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 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
 territories, in the future, may be permitted to have a life of
their own in a form not as yet to be determined. However,
they remain parts of the Greater German living space and
are always to be governed according to this guiding
principle.
“The regulations of the Hague Convention on land warfare,
which concern the administration of a country occupied by
a foreign belligerent power, are not applicable, since the
U.S.S.R. is to be considered dissolved and, therefore, the
Reich has the obligation of exercising all governmental and
other sovereign functions in the interests of the country’s
inhabitants. Therefore, any measures are permitted which
the German administration deems necessary and suitable
for the execution of this comprehensive task.”
THE PRESIDENT: Hasn’t that been read before?
CAPT. HARRIS: Not to my knowledge, Sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
CAPT. HARRIS: Implicit in Defendant Rosenberg’s statement that
the Hague Regulations are not applicable to the Soviet Union is the
recognition by him that the conspirators’ actions in the Soviet Union
flagrantly violated the Hague Regulations. The statement indicates
that the conspirators were utterly contemptuous of applicable
principles of international law.
Mr. Dodd has already introduced into evidence Document 294-PS,
now Exhibit Number USA-185, in connection with the slave labor
presentation. This document is a top-secret memorandum, dated 25
October 1942, which was found in Defendant Rosenberg’s files. It
was written by Bräutigam, who was a high official in Defendant
Rosenberg’s Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. I should
like to quote two additional passages from this document. I quote
from the English text Page 1, the first full paragraph, line 17 to 20.
The German text is at Page 1, the first full paragraph, lines 22 to 25.
“In the East, Germany is carrying on a three-fold war: A
war for the destruction of bolshevism, a war for the
 destruction of the Greater Russian empire, and finally a war
for the acquisition of colonial territory for colonizing
purposes and economic exploitation. . . .
“With the inherent instinct of the Eastern peoples, the
primitive man soon found out also that for Germany the
slogan: ‘Liberation from Bolshevism’ was only a pretext to
enslave the Eastern peoples according to her own
methods.”
This completes, Your Honors, the list of the exhibits with respect
to the Soviet Union which we propose to introduce at this time. As I
mentioned at the outset of this presentation, these exhibits do not
disclose all of the conspirators’ plans with respect to the occupied
countries but they do, we submit, show a constant pattern, a pattern
of ruthless Germanization and destruction.
In conclusion we desire to offer in evidence two documents
which disclose that German industrialists and financiers aided and
abetted Himmler in his relentless program of Germanization,
exploitation, oppression, and destruction.
I first offer in evidence Document Number EC-454, which is
Exhibit Number USA-321. This document was found in the vaults of
the Stein Bank in Cologne among the files of the banker Baron Kurt
von Schröder, by a joint British-American team, headed by Colonel
Kellam on the British side and Captain Roth on the American side. It
is a carbon copy of a letter from Von Schröder to Himmler, dated 27
August 1943, and bears Von Schröder’s initials. I quote it in its
entirety:
“My very honorable Reichsführer: With great joy I learn of
your appointment as Reich Minister of the Interior and take
the liberty to extend my heartiest congratulations to you on
assuming your new post.
“A strong hand is now very necessary in the operation of
this department; and it is universally welcomed, but
especially by your friends, that it was you who were chosen
for this by the Führer. Please be assured that we will always
 do everything in our power at all times to assist you in
every possible way.
“I am pleased to inform you at this opportunity that your
circle of friends has again placed at your disposal this year
a sum slightly in excess of 1 million RM for ‘your particular
tasks.’ An exact list showing the names of the contributors
will be sent to you shortly.
“Again all my very best wishes—as well as those of my
family. I remain yours in old loyalty and esteem. Heil Hitler!
Yours truly.”
I next offer in evidence—and this is the final exhibit, Your Honors
—Document Number EC-453, which is Exhibit Number USA-322. This
document was likewise found in the Stein Bank in Cologne by the
above-mentioned joint British-American team. It is a carbon copy of
a letter from Von Schröder to Himmler, dated 21 September 1943,
bearing Von Schröder’s initials, with the enclosed list of contributors
....
THE PRESIDENT: Captain Harris, on what principle do you
suggest that either of these letters can possibly be evidence in this
case?
CAPT. HARRIS: Your Honors, at the time the motion to postpone
the Trial as to Gustav Krupp was argued before this Tribunal, the
British Chief Prosecutor specifically stated that if it should be the
decision of the Tribunal that Krupp should be dismissed, the
evidence as to the part which he, his firm, and other industrialists
played in the preparation and conduct of the war would still be given
to this Tribunal as forming part of the general conspiracy in which
these defendants were involved, with divers other persons not now
before the Court.
The evidence we are now offering, Your Honors, is precisely of
the type indicated by Sir Hartley Shawcross. It is evidence which
goes to prove the length and breadth of the general conspiracy
which is alleged in the Indictment. Evidence showing contributions
to one of the leading conspirators, a conspirator who was in the
forefront of the unlawful program to plunder public and private
property and to germanize a large part of the world, is, it is
submitted, relevant to this proceeding. May I continue?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
CAPT. HARRIS: I quote the last letter, EC-453, in its entirety:
“Dear Reich Leader:
“I thank you very much for your kind letter of the 14th of
this month with which you made me very happy. At the
same time I am enclosing a list with the total amount of
funds made available to you by your circle of friends and
totalling 1,100,000 RM. We are very glad indeed to render
some assistance to you in your particular tasks and to be
able to provide some small relief for you in your still further
extended sphere of duties.
“Wishing you, dear Reich Leader, the best of luck, I remain
in old loyalty and esteem. Heil Hitler! Yours very truly.”
I had intended, Your Honor, to quote the names of the
contributors; but I shall not, if Your Honor considers it unnecessary.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think it would add to the expedition of
the Trial, do you?
CAPT. HARRIS: Very well, Sir. I am exceedingly grateful to Your
Honors for your very kind attention.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Colonel Storey.
COLONEL ROBERT G. STOREY (Executive Trial Counsel for the
United States): Do Your Honors want to proceed now before the
recess?
THE PRESIDENT: No, perhaps we had better adjourn now for 10
minutes.
[A recess was taken.]

COL. STOREY: If the Tribunal please, the remainder of the

presentation during the week will be concerning the criminal
organizations. The first to be presented now is the Leadership Corps,
including some of the illustrative crimes against the churches,
against the Jews, against the trade unions, and the operation of the
“Einsatzstab Rosenberg” concerning the looting of art treasures.
On the threshold of presenting the proof establishing the
criminality of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party it is in point to
restate the Prosecution’s theory of this case. It is this: The Nazi Party
was the central core of the Common Plan or Conspiracy alleged in
Count One of the Indictment, a conspiracy which contemplated and
embraced the commission of Crimes against the Peace, War Crimes,
and Crimes against Humanity as defined and denounced by the
Charter.
The Leadership Corps, upon the evidence, was responsible for
planning, directing, and supervising the criminal measures carried
into execution by the Nazi Party in furtherance of the conspiracy.
More than this, as will be shown, the members of the Leadership
Corps themselves actively participated in the commission of illegal
measures in aid of the conspiracy. In the light of the evidence to be
offered this Tribunal, the Leadership Corps may be fairly described
as the brain, the backbone, and the directive arms of the Nazi Party.
Its responsibilities are more massive and comprehensive than those
of the army of followers it led and directed in the assault against the
peace-loving peoples of the world. Accordingly, upon the record
made in this case and now to be enlarged upon, the Prosecution
requests this Tribunal to declare that the Leadership Corps of the
Nazi Party is a criminal group or organization in accordance with
Article 9 of the Charter.
At this time I should like to submit to the Tribunal the document
book supporting the brief as Exhibit USA-V.
If Your Honors please—diverting from the manuscript—during the
recess there was placed upon your bench the document book, which
has each document marked by tab and each quoted portion
embraced by red pencil marks for the assistance of Your Honors. In
addition, we have handed up two documents that have already been
introduced in evidence: An enlarged copy of this chart, more
detailed, which Your Honors have before you, and another chart, in
photostatic form, with reference to the Leadership Corps; and both
of those will be identified later.
 I now proceed to present the proof relating to the composition,
the functions, and the responsibilities and powers of the Leadership
Corps of the Nazi Party. First, what was the Leadership Corps . . .
DR. ROBERT SERVATIUS (Counsel for the Leadership Corps of
the Nazi Party): After the last meeting I received a statement by
Justice Jackson with the proposal concerning the taking of evidence
and the time for the discussion of certain questions which will arise.
I cannot understand the scope of these proposals, and must
therefore ask that I may at some time speak about these points
again, if it is necessary.
THE PRESIDENT: Of course, counsel will have the opportunity of
making a full argument in answer to the argument presented on
behalf of the Prosecution.
What I understood from Mr. Justice Jackson on Friday was that
he proposed that the evidence on the question of criminal
organizations should be presented first, and the argument presented
afterwards.
Counsel for the organizations will, as I stated this morning, have
the opportunity of calling evidence in answer to the evidence of the
Prosecution, and will also have the opportunity of making whatever
argument they think right in answer to the evidence and argument
presented on behalf of the Prosecution.
COL. STOREY: First, what was the Leadership Corps of the Nazi
Party? What persons made up its membership? What was its size
and scope?
In considering the composition and organizational structure of
the Leadership Corps it will be convenient for the Tribunal to refer to
Document Number 2903-PS, which is this exhibit on the wall and
which was introduced by Mr. Albrecht at the opening of the Trial.
And, supplementing the chart on the wall, I now offer in evidence
Document 2833-PS, Exhibit Number USA-22, which is a chart of the
Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, appearing at Page 9 of a
magazine published by the Chief Education Office of the Nazi Party,
entitled The Face of the Party. It is this little photostatic copy that
you have. Later on we expect to put the big one on the wall.
 These charts and the evidence to follow show that the
Leadership Corps constituted the sum total of the officials of the
Nazi Party. It included the Führer at the top; the Reichsleiter, on the
horizontal line; the Reich officeholders, immediately below—the five
categories of leaders who were area commanders, called the
“Hoheitsträger” or “bearers of sovereignty.” They are in the red-
lettered or red-lined boxes at the bottom. They range all the way
from the 40-odd Gauleiter in charge of large districts, down through
the intermediate political leaders, the Kreisleiter, the
Ortsgruppenleiter, the Zellenleiter, and finally, to the Blockleiter who
were charged with looking after 40 to 60 households and what may
be best described as staff officers attached to each of the five levels
of the Hoheitsträger.
Organized upon a hierarchical basis, forming a pyramidal
structure—as appears from the chart which Your Honors hold in your
hands—the principal political leaders on a scale of descending
authority were:
The Führer, at the top; the Reichsleiter, as I have mentioned, and
the main office and officeholders; the Gauleiter, who was the district
leader, with his staff officers; the Kreisleiter, who was the county
leader, and his staff officers; the Ortsgruppenleiter, the local chapter
leader, and his staff officers; the Zellenleiter, who was the cell leader,
and his staff officers; and then, finally, the Blockleiter, with his staff
officers.
I now offer in evidence Document 1893-PS. This is Exhibit
Number USA-323. And this, if Your Honors please, is the
Organization Book of the NSDAP, the National Socialist Party. It was
edited by the Defendant, Reich Organization Leader of the NSDAP—
the late Defendant—Dr. Robert Ley, and it is the 1943 edition. A
large part of the evidence to be offered relating to the composition
of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party will be drawn from this
primer of the Nazi organizations, and I shall later quote from it. And
without so requesting the Tribunal each time to take judicial notice, I
shall assume, in the absence of questions, that it is so understood.
The English translation, to which we will refer, is Document 1893-PS.
 I now proceed to offer evidence on the make-up and powers of
the Reichsleitung or the Leadership Corps, which consisted of the
Reichsleiter or Reich Leaders of the Nazi Party—and they are shown
on that long horizontal list at the top of the chart—the Hauptämter
(main offices), and the Ämter, or officeholders.
The Reichsleiter of the Party were annexed to Hitler, the highest
officeholders in the Party hierarchy. All of the Reichsleiter in the main
office and officeholders within the Reichsleitung were appointed by
Hitler and directly responsible to him.
I quote from the first paragraph of Page 4, Document 1893-PS:
“1. The Führer appoints the following political directors:
“(a) Reichsleiter and all political directors, to include the
directors of the Womens Leagues, within the Reich
Directorate (Reichsleitung).”
The significant fact to be grasped is that through the
Reichsleitung perfect co-ordination of the Party and State machinery
was guaranteed. The Party manual puts it this way—and I quote
from the fourth sentence of the third paragraph of Page 20 of that
document. You will find the page number at the bottom, Page 20. It
is a very short quotation. I quote: “In the Reichsleitung the arteries
of the organization of the German people and of the German State
merge.”
If Your Honors please, there is a little different translation in that
portion in your book. To prove . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Just a moment, please. It begins, “It is in the
Reich Directorate where the strings of the organization of the
German people and of the German State merge.” Is that it?
COL. STOREY: Yes, Sir, that is it. This translation says, “the
arteries of the organization of the German people and of the German
State merge.”
To prove that the Reichsleiter of the Leadership Corps included
the most powerful coalition of political overlords in Nazi Germany, it
is necessary only to put in evidence their names. The list of
Reichsleiter now to be offered in evidence will include the following
defendants now on trial before this Tribunal: Rosenberg, Von
Schirach, Frick, Bormann, Hans Frank, and the late Defendant
Robert Ley.
The evidence to be introduced will show that the Defendant
Rosenberg was the leader of an organization named for him, the
“Einsatzstab Rosenberg”—which is not shown on this chart, if Your
Honor please—which carried out a vast program of looting and
plunder of art treasures throughout occupied Europe.
The evidence will further show that, as representative of the
Führer for the supervision of Nazi ideology and schooling, Rosenberg
participated in an aggressive campaign to undermine the Christian
churches and to supersede Christianity by a German National Church
founded upon a combination of irrationality, pseudo-scientific
theories, mysticism, and the discredited cult of the racial state. It will
further be shown that the late Defendant Ley, acting as the agent of
Hitler and the Leadership Corps, directed the Nazi assault upon the
independent labor unions of Germany and that before destroying
himself he first destroyed the bastion of republican society, a free
and independent labor movement, replacing it by a Nazi
organization, the German Labor Front, or the DAF, and employed
this organization as a means of exploiting the German labor force in
the interests of the conspiracy and to instill Nazi ideology among the
ranks of the German workers.
It will be shown that the Defendant Frick participated in the
enactment of many laws which were designed to promote the
conspiracy in its several phases.
The Defendant Frick shares responsibility for the grave injury
done by the officials of the Leadership Corps to the concept of the
rule of law by virtue of his efforts to give the color of law and formal
legality to a large volume of Nazi legislation which was violative of
the rights of humanity, such as the Nazi discriminatory legislation
designed to degrade, stigmatize, and eliminate the Jewish people of
Germany and German-occupied Europe.
Though the Defendant Bormann is physically absent from the
dock, the evidence as to his responsibility in directing and furthering
the course of the Nazi conspiracy is here and expands with the
record in this case. As Chief of the Party Chancellery, right under
Hitler, the Defendant Bormann was an extremely important force in
directing the activities of the Leadership Corps. As will be shown, a
decree of January 16, 1942 provided that the participation of the
Party in all important legislation, governmental appointments, and
promotions had to be undertaken exclusively by Bormann. He took
part in the preparation of all laws and decrees issued by the Reich
authorities and gave his assent to those of the subordinate
governments.
I now refer to Document 2473-PS, Exhibit Number USA-324. You
will find that the English translation contains a list of the Reichsleiter
of the NSDAP set forth on Page 170 of this book. It was edited by
the late Defendant and Reichsleiter for Party Organization, Robert
Ley. The names of the 15 Reichsleiter in office in 1943 will be found
on Pages 1 and 2 of Document 2473-PS.
If the Tribunal please, I will not read all of them but will call
attention only to certain of them, as follows:
Martin Bormann, Chief of the Party Chancellery; then we skip
over to Wilhelm Frick, Leader of the National Socialist faction in the
Reichstag, shown on the big chart over at the second box from the
end on the right; Joseph Goebbels, Reich Propaganda Leader of the
NSDAP, shown also on the same level; Heinrich Himmler, Reich
Leader of the SS, the Deputy of the NSDAP for all questions of
Germandom; Robert Ley, Reich Organization Leader of the NSDAP
and Leader of the German Labor Front; Victor Lutze, Chief of Staff of
the SA; Alfred Rosenberg, representative of the Führer for the
supervision of all mental and ideological training and education of
the NSDAP; Baldur von Schirach, Reich Leader for the education of
the youth of the National Socialist Party; and then, finally, Franz
Schwarz, Reich Treasurer of the National Socialist Party.
The principal functions of the Reichsleiter, which we might call
directors, included the responsibility of carrying out the tasks and
missions assigned to them by the Führer or by the Chief of the Party
Chancellery, the Defendant Martin Bormann. The Reichsleiter were
further charged with insuring that Party policies were being executed
in all the subordinate areas of the Reich. They were also responsible
for insuring a continual flow of new leadership into the Party.
With respect to the function and the responsibilities of the
Reichsleiter I now quote from Page 20 of Document Number 1893-
PS:
“The NSDAP represents the political conception, the political
conscience, and the political will of the German nation.
Political conception, political conscience, and political will
are embodied in the person of the Führer. Based on his
directive and in accordance with the program of the NSDAP,
the organs of the Reich Directorate directionally determine
the political aims of the German people. It is in the Reich
Directorate”—or Reichsleitung—“that the arteries of the
organization of the German people and State merge. It is
the task of the separate organs of the Reich Directorate to
maintain as close a contact as possible with the life of the
nation through their sub-offices in the Gau . . . .
“The structure of the Reich Directorate is thus that the
channel from the lowest Party office upwards shows the
most minute weaknesses and changes in the mood of the
people . . . .
“Another essential task of the Reich Directorate is to assure
a good selection of leaders. It is the duty of the Reich
Directorate to see that there is leadership in all phases of
life, a leadership which is firmly tied to National Socialist
ideology and which promotes its dissemination with all of
its energy . . . .
“It is the supreme task of the Reich Organization Leader to
preserve the Party as a well-sharpened sword for the
Führer.”
The domination of the German Government by the top members
of the Leadership Corps was facilitated by a circular decree of the
Reich Minister of Justice, dated 17 February 1934, which established
equal rank for the offices within the Reichsleitung of the Leadership
Corps and the Reich offices of the German Government. In this
decree it was expressly provided that, “. . . . the supreme offices of
the Reich Party Directorate are equal in rank to the supreme Reich
Government authorities”. The Party Manual termed the control
exercised over the machinery of the Government by the Leadership
Corps, “the permeation of the state apparatus with the political will
of the Party”.
At a later stage in this proceeding it will be shown that the
Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party incontestably dominated the
German State and Government. The control by the Leadership Corps
of the German Government was facilitated by uniting in the same
Nazi chieftains both high offices within the Reichsleitung and the
corresponding offices within the apparatus of the Government. For
example, as shown in Document 2903-PS, Goebbels was Reichsleiter
in charge of Party propaganda, but he was also a cabinet minister in
charge of propaganda and public enlightenment.
Himmler held office within the Reichsleitung as head of the Main
Office for Folkdom and also was Reichsführer of the SS. At the same
time, Himmler held the governmental position of the Reich
commissioner for the consolidation of Germandom, and was the
governmental head of the German police system.
As will be shown, this personal union of high office in the
Leadership Corps and high governmental position in the same Nazi
leaders greatly accommodated the plan of the Leadership Corps to
dominate and control the German State and Government.
In addition to the Reichsleiter the Party Directorate included
about 11 Hauptämter, or main offices, and about four Ämter, or
offices. As set forth in the exhibit, the Hauptämter of the Party
included such main organizations as those for personnel, training,
technology, headed by the Defendant Speer; folkdom, headed by
Himmler; civil servants, communal policy, and the like. The Ämter, or
offices, of the Party within the Reichsleitung included the office for
foreign policy under the Defendant Rosenberg which, the evidence
will show, actively participated in plans for the launching of the war
of aggression against Norway, the Office for Colonial Policy, the
Office for Genealogy, and the Office of Racial Policy.
 As will be shown by the chart of the Leadership Corps in the
folder which Your Honors have, certain of the main offices and
offices within the Reichsleitung would appear again within the
Gauleitung, or Gau Party Directorate, and the Kreisleitung, or Party
county directorate. It is thus shown that the Reichsleiter and the
main office and officeholders within the Reichsleitung exercised,
through functional channels through the subordinate offices on lower
regional levels, a total control over the various sectors of the
national life of Germany.
I shall next take up the Gauleiter. As will be seen from this
organizational chart of the Nazi Party now before the Tribunal as
Exhibit Number USA-2, for Party purposes Germany was divided into
major administrative regions, Gau, which in turn were subdivided
into Kreise (counties), Ortsgruppen (local chapters), Zellen (cells),
and in Blocks (blocks). A Gauleiter, who was the political leader of
the Gau, was in charge of each Gau or district. Each Gauleiter was
appointed by and was directly responsible to Hitler. I quote from
Page 18 of this same document, 1893-PS, the Organization Book of
the NSDAP:
“The Gau represents the concentration of a number of Party
counties”—or Kreise—“The Gauleiter is directly subordinate
to the Führer. . . .”
“The Gauleiter bears over-all responsibility to the Führer for
the sector of sovereignty entrusted to him. The rights,
duties, and jurisdiction of the Gauleiter result primarily from
the mission assigned by the Führer, and apart from that,
from detailed directives.”
The responsibility and function of the Gauleiter and his staff
officers or officeholders were essentially political, namely, to insure
the authority of the Nazi Party within his area, to co-ordinate the
activities of the Party and all its affiliated and supervised
organizations, and to enlarge the influence of the Party over the
people and life in his Gau generally. Following the outbreak of the
war, when it became imperative to co-ordinate the various phases of
the German war effort, the Gauleiter were given additional important
responsibilities. The Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich,
which was a sort of general staff for civilian defense and the
mobilization of the German war economy, by a decree of 1
September 1939, 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, page 1565,
appointed about 16 Gauleiter as Reich Defense Commissars,
concerning which I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice. Later,
under the impact of mounting military reverses and an increasingly
strained war economy, more and more important administrative
functions were put on a Gau basis. The Party Gaue became the basic
defense areas of the Reich, and each Gauleiter became a Reich
Defense Commissar by a decree of the Ministerial Council for the
Defense of the Reich of 16 November 1942, 1942 Reichsgesetzblatt,
Part I, page 649, of which I ask the Tribunal to take judicial notice.
In the course of the war additional functions were entrusted to the
Gauleiter, so that at the end, with the exception of certain special
matters such as police affairs, almost all phases of the German war
economy were co-ordinated and supervised by them. For instance,
regional authority over price control was put under the Gauleiter as
Reich Defense Commissars, and housing administration was placed
under the Gauleiter as Gau Housing Commissars. Toward the end of
the war the Gauleiter were charged even with the military and quasi-
military tasks. They were made commanders of the Volkssturm in
their areas and were entrusted with such important functions as the
evacuation of civilian population in the path of the advancing Allied
armies as well as measures for the destruction of vital installations.
The structure and organization of the Party Gaue were
substantially repeated in the lower levels of the Reich Party
organization such as the Kreise, Ortsgruppen, Zellen, and Blocks.
Each of these was headed by a political leader who, subject to the
Führer principle and the orders of superior political leaders, was a
sovereign within his sphere. The Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party
was in effect a “hierarchy of descending Caesars.” Each of the
subordinate Party levels, such as the Kreise, Ortsgruppen, and so on,
was organized into offices, or Ämter, dealing with the various
specialized functions of the Party. But the number of such
departments and offices diminished as the Party unit dropped in the
hierarchy, so that, while the Kreis office contained all or almost all of
the offices in the Gau (such as the deputy, the staff office leader, an
organization leader, school leader, propaganda leader, press office
leader, treasurer, judge of the Party court, inspector, and the like),
the Ortsgruppe had less, and the Zellen and Blocks still fewer.
The Kreisleiter was appointed and dismissed by Hitler upon the
nomination of the Gauleiter and directly subordinate to the Gauleiter
in the Party hierarchy. The Kreis usually consisted of a single county.
The Kreisleiter, within the Kreis, had in general the same position,
powers, and prerogatives granted the Gauleiter in the Gau. In cities
they constituted the very core of Party power and organization. I
quote again from Page 17 of Document 1893-PS, Page 17 of the
English translation:
“The Kreisleiter carries over-all responsibility towards the
Gauleiter within his zone of sovereignty for the political and
ideological training and organization of the Political Leaders,
the Party members, as well as the population”.
The Ortsgruppenleiter was the local chapter leader. The area of
the Ortsgruppenleiter was comprised of one or more communes, or,
in a town, a certain district. The Ortsgruppe was composed of a
combination of blocks and cells according to local circumstances,
and contained up to 1,500 households. The Ortsgruppenleiter also
had a staff of office leaders to assist him in the various functional
activities of the Party. All other Political Leaders in his area of
responsibility were subordinate to and under the direction of the
Ortsgruppenleiter. For example, the leaders of the various affiliated
organizations of the Party, within his area, such as the German Labor
Front and the Nazi organizations for lawyers, students, and civil
servants, were all subordinate to the Ortsgruppenleiter. In
accordance with the Führerprinzip, the Ortsgruppenleiter, or local
chapter leaders, were appointed by the Gauleiter and were directly
under and subordinate to the Kreisleiter.
The Party manual provides as follows with reference to the
Ortsgruppenleiter, and I quote from Pages 16 and 17 of Document
1893-PS:
“As Hoheitsträger”—bearer of sovereignty—“he is
competent for all expressions of the Party will; he is
responsible for the political and ideological leadership and
organization within his zone of sovereignty.
“The Ortsgruppenleiter carries the over-all responsibility for
the political results of all measures initiated by the offices,
organizations, and affiliated association of the Party. . . .
“The Ortsgruppenleiter has the right to protest to the
Kreisleiter against any measures contrary to the interests of
the Party with regard to a united political appearance in
public.”
The Zellenleiter was responsible for from four to eight blocks. He
was the immediate superior of, and had control and supervision over,
the Blockleiter. His mission and duties, according to the Party
manual, corresponded to the missions of the Blockleiter. I quote
from the last paragraph of Page 15, just one line of that same
document: “The missions of the cell-leader correspond to the
missions of the block-leader.”
The Blockleiter was the one Party official who was peculiarly in a
position to have continuous contact with the German people. The
block was the lowest unit in the Party pyramidal organization. The
block of the Party comprised 40 to 60 households and was regarded
by the Party as the focal point upon which to press the weight of its
propaganda. I quote from Pages 13 and 14 of this same document:
“The household is the basic community upon which the
block and cell system is built. The household is the
organizational focal point of all Germans united in an
apartment, and includes roomers, domestic help, et
cetera. . . . The Blockleiter has jurisdiction over all matters
within his zone relating to the Movement, and is fully
responsible to the Zellenleiter.”
 The Blockleiter, as in the case of other Political Leaders, was
charged with planning, disseminating, and developing a receptivity
to the policies of the Nazi Party among the population in his area of
responsibility. It was also the expressed duty of the Blockleiter to spy
on the population. I quote from Pages 14 and 15 of this same
document:
“It is the duty of the Blockleiter to find people
disseminating damaging rumors and to report them to the
Ortsgruppe, so that they may be reported to the respective
State authorities.
“The Blockleiter must not only be a preacher and defender
of the National Socialist ideology towards the member of
the Nation and Party entrusted to his political care, but he
must also strive to achieve practical collaboration of the
Party members within his block zone. . . .
“The Blockleiter shall continuously remind the Party
members of their particular duties towards the people and
the state. The Blockleiter keeps a list (card file) about the
households. . . . In principle, the Blockleiter will settle his
official business verbally, and he will receive messages
verbally and pass them on in the same way.
Correspondence will only be used in cases of absolute
necessity. . . . The Blockleiter conducts National Socialist
propaganda from mouth to mouth. He will eventually
awaken the understanding of the eternally dissatisfied as
regards the frequently misunderstood or wrongly
interpreted measures and laws of the National Socialist
Government. . . . It is not necessary for him to fall in with
complaints and gripes about possibly obvious shortcomings
of any kind in order to demonstrate solidarity. . . . A
condition to gain the confidence of all people is to maintain
absolute secrecy in all matters.”
It will be shown that there were in Germany nearly half a million
Blockleiter. Large though this figure may appear, there can be no
doubt that these officials were in and of the Leadership Corps of the
Nazi Party. Though they stood at the broad base of the Party
pyramid rather than at its summit, where rested the Reichsleiter, by
virtue of this fact they were stationed at close intervals throughout
the German civil population.
THE PRESIDENT: I think, Colonel Storey, it would be an
assistance to the Tribunal if you could tell us, that is, at some time
convenient to yourself, approximately how many there were of each
of these ranks in the corps.
COL. STOREY: If Your Honor please, that is the next subject.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
COL. STOREY: It may be doubted that the average German ever
looked upon the face of Heinrich Himmler. But the man in the street
in Nazi Germany could not have avoided an uneasy acquaintance
with the Blockleiter in his own neighborhood. As it is the “cop on the
beat” rather than the chief magistrate of the nation who symbolizes
law enforcement to the average man and woman, so it was the
Blockleiter who represented to the people of Germany the police
state of Hitler’s Germany. In fact, as may be inferred from the
evidence, the Blockleiter were “little Führers” with real and literal
power over the civilians in their domains. As proof of the authority of
the Blockleiter to exercise coercion and the threat of force upon the
civil population, I quote from Document 2833-PS, which is an
excerpt from Page 7 of the magazine entitled The Face of the Party,
Document 2833-PS. It is just a line of quotation:
“Advice and sometimes also the harsher form of education
is employed if the faulty conduct of an individual harms this
individual himself, and thus also the community.”
Before I get to the numbers, I wanted to deal with the
Hoheitsträger.
THE PRESIDENT: Don’t you think it is time to break off?
COL. STOREY: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Until 2 o’clock.
[A recess was taken until 1400 hours.]
 Afternoon Session
COL. STOREY: Your Honors will notice that we have substituted
an enlarged chart for the photostatic copy that was introduced in
evidence this morning. Another thing I would like to call Your
Honors’ attention to is the fact that the other chart, the big one, was
dated 1945 and therefore did not show the Defendant Hess because
of his flight to England in 1941, and it will be recalled that the
Defendant Hess occupied the position before Bormann directly under
the Führer in the Party organization.
We now take up the Hoheitsträger. The Hoheitsträger, diverting
from the text, is shown on this chart very well; and all of those
shown in black blocks constitute the Hoheitsträger, beginning with
the Führer and going down the vertical column clear down to the
Blockleiter.
Within the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party certain of the
political leaders possessed a higher degree of responsibility than
others, were vested with special prerogatives, and constituted a
distinctive and elite group within the Party hierarchy. Those were the
so-called Hoheitsträger, or bearers of sovereignty, who represented
the Party within the area of jurisdiction, which is a section of
Germany, the so-called “Hoheitsgebiet.” I now quote from Page 9 of
the English translation of Document 1893-PS:
“Among the political leaders, the Hoheitsträger assume a
special position. Contrary to the other political leaders who
have departmental missions . . . the Hoheitsträger
themselves are in charge of a geographical sector known as
the Hoheitsgebiet”—sectors of sovereignty.
“The Hoheitsträger are:
“The Führer, the Gauleiter, the Kreisleiter, the
Ortsgruppenleiter, the Zellenleiter, and the Blockleiter.
“Hoheitsgebiete are:
 “The Reich, the Gau, the Kreis, the Ortsgruppe, the Zelle,
the Block.
“Within their sector of sovereignty the Hoheitsträger have
sovereign political rights. They represent the Party within
their sector. The Hoheitsträger supervise all Party offices
within their jurisdiction and are responsible for the
maintenance of discipline.”
If Your Honors please, that is Page 9 of the English translation, if
you find it, of 1893.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
COL. STOREY: “The directors of offices, et cetera, and of
the affiliated organizations are responsible to their
respective Hoheitsträger . . . as regards their special
missions. The Hoheitsträger are superior to all political
leaders, managers, and so forth, within their sector. As
regards personal consideration, Hoheitsträger are endowed
with special rights . . . .
“The Hoheitsträger of the Party are not to be administrative
officials . . . but are to move in a continuous vital contact
with the political leaders of the population within their
sector. The Hoheitsträger are responsible for the proper and
good supervision of all members of the nation within their
sector . . . .
“The Party intends to achieve a state of affairs in which the
individual German will find his way to the Party . . . .”
The distinctive character of the Politische Leiter constituting the
Hoheitsträger and their existence and operation as an identifiable
group are indicated by the publication of a magazine entitled Der
Hoheitsträger whose distribution was limited by regulation of the
Reich Organization Leader to the Hoheitsträger and certain other
designated Politische Leiter. I now refer to Document 2660-PS, which
I offer in evidence; and I would like to digress from the published
manuscript and call Number 2660-PS Exhibit Number USA-325. I
would like to exhibit this book to Your Honors. This is the book itself
and it is for the Hoheitsträger, with a very limited distribution, and I
quote from the inside cover of this magazine which reads as follows
—it is right in the beginning:
“Der Hoheitsträger, the contents of which is to be handled
confidentially, serves only for the orientation of the
competent leaders. It may not be loaned out to other
persons.”
Then follows a list of the Hoheitsträger and other political leaders
authorized to receive the magazine. The magazine states, in
addition, that the following are entitled to receive it—I would like to
emphasize the ones to receive it:
“Commandants, unit commanders, and ‘Ordensburg’
members; The Reich, Shock Troop, and Gau speakers of the
NSDAP; the Obergruppenführer and Gruppenführer of the
SA, the SS, the NSFK”—which is the Flying Corps—“and the
NSKK”—the Party Motor Corps—“Obergebietsführer and
Gebietsführer of the HJ”—that is the Hitler Jugend.
The fact that this magazine existed, that it derived its name from
the commanding officers of the Leadership Corps, that it was
distributed to the elite of the Leadership Corps, in other words, that
a house bulletin was circulated down the command channels of the
Leadership Corps is probative of the fact that the Leadership Corps
of the Nazi Party was a group or an organization within the meaning
of Article 9 of the Charter.
An examination of the contents of the magazine Der
Hoheitsträger reveals a continuing concern by the Leadership Corps
of the Nazi Party in measures and doctrines which were employed
throughout the course of the conspiracy charged in the Indictment. I
shall not trouble the Tribunal nor encumber the record by offering in
evidence exhaustive enumeration of these matters; but it may serve
to clarify the plans and policies of the inner elite of the Leadership
Corps by indicating that a random sampling of articles published and
policies advocated in the various issues of the magazine from
February 1937 to October 1938 included the following:
Slanderous anti-Semitic articles, attacks on Catholicism and the
Christian religion and the clergy; the need for motorized armament;
the urgent need for expanded Lebensraum and colonies; persistent
attacks on the League of Nations; the use of the block and cell in
achieving favorable Party votes, the intimate association between
the Wehrmacht and the political leadership; the racial doctrines of
Fascism, the cult of leadership; the role of the Gaue, Ortsgruppen,
and Zellen in the expansion of Germany; and related matters all of
which constituted elements and doctrinal techniques in the carrying
out of the conspiracy charged in the Indictment.
The political leaders were organized according to the leadership
principle. I quote from the fourth paragraph of Page 2 of Document
1893-PS, at the bottom of the page, and top of Page 3:
“The basis of the Party organization is the Führer idea. The
public is unable to rule itself either directly or indirectly
. . . . All political leaders stand as appointed by the Führer
and are responsible to him. They possess full authority
toward the lower echelons. . . . Only a man who has gone
through the school of subordinate functions within the Party
has a claim to the higher Führer offices. We can only use
‘Führer’ who have served from the ground up. Any political
leader who does not conform to these principles is to be
dismissed or to be sent back to the lower offices, as
Blockleiter, Zellenleiter, for further training. The political
leader is not an office worker but the political deputy of the
Führer . . . . With the political leader we are building the
political leadership of the State . . . . The type of the
political leader is not characterized by the office which he
represents. There is no such thing as a political leader of
the NSBO, et cetera, but there is only the political leader of
the NSDAP.”
Each political leader was sworn in yearly. According to the Party
manual the wording of the oath was as follows; and I quote from
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