VII. OPINION AND JUDGMENT (continued 3)

In addition to the Hitler decree there were also enclosed in Keitel’s letter of 12 December 1941 the “First Decree” of directives concerning the prosecution of crimes against the Reich or occupation power in occupied territories under the Hitler decree. This first Decree was signed by Keitel and was marked “Secret.” It contains seven sections relating to the crimes intended to be prosecuted under the Hitler decree and the manner and place of trials and execution of sentences. Section I of the first decree declares that the directive will be as a rule applicable in cases of: (671-PS, Pros. Ex. 304.)

1. Assault with intent to kill.

2. Espionage.

3. Sabotage.

4. Communist activity.

5. Crimes likely to disturb the peace.

6. Favoritism toward the enemy, the following means: Smuggling of men and women; the attempt to enlist in an enemy army; and the support of members of the enemy army (parachutists, etc.).

7. Illegal possession of arms.

Section II of the secret decree declares that the culprits are not to be tried in occupied territories unless it is probable that a death sentence will be pronounced, and it must be possible to carry out the execution of the death sentence at once; in general, a week after the capture of the culprit. It further states:

“Special political scruples against the immediate execution of the death sentence should not exist.”

Section III of the first directive declares that the judge in agreement with the intelligence office of the Wehrmacht decides whether the condition for a trial in occupied territories exists.

Section IV declares that the culprits who are to be taken to Germany will be subjected there to military court proceedings if the OKW or the superior commanding officer declares decisions according to section III (above) that special military reasons require the military proceedings. In such instances the culprits are to be designated “prisoners of the Wehrmacht” to the Secret Field Police. If such declaration is not made, the order that the culprit is to be taken to Germany will be treated as transferring according to the intentions of the decree.

Section V declares that “the judicial proceedings in Germany will be carried out under strictest exclusion of the public because of the danger for the State’s security. Foreign witnesses may be questioned at the main proceedings only with the permission of the Wehrmacht.”

Section VI of the first decree declares that former decrees concerning the situation in Norway and concerning Communists and rebel movements in the occupied territories are superseded by these directives and executive order.

Section VII of the secret decree declares that the directives will become effective 3 weeks after they are signed and that the directives will be applied in all occupied territories with the exception of Denmark until further notice. The orders issued for the newly occupied Eastern territories are not affected by these directives. The order was expressly made effective in Norway, Holland, France, Bohemia, Moravia, and the Ukraine occupied areas. In actual operation, Belgium and all other of the western occupied countries came within the decree.

The Hitler decree was sent to the Reich Minister of Justice on 12 December 1941 endorsed for the attention of defendant Schlegelberger. On the same day (12 December 1941) Keitel informed other ministries of Hitler’s decree, directing that all such information proceedings were to be conducted in absolute secrecy.

On 16 December 1941, officials of the Ministry of Justice (Schaefer and Grau, associates of defendant Mettgenberg in Department III) drafted a proposed order for the execution of the Hitler NN decree by the Ministry of Justice, the courts, and the Reich prosecution. This was forwarded to General Lehmann, head of the OKW legal department for his approval.

Other correspondence took place between the Reich Ministry of Justice and the OKW relating to the final draft of the Night and Fog order. This correspondence occurred between 16 December and 25 December 1941. It related to the reservation of the competency of the Ministry of Justice or Under Secretary of State Freisler in the execution of the Hitler decree. These reservations were incorporated in a circular decree dated 6 February 1942, supplementing NN regulations as follows (NG-232, Pros. Ex. 308):

“Circular Decree:

“On the execution of the executive decree of 6 February 1942, relating to the directives issued by the Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht for the prosecution of criminal acts against the Reich or the occupation power in the occupied territories.

“For the further execution of the directives mentioned before I ordain:

“1. Competent for the handling of the cases transferred to ordinary courts including their eventual retrial are: the Special Court and the chief prosecutor in Cologne as far as they originate from the occupied Belgian and Netherlands territories, the Special Court and the chief prosecutor in Dortmund; as far as they originate from the occupied Norwegian territories, the Special Court and the chief prosecutor in Kiel; for the rest, the Special Court and the attorney general at the county court, Berlin. In special cases I reserve for myself the decision of competence for each individual case.

“2. The chief prosecutor will inform me of the indictment, the intended plea, and the sentence as well as of his intention to refrain from any accusation in a specific case.

“3. The choice of a defense counsel will require the agreement of the presiding judge who makes his decision only with the consent of the prosecutor. The agreement may be withdrawn.

“4. Warrants of arrests will be suspended only with my consent. If such is intended, the prosecutor will report to me beforehand. He will furthermore ask for my decision before using foreign evidence or before agreeing to its being used by the tribunal.

“5. Inquiries concerning the accused person or the pending trial from other sources than those Wehrmacht and police agencies dealing with the case will be answered by merely stating that * * * is arrested and the state of the trial does not allow further information.”

This supplementary decree was signed for Dr. Freisler by chief secretary of the ministerial office.

The letter of the same Dr. Freisler to Minister of Justice Thierack dated 14 October 1942, shows that in accordance with his promise to Thierack he had conducted preliminary proceedings through Reich departmental officials and with Lehmann, Chief of the Legal Division of the OKW, concerning the matter of the Ministry of Justice taking over the Night and Fog proceedings under the Hitler decree. Such top secret negotiations had lasted for several months. The last conference was held on 7 February 1942. On that day the final decree was drafted, approved, and was “the decree of 7 February 1942, signed by Schlegelberger” as Acting Minister of Justice. Defendant Schlegelberger testified that he signed the decree. He thereby brought about the enforcement by the Ministry of Justice, the courts, and the prosecutors of a systematic rule of violence, brutality, outrage, and terror against the civilian population of territories overrun by the Nazi armed forces resulting in the ill-treatment, death, or imprisonment of thousands of civilians of occupied territories.

The taking over of the enforcement of the Hitler NN decree was based solely upon the afore-mentioned secret agreement, plan, or scheme. All of the defendants who entered into the plan or scheme, or who took part in enforcing or carrying it out knew that its enforcement violated international law of war. They also knew, which was evident from the language of the decree, that it was a hard, cruel, and inhumane plan or scheme and was intended to serve as a terroristic measure in aid of the military operations and the waging of war by the Nazi regime. We will at this point let some of those who originated the plan or scheme or who took part in its execution relate its history and its illegal, cruel, and inhumane purposes.

Rudolf Lehmann, who was Chief of the Legal Division of the OKW, testified concerning the Nacht und Nebel Decree of 7 December 1941. He stated that even before the beginning of the war and more particularly after the beginning of the war, there was a controversy between Hitler and his generals on the one part and between Hitler and the Gestapo on the other part as to the part which should be performed by the military department of justice. He testified:

“Hitler held it against the administration of justice by the armed forces and within the armed forces that they did not sufficiently support his manner of conducting the war.”

He further testified that Hitler had—

“Used the expression that the military justice indeed sabotaged his conduct of war. These reproaches first emanated from the Polish campaign. There the military justice—the justice administration of the armed forces—was reprimanded that it had not acted sufficiently severe against members of bands. The next reprimands of that kind occurred during the French campaign.”

Lehmann further testified that Keitel had passed on to him a directive which he had received from Hitler in October of 1941. This directive was quite long in which Hitler referred to the resistance movement in France, which he stated was a tremendous danger for the German troops and that new means would have to be found to combat this danger.

There was therefore a discussion of the resistance movement. The army was opposed to the plan because it involved them in violations of international law of war. It was then suggested in the discussion that the Gestapo should be given that power. But even in this Hitler’s ideas were overruled. It was at this point that he, Lehmann, suggested that the matters—

“Should continue to be dealt with by judges, and since the aversion of Hitler against the armed forces justice was known, it could be assumed that he would still prefer civilian courts than us.”

Lehmann further testified that Hitler—

“Attributed a higher political reliability to civilian justice later because later he took all political criminal cases away from us and gave it to civilian justice.”

At this point Lehmann discussed the matter with Under Secretary Freisler because Freisler dealt with the criminal cases in the Ministry. He was told by Freisler that the matter would have to be taken up with Schlegelberger. Lehmann further testified:

“I discussed with him the proposition that the cases which the military courts in France would not keep should be taken over and dealt with by and tried by the civilian justice administration. I can only say that Freisler told me that first he had to think it over; and secondly, he had to discuss it with Under Secretary Schlegelberger who was at that time in charge of the Ministry. * * * Freisler told me that he had to ask the man who was in charge of the Ministry, the acting minister * * * for permission and authority on behalf of the Ministry of Justice to try the Nacht und Nebel cases. * * * As I was informed about the routine in the Ministry, Schlegelberger, who was then acting Minister of Justice, was in my opinion the only person who could consent to take over these Nacht und Nebel cases by the Ministry of Justice.”

Lehmann further testified:

“I have stated that * * * the plan had to be rejected for manifold reasons—for reasons of international law, for reasons of justice, and policy of justice, and primarily, because I said the administration of justice should never do anything secretly. I put to him, ‘What kind of suspicion would have to arise against our administration of justice if these people, inhabitants of other countries, brought to Germany, would disappear without a trace’? In my mind, and in the minds of all others concerned, everything revolted against this particular part of the plan, which seemed to us to have much more grave consequence than the question of who should, in the end, deal with it. That was also the opinion of the leading jurists of the armed forces * * *.”

Defendant Mettgenberg held the position of Ministerialdirigent in Departments III and IV of the Reich Ministry of Justice. In Department III, for penal legislation, he dealt with international law, formulating secret, general, and circular directives. He handled Night and Fog cases and knew the purpose and procedure used in such cases, and that the decree was based upon the Fuehrer’s order of 7 December 1941 to the OKW. In his affidavit Mettgenberg states (NG-696, Pros. Ex. 336):

“The ‘Night and Fog’ section within my subdivision, was headed by Ministerial Counsellor von Ammon. This matter was added to my subdivision because of its international character. I know, of course, that a Fuehrer decree to the OKW was the basis for this ‘Night and Fog’ procedure and that an agreement had been reached between the OKW and the Gestapo, that the OKW had also established relations with the Minister of Justice and that the handling of this matter was regulated accordingly.

“I was not present at the original discussion with Freisler, in which the ‘Night and Fog’ matters were first discussed on the basis of the Fuehrer decree. If I had been present at this discussion, and if I had had an occasion to present my opinion, I would, at any rate, have spoken against the taking over of the ‘Night and Fog’ matters by the justice administration. It went against my training as a public servant to have the administration of justice misused for things which were bound to be incompatible with its basic principles.

“Whenever Mr. von Ammon had doubts concerning the handling of individual cases, we talked these questions over together, and when they had major importance, referred them to higher officials for decision. When he had no doubts, he could decide all matters himself. We got these cases originally from the Wehrmacht and later from the Gestapo. The distribution of these cases to the competent Special Courts or to the People’s Court, von Ammon decided independently. Von Ammon also had to review the indictments and sentences and to obtain the minister’s decision concerning the execution of death sentences. The question posed by the exclusion of foreign means of evidence was a legal problem of the first order. Since it had been prescribed from above, the Ministry of Justice had no freedom of disposition in this matter. This is another one of the reasons why we should not have taken over these things.”

Defendant von Ammon was ministerial councillor in Mettgenberg’s subdivision in charge of the Night and Fog matters. The two acted together on doubtful matters and referred difficult questions to competent officials in the Reich Ministry of Justice and the Party Chancellery, since both of these offices had to give their “agreement” in cases of malicious attacks upon the Reich or Nazi Party, or in Night and Fog cases, which came originally from the Wehrmacht, and later from the Gestapo, and jurisdiction of which were assigned to Special Courts at several places in Germany and to the People’s Court at Berlin by defendant von Ammon. In his affidavit he states (NG-486, Pros. Ex. 337):

“The decree of 7 February 1942, signed by Schlegelberger, contained, among others, the following provisions: Foreign witnesses could be heard in these special cases only with the approval of the public prosecutor, since it was to be avoided that the fate of NN prisoners became known outside of Germany.

“The presiding judges of the courts concerned had to notify the public prosecutor if they intended to deviate from their notion for a sentence. Freisler noted in this connection that this constituted the utmost limit of what could be asked of the courts. The special nature of this procedure made it necessary to make such provisions.

“Later, when Thierack entered the Reich Ministry of Justice, he changed the decree in such a manner that the courts no longer had to declare their dissenting views to the public prosecutor, but that the acquitted NN prisoners or those who had served their sentences had to be handed over by the court authorities to the Gestapo for protective custody. Under Secretary of State Schlegelberger himself was not present at the conference, but Under State Secretary Freisler left the conference briefly in order to secure the signature of Schlegelberger.

“I must admit that, in dealing with these matters, I did not particularly feel at ease. It was my intention to get the best out of this thing and to emphasize humanitarian considerations as much as possible in these hard measures. I have seen from the first Nuernberg trials that the court has declared the ‘Night and Fog’ decree as being against international law and that Keitel, too, declared that he had been aware of the illegal nature of this decree. Freisler, though, represented it to us in such a manner as to create the impression that the decree was very hard but altogether admissible.”

Mettgenberg and von Ammon were sent to the Netherlands occupied territory because some German courts set up there were receiving Night and Fog cases in violation of the decree that they should be transferred to Germany. They held a conference at The Hague with the highest military justice authorities and the heads of the German courts in the Netherlands, which resulted in a report of the matter to the OKW at Berlin, which agreed with Mettgenberg and von Ammon that—

“The same procedure should be used in the Netherlands as in other occupied territories, that is, that all Night and Fog matters should be transferred to Germany.”

With respect to the effectiveness and cruelty of the NN decree, the defendant von Ammon commented thus:

“The essential point of the NN procedure, in my estimation, consisted of the fact that the NN prisoners disappeared from the occupied territories and that their subsequent fate remained unknown.”

The distribution of the NN cases to the several competent Special Courts and the People’s Court was decided upon by defendant von Ammon. A report of 9 September 1942, signed by von Ammon, addressed to defendant Rothenberger, to be submitted to the Minister of Justice and the defendant Mettgenberg, stated that there are pending in Special Courts Night and Fog cases as follows: At Kiel, nine cases with 262 accused; at Essen, 180 cases with 863 accused; and at Cologne, 177 cases with 331 accused. By November 1943 there were turned over at Kiel, 12 cases with 442 accused; at Essen, 474 cases with 2,613 accused; and at Cologne, 1,169 cases with 2,185 accused.

A note dated Berlin, 26 September 1942, for the attention of defendant Rothenberger, signed by defendant von Ammon, stated that by order of the Reich Minister the hitherto—

“Exclusive jurisdiction of the Special Courts over NN cases is to some extent to be replaced by the People’s Court of justice.”

A letter dated 14 October 1942 to Minister of Justice Thierack from Freisler, then president of the People’s Court, states that he understood that a conference held on 14 October 1942 extended the jurisdiction of the People’s Court over NN cases. Freisler states that he conducted the preliminary proceedings with Ministerial Director Lehmann of the OKW with regard to the Ministry of Justice taking over the Night and Fog proceedings. He explains that the Night and Fog proceedings were top secret and no file or records were made in order to be quite sure that under no circumstances should any information be obtained by the outside world with regard to the fate of the alien prisoners. He also emphasizes the fact that under no circumstances could any other sentence than the one proposed by the public prosecutor be passed and to make sure of this in the technical routine it was decided that—

“1. The prosecutor should be entitled to withdraw the charges until the pronouncement of the sentence.

“2. The court was to be instructed to give the prosecutor another chance to give his point of view, in case their view should diverge from his.”

Freisler further states:

“In fulfillment of my promise I deemed it necessary to inform you of this, dear sir, as these facts were not permitted to be recorded in the files and are probably unknown in the department.”

By his supplemental directive of 28 October 1942, Thierack made note of the fact that the “jurisdiction of the People’s Court (No. 1, 1 and 2 of the additional circular directives of 14 October 1942)” had been extended to NN cases. Thierack’s letter, dated 25 October 1942 to defendant Lautz, copy to von Ammon, established and expanded jurisdiction of the People’s Court over NN cases.

Thereafter the People’s Court handled many Night and Fog cases, convicting the accused in secret sessions with no records whatsoever made of any evidence adduced and no record was made of the sentence pronounced. The defendant von Ammon testified that about one-half of the Night and Fog prisoners tried by the People’s Court were executed.

Later NN cases were sent to German Special Courts at Breslau and Katowice, Poland, and to Silesia and other places as will be shown herein.

Concentration Camps

The use of concentration camps for NN prisoners was shown by a letter dated 18 August 1942, signed by Gluecks, SS Brigadefuehrer and General Major of the SS, which contained enclosures for information and execution by officials in charge of concentration camps, including Mauthausen, Auschwitz, Flossenbuerg, Dachau, Ravensbrueck, Buchenwald, and numerous others. The letter states that such prisoners will be transferred under the Keitel decree from the occupied countries to Germany for transfer to Special Courts. Should that for any reason be impossible, the accused will be put into one of the above-named concentration camps. Those in charge of the camps were instructed that absolute secrecy of such prisoners’ detention was to be maintained including the prevention of any means of communication with the outside world either before or after the trial.

The following is illustrative of inhumane prison conditions for NN prisoners. The affidavit of Ludwig Schirmer, warden in the prison at Ebrach, confirmed by his oral testimony, states:

“The Ebrach prison which was used for criminal convicts had a capacity of 595 prisoners. In 1944, however, the prison became overcrowded and finally held a maximum of from 1,400 to 1,600 prisoners in 1945.

“This crowding had been caused by numerous NN prisoners from France and Belgium. Among them was the French General Vaillant who died in the prison of old age and of a heart disease. Owing to the overcrowding of the penitentiary, it was impossible to avoid the frequent outbreak of diseases, such as pulmonary tuberculosis, consumption, and, of course many cases of undernourishment. The very poor medical care was a serious disadvantage; the doctor showed up only two or three times a week. Sixty-two inmates died during the last months of the war. Many of them, of course, came in already sick. During the last months, a criminal convict was employed as physician. He was a morphinomaniac and a man of very low character.

“Although there were stocks of food at hand, the feeding of prisoners was bad; people got only soup and turnips for weeks. NN prisoners were crowded together, four in a single cell. From time to time a certain number of the prisoners was transferred to the concentration camp.”

The affidavit of Josef Prey, head guard at the Amberg prison, confirmed by his oral testimony, states that foreigners, Jews, and NN prisoners at Amberg prison, which had a capacity of 900 to 1,100 were incarcerated there. Yet shortly before the collapse there were 2,000 prisoners of whom 800 to 900 prisoners were Polish, and NN prisoners who included Frenchmen, Dutchmen, and Belgians. From time to time by secret decree prisoners were transferred to the concentration camps at Mauthausen. Defendant Engert, the official representative of the department of justice, visited and officially inspected the prison and knew of these conditions.

By his affidavit Engert states that Thierack told him the Night and Fog prisoners had to be treated with special precaution, not allowed any correspondence, locked up hermetically from the outer world, and that care should be taken that their real names remain unknown to the lower prison personnel. Engert further states that these orders were the result of the Fuehrer decree of 7 December 1941 and that Thierack told him the Night and Fog prisoners were accused of resistance and violence against the armed forces. He did not know what became of these NN prisoners at the various prison camps. He did know that an agreement existed with the Gestapo that the bodies of Night and Fog prisoners should be given to them for secret burial. It was shown by other testimony that defendant Engert was ministerial director, who handled and investigated the Night and Fog prisoners and that he was in charge of the task of transferring prisoners and knew their nationality and the character of crime charged against them.

On 14 June 1944 defendant von Ammon wrote Bormann, Chief of the Party Chancellery, a letter sent by way of defendant Mettgenberg, requesting permission of the Fuehrer to inform NN women held under death sentence of the fact that such sentence has been reprieved, since he considers it to be unnecessarily cruel to keep these “condemned women” in suspense for years as to whether their death sentence will be carried out.

Mrs. Solf, the widow of a former distinguished German cabinet officer and ambassador, testified that she was tried and held as a political prisoner of the Nazi regime for several years in Ravensbrueck concentration camp and other prisons where a large number of foreign women were imprisoned. Concerning the ill-treatment of these women and the prison conditions under which they were incarcerated, Mrs. Solf testified:

“As to the prisoners who were with me at Ravensbrueck, as far as I can remember there was only an Italian woman of Belgian descent who was treated well, better than we were. However, in the penitentiary of Cottbus, as well as in the prison of Moabit, I met many foreigners. In the penitentiary of Cottbus, there alone were 300 French women who were sentenced to death, and five Dutch women sentenced to death who after a week or two were pardoned to penitentiary terms and whom

I saw in the courtyard. The 300 French women sentenced to death were sent to Ravensbrueck at the end of November 1944. The night before they were transported they had to sleep on a bare stone floor. One of the auxiliary wardens, who was also an interpreter for them and who had a great deal of courage and a kind heart, came to me in order to ask us political prisoners to give them our blankets, which we certainly did.”

She further testified:

“I know and have seen for myself that, for instance, in Moabit, some of the brutal wardens kicked them and shouted at them for reasons which seemed very, very unjust because these women did not understand what they were supposed to do.”

The Night and Fog decree was from time to time implemented by several plans or schemes, which were enforced by the defendants. One plan or scheme was the transfer of alleged resistance prisoners or persons from occupied territories who had served their sentences or had been acquitted to concentration camps in Germany where they were held incommunicado and were never heard from again. Another scheme was the transfer of the inhabitants of occupied territories to concentration camps in Germany as a substitute for a court trial. Defendant Engert made such an order.

Trials under NN Decree

The evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that in the execution of the Hitler NN decree the Nazi regime’s Ministry of Justice, Special Courts, and public prosecutors agreed to and acted together with the OKW and Gestapo in causing to be arrested, transported to Germany, tried, sentenced to death and executed, or imprisoned under the most cruel and inhumane conditions in prisons and concentration camps, thousands of the civilian population of the countries overrun and occupied by the Nazi regime’s military forces during the prosecution of its criminal and aggressive war.

The trials of the accused NN persons did not approach even a semblance of fair trial or justice. The accused NN persons were arrested and secretly transported to Germany and other countries for trial. They were held incommunicado. In many instances they were denied the right to introduce evidence, to be confronted by witnesses against them, or to present witnesses in their own behalf. They were tried secretly and denied the right of counsel of their own choice, and occasionally denied the aid of any counsel. No indictment was served in many instances and the accused learned only a few moments before the trial of the nature of the alleged crime for which he was to be tried. The entire proceedings from beginning to end were secret and no public record was allowed to be made of them. These facts are proved by captured documents and evidence adduced on the trial, to some of which we now advert.

The first trial of NN cases took place at Essen. A letter from the prosecutor, dated 20 August 1942, addressed to the Reich Minister of Justice, was received on 27 August 1942, states that five defendants were to be tried and that two of them were to get prison terms and that—

“In the remaining cases the death sentence is to be ordered and inquiries made whether they should be executed by the guillotine.”

These sentences were later pronounced.

In response to several inquiries from prosecutors at Special Courts in Essen, Kiel, and Cologne citing pending NN cases, the defendants Mettgenberg and von Ammon replied that, in view of the regulation for the keeping of NN trials absolutely secret, defense counsel chosen by NN defendants would not be permitted.

In these same inquiries, it is stated that if defense counsel were carefully selected from those who were recognized as unconditionally reliable, pro-State and judicially efficient lawyers, no difficulty should arise with respect to the secrecy of such proceedings. It is suggested that if an attorney should inquire concerning representation of an NN defendant, he should be informed that it is not permissible to investigate whether or not there was any proceeding pending against the accused. This inquiry related to 16 NN French defendants who were to be tried at Cologne. Other evidence introduced in the case showed that this practice was followed.

The foreign countries department of the Wehrmacht High Command reported to defendant von Ammon on 15 October 1942 a list of 224 alleged spies arrested in France in the execution of what was known as “Action porto”, of whom 220 had already been transported to Germany. Inquiry was made whether these prisoners should be regarded as coming under Hitler’s NN Decree. A later directive issued 6 March 1943, which was initialed by defendant Mettgenberg and sent to the SS Chief Himmler, states that orders and regulations covering NN prisoners in general will be applied to “porto action” groups. The circular decree states further that in case of death of “porto action” prisoners, the same procedure is followed with respect to secrecy as is followed in NN cases, and that the estates of “porto action” prisoners are to be retained by the penal institution for the time being, and that relatives are not to be informed about the death of such prisoners, especially not of their execution.

A letter dated 9 February 1943, Berlin, to the president of the People’s Court, chief public prosecutor at Kiel and Cologne, and Chief Public Prosecutor at Hamm, states that for the purpose of carrying out the Night and Fog decree or directive (NG-253, Pros. Ex. 317):

“In trials (before the Landesgericht), in which according to the regulations, defense counsel has to be provided for the defendant, the regulation may be ignored when the president of the court can conscientiously state that the character of the accused and the nature of the charge make the presence of a defense counsel superfluous.”

In connection with the foregoing matter, a secret note to defendant von Ammon, dated 18 January 1941, suggests that a regulation concerning counsel for NN prisoners should be drafted. A letter dated 4 January 1943 states that in accordance with the power granted under the Fuehrer’s order of 7 December 1941 (NG-253, Pros. Ex. 317):

“Article IV, paragraph 32 of the Competence Decree of 21 February 1940 (relating to appointment of defense counsel) is cancelled. The president of the court will order defendant to be represented only if he is unable to defend himself or for any special reason it seems desirable that defendant should be represented.”

A letter dated 21 April 1943, Berlin, by Thierack, Minister of Justice, states that (NG-256, Pros. Ex. 320):

“Your ordinance of 21 December 1942 decreed that in criminal cases concerning criminal actions against the Reich and the occupation authority in the occupied territories, defense counsel of one’s own choice should not be approved of on principle.”

A letter by Thierack to the president of the People’s Court, Berlin, dated 13 May 1943, states that (NG-256, Pros. Ex. 320):

“The directives given by the Fuehrer on 7 December 1941 for the prosecution of criminal actions committed against the Reich or the occupation authorities in the occupied territories are applicable, according to their meaning and their tenor, to foreigners only, and not to German nationals or provisional Germans.”

A draft of an extensive secret order or directives of the Reich Minister of Justice, dated 6 March 1943, covering secret NN procedure was sent to and initialed by or for heads of Ministry Departments III and IV (the defendant Mettgenberg), Department V (headed by defendant Engert), [initialed by Marx] and Department VI (headed by defendant Altstoetter). The directives instructed all so concerned to take further measures “in order not to endanger necessary top secrecy of NN procedure”. Separate copies of this order, dated 6 March 1943, were sent to the afore-mentioned ministry departments, including Department VI, headed by defendant Altstoetter, who admits having seen and executed the directives, to defendant von Ammon and to, among others, the chief Reich prosecutor at the People’s Court (defendant Lautz); the attorneys general in Celle, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt on Main, Hamburg, Hamm, Kiel, and Cologne; and the attorney general at the Prussian Court of Appeal; and for the attention of presidents of the People’s Court, district courts of appeal at Hamm, Kiel, and Cologne, and the Prussian court of appeal at Berlin. Among the measures of secrecy included in the order or directives were the following (NG-269, Pros. Ex. 319):

“The cards used for investigations for the Reich criminal statistics need not be filled in. Likewise, notification of the penal records office will be discontinued until further notice. However, sentences will have to be registered in lists or on a card index in order to make possible an entry into the penal records in due course.

“In case of death, especially in cases of execution of NN prisoners, as well as in cases of female NN prisoners giving birth to a child, the registrar must be notified as prescribed by law. However, the following remark has to be added:

“‘By order of the Reich Minister of the Interior, the entry into the death (birth) registry must bear an endorsement, saying that examination of the papers, furnishing of information and of certified copies of death (birth) certificates is only admissible with the consent of the Reich Minister of Justice.’”

Department VI headed by defendant Altstoetter handled matters relating to registration of deaths and births. The order further provides:

“Farewell letters by NN prisoners as well as other letters must not be mailed. They have to be forwarded to the prosecution who will keep them until further notice.

“If an NN prisoner who has been sentenced to death and informed of the forthcoming execution of the death sentence desires spiritual assistance by the prison padre, this will be granted. If necessary, the padre must be sworn to secrecy.

“The relatives will not be informed of the death and especially of the execution of an NN prisoner. The press will not be informed of the execution of a death sentence, nor must the execution of a death sentence be publicly announced by posters.

“The bodies of executed NN prisoners or prisoners who died from other causes have to be turned over to the State Police for burial. Reference must be made to the existing regulations on secrecy. It must be pointed out especially that the graves of NN prisoners must not be marked with the names of the deceased.

“The bodies must not be used for teaching or research purposes.

“Legacies of NN prisoners who have been executed or died from other causes must be kept at the prison where the sentence was served.”

Later, in some instances the right to spiritual assistance was denied and a later directive authorized the turning over of bodies of NN persons to institutes for experimental purposes.

A letter dated 3 June 1943, from the Reich Ministry of Justice to the People’s Court justices and the Chief Public Prosecutors, initialed by defendant Mettgenberg, deals with the subject of trials under the NN decree of foreigners who were nationals of other countries than those occupied by the Nazi forces. The difficulty obviously involved a violation of international law as to such nationals of other countries. In particular, the difficulty arose as to the regulation for the maintenance of secrecy of such trials and whether the secrecy with regard to NN cases should apply. The reply was that they were to be tried in accordance with the circular decrees of 6 February 1942 and 14 October 1942, and the regulations issued for the amendment of these circular decrees to be entitled “NN Prisoners Taken by Mistake”. This decree provides that if the trial of such foreigners could not be carried out separately from the trial of the nationals of the occupied countries for reasons pertaining to the presentation of evidence, then the trials were to be strictly in accordance with the provisions of NN procedure; otherwise said foreign nationals would obtain knowledge of the course of the trial against their accomplices.

A note signed by the defendant von Ammon, dated 7 October 1943, states that NN prisoners were often ignorant of charges against them until a few moments before the trial. He further states that Chief Reich Public Prosecutor Lautz asked him whether there were any objections to the translation of the indictment into the language of the defendant, which would then be handed to him. Defendant von Ammon replied that there would be no objection to the proceeding and stated (NG-281, Pros. Ex. 323):

“It proved rather awkward that defendants learned the details of their charges only during the trial. Also, the interpretation by defense counsel is not always sufficient because their French mostly is not good enough and defendants were brought to the place of trial only shortly before it was held.”

The same difficulty arose as to Czech defendants.

A report on a conference with respect to new procedure in treatment of Night and Fog cases originating in the Netherlands, signed “von Ammon” and “Mettgenberg, 9 November 1943”, addressed to Ministerial Director Engert and others, states that while returning from The Hague to Berlin the undersigned representative of the Reich Ministry of Justice held on 5 November as scheduled, a conference with the head officials of the court of appeals at Hamm and that defendant Joel thought the housing of NN prisoners, also such of Dutch nationality, at Papenburg, would be possible and unobjectionable. This was later carried out.

A secret letter dated 29 December 1943, addressed to defendant von Ammon from the presiding judge and chief prosecutor of Hamm Court of Appeals notified von Ammon of an imminent conference concerning transfer of the NN trials to the NN Special Courts at Oppeln and Katowice.

A letter from Breslau dated 10 January 1944, signed by Dr. Sturm, asks that ministerial councillor, defendant von Ammon, be available for a meeting at Breslau between 15 and 31 January 1944 to discuss routine proceedings for handling NN cases.

A letter addressed to the German commander of the French occupied zone states that effective from 15 November 1943 all cases of crimes committed against the Reich or the occupation forces in occupied French zones hitherto submitted to the ordinary legal authorities were to be taken over by the Special Court and attorney general in Cologne and Breslau.

The defendant von Ammon attended conferences with public prosecutors in Breslau and Katowice (Poland) on 18 and 19 February 1944, concerning housing of NN prisoners and possibility of transferring NN cases from the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France to Special Courts in Poland for trial; von Ammon reported the results of these conferences in detail to, among others, the defendant Klemm (under secretary) and personally wrote on his report that he had secured appropriate Gauleiter’s concurrence to the proposed transfer. Shortly thereafter the Ministry of Justice issued a decree endorsed to the defendant Mettgenberg for signature, and submitted twice to von Ammon, for information and cosignature, whereby these Dutch, Belgian, and northern French NN cases were to be transferred to Silesia for trial. In response to this decree, von Ammon was personally notified that the defendant Joel (then general public prosecutor at Hamm) feared objections from the Wehrmacht because of the longer transportation involved in the transfer.

A directive by the Reich Minister of Justice with respect to treatment of NN prisoners, dated Berlin, 21 January 1944, initialed by defendant von Ammon, to the president of the People’s Court, to the Reich Leader SS, Reich prosecutor of the People’s Court (defendant Lautz), to the Chief Public Prosecutor at Hamm (defendant Joel), and others, states that when an NN prisoner had been acquitted by a general court, if it appears that the accused is innocent or if his guilt has not been established sufficiently, then he has to be handed over to the Secret Police. The directive further states:

“If in the main trial of an NN proceeding it appears that the accused is innocent or if his guilt has not been sufficiently established, then he is to be handed over to the Secret State Police; the public prosecutor informs the Secret State Police about his opinion whether the accused can be released and return into the occupied territories, or whether he is to be kept under detention. The Secret State Police decide which further actions are to be taken.

“Accused who were acquitted, or whose proceedings were closed in the main trial, or who served a sentence during the war, are to be handed over to the Secret State Police for detention for the duration of the war.”

A letter dated 21 January 1944, Berlin, to the OKW and the Judge Advocate General Department, dispatched 22 January 1944 (copy to Dr. Mettgenberg with request for approval) complains of lack of coordination in NN cases between military courts and justice officials. This complaint relates primarily to transfer of NN cases.

In answer to the objections to the transfer of NN cases arising in France from Cologne to Breslau, dated 18 January 1944, the defendants Mettgenberg and von Ammon insisted that the transfer is necessary and directed its accomplishment. Three days later a letter endorsed by Mettgenberg informed Himmler that this transfer of NN cases had taken place.

On 24 April 1944 von Ammon reported in detail on a trip he made to Paris previously referred to. This official visit served particularly to obtain information of the security situation in France and to determine whether the NN procedures of the Breslau Special Court were approved by the army. This meeting occurred in the office of the Chief Justice of the German Military Governor of Paris, General von Stuelpnagel. Von Ammon submitted this report both to Klemm and Mettgenberg who initialed it.

A letter from Hamm (Westphalia), 26 January 1944, to the Reich Minister Thierack, signed by defendant Joel, suggests the speeding up of proceedings to avoid delays in NN cases, and suggests that:

“The Chief Public Prosecutor submits record to the chief Reich prosecutor only if, according to previous experience or according to directives laid down by the chief Reich prosecutor, it is to be expected that he will take over, or partly take over the case.

“As a rule, even now when the draft of the indictment is submitted for approval to the Reich Minister of Justice, the records are not enclosed. The decision rests with me, to whom the documents are brought by courier.”

A note signed by Dr. Reicholt, 20 April 1944, copy to defendant von Ammon, expresses the same difficulty experienced by defendant Joel and asks that Chief Public Prosecutor at the People’s Court decide quickly which of the accused persons he wanted to keep so that they may be transferred as quickly as possible.

The foregoing requests for speed in handling NN cases were due to disturbances caused by air raids. The Reich Minister of Justice replied, 26 April 1944, that in the main “the delay in the proceedings is unavoidable.”

Defendant von Ammon reported on a conference with German occupying forces of Belgium and northern France, held in Oppeln on 29 and 30 June 1944. Von Ammon stated that since the Allied invasion had not caused undue tension as yet, it was unnecessary at that time to make penalties in NN cases more severe. This report was initialed by defendant Mettgenberg.

Disposition of NN Cases

A statistical survey of NN cases as of 1 November 1943 made to Ministerial Director Dr. Vollmer, Berlin, 22 November 1943, shows cases and sentences passed on NN prisoners as follows:

1. Turned over by the Wehrmacht authorities to senior public prosecutors at Kiel, 12 cases with 442 defendants; at Essen, 474 cases with 2,613 defendants; at Cologne, 1,169 cases with 2,185 defendants.

2. Charges filed by senior public prosecutors as follows: At Kiel, nine cases with 175 defendants; at Essen, 254 cases with 860 defendants; at Cologne, 173 cases with 257 defendants; by chief public prosecutor at the People’s Court (Lautz), 111 cases with 494 defendants.

3. Sentences passed by Special Courts at Kiel, eight on 168 defendants; at Essen, 221 cases with 475 defendants; at Cologne, 128 cases with 183 defendants; at People’s Court, 84 cases with 304 defendants.

The defendant von Ammon testified that about one-half of all defendants tried by the People’s Court were given the death penalty and were executed. The foregoing documents show that defendant Lautz was Chief Public Prosecutor at the People’s Court at the time the 304 sentences were pronounced in the Night and Fog cases.

A similar survey, 5 months later (30 April 1944), shows that of a total of 8,639 NN defendants transferred to the various Special Courts and the People’s Court in Germany, 3,624 were indicted, and 1,793 were sentenced. Defendant von Ammon initialed this survey.

The foregoing statistical reports as to time are obviously incomplete. They do not show the number of NN cases tried at Breslau, Katowice, and other places. The foregoing documents show that at these places great difficulty was experienced because of lack of prisons for the large number of NN prisoners who were sent to these areas. Nor do they show the number of NN prisoners committed to concentration camps without trial. They do not show the number of residue NN prisoners who were at the end of the control of NN matters by the Minister of Justice committed to concentration camps and never heard from thereafter.

Use of NN Prisoners in Armament Industry

In file of reports for the years 1943 and 1944 of NN cases still pending in the Ministry of Justice, the attorney general at Katowice (Poland) stated to the Ministry of Justice the following (NG-264, Pros. Ex. 334):

“NN prisoners held within the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal of Katowice are already employed to a large extent in the armament industry, regardless of whether they are being held for questioning or punishment. They are quartered there in special camps at or near the place of the respective industrial enterprise. In this way it is intended, if possible, to place all NN prisoners at the disposal of the armament industry.

“It has been disclosed that the NN prisoners already employed in the armament industry, as for instance the 400-odd prisoners working in Laband, have done a very good job and excel in particular as skilled workers. The armament industry therefore wants to retain the employed NN prisoners also after their acquittal or after they have served their sentence.

“I ask for a decision on whether and, if so, how that demand can be complied with. Considerable doubts arise from the fact that there is no legal right to confine them further and that the judicial authorities would thus take preventive police measures. There is the question, however, whether the situation of the Reich does not justify even such extraordinary measures.”

This request was handled by defendant von Ammon, who endorsed it as follows:

“Submitted * * * first to Department V (headed by defendant Engert) with the request for an opinion. If you have no objections I intend to contact the RSHA in accordance with the report of the attorney general at Katowice.”

Clemency in the NN Cases

As Under Secretary, defendant Klemm was required to pass upon clemency matters either while acting with or in the absence of the Minister of Justice. He admits passing upon clemency pleas in NN death cases and refusing all of them. Fourteen documents concerning NN matters passed through defendant Klemm after he became under secretary of State. He knew of the transfer of NN cases from Essen to Silesia and knew of “routine” NN matters which passed through his department.

In the fall of 1944 Hitler ordered the discontinuance of the NN proceedings by the justice and the OKW courts and transferred the entire problem to the Gestapo, the NN prisoners being handed over to the Gestapo at the same time. In later conferences attended by defendant von Ammon, the Ministry of Justice agreed to and later actually carried out the transfer by committing them from the Ministry’s prisons to the Gestapo’s custody. Defendant Lautz was ordered to suspend People’s Court proceedings against NN prisoners and transfer them to the Gestapo. The witness Hecker stated that those NN prisoners of the Berlin district, of which he had knowledge, were sent to Oranienburg.

The final order of the Ministry of Justice committing all NN prisoners on hand to the Gestapo and the concentration camps was one of extreme cruelty.

The foregoing documents and the undisputed facts show that Hitler and the high ranking officials of the armed forces and of the Nazi Party, including several Reich Ministers of Justice and other high officials in the Ministry of Justice, judges of the Nazi regime’s courts, the public prosecutors at such courts, either agreed upon, consented to, took a consenting part in, ordered, or abetted, were connected with the Hitler NN plan, scheme, or enterprise involving the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the waging of the recent war against the Allied nations and other neighboring nations of Germany.

The foregoing documents and facts show without dispute that several of the defendants participated to one degree or another either as a principal; or ordered, or abetted, took a consenting part in, or were connected with the execution or carrying out of the Hitler NN scheme or plan. The defendants so participating will be later discussed in the summation of the evidence.

The Night and Fog decree originated with Hitler as a plan or scheme to combat alleged resistance movements against the German occupation forces but it was early extended by the Ministry of Justice to include offenses against the German Reich. Often the offenses had nothing to do with the security of the armed forces in the occupied territories. Many of them occurred after military operations had ceased and in areas where there were no military operations. The first secret decree of the Ministry of Justice for the execution or carrying out of the NN decree provided for:

“1. The prosecution of criminal offenses against the Reich or, ”2. The occupation troops in occupied areas.”

It declared that the directive will be as a rule applicable to the seven above listed general types of offenses or crimes, including “Communist activity”. The term “Communist activity” is general and political in nature. The evidence shows that political prisoners in occupied territories were tried and sentenced to death under the NN proceedings. Pertinent here with respect to the so-called resistance activities is the finding of the IMT that:

“The local units of the Security Police and SD continued their work in the occupied territories after they had ceased to be an area of operations. The Security Police and SD engaged in widespread arrests of the civilian population of these occupied countries, imprisoned many of them under inhumane conditions, subjected them to brutal third degree methods, and sent many of them to concentration camps. Local units of the Security Police and SD were also involved in the shooting of hostages, the imprisonment of relatives, the execution of persons charged as terrorists, [and saboteurs without a trial], and the enforcement of the ‘Nacht und Nebel’ decrees under which persons charged with a type of offense believed to endanger the security of the occupying forces were either executed within a week or secretly removed to Germany without being permitted to communicate with their family and friends.”[656]

Defendant Schlegelberger explained the fundamental purpose of the NN decree to be a deterrent “through cutting off of the prisoners from every contact with the outside world”. He further explained “that the NN prisoners were expected and were to be tried materially according to the same regulations which would have been applied to them by the courts martial in the occupied territories” and that accordingly, “the rules of procedure had been curtailed to the utmost extent.”

The enforcement of the directives under the Hitler NN plan or scheme became a means of instrumentality by which the most complete control and coercion of a lot of the people of occupied territories were affected and under which thousands of the civilian population of occupied areas were imprisoned, terrorized, and murdered. The enforcement and administration of the NN directives resulted in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in violation of the international law of war and international common law relating to recognized human rights, and of article II, paragraphs 1(b) and (c) of Control Council Law No. 10.

During the war, in addition to deporting millions of inhabitants of occupied territories for slave labor and other purposes, Hitler’s Night and Fog program was instituted for the deportation to Germany of many thousands of inhabitants of occupied territories for the purpose of making them disappear without trace and so that their subsequent fate remain secret. This practice created an atmosphere of constant fear and anxiety among their relatives, friends, and the population of the occupied territories.

The report of the Paris Conference of 1919, referred to above, listed 32 crimes as constituting “the most striking list of crimes as has ever been drawn up, to the eternal shame of those who committed them.” This list of crimes was considered and recognized by the Versailles Treaty and was later recognized as international law in the manner herein above indicated. Among the crimes so listed was the “deportation of civilians” from enemy occupied territories.

Control Council Law No. 10 in illustrating acts constituting violations of laws or customs of war, recognizes as war crimes the “deportation to slave labour or for any other purpose of civilian population from occupied territory.” (Art. II, 1(b).) C. C. Law 10 [Article II] paragraph 1(c) also recognizes as crimes against humanity the “enslavement, deportation, imprisonment * * * against any civilian population.”

The IMT held that the deportation of inhabitants from occupied territories for the purpose of “efficient and enduring intimidation” constituted a violation of the laws and customs of war. The deportation for the purpose of “efficient and enduring intimidation” is likewise condemned by C. C. Law 10, under the provision inhibiting “deportation * * * for any other purpose, of civilian population from occupied territory.”

Also among the list of 32 crimes contained in the Conference Report of 1919 are “murder and massacre, and systematic terrorism”. C. C. Law 10 makes deportation of civilian population “for any purpose” a crime recognized as coming within the jurisdiction of the law. The admitted purpose of the Night and Fog decree was to provide an “efficient and enduring intimidation” of the population of occupied territories. The IMT held that the Hitler NN decree was “a systematic rule of violence, brutality, and terror”, and was therefore in violation of the laws of war as a terroristic measure.

The evidence shows that many of the Night and Fog prisoners who were deported to Germany were not charged with serious offenses and were given comparatively light sentences or acquitted. This shows that they were not a menace to the occupying forces and were not dangerous in the eyes of the German justices who tried them. But they were kept secretly and not permitted to communicate in any manner with their friends and relatives. This is inhumane treatment. It was meted out not only to the prisoners themselves but to their friends and relatives back home who were in constant distress of mind as to their whereabouts and fate. The families were deprived of the support of the husband, thus causing suffering and hunger. The purpose of the spiriting away of persons under the Night and Fog decree was to deliberately create constant fear and anxiety among the families, friends, and relatives as to the fate of the deportees. Thus, cruel punishment was meted out to the families and friends without any charge or claim that they actually did anything in violation of any occupation rule of the army or of any crime against the Reich.

It is clear that mental cruelty may be inflicted as well as physical cruelty. Such was the express purpose of the NN decree, and thousands of innocent persons were so penalized by its enforcement.

The foregoing documents show without dispute that the NN victim was held incommunicado and the rest of the population only knew that a relative or citizen had disappeared in the night and fog; hence, the name of the decree. If relatives or friends inquired, they were given no information. If diplomats or lawyers inquired concerning the fate of an NN prisoner, they were told that the state of the record did not admit of any further inquiry or information. The population, relatives, or friends were not informed for what character of offense the victim had been arrested. Thus, they had no guide or standard by which to avoid committing the same offense as the unfortunate victims had committed which necessarily created in their minds terror and dread that a like fate awaited them.

Throughout the whole Night and Fog program ran this element of utter secrecy. This secrecy of the proceedings was a particularly obnoxious form of terroristic measure and was without parallel in the annals of history. It could have been promulgated only by the cruel Nazi regime which sought to control and terrorize the civilian population of the countries overrun by its aggressive war. There was no proof that the deportation of the civilian population from the occupied territories was necessary to protect the security of the occupant forces. The NN plan or scheme fit perfectly into the larger plan or scheme of transportation of millions of persons from occupied territories to Germany.

C. C. Law 10 makes deportation of the civilian population for any purpose an offense. The international law of war has for a long period of time protected the civilian population of any territory or country occupied by an enemy war force. This law finds its source in the unwritten international law as established by the customs and usages of the civilized nations of the world. Under international law the inhabitants of an occupied area or territory are entitled to certain rights which must be respected by the invader occupant.

This law of military occupation has been in existence for a long period of time. It was officially interpreted and applied nearly a half century ago by the President of the United States of America during the war with Spain in 1898. By General Order No. 101, 18 July 1898 (U. S. Foreign Relations, p. 783), the President declared that the inhabitants of the occupied territory “are entitled to the security in their persons and property and in all their private rights and relations.” He further declared that it was the duty of the commander of the Army of Occupation “to protect them in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious rights,” and that “the municipal laws of the conquered territory, such as affect private rights of persons and property and provide for punishment of crime, are continued in force” and are “to be administered by the ordinary tribunals, substantially as they were before the occupation.” The President referred to the fact that these humane standards of warfare had previously been established by the laws and customs of war, which were later codified by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, and which constituted the effort of the civilized participating nations to diminish the evils of war by the limitation of the power of the invading occupant over the people and by placing the inhabitants of the occupied area or territory “under the protection and the rule of the principles of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity and the dictates of the public conscience.”

A similar order was issued during the first war with Germany by the President of the United States of America when the American Expeditionary Forces entered the Rhineland in November 1918. (General Order No. 218, 28 November 1918.) At the conclusion of this occupancy, the German Government expressed its appreciation of the conduct of the American occupying forces.

But Germany soon forgot these humane standards of warfare, as is shown by the undisputed evidence. The general policy of the Nazi regime was to terrorize and in some instances to exterminate the civilian populations of occupied territories.

Pertinent here is the finding of the IMT that:

“In an order issued by the defendant Keitel on 23 July 1941, and drafted by the defendant Jodl, it was stated that:

“‘In view of the vast size of the occupied areas in the East, the forces available for establishing security in these areas will be sufficient only if all resistance is punished, not by legal prosecution of the guilty, but by the spreading of such terror by the armed forces as is alone appropriate to eradicate every inclination to resist among the population * * *. Commanders must find the means of keeping order by applying suitable Draconian measures’.”[657]

Both Keitel and Jodl were sentenced to death by the IMT and later executed. It was the same Keitel who had issued, over his own signature, the Hitler NN decree which provided that (NG 669-PS, Pros. Ex. 305):

“Efficient and enduring intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures by which the relatives of the criminal and the population do not know the fate of the criminal. This aim is achieved when the criminal is transferred to Germany.”

Beyond dispute the foregoing decrees were inspired by the same thought and purpose and represent the general policy of the Nazi regime in the prosecution of its aggressive war. This general policy was to terrorize, torture, and in some occupied areas to exterminate the civilian population. The undisputed evidence in this case shows that Germany violated during the recent war every principle of the law of military occupation. Not only under NN proceedings but in all occupations she immediately, upon occupation of invaded areas and territories, set aside the laws and courts of the occupied territories. She abolished the courts of the occupied lands and set up courts manned by members of the Nazi totalitarian regime and system. These laws of occupation were cruel and extreme beyond belief and were enforced by the Nazi courts in a cruel and ruthless manner against the inhabitants of the occupied territories, resulting in grave outrages against humanity, against human rights and morality and religion, and against international law, and against the law as declared by C. C. Law 10, by authority of which this Court exercises its jurisdiction in the instant case. The evidence adduced herein provides undeniable and positive proof of the ill-treatment of the subjugated people by the Nazi Ministry of Justice and prosecutors to such an extent that jurists as well as civilians of civilized nations who respect human rights and human personality and dignity can hardly believe that the Nazi judicial system could possibly have been so cruel and ruthless in their treatment of the population of occupied areas and territories.

The foregoing procedure under the NN decree was clearly in violation of the following provisions sanctioned by the Hague Regulations:

“Article 5.—Prisoners of war * * * cannot be confined except as an indispensable measure of safety and only while the circumstances which necessitate the measure continue to exist.

“Article 23(h).—* * * It is expressly forbidden * * * to declare abolished, suspended, or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions [of the nationals] of the hostile party.

“Article 43.—The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the law in force in the country.

“Article 46.—Family honor and rights, the lives of persons and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must be respected. Private property cannot be confiscated.”

Both the international rules of war and C. C. Law 10 inhibit the torture of civilians by the occupying forces. Under the Night and Fog decree civilians were secretly transported to concentration camps and were imprisoned under the most inhumane conditions as was shown by the above statements from captured documents. They were starved and ill-treated while in concentration camps and prisons. Thus, the Night and Fog decree violated these express inhibitions of international law of war as well as the express provisions of C. C. Law 10.

Such imprisonment and ill-treatment was also in violation of the rule prescribed by the Conference of Paris of 1919 which prohibits the “internment of civilians under inhumane conditions”. The Night and Fog decree was in violation of the international law as recognized by the Paris Conference of 1919 in that the NN prisoners were deported to Germany and forced to labor in the munitions plants of the enemy power.

The foregoing documents establish beyond dispute that they were so employed in munitions plants with the sanction and approval of the Reich Ministry of Justice under the approval of the defendant von Ammon.

The extent of activity and the criminality of the defendants who participated in the execution and carrying out of the Night and Fog decree will be discussed under the summation of the evidence relating to each such defendant. Each defendant has pleaded in effect as a defense the act of State as well as superior orders in justification or mitigation of any crime he may have committed in the execution of the Night and Fog decree. The basis for individual liability for crimes committed and the law relating thereto was clearly and ably declared by the IMT judgment which reads as follows:

“It was submitted that international law is concerned with the actions of sovereign states, and provides no punishment for individuals; and further, that where the act in question is an act of state, those who carry it out are not personally responsible, but are protected by the doctrine of the sovereignty of the State. In the opinion of the Tribunal, both these submissions must be rejected. That international law imposes duties and liabilities upon individuals as well as upon States has long been recognized. In the recent case of Ex parte Quirin (1942 317 U. S. 1), before the Supreme Court of the United States, persons were charged during the war with landing in the United States for purposes of spying and sabotage. The late Chief Justice Stone, speaking for the Court, said:

“‘From the very beginning of its history this Court has applied the law of war as including that part of the law of nations which prescribes for the conduct of war, the status, rights, and duties of enemy nations as well as enemy individuals.’

“He went on to give a list of cases tried by the Courts, where individual offenders were charged with offenses against the laws of nations, and particularly the laws of war. Many other authorities could be cited, but enough has been said to show that individuals can be punished for violations of international law. Crimes against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities, and only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can the provisions of international law be enforced.”[658]

RACIAL PERSECUTION

The record contains innumerable acts of persecution of individual Poles and Jews, but to consider these cases as isolated and unrelated instances of perversion of justice would be to overlook the very essence of the offense charged in the indictment. The defendants are not now charged with conspiracy as a separate and substantive offense, but it is alleged that they participated in carrying out a governmental plan and program for the persecution and extermination of Jews and Poles, a plan which transcended territorial boundaries as well as the bounds of human decency. Some of the defendants took part in the enactment of laws and decrees the purpose of which was the extermination of Poles and Jews in Germany and throughout Europe. Others, in executive positions, actively participated in the enforcement of those laws and in atrocities, illegal even under German law, in furtherance of the declared national purpose. Others, as judges, distorted and then applied the laws and decrees against Poles and Jews as such in disregard of every principle of judicial behavior. The overt acts of the several defendants must be seen and understood as deliberate contributions toward the effectuation of the policy of the Party and State. The discriminatory laws themselves formed the subject matter of war crimes and crimes against humanity with which the defendants are charged. The material facts which must be proved in any case are (1) the fact of the great pattern or plan of racial persecution and extermination; and (2) specific conduct of the individual defendant in furtherance of the plan. This is but an application of general concepts of criminal law. The person who persuades another to commit murder, the person who furnishes the lethal weapon for the purpose of its commission, and the person who pulls the trigger are all principals or accessories to the crime.

We turn to the national pattern or plan for racial extermination.

Fundamentally, the program was one for the actual extermination of Jews and Poles, either by means of killing or by confinement in concentration camps, which merely made death slower and more painful. But lesser forms of racial persecution were universally practiced by governmental authority and constituted an integral part in the general policy of the Reich. We have already noted the decree by which Jews were excluded from the legal profession. Intermarriage between Jews and persons of German blood was prohibited. Sexual intercourse between Jews and German nationals was punished with extreme severity by the courts. By other decrees Jews were almost completely expelled from public service, from educational institutions, and from many business enterprises. Upon the death of a Jew his property was confiscated. Under the provisions for confiscation under the 11th amendment to the German Citizenship Law, supra, the decision as to confiscation of the property of living Jews was left to the chief of the Security Police and the SD. The law against Poles and Jews cited supra (4 December 1941) was rigorously enforced. Poles and Jews convicted of specific crimes were subjected to different types of punishment from that imposed upon Germans who had committed the same crimes. Their rights as defendants in court were severely circumscribed. Courts were empowered to impose death sentences on Poles and Jews even where such punishment was not prescribed by law, if the evidence showed “particularly objectionable motives”. And, finally, the police were given carte blanche to punish all “criminal” acts committed by Jews without any employment of the judicial process. From the great mass of evidence we can only cite a few illustrations of the character and operation of the program.

On 30 January 1939 in an address before the Reichstag, Hitler, who was at that very time perfecting his plot for aggressive war, said:

“If the international Jewish financiers within and without Europe succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevization of the world and thereby the victory of Jewry, but the obliteration of the Jewish race in Europe.”

We quote from the writings of Alfred Rosenberg (since hanged), “High Priest of the Nazi Racial Theory and Herald of the Master Race:”

“A new faith is arising today—the myth of the blood, the faith to defend with the blood the divine essence of man. The faith, embodied in clearest knowledge, that the Nordic blood represents that mysterium which has replaced and overcome the old sacraments.”[659]

The Rosenberg philosophy strongly supported the program of the Nazi Party, which reads as follows:

“None but members of the nation (Volk) may be citizens of the State. None but those of German blood, whatever their creed, may be members of the nation. No Jew, therefore, may be a member of the nation.”

It was to implement this program that the discriminatory laws against Poles and Jews were enacted as hereinabove set forth.

A directive of the Reich Ministry of Justice, signed by Freisler, dated 7 August 1942, addressed to prosecutors and judges, set forth the broad general purposes which were to govern the application of the law against Poles and Jews and the specific application of that law in the trial of cases. We quote (NG-744, Pros. Ex. 500):

“The penal law ordinance of 4 December 1941 concerning Poles was intended not only to serve as a criminal law against Poles and Jews, but beyond that also to provide general principles for the German administration of law to adopt in all its judicial dealings with Poles and Jews, irrespective of the role which the Poles and Jews play in the individual proceedings. The regulations of article IX for instance, according to which Poles and Jews are not to be sworn in, apply to proceedings against Germans as well. * * *

“1. Proceedings against Germans should be carried on whenever possible without calling Poles and Jews as witnesses. If, however, such a testimony cannot be evaded, the Pole or Jew must not appear as a witness against the German during the main trial. He must always be interrogated by a judge who has been appointed or requested to do so, * * *.

“2. Evidence given by Poles and Jews during proceedings against Germans must be received with the utmost caution especially in those cases where other evidence is lacking.”

On 13 October 1942 the Reich Minister of Justice Thierack wrote to Reichsleiter Bormann, in part as follows (NG-558, Pros. Ex. 143):

“With a view to freeing the German people of Poles, Russians, Jews, and gypsies, and with a view to making the eastern territories which have been incorporated into the Reich available for settlements for German nationals, I intend to turn over criminal proceedings against Poles, Russians, Jews, and gypsies to the Reich Leader SS. In so doing I base myself on the principle that the administration of justice can only make a small contribution to the extermination of members of these peoples. The justice administration undoubtedly pronounces very severe sentences on such persons, but that is not enough to constitute any material contribution toward the realization of the above-mentioned aim.”

On 18 September 1942 a conference was held among Thierack, Himmler, Bormann, Rothenberger, and others. The notes of the conference, signed by Thierack, disclose that the subjects of discussion included “special treatment” at the hands of the police in cases where judicial sentences were not severe enough. Among other points agreed upon between Bormann, Himmler, and Thierack, were the following (654-PS, Pros. Ex. 39):

“The Reich Minister of Justice will decide whether and when special treatment at the hands of the police is to be applied. * * *

“The delivery of asocial elements while serving penal sentences to the Reich Leader of SS to be worked to death. Persons under security detention, Jews, gypsies, Russians, and Ukrainians, Poles with more than 3-year sentences, Czechs and Germans with more than 8-year sentences will be turned over without exception according to the decision of the Reich Minister for Justice. First of all the worst asocial elements among those just mentioned are to be handed over. I shall inform the Fuehrer of this through Reichsleiter Bormann. * * *

“It is agreed that, in consideration of the intended aims of the government for the clearing up of the eastern problems, in future Jews, Poles, gypsies, Russians, Ukrainians are no longer to be judged by the ordinary courts, so far as punishable offenses are concerned, but are to be dealt with by the Reich Leader SS. * * *”

The defendant Rothenberger testified that he was not present when these agreements were made. However that may be, it is clear that they came to his notice shortly thereafter.

Of special significance is the record concerning the establishment of penal laws for Poles and Jews in the annexed eastern territories. On 17 April 1941 the defendant Schlegelberger addressed a letter to the Reich Minister and chief of the Reich Chancellery. In it he states that as soon as the Special Courts were introduced in the eastern territories under the decree of 5 September 1939 he tried to make those “courts with their particularly prompt and energetic procedure centers for combating all Polish and Jewish crime.” He states that “the procedure of compulsory prosecution was rescinded, at is seems intolerable that Poles and Jews should in this way compel the German prosecutor to issue an indictment.” Poles and Jews were also prohibited from raising private actions and accessory actions. He further states:

“On being informed of the Fuehrer’s intention to discriminate in the sphere of penal law between the Poles (and probably the Jews as well), and the Germans, I prepared, after preliminary discussions with the presidents of the courts of appeal and the attorney generals of the annexed eastern territories, the attached draft concerning the administration of the penal laws against Poles and Jews in the annexed eastern territories and in the territory of the former Free City of Danzig.”

Again, he says:

“So far I have been in agreement with the opinion held by the Fuehrer’s deputy, on the fact that a Pole is less sensitive to the imposition of an ordinary prison sentence. Therefore, I had taken administrative measures to ensure that Poles and Jews be separated from other prisoners and that their imprisonment be rendered more severe. Number 3 goes still farther and substitutes for the terms of imprisonment and hard labor prescribed by Reich law other prison sentences of a new kind, viz, the prison camp and the more rigorous prison camp.”

Speaking of the proposed draft prepared by him, Schlegelberger said:

“The part concerned with procedure contains first the special regulations existing up to now of the preliminary decree. In addition, a Pole and a Jew sentenced by a German court is not to be allowed in the future any legal remedy against the judgment; neither will he have a right of appeal, or be allowed to ask that the case be reopened. All sentences will take effect immediately. In future, Poles and Jews will also no longer be allowed to object to German judges on the grounds of prejudice; nor will they be able to take an oath. Coercive measures against them are permissible under easier conditions.”

A memorandum dated 22 April 1941, bearing the same file number as the letter of Schlegelberger, states that Schlegelberger has transmitted the proposed draft, and adds:

“The draft establishes a draconic special criminal law for Poles and Jews, giving a wide range for the interpretations of the facts of the case, with the death penalty applicable throughout. The conditions of imprisonment are also much more severe than provided for in the German criminal law.”

The note further states:

“The Minister of Justice differs only in two points from the suggestions of the Fuehrer’s deputy.”

It then states that the Fuehrer’s deputy considered it more appropriate to authorize the Reich governors to introduce the special criminal law, whereas the Minister of Justice provides for its introduction by a Reich decree. The second difference of opinion was somewhat to the credit of the defendant Schlegelberger. The Fuehrer’s deputy considered the introduction of corporal punishment appropriate, and the Minister of Justice refused to agree.

On 3 August 1942 the Reich Minister of Justice sent a draft of the proposed ordinance to a number of high officials, including the Reich Minister of Interior and the Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. The letter was signed “By order: Freisler.” Freisler was at that time State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Justice. The letter contained this significant statement:

“I have emphasized the importance in war of this ordinance because it indirectly serves national defense.”

The enclosed draft provided that Jews should not be entitled to make use of the right of appeal, revision, or complaint against decisions in criminal cases, and could not appeal to the courts for a decision against sentences inflicted by the police. It also provided that in cases where an appeal had already been filed it should be considered cancelled.

On 13 August 1942 the Reich Minister of Interior wrote to the Reich Minister of Justice, requesting that the draft be extended so as to restrict the right of Jews to appeal in administrative as well as criminal cases. On the same day the defendant Schlegelberger wrote to the Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda concerning the addition to the draft as suggested by the Reich Minister of the Interior. We quote:

“I declare that I have no objections against an extension of my draft to matters of administrative law and to decisions by administrative authorities.”

He then suggested an additional provision to the effect that Jews should be forbidden to testify on oath, but that they might be prosecuted as for perjury though no oath is to be taken.

On 8 March 1943 the Chief of the Security Police and the SD, Kaltenbrunner,[660] wrote to Minister of the Interior Frick urging immediate passage of the proposed ordinance. The following reasons were given:

“1. Previous evacuations of Jews have been restricted to Jews who were not married to non-Jews. In consequence, the numbers of Jews who have remained in the interior is quite considerable. As the ordinance would also include these Jews as well, the measures it plans are not objectless.

“2. The provision of article 7 of the ordinance according to which, at the death of a Jew, his fortune escheats in its entirety to the Reich, results in the accumulation of considerably less work for the State Police. At the present time the procedure used by the State Police in handling the confiscation of such Jewish inheritances must frequently be modified to suit each special case.”

He adds that the provision for the transfer of Jews to the police is based on an agreement between Himmler and Thierack, who had by that time succeeded Schlegelberger as Reich Minister of Justice.

On 21 April 1943 a memorandum for the files of the Reich Chancellery reports a conference of State secretaries on the proposed ordinance at which the defendant Rothenberger was present. The conference came to the conclusion that certain modifications should be made. The final result of the prolonged discussion was the enactment of the 13th regulation under the Reich Citizenship Law of 1 July 1943, which was signed by Frick, Bormann, and Thierack. It will be recalled that that regulation, supra, provided that criminal actions committed by Jews should be punished by the police; that the property of a Jew should be confiscated after his death. These and other provisions were also made effective in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia where German courts had jurisdiction.

With few exceptions Jews were wholly excluded from the administration of justice. In a speech before the NSDAP congress on 14 September 1934, Hans Frank stated:

“It is unbearable to us to permit Jews to play any role whatsoever in the German administration of justice. * * * It will therefore be our firm aim to exclude Jews increasingly from the administration of the law as time goes on.”

On another occasion Frank, as president of the Academy for German Law, directed: “For all future time it will be impossible that Jews will act in the name of German Law. * * *”

In an order reminiscent of the “burning of the books” in medieval days, Frank also directed that the works of Jewish authors should be removed from all public or study libraries whenever possible.

On 5 April 1933 the defendant Barnickel made an entry in his diary:

“Today it is said in the newspaper that in Berlin there are about 3,500 attorneys and more than half of them are Jewish. Only 35 of them are to be admitted as lawyers. * * * To exclude these Jewish attorneys from one day to the next means terrible brutality.”

The defense witness, Fritz Wallentin, stated that in general all non-Aryan judges were removed from the administration of penal justice very soon after 30 January 1933. The evacuation of Jews to the East for extermination was in full swing at least as early as November 1941, and continued through the war years thereafter. As an illustration of the nature of this program as carried out throughout the Reich, we cite the report of the Secret State Police Main Office, Nuernberg-Fuerth; Branch Office Wuerzburg. This report refers to the deportation from a comparatively small area around the city of Wuerzburg and shows evacuation of Jews to the East in the following numbers: On 27 July 1941, 202 persons; on 24 March 1942, 208 persons; on 25 April 1942, 850 persons; on 10 September 1942 (to Theresienstadt) 177 persons; on 23 September 1942 (to Theresienstadt) 562 persons; on 17 June 1943 (to Theresienstadt) seven persons; on 17 June 1943, 57 Jews were evacuated to the East. The report continues: “With this last transport, all the Jews who had to be evacuated according to instructions issued have left Main-Franken.” The report shows that the total number of 2,063 Jews were evacuated from the Main-Franken area alone. The furniture, clothing and laundry items left by the Jews were given to the finance offices of Main-Franken and turned into cash by them.

Even before transfers to the Gestapo had been substituted for judicial procedure the position of a Pole or a Jew who was tried by the courts was not a happy one. The right of self defense on the part of a Pole was specifically limited. Poles and Jews could not challenge a German judge for prejudice. Other limitations upon the right of appeal and the like are set forth, supra (law against Poles and Jews, 4 December 1941).

On 22 July 1942 Reich Minister Goebbels stated that “it was an untenable situation that still today a Jew could protest against the charge of the president of the police, who was an old Party member and a high SS Leader. The Jew should not be granted any legal remedy at all nor any right of protest.”

The defendant Lautz testified that according to the provisions of decree which antedated the war and by reason of the general regulations of the law in every case it had to be pointed out in the indictment if the person was a Jew or of mixed race.

On 23 January 1943 the Oberlandesgericht president at Koenigsberg wrote to the Minister of Justice concerning defense of Poles before tribunals in Incorporated Eastern Territories. We quote:

“The decree of 21 May 1942 * * * states that in accordance with the order on penal justice in Poland of 4 December 1941 attorneys are not (to) undertake the defense of Polish persons before tribunals in the Incorporated Eastern Territories. This decree has been received with satisfaction by all the judges and prosecutors in the whole of my district.”

These directives by the authorities in the Reich under Hitler were not mere idle threats. The policies and laws were rigorously enforced. We quote from a sworn statement of former defendant Karl Engert as follows:

“The handing over to the Gestapo of Jews, Poles, and gypsies was not under my supervision, but under that of Mr. Hecker, who worked under me in my division. However, he was not responsible to me, but directly to the Minister Thierack.” Again he said:

“About 12,000 inmates of the correction houses were assigned for transfer to the Gestapo. * * * Out of the total 12,000 my division assigned 3,000 for transfer in 1942. How many Jews, Poles, and gypsies were assigned I do not know; that must be in the statistics.”

Reich Minister Goebbels, in an address to the judges of the People’s Court, on 22 July 1942, stated that “if still more than 40,000 Jews, whom we considered enemies of the State, could go freely about in Berlin, this was solely due to the lack of sufficient means of transportation. Otherwise the Jews would have been in the East long ago.”

Between 9 and 11 November 1938, a pogrom was carried out against the Jews throughout the Reich, and upon direct orders from Berlin. Defense witness Peter Eiffe testified that he heard rumors of the proposed pogrom on the night of 8 November and called at the Ministry of Propaganda where he was told that “somebody has let the cat out of the bag again.” During the 3-day period Jewish property was destroyed throughout the Reich and thousands of Jews were arrested.

In Berlin the destruction of Jewish property was particularly great. To cap the climax on 12 November 1938, Field Marshal Goering issued the following decree:[661]

“Article I.—All damage done due to the indignation of the people at the incitement of international Jewry against Nationalist Socialist Germany carried out on the 8, 9, and 10 November 1938, on Jewish enterprises and living quarters is to be removed by the Jewish owners immediately.

“Article II.—The costs of restoration are to be borne by the owner of the Jewish business concerned * * *.

“Section 2.—Insurance claims of Jews of German nationality will be confiscated in favor of the Reich.”

For this purpose a fine of one billion marks was imposed upon the Jews. The witness Schulz, who was an attorney in Berlin, acted in behalf of Frau Liebermann, the widow of the internationally known artist, Max Liebermann. Frau Liebermann was at that time 80 years old and the share of the fine imposed upon her was 280,000 marks. Ultimately orders were issued for her deportation to the East. She, however, died, either from heart failure or poison, as she descended the steps to be carried away. Defense witness Schulz[662] also testified concerning other methods of Jewish persecution. He said:

“* * * When a Jew wanted to emigrate, I had much to do with it. He had to pay the Reich escape tax, that was so and so much percent of his property and then a large amount was taken away from him by assessing his property very high. After all of that was done and the day he went to the passport office in order to get his clearance, his passport, and get his visa then he was told that now he still had to go to the notary, Dr. Stege, and had to deposit a voluntary fee to promote the emigration of the Jews, and that is where he paid the balance, and then left with his personal satchel, with his little valise.”

Speaking of the “asocial” persons, Dr. Thierack, on 5 January 1943, at a mass meeting of the NSDAP, stated (NG-275, Pros. Ex. 25):

“I have seen to it that these people shall no longer be employed for any sort of work that is not dangerous. The most dangerous tasks are just the thing that is for them. Now, today, when thousands of these people are carrying supplies in the far north or building roads, I cannot help it if some of them die, but at least they are of some use.”

The Roman Catholic chaplain at Amberg prison stated under oath that a large proportion of the inmates of that prison were Poles who had been sentenced under the “Poles’ Act.” Many of them died from undernourishment. They were forced to eat potato peelings and hunt through rubbish heaps for eatable refuse. From this prison “asocial elements” were picked out and sent in batches to the Mauthausen concentration camp. All of the first batch was said to have perished. Among the prisoners were Jews who had been sentenced for race pollution.

The witness Hecker stated under oath that after Thierack’s “doubtful decree” concerning the transfer of Jews, Poles, and gypsies, prisoners in protective custody, and asocial elements from the justice prisons to the RSHA in the autumn of 1942, the Jews as a whole were immediately handed over. The work was carried out by Department V of the Ministry of Justice. Lists were prepared monthly and sent to Minister Thierack through the chief of the department.

On 22 October 1942 a directive (648-PS, Pros. Ex. 264) under the letterhead of the Reich Minister of Justice was issued to various prosecuting officers in which it was stated that “by agreement with the Reich Leader SS, lawfully sentenced prisoners confined in penal institutions will be transferred to the custody of the Reich Leader SS.” Those designated for transfer to the SS included “Jews, men and women, detained under arrest, protective custody, or in the workhouse; * * * and Poles, residing in the former Polish state territory on 1 September 1939, men and women, sentenced to penal camps or subsequently turned over for penal execution, if sentence is above 3 years, * * *. With completion of the transfer to the police, the penal term is considered interrupted. Transfer to the police is to be reported to the penal authority and in cases of custody to the superior executive authority, with the information that the interruption of the penal term has been ordered by the Reich Ministry of Justice.” The directive is signed “Dr. Crohne.”

A secret directive dated Berlin, 5 November 1942, was issued to the heads of the SS and to the police services, in which it was stated (L-316, Pros. Ex. 265):

“Re: Jurisdiction over Poles and eastern nationals.

“I. The Reich Leader SS has come to an arrangement with the Reich Minister of Justice Thierack whereby the justice waives the execution of the usual penal procedure against Poles and eastern nationals. These persons of alien race are in future to be handed over to the police. Jews and gypsies are to be treated in the same way. This agreement has been approved by the Fuehrer.