally diffe... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 45,450 | 45,950 |
is persecuting them even to this very courtroom, and endeavoring by lies and distortions to drag them down disaster. The prosecutor does not realize how much he contributes, by his theory that Hitler was driven on by instigators and advisers and that everything was ultimately the generals' fault, to revive the halo aro... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 45,900 | 46,400 |
th Century 1600 - 1699 18 th Century 1700 - 1799 19 th Century 1800 - 1899 20 th Century 1900 - 1999 21 st Century 2000 - © 2008 Lillian Goldman Law Library 127 Wall Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Avalon Statement of Purpose Accessibility at Yale Contact Us Yale Law Library University Library Yale Law School Search Morri... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Twelfth Day | 46,350 | 46,412 |
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of the Army Ordnance Branch; as to the third I can no longer recall his name nor to which office he was attached. They explained to me that in their opinion research work for countering any bacterial warfare from the enemy side was no longer adequate. Their mission, which was exclusively limited to research for defense... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 450 | 950 |
faculty to recognize and to form a will, and therefore to have a concept of guilt. It is a different matter whether, as a result of the developments of our age, responsibility of the organization is established for the domain in which, because of its very nature, it is bound to harm the interests of the state. We are h... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 900 | 1,400 |
adjudication by the Court. The individual member who in this Trial is called to account is faced with an incidental decision already reached, which deprives him of all other subjective and objective pleas which do not concern his membership as such. When the question of his guilt comes up, he can no longer plead that h... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 1,350 | 1,850 |
a laudable thought, but one should not ignore the 94 28 Aug. 46 limits of what is possible in practice. If the Court had merely been given the task of determining historical events and of judging whether a group of members of the organizations indicted participated in them, this task could be solved with comparative ea... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 1,800 | 2,300 |
were active in carrying them out. This becomes particularly evident in the case of an organization whose purpose was originally legal and which subsequently set 95 28 Aug. 46 for itself and pursued a goal partly or entirely illegal. A member who still remains in it may do so from various motives, not necessarily immora... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 2,250 | 2,750 |
all cases where proof of the knowledge of criminal aims or of active participation, by the member in the achievement of these aims is not forthcoming; also it particularly eliminates those cases where the member disapproved of the aims and did everything in his power to prevent the achievement of the aims, or at least ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 2,700 | 3,200 |
an individual examination of the, question of guilt having been carried through for each individual, whereby the innocent in fact would be declared accomplices indiscriminately and without having been heard. The only means to avoid this would be for a modified verdict merely to establish objective historic events witho... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 3,150 | 3,650 |
acts as valid, if the aim of the Cabinet was unrestrictedly criminal. Another presupposition for the declaration proposed by the Prosecution, which we must consider, is the freedom to join the organization, freedom which must not only be present at the joining of the organization, but also particularly at the changing ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 3,600 | 4,100 |
each of the persons mentioned. With reference to Appendix B, I should like to state that the commanders-in-chief of the Wehrmacht branches, that is, Fritsch, Brauchitsch, Raeder, and Doenitz, were only entitled to participate in Cabinet meetings on the basis of the Fuehrer directive of 25 November 1938, that is to say,... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 4,050 | 4,550 |
German Civil Service Act of 26 January 1937 (2340-PS), which was put into effect on 1 July 1937. By this law the Reich Minister Act of 27 March 1930 was cancelled. Article 161 stipulated that the Reich Ministers could now be discharged by Hitler alone. Legally, therefore, it was no longer possible for a Cabinet member ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 4,500 | 5,000 |
the reasons. Until 1932 one might feel inclined to assume that the Reich Cabinets displayed a certain "cabinet solidarity." At that time Cabinet meetings were continuously taking place, during which all bills as well as differences of opinion on questions which affected the sphere of several ministers were submitted fo... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 4,950 | 5,450 |
Court, the German "impeachment." Thus we have to admit that, already in a period of a purely democratic German form of government and state procedure, "cabinet solidarity" did not exist in spite of regular Cabinet meetings, and that the ministers certainly did not work in cohesive cooperation as soon as at the Cabinet ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 5,400 | 5,900 |
whose inner structure and working methods had been shaped during the time of the Presidential Cabinet came to hold power. It is true that the sole responsibility, such as was assumed by the Reich President when passing the emergency decrees, was not transferred to Hitler. Yet to a certain extent he filled the gap cause... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 5,850 | 6,350 |
leadership." The Catholic Party by its dissolution -- I quote -- "...enabled its supporters to put their forces and experience unreservedly at the disposal of the national front under the leadership of the Reich Chancellor for positive collaboration in the consolidation of our national, social, economic, and cultural l... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 6,300 | 6,800 |
it legally a more moderate orderly form. If the members of the Cabinet are reproached for moderating illegal conditions and yet at the same time giving them a legal basis, such reproaches should mainly be directed at the men from the non-radical camp in the Cabinet. When the Reich Cabinet was formed, they had been appo... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 6,750 | 7,250 |
Cabinet as the result of this only served to make the circle of ministers dissatisfied with developments smaller and thereby less influential. Any minister who entertained thoughts of resigning knew that his post would be filled by a new man who would not hinder, but would only further this development. Any minister wh... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 7,200 | 7,700 |
directions. The Reich Cabinet was not excepted. This became outwardly apparent by the law concerning the oath of the Reich Ministers of 16 October 1934. The new oath for the ministers was the same as the general oath for civil servants and soldiers, and showed that the position of the minister had changed to that of a ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 7,650 | 8,150 |
the witnesses, most of the ministers did not know any more about important political events than any other person. In most cases they learnt of the facts afterwards by press or radio, unless it happened that something leaked through to them through secret channels which they too were forbidden to use. This may have hap... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 8,100 | 8,600 |
held the authoritative power in the conduct of the State and wilfully directed its whole policy towards a contemplated, unlawful war, then it can be said in rebuttal that the Cabinet had disintegrated and was no longer a cohesive whole; out of this there had evolved a single directing head in the person of Hitler. Othe... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 8,550 | 9,050 |
which prevented the ministers from combining. No minister was to know more than was absolutely necessary for him to carry out the task specially assigned to him. Even things which happened in his own department could be kept secret from the minister. I refer to the affidavit of Harmening, from which it appears that the... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 9,000 | 9,500 |
30 January 1933, the day the Cabinet was formed. It would consequently be only logical to assert that the purpose for which the Cabinet was formed was in itself criminal. In this connection I need say little, and would merely refer to the statement which I made in defense of the Defendant Von Papen. I wish to supplemen... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 9,450 | 9,950 |
these alleged indications and consider a date which is of particular moment for this question. It is the 5th of November 1937, the day of the conference between Hitler and his War Minister, the three commanders-in-chief of the Services, and the Foreign Minister, at which he expounded his future plans. I need not open a... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 9,900 | 10,400 |
reasons for them. The question of war plans was not touched upon in any way whatsoever. If the Prosecution construe the right to take part in the Cabinet meetings as proof of a mutual bond between the Cabinet members, they will have to accept the contention of the other side that such a bond no longer existed in the en... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 10,350 | 10,850 |
crimes mentioned in the Charter. In rebuttal it must be stated that it is impossible to conclude a cause from an effect, in order to prove that the cause had of necessity to lead to the effect. This view would be correct only if the establishment of the dictatorship could find its compelling motive in the planning of t... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 10,800 | 11,300 |
justify the establishment of a dictatorship. I continue. The recognition of this alone would furnish the justification, necessary within the framework of considerations based on criminal law, for co-operation of the Cabinet members in the development leading to the dictatorship. In any case this would exclude the unqua... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 11,250 | 11,750 |
not even indirectly through the consolidated dictatorship. One cannot set aggressive war as one's goal on the one hand, and on the other hand create by legislative measures a situation which forces emigration on people robbed of the foundation for their very existence. If one wants an aggressive war, it would be the he... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 11,700 | 12,200 |
how far one may participate in one evil in order to prevent another still greater evil. In any case the motives must be considered here too. When dealing with the case 116 28 Aug. 46 in point, the main thing is that even the Schlegelberger proposal desired to avoid at least the geographical elimination of persons of mi... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 12,150 | 12,650 |
that persons were seized who had nothing to do with the revolt. For these cases he promised a legal inquiry. If the law in its wording actually limited itself to the persons who participated in the revolt, then the ministers thought that they could answer for this law. One may have misgivings about 117 28 Aug. 46 this ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 12,600 | 13,100 |
1939, which contained a list of the administrative measures to be taken by the civil authorities in case of a mobilization. The contents of the book in no way show an aggressive intent. The preparations that were made were obvious state security measures for the event of war. One cannot conclude either that a war of ag... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 13,050 | 13,550 |
is never a time when a country can completely exclude the possibility of sooner or later being drawn into a war from the outside. When changes came about in the leadership of the Armed Forces through Hitler's decree of 4 February 1938, it was not at first noticed, because the Reich Defense Council never met, that its p... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 13,500 | 14,000 |
Defense Council. It did meet twice, but how very unimportant these meetings were, and what is more, how little suited they were to the drawing-up of secret plans, is shown by the fact that of the 12 members of the council only a few were present, whereas there was a very large number of experts from the individual depa... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 13,950 | 14,450 |
containing the principles required. This complete and necessary reshaping of an organization demanded the passing of the laws in question, but it provides no grounds for concluding that a war was being planned. As regards the question of whether all the Cabinet members were informed of the situation, we need not establ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 14,400 | 14,900 |
subordinate work. The idea of a Cabinet working in unison, with the members making free decisions, had for a long time been nothing but a myth. Consequently, the responsibility for each individual law can be placed upon the individual minister or ministers who participated in making it, but not upon the Cabinet. The Pr... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 14,850 | 15,350 |
had perhaps reckoned with this possibility and taken it into account in his decisions, nevertheless all the circumstances show that the group of people indicated here were the least suitable to be informed of such plans or even possibilities. The fact that on 5 November 1937 Hitler did not consider he could have suffic... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 15,300 | 15,800 |
of the, Cabinet? How could a man like Minister Popitz, who paid for his active opposition with his life as one of the conspirators in the plot of 20 July 1944, be connected with such aims and their attainment? The circle of persons mentioned in the Indictment under the conception of "Reich Cabinet" is small. It is prec... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 15,750 | 16,250 |
clear judgment of their former activities, both objectively and subjectively, by separate proceedings. This is also necessary in view of their former important place in public life. To put all of them now into one category and by the verdict to outlaw all of them, including those members who are dead, and to deprive th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 16,200 | 16,700 |
in order to bring to punishment those wrong-doers who up till now have remained anonymous. Those who can be considered as wrongdoers have for the greater part been arrested. Their examination in the internment camps and in the denazification proceedings provides an easy way of determining the real culprits. Therefore, ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 16,650 | 17,150 |
developed, the legal question concerning material and procedure is of so problematic a nature that for the individual innocent member there is no absolute legal guarantee that he will not be prosecuted. The result would be that a situation would be created in which a great number of people would live in a state of susp... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 17,100 | 17,600 |
or else subsequently approved. We must, therefore, examine the following: (A) to what extent the collective elements of a conspiracy indicated here correspond to the legal concept advanced by the Prosecution; and (B) to what extent these collective elements were brought to realization by the members of the organization... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 17,550 | 18,050 |
the realization of these aims found their visible limitation in the Reich laws and regulations published in the Reichsgesetzblatt . As an accused organization, the SA can be considered only as an association of persons whose common and general endeavor was exclusively directed towards realizing the aims pointed out to.... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 18,000 | 18,500 |
we assume the use of such methods by the SA, they are not unique in the world, and do not belong to the past. But as long as these methods are not regarded and treated as criminal all over the world, they should not justly be used as a typical manifestation of the criminal character of the indicted National Socialist o... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 18,450 | 18,950 |
if such preparation was unknown, then the millions comprising the majority could at no time have become aware that the defensive war begun by the Reich leadership was in reality, as the Prosecution contends, a war of aggression, participation in which might perhaps be considered as a crime against the peace. Crimes aga... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 18,900 | 19,400 |
history. THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Boehm, that is a most improper observation of you to have made. There is no evidence that members of the SA have been kept in ignorance. On the contrary, the same notices have been posted in the camps in the Russian Zone as in other zones and, moreover, the Defense Counsel Dr. Servatius, who... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 19,350 | 19,850 |
against the SA organization as a whole, which in its effects includes even the war dead, lacks those basic, theoretical, and material prerequisites the neglect of which, implicit in any unfavorable decision of the Court, cannot be reconciled with "healthy popular sentiment" any more than with the aspirations of the Uni... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 19,800 | 20,300 |
and the principles of all criminal codes. The basic idea in the conspiracy is that it is punishable to join an organized group of persons which, at the moment of joining, is already prohibited. The persons joining, therefore, must be aware upon their admission that they are committing an unlawful action. A retroactive ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 20,250 | 20,750 |
the Jews. By doing so they ignore the real problem of mass liability, which can be solved justly only by a great number of individual statements, and which requires the investigation of the agreement of action and aim in a majority of the members. In contrast to such an opinion we cannot stress too strongly the actual ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 20,700 | 21,200 |
the SA. The SA can -- if at all -- be rendered responsible only for actions committed by persons in their capacity as members or leaders of the SA, but not for those committed, for instance, in their capacity as Reich Ministers, Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, regional commissioners, or in other functions. Apart from a passin... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 21,150 | 21,650 |
view there existed three deliberate trends as regards foreign policy, just as I also indicated that the eastern and the western trends were mutually opposed. In this connection, may I refer to the following sentence spoken by the British Prosecution according to the transcript of 31 July 1946. I quote: "If the German s... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 21,600 | 22,100 |
completely eliminated from the future development of the Reich and its policy. This danger and the conditions created by coercion brought about an untenable situation. Thus there arose, at first strictly concealed, the opposition of the Supreme SA Leadership led by Chief of Staff Roehm. Their intention was to remove th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 22,050 | 22,550 |
reason why the huge smoke-screening machinery of the press was wound up and set in motion to divert the attention of the masses, and that was also why such a comparatively large number of persons were shot, who could no longer talk-that is, they were not to talk. Among Party members it was forbidden to discuss the very... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 22,500 | 23,000 |
that there is no correct English translation of the word "Wehr." Nevertheless, this concept ought to be clarified, for the Prosecution itself submitted Document 2471-PS. In this document it says: "The SA, the exponent of the desire for military preparedness (Wehrwille). The SA claims to be the exponent of the desire fo... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 22,950 | 23,450 |
rifle clubs. Therefore, the SA is far from being a military unit, even if every company (Sturm) should have had a maximum of five small-bore rifles which, however, was not universally true. The SA never possessed heavy arms, much less practiced with them. The relationship of the SA to the Wehrmacht was accordingly stra... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 23,400 | 23,900 |
from an affidavit The medical companies of the SA served in giving first aid in the field of public health service. Their training was in keeping with the Geneva Convention (Testimony of Bock, Affidavit General SA-90). (9) The so-called "Feldherrnhalle" army units were not subordinate to the Supreme SA Leadership, as e... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 23,850 | 24,350 |
colonies. As the proceedings before the Commission have shown, these articles showed no signs of any war-mongering spirit. Therefore, the leap which the Prosecution makes in order to prove the promotion of a war of aggression by the SA is a leap into empty space. On the contrary, I have shown that the Supreme SA Leader... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 24,300 | 24,800 |
is also shown by a decision rendered by the State Court for the Protection of the German Republic This was also pointed out to us by the witness Juettner when he referred to the idea of a defensive Western Pact directed against, endeavors to bring about a world revolution (Document Number SA-286), in pursuance of which... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 24,750 | 25,250 |
wanted to refer to any part of that document, he should have followed the example of the other attorneys by putting in the particular part of the document which he wanted to quote in his speech. This he did not do. Thus, the allegation that the Prosecution submitted material which the Prosecution did not intend to put ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 25,200 | 25,700 |
do not consider it improper, referring to any other part of the document in that way. COL. POKROVSKY: It seems to me, My Lord, that such utilization of a document on the part of the Defense is not correct, and this for the reasons I have already stated to the Tribunal I would like to repeat once more, it seems to me th... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 25,650 | 26,150 |
were always searched for arms by their responsible leader. I also refer to the affidavits by Freund, Zoeberlein, and Hahn. They represent the political situation as it really was, beyond any doubt. The testimony repeatedly revealed that before 1933 we stood on the verge of civil war. The excesses which actually occurre... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 26,100 | 26,600 |
the witness Juettner we see that the attitude adopted by the Supreme SA Leadership in this matter coincided with that of the well-known Jewish professor Karo, who adopts a hostile attitude toward Eastern Jewry. These manifestations of hostility to Eastern Jewry are the after effects of the first World War, when innumer... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 26,550 | 27,050 |
no case does the Group order a report on action taken to be made to the Brigade which is receiving the order, but only to the Group. Logically, it should have said "to the Gruppenfuehrer." (6) It is equally improbable that the leader of the Brigade did not pass on the order, that is, give orders to the leaders of the S... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 27,000 | 27,500 |
when he learned of the events of 9 November 1938 has likewise been proved by an affidavit (General SA-71). As shown by the testimony of Siebel, Lutze ordered, as a consequence of the happenings of 9 November 1938, that in future orders of the Political Leadership were not to be carried out. He issued that order because... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 27,450 | 27,950 |
force people to leave the Church. This fact is clearly proved by many affidavits. I recall that Cardinal Count Galen was accompanied by SA members on his trips through the diocese, and that in many districts an order had been issued against scheduling SA training during church services and in the vicinity of churches. ... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 27,900 | 28,400 |
cases, therefore, the individual concerned never acted as an SA-man. The uniform, which he often still kept for a while with the armband, was his sole and merely outward connection with the SA, and cannot alone decide the issue. This adoption of the uniform of an organization for a purpose and service alien to the orga... | Yale Avalon (proceedings_vol22): Two Hundred and Thirteenth Day | 28,350 | 28,850 |
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