Volume 4 — Introductory material (continued 24)

Members of the Reichstag! If such treatment is meted out to the German Reich and its Chief, and the German Reich and its Chief were to submit to such treatment, then the German Nation would deserve no better than to disappear from the political scene. My love of Peace and my endless patience must not be mistaken for weakness, much less for cowardice. Therefore, I have last night informed the British Government that things being as they are, I have found it impossible to detect any inclination on the part of the Polish Government to enter into a really serious discussion with us.

Thus, these proposals for mediation are wrecked, for in the meantime the answer to these offers had been, firstly, the order for Polish general mobilization, and secondly new grave atrocities. Repetitions of the latter incidents occurred last night. Only recently twenty-one frontier incidents had occurred, there were fourteen last night. Three of them were very grave.

For that reason, I have now decided to talk to Poland in the same language Poland has been using toward us for months.

If there are statesmen in the West who declare that their interests are involved, I can only regret such a declaration; however, not for one single minute could that persuade me to deviate from the execution of my duties. I have solemnly declared and repeat once more that we have no claims at all on these Western powers, and shall never demand anything from them. I repeatedly offered Britain our friendship, and if necessary closest cooperation. Love, however, is not to be offered by one partner only; it’ll have to find response from the other. Germany has no interests in the West, our fortifications in the West shall be the frontiers of the Reich for all times. We have no other aims in the future, and this attitude of the Reich will remain unchanged.

Some of the other European powers understand our attitude. First of all I’d like to thank Italy for having supported us all this time. But you’ll also understand that we do not want to make an appeal for any foreign help in this struggle. This task of ours we shall solve ourselves.

The neutral powers have assured us of their neutrality just like we have previously guaranteed their neutrality. This assurance we consider a sacred obligation, and as long as nobody breaks their neutrality, we, too, shall observe it painstakingly. What could we desire or want from them?

I am happy to be able to inform you here of an event of special importance. You are aware of it that Russia and Germany are governed by two different doctrines. There was only one single question to be cleared up: Germany has no intention of exporting her doctrine, and the minute Russia does not intend to export her own doctrine to Germany, I no longer see any reason why we should ever be opponents again. Both of us agreed on this one point: any struggle between our two people would only result in benefits for others. We have therefore resolved to enter into an agreement which will exclude any application of force between us in the future, which compels us to consult each other in certain European questions, which makes economic cooperation possible and above all makes sure that these two great powers don’t exhaust their energies in fighting each other.

Any attempt on the part of the Western Powers to alter these facts will prove futile, and in that connection I should like to state one thing: this political decision signifies an enormous change for the future and is absolutely final.

I believe that the whole German people will welcome this political attitude. In the World War, Russia and Germany fought each other and up to the end they both suffered. That shall not happen a second time! The non-aggression and consultation pact was yesterday finally ratified in Moscow and in Berlin.

In Moscow, the pact was acclaimed just as you have acclaimed it here. I approve of every word in the speech made by Mr. Molotov, the Russian Commissar for Foreign Affairs.

Our aims I am determined to solve:

Firstly, the question of Danzig;

Secondly, the question of the Corridor;

Thirdly, to see to it that a change shall take place in Germany’s relations to Poland, which will insure a peaceful coexistence of the two powers.

I am determined to fight until either the present Polish Government is willing to effect this change or another Poland Government is prepared to do so.

I am determined to eliminate from the German frontiers the element of insecurity, the atmosphere which permanently resembles civil war. I shall see to it that peace on the Eastern frontier shall be the same as it is on our other frontiers.

I shall carry out all necessary actions in such a manner that they shall not contradict the proposals which I have made known to you here, members of the Reichstag, as my proposals to the rest of the world.

That is, I will not wage war against women and children! I have instructed my air force to limit their attacks to military objectives. However, if the enemy should conclude from this that he might get away with waging war in a different manner he will receive an answer that he’ll be knocked out of his wits!

Last night for the first time regular soldiers of the Polish Army fired shots on our territory. Since 5.45 a.m. we have been returning their fire. From now on, every bomb will be answered by another bomb. Whoever fights with poison gas will be fought with poison gas. Whoever disregards the rules of human warfare can but expect us to do the same.

I will carry on this fight, no matter against whom, until such time as the safety of the Reich and its rights are secured!

For more than 6 years now I have been engaged in building up the German armed forces. During this period more than 90 billion Reichsmark were spent building up the Wehrmacht. Today, ours are the best equipped armed forces in the world and they are far superior to those of 1914. My confidence in them can never be shaken.

If I call upon the Wehrmacht and if I ask sacrifices of the German people and, if necessary, unlimited sacrifices, then I am in the right to do so, for I myself am just as ready today as I was in the past to make every personal sacrifice. I don’t ask anything of any German which I myself was not prepared to do at any moment for more than four years. There shall not be any deprivations for Germans in which I myself shall not immediately share. From this moment on my whole life shall belong more than ever to my people. I now want to be nothing but the first soldier of the German Reich.

Thus I have put on once again the coat which has always been the most sacred and dearest to me. I shall not put it aside until after victory—or I shall not live to see the end.

Should anything happen to me in this war, my first successor shall be Party member Goering. Should anything happen to Party member Goering, his successor shall be Party member Hess. To these men as your leaders you would then owe the same absolute loyalty and obedience that you owe to me. In the event that something fatal should happen to Party Member Hess, I am about to make legal provisions for the convocation of a senate appointed by me, who shall then elect the worthiest, that is to say the most valiant among themselves.

As a National Socialist and a German soldier I enter upon this fight with a stout heart! My whole life has been but one continuous struggle for my people, for its resurrection, for Germany, and this whole struggle has been inspired by one single conviction: faith in this people!

One word I have never known: capitulation. And if there was anybody who’d think that hard times are ahead of us I’d like him not to forget the fact that at one time a Prussian king with a ridiculously small staff confronted one of the greatest coalitions ever known and came forth victoriously after three campaigns because he possessed that strong and firm faith which is required of us in these times.

As for the rest of the world, I can only assure them that a November 1918 shall never occur again in German history.

I ask of every German what I myself am prepared to do at any moment: to be ready to pay with his life for his people and for his country.

Whoever believes to have a chance to evade this patriotic duty directly or indirectly, shall perish. We will have nothing to do with traitors. We all are acting only in accordance with our old principle: our own life matters nothing, all that matters is that our people, that Germany shall live.

I expect of you, as deputies of the Reich, that you will do your duty in whatever position you are called upon to fill. You must carry the banner of resistance, cost what may. Let no one report to me at any time that in his province, in his district or in his group or in his cell the morale is low. Bearers, responsible bearers of the morale are you! I am responsible for the province your district! None has the right to shun this responsibility. The sacrifice that is demanded of us is not greater than the sacrifice which has been made by many generations in the past. All those men who before us have traveled the most bitter and hardest road did nothing different from what we are called upon to do; the sacrifice they made was no less costly, no less painful, and therefore no easier than the sacrifice that may be demanded of us.

I also expect every German woman to take her place with unflinching discipline in this great fighting community.

German youth, needless to say, will do with heart and soul what is expected and demanded of it by the nation and by the National Socialist State.

If we form this community, forged together, ready for everything, determined never to capitulate, then our strong will shall master every emergency.

I conclude with the words with which I once started my fight for power in the Reich. At that time I said: “If our will is so strong that it cannot be broken through any distress, then our will and our German state will be able to master and subjugate distress.”

Germany—Sieg Heil!

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2324-PS

RECONSTRUCTION OF A NATION

Hermann Goering, Aufbau Einer Nation (1934)

[Pages 86-87]

I declared at that time before thousands of fellow Germans, each bullet which leaves the barrel of a police pistol now, is my bullet. If one calls this murder, then I have murdered; I ordered all this, I back it up; I assume the responsibility, and I am not afraid to do so.

Through a network of outer offices converging into the headquarters in Berlin, I am daily, one could almost say hourly, informed about everything that happens in widespread Prussia.

[Page 89]

We had to deal ruthlessly with these enemies of the state. It must not be forgotten that at the moment of our seizure of power over 6 million people officially voted for communism and about 8 million for marxism in the Reichstag elections in March.

Thus the concentration camps were created, to which we had to send first all the thousands of functionaries of the Communist and Social Democratic parties.

[Page 92]

The Gestapo deserves a great deal of credit for the success of the revolution and for the consolidation of its achievements. Right in the middle of this constructive work, occurred the blaze that destroyed the high cupola and the auditorium of the Reichstag. Criminal hands had set this fire, had put the German Reichstag in flames, in order to give a last beacon to dying Communism, so that it could make one last desperate thrust before the Hitler government was consolidated. The blaze was to be the signal for the Communist party for general terror, for a general uprising and for civil war. That it did not have these consequences, Germany and the world owe not to the noble motives of Communism, but solely to the iron resolution and the hard fist of Adolf Hitler and his closest collaborators, who struck more quickly than the enemy had expected, and harder than he could imagine, and with the first blow suppressed Communism once and for all.

That night, when I ordered the arrest of 4,000 Communist functionaries, I knew that by dawn Communism had lost a great battle.

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2325-PS

1935 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 470

Decree on the Execution of Article 118 of the German Municipal Order, 26 March 1935.

On the basis of Article 118 of the German municipal order of 30 January, 1935 (Reichsgesetzblatt I, p. 49) I decree:

Article 1

The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor reserves for himself the duties of the commissioner for the NSDAP for the city of Munich.

Article 2

1. The gauleiter appoints as commissioner for the NSDAP:

a. The Kreisleiter for communities belonging to a Kreis [“Kreis,” an administrative district].

b. The Kreisleiter for Stadtkreise [city districts] or, one of the Kreisleiters, in case there are several party districts within one city district.

* * * * * * *

Munich, 26 March 1935

The Deputy of the Fuehrer R. HESS Reich Minister without Portfolio.

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2326-PS

1936 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 893

Reich Principles Regarding Recruiting, Appointment, and promotion of Reich and Provincial Officials, October 14, 1936.

* * *

PROMOTION

Article 8

Only that official can be promoted who, besides absolutely fulfilling his general duties;

a. In consideration of his former political attitude offers absolute guarantee therefor, and has proved since January 30, 1933, that he takes the part of the National Socialist State at all times and represents it effectively.

b. Has given documentary proof that he and his spouse are of German or related blood (Article 1 a. paragraph 3 of the Reich officials law).

c. In his official achievements and abilities, completely fulfills the demands of the higher office. Length of service alone does not justify promotion in any case.

* * * * * * *

Berchtesgaden, 14 October 1936.

The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor ADOLF HITLER The Reich Minister of Interior FRICK For the Reich Minister of Finance REINHARDT The Deputy of the Fuehrer R. HESS Minister without Portfolio

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2327-PS

TOP SECRET

Third Army Group Ia Nr. 150/39 g.K. Chiefs Re: Fall Weiss Top Secret (Chefsache) “Only by officer”

Dresden 6.14.1939

20 Copies

Control No. 8

1. The commander-in-chief of the army has ordered the working out of a plan of deployment against Poland which takes in account the demands of the political leadership for the opening of war by surprise and for quick success.

2. The order of deployment by the High Command, “Fall Weiss” authorizes the Third Army Group (in Fall Weiss 8th Army Headquarters) to give necessary directions and orders to all commands subordinated to it for “Fall Weiss.”

3. Enclosed are sent:

a. Aims of the operation (Enclosure 1). b. Organization of the forces (Enclosure 2). c. Survey of arrival (Enclosure 3). d. Signal Communication (Enclosure 4). e. Regulations for the supply (Enclosure 5 will follow). f. Enemy situation (Enclosure 6). g. Directions for execution (Enclosure 7).

4. The order of deployment “Fall Weiss” will be put into operation on 20 August 1939; all preparations have to be concluded by this date.

The former deployments “Case West” and “Case East” are valid until 19 August 1939.

5. For the instruction on the tasks due to this order for deployment, the principles of order OKH Genstb d.H.—1 Division (Ib Nr. 2000/36 top secret of 12.19.36) are to be applied.

The instruction can be carried down to the responsible officers of the corps commands to the Division Commanders (G-3 (Ia) and G-4 (Ib)) of the divisions and the commandants and staff officers of the Garrison Headquarters. Permission to inform further persons must be requested by names. Communication with the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler must be instituted only by special order. The order for their commitment is to be prepared.

6. Tenth Corps Command (Gen KdX) and XIII Corps and lo. Div. can perform the necessary reconnaissance in Silesia while observing the appropriate precautionary measures (civilian clothes, motor vehicle, with civilian license number).

7. The whole correspondence on “Fall Weiss” has to be conducted under the classification Top Secret [Chefsache]. This is to be disregarded only if the content of a document, in the judgment of the chief of the responsible command is harmless in every way—even in connection with other documents.

8. For the middle of July a conference is planned where details on the execution will be discussed. Time and place will be ordered later on. Special requests are to be communicated to Third Army Group before 10 July.

9. I declare it the duty of the Commanding Generals, the divisional commanders and the commandants to limit as much as possible the number of persons who will be informed, and to limit the extent of the information, and ask that all suitable measures be taken to prevent persons not concerned from getting information.

Commander-in-Chief of Army Group 3 Signed F. Blaskowitz.

TOP SECRET

Enclosure 1 to 3rd Army Group Ia Nr. 150/39 g-Kdo. Chefs of 14 June 1939

TOP SECRET [GKdos] “Only by officer” Top Secret [Chefsache]

20 Copies

Control No. 8

Aims of Operation “Fall Weiss”

1. a. The operation, in order to forestall an orderly Polish mobilization and concentration, is to be opened by surprise with forces which are for the most part armored and motorized, placed on alert in the neighborhood of the border. The initial superiority over the Polish frontier-guards and surprise that can be expected with certainty are to be maintained by quickly bringing up other parts of the army as well to counteract the marching up of the Polish Army.

Accordingly all units have to keep the initiative against the foe by quick acting and ruthless attacks.

b. If the development of the Political situation should show that a surprise at the beginning of the war is out of question, because of well advanced defense preparations on the part of the Polish Army, the Commander-in-Chief of the army will order the opening of the hostilities only after the assembling of sufficient additional forces. The basis of all preparations will be to surprise the enemy.

Case b—is to be prepared in theory by the High Command only so that necessary changes can be quickly carried out.

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2329-PS

SECRET

[Stamp] Top Secret Through officers only The Commander in Chief of the Army Operations Section (Ia) General Staff of the Army

HQ, Army High Command

No. 4402/39 Secret

7, October 1939. 11 copies, 2nd copy

General von Beck takes over command of the newly formed Army Group B on 10th October 1939 at 12.00 hours.

Task of Army Group B is the protection of the German boundary from the mouth of the Ems to the line of demarcation with Army Group C. For this task Army Group B holds the western fortifications; the resistance begins on the border.

The Dutch border between Ems and Rhine is to be observed only.

At the same time, Army Group B has to make all preparations according to special orders, for immediate invasion of Dutch and Belgian territory if the political situation so demands.

The order for the occupation is given by the Army High Command; until then, any border isolation of Dutch or Belgian territory must be avoided most carefully.

signed von Brauchitsch certified Hensinger. [signature] Jaiymyer

Distribution Army Group B} by telegraph Army Group C}

[Handwritten notes] Chief J. N. W 8-10-39

Supreme Hq

Chief of Army Signal Corps

Chief of Quartermaster IV

Org Department

Gen of Air Force with Commander in Chief of the Army operation

Insp F 9/10 Me 10oo2/39 g. K.

Department (1a, 11, 111)

Ju 8-10

[Hand written notes] Archives of the Army. 21st Army Group 6623 (9) F A LIL

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2330-PS

COPY

Nurnberg August 29, 1935

Police Headquarters; Nurnberg-Fuerth

Re: Protective Custody.

Order for Protective Custody

On the basis of Article 1 of the VI of the Reich President for the protection of people and state, of 28 Feb., 1933 (RGBl I, p. 83) the ministerial decree of May 2, 1934, No. 2186 a 39, herewith is taken into protective custody:

Effective as of 3 August 35:

First and last name: Josef Simon

Place and date of birth: May 23, 1865 in Schneppenbach, B. A. Alzenan.

Marital Status and Profession: Widowed, former Trade Union Secretary.

Citizenship: Subject of the German Reich.

Religion: Free thinker.

Place of residence: Nurnberg-N. Ziegelsteinstr. 106

The arrestee has no right to appeal against the decreed protective custody.

Reasons:

Simon was for many years a member of the Socialist Party and temporarily a member of the Union Socialiste Populaire. From 1907 to 1918 he was Landtag deputy of the Socialist Party; from 1908 to 1930 Social Democratic City Counsellor [Stadtrat] in Nurnberg. In view of the decisive role which Simon played in the international trade unions and in regard to his connection with international Marxist leaders and central agencies, which he continued after the national recovery, he was placed under protective custody on 3 May, 1933, and was kept, until 25 January 1934, in the Dachau Concentration Camp. Simon is under the urgent suspicion that even after this date he played an active part in the illegal continuation of the Socialist Party. He took part in meetings which aimed at the illegal continuation of the Socialist Party and propagation of illegal marxist printed matter in Germany.

Through this radical attitude which is hostile to the State, Simon directly endangers public security and order.

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2331-PS

Bavarian Political Police

Nurnberg, 20 December 1935

Declaration

I have been informed that I shall be released from protective custody, and that I have to expect to be taken into protective custody again in case that I should behave in a manner inimical to the State, or if I should be active in this sense.

I have been informed that, for my physical protection I may return into protective custody upon my own request.

I have been informed that I have to report in person at the Gend. Station Ziegelstein, competent for my residence, on every second day of the week at the same hour.

[signed] Josef Simon

Simon Josef, residing Nurnberg-N, Ziegelstein St. 106, widower, trade union secretary; born 23 May 1865 at Schneppenbach.

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2332-PS

Concentration Camp Flossenbuerg

Az II. Political Department/Sch.

Flossenbuerg, 22 December 1941.

To Frau Grete Staimer, Nurnberg.

In reply to your letter of 12 December 1941, enclosed please find the desired death certificate. At the same time I certify that the cremation has taken place in the crematorium of Flossenbuerg.

After the submission of a burial certificate from the competent cemetery officials the urn with the ashes can be sent to you free of charge.

The Camp Commander By order of (Signed) Fassbinder Official Secretary.

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2333-PS

Police Presidium, Nurnberg-Fuerth Protective Police [Schutzpolizei] 3rd Police District

Nurnberg, 29 Dec. 1941

To Frau Elise Herrmann, Nurnberg, Juvenllestr. No. 26

Your husband, Paul Herrmann, died of an infection in the concentration camp, Flossenbuerg, on December 28, 1941.

The corpse cannot be inspected because of the danger of infection.

The cremation will take place in the crematory of Flossenbuerg.

The Secret State Police Office Nurnberg-Fuerth /s/ Mueller

Authenticated [illegible] District Police Lt.

* * *

Death-Certificate

No. 7/1942

The baker Karl Herrmann, Lutheran Religion

Residence:

Flossenbuerg Concentration Camp died on 28 December 1941 at 1400 hours in Flossenbuerg Concentration Camp

The deceased was born 24 November 1873 in Wassertruedingen.

The deceased was married to Elise, nee Steiner, Nurnberg.

Flossenbuerg, 2 January 1942

[Stamp of Registrar, Flossenbuerg/Oberpfalz]

The Registrar: /s/ Jaum

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2334-PS

Statement of Lorenz Hagen

During the night of 17th to 18th March 1933, the offices of the ADGB [Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund; German Trade Unions], which are located in Nurnberg, Breite Gasse 25/27, as well as the offices of the Builders’ Union and the Unions of the Bookbinders, Bookprinters, Lithographers, Textile Workers and Carpenters were completely destroyed by the SA under the leadership of SA-Brigadier General [SA-Oberfuehrer] Wurzbacher. All the office furniture was smashed and thrown into the courtyard, the safes overturned, forced open from the back and robbed. The typewriters, adding machines, mimeograph machines, etc., were stolen.

The ADGB possessed a huge library of about 10,000 volumes for the use of its members. Every single book was torn and thrown into the courtyard.

The Workers’ Secretariat, which was joined to the ADGB, had an extensive professional library of about 500 volumes, among them valuable works on literature of social security and labor legislation. These were also thrown out and torn to pieces. A similar fate met about 750 to 800 files covering the cases of beneficiaries of pensions (social, war and accident cases) whose claims for pensions were being worked on.

The SA posted continuous guards in the office building and nobody was permitted to enter. When I made the attempt to enter in spite of it, Wurzbacher said: “The Red rascal will get in but will not come out alive.” When I got in later in spite of him, the SA tried to catch me, but I escaped.

In order to guarantee the continued function of the trade union, which was most urgently needed at that time, I set up an emergency office in Nurnberg, Hummelsteinerweg. This was occupied on 2 May 1933 by SA, led by Pessler who was the District-leader [Gauobmann] of the NSBO [National Socialist Factory Cell Organization; Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellen Organisation later DAF; the German Labor Front]. Erhardt Kupfer, the district secretary of the ADGB, was arrested at that time, kicked with rifle butts and led away by the SA in shackles. As the deputy of NSBO, a certain Mueller was appointed. Three SA men guarded the office day and night. Upon seizure, Pessler’s first question to me was: “Where do you have your cars? I know you have three cars.” When I answered that I never had a personal car, he threatened to put me in jail until I would confess. When he finally realized that I did not have a car, he asked me what funds the Nurnberg local committee of the ADGB possessed. I said truthfully: “235,000 RM minus the sum stolen by the SA from the safes when they broke into the offices on the Breite Gasse and which amounted to about 4,000 RM.” Whereupon he threatened again to have me arrested but he did not do so, probably on the basis of the general order not to arrest the chairmen of the local committees [Ortsausschussvorsitzende]. I learned about this order only a few days ago.

On 1 June 1933, the deputy Mueller came into the office and asked me whether I had not been arrested yet. I said no and indicated that the night before I had been in the apartment of my mother-in-law who was severely ill. I left the office without being noticed, hurried home, packed the most necessary things, and left by bicycle with my wife. We stayed away for about five weeks, traveling from one place to another.

After returning, I was arrested towards the end of August 1933, under the charge that I had agitated against the National Government and had conducted illegal recruiting for the forbidden ADGB and the Socialdemocratic Party. When no proof could be produced, I was released, but arrested again after 3 days. This time I was accused of having had knowledge of the arsenal of the Reichsbanner (Militant Organization of German Social democrats), and that I had organized the arming of the members of the Trade Union Offices. In cross-examinations conducted over many weeks, they tried to force a confession out of me. When I did not confess anything, I was to go to the concentration camp in Dachau. However, my wife succeeded in preventing this. After 3½ months, I was released again. After this release I tried to start a business, no matter of what kind. It was in vain. Similarly, it was impossible for me to find work in my former line as engine-builder. Reason: political unreliability. Thus I lived on a weekly unemployment benefit of 14.40 marks, with my wife, until my further arrest in August 1935. At this time I was charged with participation in the so-called middle-German insurrection of 1934, and with the smuggling of illegal writings from abroad. In spite of the greatest efforts and the application of the foulest methods, such as the poorest and most inadequate food, depriving me of fresh air, threatening me with being shot and beaten, again the Gestapo did not succeed in proving anything against me. I was again set free after 12½ weeks. During this period of confinement, Kriminalrat Otto, the Gestapo-chief, tried to persuade my wife to convert me to National Socialism. He told her: “If your husband comes to us, this will be of greater value for us than the adherence of 1,000 other people. Your husband would get a position in which he would earn 3 times as much as ever before.” My wife refused consistently.

The same story as before: unemployment, occasional meagre earnings, until the next arrest on 26 January 1938. This time they did a fullsized job and arrested my wife too. We were accused of preparing high treason against the country [Hoch- und Landesverrat] as well as maintaining connections abroad. The interrogations lasted until the middle of April. The Gestapo agent Beetz had a predilection for interrogations at night. Five searchlights illuminated the spot where you were sitting. Behind and before me, and on both sides, four men sat a distance of a few meters, pointing their revolvers at me and clicking the triggers. The interrogations, which were of course always fruitless, were repeated sometimes two or three times in one night. Terms like “Greatest scoundrel,” “most common criminal,” and others were used. One morning at five o’clock, Beetz called me and said: “You know your wife has been arrested too. She had a complete breakdown and struggles with death in her cell. She expressed the wish to see you once more before her death. I am willing to grant her wish, but only if you make a full confession.” When I refused he had me taken back into my cell and in an indescribable psychic condition. Beetz asserted several times that the material at hand condemning me was sufficient for 5 years in the penitentiary. I then demanded to be taken before the investigating judge. This, however, was refused, and on 20 April 1938, I was shipped to Dachau Concentration Camp. There I came immediately into solitary confinement and had to undergo 32 days of severe bunker (strenger Bunker)-punishment. During this time I had to sleep on a wooden board without blankets, and received warm food only every 4th day. On 9 July, I was released from the bunker and taken into the camp. There I had to perform the heaviest work, in spite of my greatly weakened physical condition. One day I received from an SS guard a kick in the back which threw me against a lorry which was just passing by, and thus I broke my lower right rib. Once when a prisoner had escaped from the camp, all of the camp-inmates had to fall out after work and stand at attention in ranks throughout the night. There were 17 dead next morning. On 13 July 1939, on order of the Nurnberg-Gestapo, I was taken off work and again put into the bunker and received again 64 days of rigid bunker-arrest until 28 September 1939, and was then shipped to Buchenwald Concentration Camp. There I came into the bunker again and stayed there until my release. During the whole time in Buchenwald I had to sleep on a board without a blanket. The food in the Buchenwald camp was so inadequate and inferior that at the time of my release I was a skeleton with skin over it. I wish to add that during my transfer to Camp Buchenwald, I suffered an inguinal rupture on the left side when jumping from a railroad car.

The release from the camp was accompanied by the express warning not to reveal anything about happenings in the camp. Otherwise, I would be returned there and never would have a chance to get out again. After my return to Nurnberg, I had to report daily at 10 o’clock sharp at the main office of the Gestapo. From July 1941, I had to report twice weekly to the police station in my district. After I was completely bombed out, on 9 March 1943, the order to report was rescinded.

After this release from Camp Buchenwald, I again could not find a job anywhere, although the Gestapo had told me that if I could not show that I had a job within 6 weeks, I would be returned to the camp, since my release was tentative only. It was only due to the kindness of a textile shop owner who employed me in spite of the warnings of the Gestapo that I was not taken into protective custody again.

On 22 August 1944, I was again taken to Dachau Concentration Camp because of the attempt against Hitler’s life, and I remained there for six weeks.

I may add that I had to undergo 6 house-searches during which everything in my apartment was upset. In these instances, all books which seemed to be dangerous, magazines, pamphlets, etc., were taken away.

I was chairman of the A.D.G.B., Local Committee of Nurnberg, 1930-33.

(signed) Lorenz Hagen Chairman of ADGB, Local Committee of Nurnberg formerly: Karthaeusergassergasse Residence: Furth, Ritter v. Aldebertstr. 3.

Today on the 17th of November 1945, I have reread each single page of the statement given by me on 19 October 1945 and I have signed it. I declare hereby under oath that this statement is true.

Signed: Lorenz Hagen

Sworn to before me this 17th day of November 1945 at the Justice Building, Nurnberg, Germany.

Signed: D. A. Sprecher, O2055516 Captain, AUS

Appendix to the Statement of the Chairman of the ADGB, Local Committee of Nurnberg

When I arrived at the concentration camp at Dachau, the manager of the Stokers and Machinists Union, Josef Staimer, who had been active in the above organization until 1933, was still in the Dachau camp. He had been arrested in March 1933 and shipped to Dachau. He was released from there near the end of 1938 or the beginning of 1939.

Karl Hermann, manager of the Union of Factory Workers, pay office [Zahlstelle] of Nurnberg, was for several weeks imprisoned in the same cell with me when I was taken into protective custody in 1935 in the prison of Nurnberg. The total period of his imprisonment was about 7 weeks at that time. The reason for his arrest was to force him to give his approval of the notarial transfer of the house of the Factory Union to the DAF. As private owner of the house, Hermann had been appointed together with another colleague of his organization to be the trustee of this house by the organization. In 1943 the two above mentioned men were taken to the Concentration Camp Flensburg. In 1944 they died in the camp.

During my stay in Dachau, we had Brigadier-General [Oberfuehrer] Loritz, who was the commander of the SS-Death Head-Unit [Totenkopfstandarte] and chief camp commandant. He was a violent, brutal man. Here is only one example for this:

For a while I was occupied in an SS clothing camp with a prisoner-detachment. An SS 1st Lt. who was in the tailoring section, whose name I unfortunately do not recall, sent a prisoner to the gate of the building on which there was a clock to find out what time it was. Loritz caught sight of the man, struck at him with his riding-whip and had his name taken. When the detachment returned at noon, the man was led away and without being allowed to defend himself, he received 25 lashings [stockhiebe] and 3 days arrest with water and bread. The rest of the detachment had to stand at attention during the noon recess and return to work without eating. The camp commander of Dachau at that time was Captain Koegel, who was transferred in September 1938 to the concentration camp for women in Lichtenburg, near Prettin, where my wife was at the time of this transfer.

Captain Gruenewald followed him as camp commander. Gruenewald was transport commander when we were shipped to Buchenwald. I myself saw, during the unloading of the train at Weimar, how Gruenewald hit Czech arrestees, older people, in the face and neck with his fist. One of the men fell to the ground and could rise only with difficulty.

In my time, the SS-First Sergeants [Rapportfuehrer; work detail-leaders] were Hofmann from Bamberg and Luedtkemeyer, from Northern Germany. These two were also very brutal fellows, with whom beating and smacking on the pettiest grounds were the order of the day for satisfying their sadistic inclinations.

[signed] Lorenz Hagen Residence: Furth, Ritter v. Aldebertstr. 3. Office: Nurnberg, formerly Krathausergasse 12.

Today, on the 17th of November 1945, I have reread a duplicate copy of the appendix, which is an exact copy of the appendix to my statement of 19 October 1945. I have found that this statement is true. I declare this hereby under oath.

[signed] Lorenz Hagen Lorenz Hagen

Sworn to before me this 17th day of November 1945 at the Justice Building, Nurnberg, Germany.

D. A. Sprecher, O2055516 Captain, AUS

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2335-PS

Josef Simon, born May 23, 1865

Since 1900, first chairman of the German shoemakers Union, located in Nurnberg.

In April, 1933, Georg Pessler, Nurnberg, Guntherstr. 33/I, the deputy assigned by the Nazis for the trade unions, came into our office, Essenweinstrasse 1 and declared that trade union dues were embezzled there. When we asserted that no embezzlements had occurred in our office, he asked for the cash book which we submitted to him. After turning the pages for a short while, he declared: “25,000 Marks are missing”. He put the cash book into the safe, closed the safe and gave the key to the policeman, who had come with him.

We asked for an official public accountant to examine the books. A few days later the accountant, who had been assigned by Pessler, arrived and after checking he ascertained that with a cash amount of 4¼ millions there was a surplus of 13 pfennigs in the safe. In spite of this testimony, Pessler did not return the keys of the safe to us, closed our bank and checking accounts and asserted in meetings of factories that we had embezzled union dues. Only 3 weeks later could we get the keys of the safe again with the aid of the police.

On 2 May 1933, our office in Nurnberg was occupied; I myself had gone to Berlin on 1 May, because a meeting of the ADGB [Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund: German Trade Unions] was to take place there on 2 May. The trade union building there was occupied and the majority of the officials were arrested.

I was arrested on 3 May at 6 a. m., in my apartment in Berlin at the request of the Criminal Police of Nurnberg. After being kept in police custody in Berlin until 9 May, I was taken to the prison in Nurnberg and was shipped to the Dachau concentration camp on 30 June together with other arrested people (the social-democratic City Counsellors [Stadtraete] of Nurnberg). In Dachau the SS Guards had stirred up the Communists who had been imprisoned there for quite some time with these words: “Today your tormentors [Bonzen] will arrive, give them a nice welcome”. It was only due to the insight of a few reasonable Communists that they kept their comrades from violent acts; nevertheless, we were greeted in the camp with the vilest invectives. If it had come to acts of violence, we would of course have defended ourselves and then the SS would have shot at the people, fighting with each other. That was the intention of the SS as we learned later.

The Communist Scheberle from Roothenbach near Lauf was Camp Senior and was in charge of assigning work details. He made us who had come in on 30 June fall out early on 1 July; we had to form ranks and then he shouted: “Reichstag deputy Simon step forward!” In this way a considerable number, particularly those who had had some responsible job, were called up and then we were led by the SS to work. I was ordered to collect horse dung which was lying on the roads of the camp with my bare hands, without shovel or broom and to carry it to a nearby container. Since I did not bend down fast enough in the opinion of my guard, an SS man about 19-20 years, he yelled at me and demanded faster work. I answered: “When you will be 68 years old and have sciatica, you will not bend down so fast either”. By collecting the partly wet horse dung, my hands were soiled very much. When the work was finished, I asked the guard whether I could wash my hands at the water hydrant. He refused with the words: “No, you can go and eat with them”. In the afternoon we had to fall out again and were assigned for work. I was ordered together with 19 other prisoners (among them, the meanwhile deceased “Kupfer”, district leader of the ADGB) for work in the kitchen. There we had to clean the still very hot food-kettles. Since the circumference of the kettle was so big that we could not reach the other end, we had to crawl into the hot kettles which almost burnt our shoes. Bathed in sweat, we had to perform the work. When this was over, we had to line up in a group to have our photographs taken. I was in the center and a ready-made sign was hung around my neck which bore the inscription: “I am a class conscious Socialdemocratic tormentor [Bonze].” Twice I tore the sign off and left it hanging only after having been threatened with beatings. After the pictures were taken, the younger ones had to fall in line and after the command “Attention” was given, the commander went to the rear and commanded “Forward march”, then “halt”, and said: “Repeat the following words: Fuehrer, we thank you that today for the first time we were able to perform some honest work”. Then I was to go with the penal company to the gravel-pit. My son who was also in Dachau asked to go to the penal company instead of me. That was granted. Gradually, I was no longer assigned to work details. Anyhow there was a regulation that people over 65 should not be assigned to work any longer. In spite of this regulation, I, with my 68 years, was treated as mentioned above.

I was not mistreated, but at each and every opportunity abused with vile invectives. After almost 9 months of protective custody, among them 7 months in Dachau, I was released on 25 January 1934. Though I had to report every other day in Nurnberg to the police and was watched by the Gestapo.

At the beginning of August 1935, I was rearrested on the following grounds: “Simon was for many years a member of the Socialdemocratic Party and for a while of the Independent Socialdemocratic Party. From 1907 to 1918 he was Landtagdeputy of the Socialdemocratic Party and from 1908 to 1930 Social Democratic City Counsellor [Stadtrat] in Nurnberg. In view of the decisive role which Simon played in international trade unionism and in regard to his connections to international Marxist leaders and central agencies which he continued after the National Revolution, he was placed under protective custody on 3 May 1933 and was kept until 25 January 1934 in the Dachau Concentration Camp. Simon is under the grave suspicion that even after this date he worked for the illegal continuation of the Socialdemocratic. He took part in meetings which aimed at the illegal continuation of the Socialdemocratic Party and at the propagation of illegal Marxist printed matter in Germany.

Through this radical attitude, hostile to the State, Simon directly endangers public order and safety.”

I was released from this protective custody on 20 December 1935. But it was this protective custody which caused much psychic suffering to me and undermined my health.

When in 1934 we were released from Dachau, the commander “Eicke” delivered an address, at the end of which he said: “Remember this, whoever returns here does not get out any more.” Now I was afraid every day to get to Dachau again, and I was repeatedly threatened with it. Therefore, I suffered strongly in body and soul. My heart and nerves were particularly affected and there was in addition the bad food. When I was released on 20 December, I was already sick. Nevertheless, I had to report to the police every other day. When on 27 December I wanted to fulfill again my obligation to report there, I collapsed and lost consciousness in the garden of the police building. The ambulance took me home and I was unconscious for almost 3 hours. I recovered only gradually but since that time I suffer from a weak heart.

[signed] Josef Simon Nurnberg, 18 October 1945

I hereby declare under oath the correctness of the above statement which oath is given by me on this thirteenth day of November 1945 at Nurnberg, Justice Building, before Captain D. A. Sprecher, AUS.

[signed] Josef Simon Josef Simon

Sworn to before me, this 13th day of November 1945 in the Justice Building, in Nurnberg, Germany.

[signed] D. A. Sprecher D. A. Sprecher, O2055516, Capt., AUS

Josef Simon, Nurnberg, Ziegelsteinstr. 106

As above already stated in my report on my arrest, my son Willi was also arrested on 29 June and taken to Dachau Concentration Camp. Nothing could be proved against him, except that he was my son. My son “Josef” was to be arrested also and taken to Dachau. He avoided being arrested by fleeing and going via Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark, where he lives and works at present as a refugee.

My son Willi was asked by the SS guards in Dachau what sort of post he held. When he answered that he had had none, he was slapped in the face and ordered to confess, and at each declaration that he had no post he was slapped in the face again and again. Then the SS men poured water out in the basement of the washhouse and while my son had to wipe it off with a little rag he was beaten several times. After he had wiped up the water, the basement was drenched again with water and under further beatings he again had to wipe up the water.

During bathings in the winter of 1933 the prisoners who in the opinion of the SS did not get ready soon enough in the cold washroom were sprayed with a hose while half-dressed and chased outside. Because of the wet clothing my son contracted a severe cold in the form of an arthritis of the hip. He came into the dispensary. The pains became worse all the time and finally he was taken to a clinic in Munich for examination. The physician declared that my son had to remain in the clinic for treatment. This, however, was refused by the accompanying SS and he was taken to Dachau again, where he was again taken to the dispensary. I visited him in the dispensary and asked the medic to put his bed near the stove, a request that was granted. Only after several weeks did the condition of my son improve, and on 18 January 1934 he was released from Dachau.

For the truth of the above statements vouches.

[signed] Josef Simon Nurnberg, 23 October 1945

I have again read carefully the report submitted by me on 23 October 1945 and I hereby declare under oath that the content is true. This statement is herewith made by me today, the 13 November 1945 at Nurnberg, in the Justice Building before Captain D. A. Sprecher, AUS.

[signed] Josef Simon Josef Simon

Sworn to before me, this 13th day of November 1945 in the Justice Building, Nurnberg, Germany.

[signed] D. A. Sprecher D. A. Sprecher O2055516 Captain, Army of the United States

Josef Simon, Nurnberg, Ziegelsteinstr. 106.

Karl Hermann, official of the Union of the Factory Workers, was arrested together with Staimer, on the denunciation by his nephew that he had together with Staimer, listened to foreign radio stations; they were shipped to the concentration camp Flossenbuerg in the Oberpfalz. There he was slain and the ashes were sent to his family.

I cannot name witnesses for this deed, but I attach a death certificate sent to his family. [See Document 2333-PS]

I vouch for the truth of the above statements.

[signed] Josef Simon Nurnberg, 23 October 1945

Josef Simon

Nurnberg

Ziegelsteinstr. 106

When I was shipped on 30 June 1933 to the Dachau Concentration Camp, I met there Josef Staimer, an official of the Unions of Stokers and Machinists, who had already been arrested in April and sent to Dachau. As far as I remember, he was not released from Dachau until 1938.

In 1940, Staimer together with Hermann was arrested again on the basis of a denunciation and came to Flossenbuerg Concentration Camp in the Oberpfalz. He was slain there after a few months and burned in the Crematorium. The ashes were sent to his family.

I cannot name witnesses for this deed, but I attach a death certificate sent to his family. [See Document 2332-PS]

For the truth of the above statements vouches.

[signed] Josef Simon

Nurnberg, 23 October 1945

I have reread carefully both reports, as submitted by me on 23 October 1945, and declare herewith under oath, that the content is true. This statement is herewith made by me today, the 13th of November 1945 at Nurnberg, in the Justice Building before Captain D. A. Sprecher, AUS.

[signed] Josef Simon Josef Simon

Sworn to before me, this 13th day of November 1945 in the Justice Building in Nurnberg, Germany.

[signed] D. A. Sprecher D. A. Sprecher, O2055516, Captain, AUS.

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2336-PS

GERMAN LABOR FRONT

Organization Office

Chief Directorate of the Political Organization [P.O.] National Socialist Factory Cells Organization

Berlin W., 27 June 1933 Luetzowufer 18, II

SPECIAL CIRCULAR

on the Securing of the Associations of the German Labor Front [DAF] Against Hidden Marxist Sabotage.

To all:

Leaders of Worker and Employee Associations of the DAF Regional [Bezirke],

District [Kreis] and Local Chapter Directorate [Ortsgruppenleitungen] of the Worker and Employee Associations of the DAF,

Regional Leaders of the DAF,

Regional Leaders of German industry

and

National Socialist Works Organization [N.S.B.O.] of

“Landes” Representatives of the NSDAP

“Gau” Factory Cell Leaders of the NSDAP

District Factory Cell Leaders of the NSDAP

Local Chapter Factory Workers [Ortsgruppenbetriebswarte] of the NSDAP in Berlin and the Reich.

[Stamp]

Main Archives of the NSDAP No.——

[Stamp] Entered in the index of books 3 A/C current No. A-202.

Dear Party comrades.

The Situation

Today the third SA-man from Berlin has died, following on the burial yesterday, with the greatest ceremony, of his two comrades. The murderer was a Marxist trade union member.—A few days ago SA-men were fired at by Marxists in two other cities of the Reich.—Enemy aircraft dropped revolutionary Marxist leaflets over Berlin.—Shortly before the final edition of today’s local newspapers came out, it became known that a gigantic new scandal of corruption has been discovered in a land settlement society. The former Marxist “Gau” chairman of the Textile Workers’ Union [Textilarbeiter-Verbandes] has been arrested as the chief swine and money maker. In Silesia signs have been discovered of a secret Marxist organization (Communist Party).

This is a small selection of daily events, chosen at random. Marxists as murderers, Marxists as inciters to corruption, Marxists as foreign agents, Marxists as conspirators against the state and its institutions. The notorious enemies of the state are opposed by the great mass of honest German workers who fight for work and bread. For fourteen years the “labor leaders” of Prague, Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw gave to the millions of German workers stones instead of bread, servitude to a foreign political system instead of liberty. The 30th January, 5th March, 2nd May, 22nd June finally struck one weapon after the other out of the hands of this “Fuehrer” mob [gesindel]. The force and thoroughness of the National Socialist coups [Aktionen] made those who did not disappear into concentration camps creep into every dark corner.

They Played Dead.

However, now the generosity of National Socialism towards its adversaries, which was rightly mentioned by party comrade Dr. Ley in one of the last decrees of the DAF leaders, seems to have encouraged them to new treasonable activities from the darkness. There is much to indicate this. Here is just a small sample from a report submitted by the Gestapo, Berlin:

The functionaries of the free trade unions have received instructions to dismiss the assertions of the National Socialist Works Organization regarding the former embezzlement of union funds as slanderous. What is aimed at is permanent agitation on a considerable scale, particularly with the cooperation of the treasurers of the Social Democrat Party. All trade union members who have joined the National Socialist Works Organization so as not to lose their jobs are registered with full details and then visited by functionaries in their homes. An attempt is being made to group together all “class-conscious” workers who reject Fascism. The aim is to keep the trade unions as fighting organs in spite of National Socialist leadership. The old trade union leaders are convinced even today that there is no suitable soil in Germany for the plant of Fascism; nevertheless every effort should be made to shorten its existence.

These new working methods are contrived on the instructions of the international association of trade unions with which the leading German trade unionists are, as ever, in close contact. In short, the activity of the functionaries of the Marxist parties and Trades Unions is becoming more and more effective [aktiv].

They want again, although of course considerably weakened, to use as a spring board the countless millions of German workers who long for work and bread. They shoot their arrows from ambush, try to organize themselves illegally, and now and then even assume a cynical and impertinent attitude. But they must have got a totally wrong idea of us! We are awake! As new and qualified leaders of the workers and employees of the DAF and as political officials [Amtswalter] of the victorious National Socialist Works Organization, the sword of the DAF, and finally also the old, confirmed National Socialists who are accustomed to persecution, in all the leading and authoritative positions of the DAF, are, thank God, guarantees that the doings of our enemies come to nought.

Since we know that, we act accordingly. Our aim is:

1. Expulsion of the last leading Marxist from all units of the associations of the “German Labour Front”;

2. Therefore no softness, no false belief that we can “convert” them, since they hate us from the very bottom of their hearts and because Marxist big-wigs [Bonzen] can never be converted;

3. No more financial settlements, no respecting of all their dishonestly made agreements;

4. Close observation and a close check on their private activities, for they carry on propaganda against the state under the cloak of honest citizens;

5. See to it that they are regarded by the people as outlaws who really deserved to be hanged;

6. Have close observation instituted in the factories;

7. Finally do everything that helps the German workers and the German employees but cuts off the deposed Marxist big-wigs from every type of activity hostile to the state.

We have one aim only; to unite the whole of German labour in a mighty block of workers for the blessing of the people and state. Adolf Hitler is the protector [Schirmheer] of the DAF—that explains everything.

The Marxists, at home and abroad, have also one aim only; to annihilate National Socialism and thus create chaos in Germany, nay, in Europe. The fronts are thus clear. The law of the National Socialist revolution demands therefore not only unceasing toil, but fast work at this very moment. Therefore the following orders are issued.

A

For the “General Association [Gesamtverband] of German Workers” of the DAF

1. The organization office of the DAF is drawing up a “List of Outlaws” [Geaechteten]

which is valid for the entire Reich and in which the names of all those Marxist trade union “big-wigs” [Bonze] will be included, who have carried on in the past and are still carrying on the most furious struggle against National Socialism and are continuing it in secret. Anyone on the “List of Outlaws”, will not be given work in the future. All organizations which have any vital connection with German industry are being sent this printed list, in order to prevent any of these traitors to the workers from returning to the factories by crooked means and possibly continuing their mutinous activity there.

In this connection, the Association leaders [Verbandsleiter] of the “General union [Gesamtverband] of German Workers” of the DAF will issue detailed executive instructions.

2. No treasurer (or person holding similar office) in the associations may be a Marxist because these persons have the greatest opportunity of forming illegal nucleus groups. It goes without saying that suspicious treasurers, who can of course continue their former activities in spite of the fact that they no longer have the right to collect subscriptions, should be constantly watched.

3. The local group associations [Verbandsortssgruppe] are to be filled up as soon as possible with the members of other associations or groups who have been brought into line (Christian, former yellow, Evangelic, and Catholic workers unions, etc.) so that the block of “free” association members which has up to now been a closed community, may be split up. Public places known to have been frequented by the Social Democrat, Reichsbanner, or Communist Party, may no longer be used as meeting places of the local group association [Verbandsortsgruppen].

B

For the General Association [Gesamtverband] of German employees of the DAF.

It is above all the Catholic party leaders whom the Trade Unions have taken over who should be removed from the associations, those men who, it has been ascertained, are maintaining their connections with political Catholicism just as they always have. They are dangerous because they simulate submission and cheerful cooperation while in reality they wantonly hold up our work of reconstruction and make no secret of it among themselves. For example, here is one of many reports from our intelligence service:

“On Sunday, 23 April, at 11 A. M. in the Vincent-House at Breslau a meeting of the Christian trade unions was held to which all the representatives of the authorities were invited. The report was given by the Chief Editor of the “Deutsche”, Wiedfeld of Berlin. The meeting came to an end about 1:00 p. m. and closed with the National Anthem. In the afternoon the delegates from the province assembled to discuss the report in the absence of the representatives of the various authorities. No comment was permitted on Herr Wiedfeld’s report in the morning, in order to appear in a good light in the eyes of the representatives of the authorities, and this was expressly stated by the chairman of the afternoon meeting. The lively discussion showed immediately the methods followed and the goal aimed at by the Christian Trades Union. Violent attacks were launched against the present Reich Cabinet [Reichsregierung]. A representative of the Christian Trade Union attacked the Reich Chancellor, asserting that Adolf Hitler would never allow the leaders of the Christian Trade Unions to voice their opinions.

Then they spoke of the National Socialist Works Organization and pulled it to pieces. Citing a number of examples they went on to make further attacks on the Reich Cabinet and the National Socialist Works Organization. First the Government was attacked; they said, for instance, that cars were left free of tax, while a great tax was levied on margarine and thus the standard of living of the poor was lowered. There had never been so much holiday work in upper Silesia as under the present Government. They declared that the NSDAP will have the surprise of its life in Autumn, when the people will have nothing to eat, they will then take to open fighting and destroy National Socialism in the same way as the Socialist Party has been destroyed today. We dealt with 1918 (i.e. Christian trade union) and will deal with the Nazis too. One must be on one’s guard against Minister Goering, for this fellow is heading straight for Dictatorship. It is important to keep a good watch on the National Socialist Works Organization, inform the people of every mistake and explain to the people that the Nazis are completely unable to carry out what they say.”

This “Christian”, sabotage applies of course also to the Workers’ Associations.

C

For the branches [Gliederungen] of the National Socialist Works Organizations

1. The National Socialist Works Organization is above all the security organ of the entire German Labour Front, i.e. it has to protect day and night the great work of our slowly progressing unification of all German workers and prevent any kind of sabotage. This is carried out in two ways:

a. Through the already National Socialist Works Organization officials [Amtswalter] in the associations themselves and

b. By keeping a watch on factories, houses and public places which appear suspicious to us, by means of NS B. O. patrols drawn from the “Gau” and District [Kreis] factory cell-divisions [Betriebszellenabteilung] and the local group factory wardens [Ortsgruppenbietriebswarte] detailed instructions will be issued later to the Gau factory cell divisions direct.

2. However, the branches of the National Socialist Works Organization must themselves be subjected to a thorough purge of members because their rapid growth has brought us many unreliable elements.

It is only the man who pledges his life-time unreservedly, unselfishly, and devotedly to the fight for the rise of German labour (brain and manual workers), and thus for the whole people, who should be a member of the National Socialist Works Organization. But any man who has joined the National Socialist Works Organization on the chance of amassing wealth, or has regarded his membership as a safeguard against losing his job, etc., in short, any man who has joined this fighting body [Kampftruppe] for material reasons, must leave it. The man who was a Marxist only yesterday and fought openly against us, but today will have nothing more to do with it, must also leave. These are nothing but dangerous disruptive elements [Spaltpilze] who poison morale when it comes to tests of endurance.

It would be a definite benefit for the National Socialist Works Organization if quite 100,000 of our most recent members leave our ranks. The Gau factory cell leaders [Gau-Betriebszellenleiter] must therefore issue orders to this effect.

3. Herewith an order is issued effective until further notice, prohibiting National Socialist Works Organization officials [Amtswalter] and/or ordinary members beyond the N.S.W.O. membership number 450,000, from holding any positions whatever in the associations of the German Labour Front. The new members do not yet possess that degree of suitability for leadership which we must demand for the great tasks which have to be accomplished in these associations.

Care has been taken that those “freshmen” who are not needed as officials [Amtswalter] in the National Socialist Works Organization or in the associations, are thoroughly familiarized by rapid courses with National socialist ideas, so that they can then be employed.

4. All positions on factory and employee counselors’ councils in Germany must be filled by National Socialists. There must no longer be any factory in which Marxists or “Christians” hold the leading positions. Orders should therefore be given immediately that Communist and Catholic factory or employee councils who are still holding office should be dismissed. To prevent this being carried out in a wild and undisciplined manner, it is laid down that the responsible Regional leader of the German Labour Front, in conjunction with the Gau Director of factory cells should from time to time, decide on the necessary orders (in agreement with the Regional leader of German industry).

The above schemes [Ausfuehrungen] and orders are to be put into effect immediately with proven National Socialist thoroughness. No pardon to the enemy but stake all for the victory of the National Socialistic revolution.

Signed Muchow

Director of the Office of the Organization of the German Labour Front and Deputy Director of the National Socialist Works Organization of the Political Organization of the N.S.D.A.P.

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2340-PS

1937 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 41

German Public Officials Law of 27 January 1937

A career as a public official, rooted in the German people and permeated by National Socialist ideology and loyalty bound to the Fuehrer of the German Reich and people, forms a foundation pillar of the National Socialist State. Therefore the Reich Government has enacted the following law, which is hereby promulgated.

CHAPTER I

Official Relationship [Beamtenverhaeltnis]

ARTICLE 1.

(1) The German official stands in a public service and trust relationship to the Fuehrer and to the Reich.

(2) He carries out the will of the state, which is based on the National Socialist German Labor Party.

(3) The state demands of the official absolute obedience and complete fulfillment of duty; in return it guarantees him a position for life.

* * * * * * *

CHAPTER II

Duties of Officials

1. General

* * * * * * *

ARTICLE 3.

(1) A position in the public service is proof of confidence on the part of the state leadership, which the official must justify by being constantly aware of the increased duties which his position imposes upon him. Fuehrer and Reich demand of him true patriotism, a spirit of self-sacrifice, and complete dedication of his efforts, obedience to his superiors, and comradeship toward his colleagues. He must be a model of loyal fulfillment of duty to all his fellow citizens. He must be faithful to the death to the Fuehrer, who assures him his special protection.

(2) The official must at all times support without reservation the National Socialist State and in all his behavior must be guided by the fact that the National Socialist German Labor Party, in indissoluble union with the people, is the basis of the German state concept. He must report to his superiors occurrences which might endanger the existence of the Reich or of the National Socialist German Labor Party, even when he has not learned of them in the course of his official duties.

(3) The public official is responsible for conscientious fulfillment of his official duties. By his conduct, on or off duty, he must prove himself worthy of the respect and confidence which his profession enjoys. He must not permit any member of his household to engage in any dishonorable activity.

2. Oath of Allegiance.

* * * * * * *

ARTICLE 4.

(1) The official confirms his special unity with the Fuehrer and the Reich with the following oath, which he must take upon entering upon his first duty:

“I swear: I will be loyal and obedient to the Fuehrer of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, obey the law, and conscientiously perform my official duties, so help me God.”

(2) If a law permits members of a religious affiliation to use other forms of affirmation instead of the oath, the official who is a member of such a religious affiliation may use such form of affirmation.

(3) If the official declares that he has objections to taking the oath in religious form, he can take it without the final words.

* * * * * * *

CHAPTER IV

Appointments and Transfers

1. Appointments

* * * * * * *

ARTICLE 25.

(1) Only a person who is of German or related blood and who, if he is married, has a spouse of German or related blood can become an official. If the spouse is a mixed-blood second degree, an exception may be made.

(2) An official may marry only a person of German or related blood. If the betrothed is a mixed-blood, second degree the marriage may be approved.

(3) For the admission of an exception under subdivision 1, 2nd sentence, and the approval under subdivision 2, 2nd sentence, the supreme office authority in agreement with the Reich Minister of the Interior and the Deputy of the Fuehrer are the competent authorities. The same authorities may also permit exceptions to subdivision 1, 1st sentence and subdivision 2, 1st sentence, in individual cases.

ARTICLE 26.

(1) Furthermore, only such person may assume public office, who—

1. is a citizen of the Reich or is not a citizen yet only because he does not yet fulfill the requirements therefore because of his age,

2. has the preliminary training prescribed for his career or, in the absence of such regulations, the customary preliminary training or other special requirements for the office to be entrusted to him, and

3. offers guarantee that he will at all times support the National Socialist State without reservation.

(2) Exceptions to subdivision 1, No. 1 require the approval of the Reich Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Deputy of the Fuehrer or the authorities appointed by them.

* * * * * * *

CHAPTER VII

Termination of Official Relationship

* * * * * * *

2. Dismissal from Office

(a) Refusal to take the oath

* * * * * * *

ARTICLE 57.

Whoever refuses to take the oath of allegiance prescribed by law is to be dismissed.

3. Retirement

* * * * * * *

(d) Political Reasons

(1) The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor may retire a life-time or temporary official on the request of the supreme office authority in agreement with the Reich Minister of the Interior, if the official no longer offers guarantee that he will at all times support the National Socialist State.

(2) The facts justifying this request are to be ascertained in an investigation in which the questioning of witnesses and excerpts on oath is permissible and in which the official is to be heard.

Berlin, 26 Jan. 1937

The Fuehrer and Reichs Chancellor Adolf Hitler The Reichs Minister of the Interior Frick The Reich Minister of Finance Count Schwerin von Krosigk

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2341-PS

1939 REICHSGESETZBLATT, No. 38, 2 MARCH 1939, PAGE 371

Decree on the education and careers of German officials of 28 February 1939

* * * * * * *

Par. 2.

The applicants must belong or have belonged to the party or one of its formations. In the selection the personal aptitude and character are decisive. Honorably discharged workers and soldiers (cf. par. 16 (1) and par. 17 of the decree on the care for soldiers and workers in the form of 29 Dec 1937—RGBl I, p. 1417) and children of child-rich families have preference. For pension applicants the special decrees apply.

* * * * * * *

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2342-PS

1936 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 369

Law on the People’s Court and on the 25th amendment to the Salary Law of 18 April 1936

The Reich Cabinet [Reichsregierung] has passed the following law which is hereby promulgated:

CHAPTER I

ARTICLE 1.

The People’s Court is a regular Court in the sense of the law on judicial organizations.

ARTICLE 2.

The People’s Court is comprised of one president and the necessary numbers of presidents of the senate and councillors as main official members [hauptamtliche Mitglieder].

ARTICLE 3.

The president, the presidents of the senate and the councillors are appointed for life-time. They have to be qualified for the judge’s office and must have completed their 35th year of age.

ARTICLE 4.

The honorary members of the People’s Court are appointed by the Fuehrer and Reichs Chancellor for the duration of 5 years upon recommendation of the Reichsminister of Justice.

ARTICLE 5.

Senates are formed at the People’s Court, the number of which is determined by the Reichsminister of Justice.

ARTICLE 6.

If it is necessary for lawful course of affairs, permanently employed judges may be called in temporarily as assistant judges to the People’s Court in case of an accumulation of business. The delegation of an assistant judge may be called off before the end of the time, for which the assistant judge has been called in, only if the emergency, by which it was caused, does no longer exist.

ARTICLE 7.

The office of the public prosecutor at the People’s Court is filled by one or several Reich prosecutors or State prosecutors. They are nonjudicial officials, must however be qualified for the judge’s office.

ARTICLE 8.

At the People’s Court an office will be established which will be filled with the necessary number of recording officials.

CHAPTER II

ARTICLE 9.

The Reich pay law of 10 December 1927 (RGBl I, p. 349) will be changed as follows:

1. To the pay class A will be added:

a. in pay group Ib after “directors of law courts”: “Chief State Prosecutors at the People’s Court”;

b. in pay group 10a after “Sergeant of the German Supreme Court” [Reichsgerichtswachtmeister];

2. To the pay class B will be added:

a. in pay group 3b under Section “Reichministry of Justice” before “president of the highest court of Justice” [Kammergerichtspresident]: “President of the People’s Court”;

b. in pay group e under section “Reichministry of Justice” after “Senate President at the German Supreme Court,”: “Senate president at the People’s Court, Reich Prosecutor as head of the State Prosecutor’s office at the People’s Court” and in note I after “German Supreme Court”: “and at the People’s Court as well as the Reich Prosecutor as head of the State Prosecutor’s office at the People’s Court”;

c. in pay group 8 under Section “Reichministry of Justice” before “Presidents of District Courts at Courts with 30 or more organic [planmaessig] judges in the district”: “Councillors at People’s Courts”.

ARTICLE 10.

Of the positions printed in the budget of the Reichministry of Justice for the financial year of 1935 (individual plan IX) at Chapter 2 (German Supreme Court) the following positions are transferred to Chapter 2a (People’s Court):

Group B 7: 1 Reich Prosecutor.

Group A 2b: 2 Chief State Prosecutors.

Group A 2d: 4 senior judges in law courts of justice (6 of whom to be transformed in future).

Group A 4b: 6 Chief inspectors of the Government.

Group A 4c: 2 inspectors of the Government.

Group A 7: 6 Secretaries.

Group A10: 6 Sergeants of the German Supreme Court [Reichsgerichtswachtmeister].

(2) In the budget of the Reichministry of Justice (Individual Plan IX) the following organic positions will be newly created in Chapter 2a (People’s Court):

Group B 3b: President of the People’s Court.

Group B 6: 2 Senate presidents at the People’s Court, 1 Reich Prosecutor (under transformation of the Reich Prosecutor’s position of Group B 7 transferred from the German Supreme Court). They receive an irrevocable extra pay of 1000 RM which can be added to the base pay, for purpose of pension [pensionsfaehig].

Group B 8: 6 Councillors at the People’s Court.

Group A 1b: 2 Chief State Prosecutors at the People’s Court.

Group A 2b: 2 Chief State Prosecutors.

Group A 10a: 1 Chief Messenger’s supervisor.

He receives extra pay for this position of 300 RM which can be added to the base pay for the purpose of pension [pensionsfaehig] and is irrevocable.

5 Sergeants of the People’s Court under transformation of 5 positions of sergeants of the German Supreme Court taken over from the German Supreme Court.

CHAPTER III

In as far as laws or other regulations refer to the Chief Reich Prosecutor as authority of indictment at the People’s Court, his place will be taken by the Reich Prosecutor at the People’s Court.

CHAPTER IV

The Reichministry of justice will issue the legal and administrative regulations necessary for the execution of this law.

CHAPTER V

(1) This law shall take effect as of 1st April 1936.

(2) The honorary members of the People’s Court appointed on the basis the former regulations continue to remain in office according to their appointment hitherto. The same holds good with regard to members who have to be qualified for the judge’s office. On 31st October 1936 however those are being eliminated who will not have been appointed up to this date to main official members of the People’s Court.

(3) If members of the German Supreme Court and Reich Prosecutors are being transferred to the People’s Court up to 1st April 1937, they will receive in case of their being retired at least the pension to which they would have been entitled if they had remained in their former positions at the German Supreme Court.

Berlin, 18. April 1936 The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler The Reichministry of Justice Dr. Guertner The Reichministry of Finances Count Schwerin von Krosigk The Reich War Ministry and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces von Blomberg

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2344-PS

RECONSTRUCTION OF A NATION

[Aufbau Einer Nation]

by Hermann Goering, 2nd Edition, Published by E. S. Mittler & Son, Berlin 1934, [Page 89].

* * * * * * *

Against the enemies of the State, we must proceed ruthlessly. It cannot be forgotten that at the moment of our rise to power, according to the official election figures of March 1933, six million people still confess their sympathy for Communism and eight million for Marxism.... Therefore, the concentration camps have been created, where we have first confined thousands of Communists and Social Democrat functionaries.

* * * * * * *

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2347-PS

1935 REICHSVERWALTUNGSBLATT, Vol. 56, No. 29, Pages 577-578, dated 20 July 1935

(Editorial Board: A. Mirow, Dr. H. H. Lammers, H. Pfundtner, Dr. O. Koellreutter, Dr. F. A. Medicus)

II. COURT DECISIONS

Survey of decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court [Oberverwaltungsgericht]

Police in General

(Rush-reprint)

Since the Law on the Secret State Police [Geheime Staatspolizei] of 30 November 1933 (GS.S. 419) became effective, decisions of the Office of the Secret State Police [Geheimes Staats Polizeiamt] can no longer be contested according to the provisions of the Law on the Administration of Police. The only remedy against them is a complaint to the superior authority.

Legal status of the Bureau of the Secret State Police according to the Law on the Secret State Police of 30 November 33.

On September 4 1934 the Association Secretary filed a suit against the Secret State-Police at the District-Administrative Court in Berlin. The association asserted that on 23 August 1934 their president had been informed by two officials of the office of the Secret State-Police that the assets of the association would be sequestrated for the purpose of an eventual confiscation.

With the decision of 1 November 1934 the District-Administrative Court decided to dismiss the suit.

The appeal of the plaintiff against this decision could not have any success.

The District-Administrative Court in this case dismissed the suit on the ground of the inadmissibility of such an action to this court. According to the principle of enumeration quoted by the judge of first instance a suit can be filed with the administrative courts only if legal provisions expressively rule to that effect. The right of legal redress as provided by the law relating to the Police-Administration applies according to the wording of this law only to the police orders issued by the ordinary police-authorities, i.e. the police-authorities of the community, the district, or the province. The sequestration order in question has not been issued by an ordinary police-authority; on the contrary it had been issued by the Office of Secret State-Police, the legal status of which has been provided by the Law of 30 November 1933.

With this law an authoritative status was given to the Secret State-Police which was basically different from the one at the time it was created, based on the Law of 26 April 1933. By virtue of this last-mentioned law, the Office of the Secret State-Police should act in political matters “at the side of or in the place of the ordinary police-authorities” and “should have the status of a Province-Police-Authority”....

This legal status was changed, as the District-Administrative-Court properly recognized, when the “Secret State-Police” was created. An authoritative organization was created thus, the status of which is expressly determined by law to be exempt from the sphere of the Minister of Interior, otherwise competent in all Police matters.

Section 1, subsection 1, sentence 1 and 2 of the Law of 30 November 1933 quotes:

“The Secret State Police is forming an independent branch of the interior administration. Its chief is the Prime Minister”. The conception “interior administration” here is not used in the usual meaning of today according to which this word designates the specified affairs within the sphere of the Minister of the Interior—as for instance in comparison with the administration of commerce or public instruction, etc....

That the Secret State Police became an independent organization is clearly shown on one side by the fact that it is subordinated as a whole to the Prime Minister, and then by the creation of special authorities designated with specific names.

Concluding from all this the legal status of the Office of the Secret State Police since the Law of 30 November 1933 became effective is the following: The office is part of a special authoritative organization, the “Secret State Police” which forms an independent branch of the Administration of the Prussian State. It has, like the Secret State Police as a whole, its special field as to the nature of its tasks: the management of affairs of the political police. Therewith the characteristic signs are given of a “Special Police Authority” within the purview of Section 2, subsection 2 and section 8 of the Law relating to the Administration of the Police, an authority detached from the organization of the ordinary police-authorities entrusted with a special police task. It cannot be considered part of the limited circle of police authorities, i.e. State [Landes] authorities, Kreis or local authorities, pursuant to Section 2, subsection 1 of the Law relating to Police-Administration, as in relation to them it figures rather as a central authority pursuant to the mentioned provisions of Section 3, subsection 2 of the law of 30 November 1933.

From the thus signified character of the Office of the Secret State Police, which therefore doubtlessly forms a special-police-authority it can be concluded that its orders as mentioned before, are not subject to the provisions of the law relating to the Police-Administration in regard to means of redress. Neither does the Law of 30 November 1933 provide for the contesting of a decision by a suit (filing an appeal) at the administrative court. Therefore the party affected by such orders has only the general legal remedy of a complaint to the supervisory authority.

Decree of 2 May 1935 III. C. 43/35

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2348-PS

Statement of Standarten Fuehrer Walther Rauff made on 19 October 1945:

I hereby acknowledge the attached letters, written by Dr. Becker (Lieut.) on 16 May 1942 and received by me on 29 May 1942, as a genuine letter.

I did on 18 October 1945 write on the side of this letter a statement to the effect that it was genuine.

I do not know the number of death vans being operated and cannot even give an approximate figure.

The vans were built by the Saurer Works, Germany, located, I believe, in Berlin. Some other firms built these vans also.

In so far as I am aware these vans only operated in Russia.

In so far as I can state these vans were probably operating in 1941, and I personally feel that they were operating up to the termination of the war.

I do not personally know the number of persons killed in the death vans.

I would like to state that the reason why Dr. Becker wrote this letter to me was due to the fact that I was the chief of the Section under which were included such divisions as

(1) Ammunition (2) Telephone (3) Telegraph (4) Radio (5) All Trucks.

This group was known as II D.

When this letter was received, I referred it to a Captain Pradl for appropriate action. The letter was discussed by Captain Pradl and myself, and I believe that Pradl was instructed by me to have the technical matters, of which the letters complained, remedied. I only saw Dr. Becker once or twice and had no part in the actual appointing of Dr. Becker to this position. I was never present when the death vans were operating with persons in them being killed, however I did see a death van as a sample and was interested merely from a technical viewpoint. I was chief of this technical section from February 1940 until March 1940.

From May 1940 to May 1941 I was in the German navy. From September 1941 to May 1942 I was in Prague. I then became chief of the section again from May 1942 to June 1942.

I wish to point out that my specific interest in these death vans was the lower part where the motor was located.

I wish to state that my immediate superior was an individual of ministerial grade by the name of Standarten Fuehrer Siegert. He was chief of AMT II RSHA, and Siegert gave me orders to supply the chassis of these death vans. Insofar as I can recall I only supplied 5 or 6.

The immediate superior of Standarten Fuehrer Siegert was Obergruppen Fuehrer Reinhardt Heydrich, chief of S. D.

The immediate successor of Siegert was an individual by the name of Spacil who succeeded Siegert around July or August of 1942, taking over the same duties and same responsibilities as Siegert and remaining chief of the section until the termination of the war. I believe that Siegert returned to a position in the Ministry of Finance on being relieved by Spacil.

I understand that this statement was made under oath and I hereby swear that all statements contained in this affidavit are the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.

Standarten Fuehrer Rauft

Witnessed by the following:— Captain J. F. C. Bagshaw, Captain G. K. Heller, Captain C. A. Crowther.

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2349-PS

THE MYTH OF THE 20TH CENTURY

by Alfred Rosenberg

Published by Hoheneichen Publishing House, Muenchen 1941.

[Page 215]

We recognize today that the central maximum values of the Roman and the Protestant Church as negative Christianity do not correspond to our soul, that they are in the way of the organic forces of the Nordic racially determined peoples, must give way to them (these forces), and must let themselves be re-evaluated in the sense of a Germanic Christianity. That is the thought behind today’s religious searching.

* * * * * * *

[Page 514]

The idea of honor—national honor—is for us the beginning and end of our entire thinking and doing. It does not admit of any equal-valued center of force alongside of it, no matter of what kind, neither Christian love, nor the Free-Masonic humanity, nor the Roman philosophy.

* * * * * * *

[Page 608]

A German religious movement which would like to develop into a folk-church will have to declare that the idea of neighborly love is unconditionally to be subordinated to the idea of national honor, that no act of a German church may be approved which does not primarily serve the safeguarding of the folkdom.

* * * * * * *

[Page 616]

A German religion will, bit by bit, present in the churches transferred to it, in place of the crucifixion the spirit of fire—the heroic—in the highest sense.

* * * * * * *

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2351-PS

THE ARCHIVE, Vol. 34-36, Page 1716

compiled by Ernst Jaenicke, Berlin.

Edited by Alfred-Ingomar Berndt.

Published by Otto Stollberg, publishers, Berlin, March 1937.

[Rosenberg in a speech on 7 March 1937 stated:]

The education of youth can only be carried out by those who have rescued Germany from disaster. It is therefore impossible to demand one Fuehrer, one Reich and one firmly united people as long as education is carried out by forces which are mutually exclusive of each other.

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2352-PS

THE ARCHIVE, Vol. 43-45, Page 1029

compiled by Ernst Jaenicke, Berlin,

Edited by Alfred-Ingomar Berndt.

Published by Otto Stollberg, publishers, Berlin, November 1937

[Kerrl said in a speech at Fulda, 27 November 1937:]

We cannot recognize that the Church has a right to insure that the individual should be educated in all respects in the way in which it holds to be right; but we must leave it to the National Socialist State to educate the child in the way it regards as right.

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 2353-PS

BASIC FACTS FOR A HISTORY OF GERMAN WAR AND ARMAMENTS ECONOMY

[Page 35]

IV

The influence of central organization on development and activities of the war economy organization

Centralization of the Supreme Reich authorities, ordered in case of war, has influenced the development and the activities of the war economy organization to such an extent, that it is necessary to discuss this matter in detail.

The foundations had already been laid for the central organization of the Supreme Reich authorities in the event of a war, prior to 1933 in many discussions and decrees, but it was radically altered when the national socialists came into power and especially by the decease of Reichpresident von Hindenburg. The latest orders were decreed in the Reich Defense law of May 21, 1935, supposed to be published only in case of war, but already declared valid for carrying out war preparations. As this law (see Appendix IV, 1) fixed the duties of the Armed Forces and the other Reich authorities in case of war, it was also the fundamental ruling for the development and activity of the war economy organization.

* * * * * * *

XV

[Page 135]

War and Armament Economic Measures from entry into Austria (1938 till mobilization 1939)

The discussion between the Fuehrer and the Austrian Chancellor of State Schuschnigg on February 12, led to the military-political measures against Austria, which concluded with the entry into Austria on March 13. This action against Austria, disguised under the code name “Action Otto” prepared in a short time, has resulted in a wealth of experience of utmost importance, for the preparation of mobilization and especially for the economic preparations, and has in the course of the year led to changes in the regulations regarding mobilization.

* * * * * * *

[Page 136]

The action was prepared and started without the cooperation of the WStb. The result was, that the military measures created great confusion in the economic sphere leading to unpleasant conditions for the army and also for the economy for the time being.

* * * * * * *

[Page 141]

The experience gained during the action in Austria caused the OKW to issue new regulations, preparing the separating of the mobilization of the Armed Forces from the mobilization of the civilian elements. Mobilization of the Armed Forces without public announcement (X-case) was prepared; nevertheless there should be the possibility of proceeding at any time from the mobilization of the Armed Forces only, to a general mobilization of State, Nation and Economy. The basic idea is, that all actions and regulations in case-X are based on Civil law, a state of defense has not been declared and martial law has not been proclaimed. The appropriate measures were ordered on July 5 by the OKW. WStb and GBW expressed justifiable misgivings regarding these new regulations, as mobilization of the Armed Forces before mobilization of economy would create considerable confusion and endanger the smooth running of the economic mobilization. On the demand for a divided mobilization was necessary from a military-political point of view, it was accepted in spite of the objections of the WStb and GBW.

* * * * * * *

[Pages 142-143]

The first planned action of the war economy organization during an actual operation was at the time of the entry into the Sudeten territory. Liaison officers of the OKW [WStb] were attached to the corps commandos, they were in charge of technical war economy units and finally, War Economy Offices for special missions were created to take over definite Economic departments. The military-political developments during the occupation of the Sudeten German territory evolved in such a manner, that the liaison officers as well as the technical war economy units and the offices of WWi were rarely in action. The planned preparation for action by these administrative units and their activities in the Sudeten German territory nevertheless provided experience which was also very valuable for the later Mob-preparations. Primarily it was admitted by all departments, that the installation of the liaison officers of the OKW [WStb] at the corps commandos is of great value not only to the troops but also for OKW, and is a necessity in modern warfare. This proved especially valuable insofar as the chiefs of the Civil government were as a rule not instructed in their duties and authority, and the offices for special missions, first had to give them the necessary directives for their task.

* * * * * * *

[Page 146]

At the beginning of the year 1939 a new level was reached as regards the military-political situation—the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia by the German army and the abrogation of the sovereignty of Czechoslovakia. These operations also were prepared “war economically” by the creation of war economy units, who had, as in the case Sudetenland, a very small scope for action. Immediately after the occupation, a war economy inspectorate for special missions was set up, which took over all the duties of the Czechoslovak secretaryship general for National Defense and which was transformed into the Inspectorate of War Economy Prague on March 30, 1939 already. The main duties of the Inspectorate are:

Utilization of the total industrial economy of the Protectorate for the purpose of Reichdefense;

Control of manufacture of war material for at home and abroad and

Effect synchronization of demands to be made by military and civilian Reich authorities and the industrial economy of the Protectorate.

Furthermore they are assigned:

The instruction of the Reichprotector on the economic demands to be made in the interest of Reichdefense and to advise him concerning legislation resulting therefrom;

Air raid precautions in industry and guarding of factories and the Defence Measures [Abwehrmassnahmen] in the factories.

* * * * * * *

XVIII

[Pages 181-184]

Execution of the economic mobilization

Before discussing the actual process of the economic mobilization I regard it as my duty, to give my opinion on the possibility of successful warfare as regards war economy, from my experience as Chief of the WStb gained during August 1939. During this time many conferences were held with the then Generaloberst Keitel discussing our readiness for war and conditions in regard to armaments as compared with that of the prospective enemy states. During all these discussions I maintained the point of view, that a war with Poland would present no problem for us, but that for a great world war of long duration, our economic structure would be too weak and that, in the case of a world war, decisive measures, conforming to a total war, would have to be carried out immediately. These objections and the resulting demands were nevertheless ignored.