Part I, Page 777, our Document Number 3301-PS, found at Page 107 of the

document book. This is the basic law on the administrative reorganization of Austria. It was enacted in April 1939, a little more than a year before Schirach became Governor. This law shows that Schirach, as Governor, was the lieutenant of the head of the German State, Hitler; that he could issue decrees and orders within the limitations set by the supreme Reich authorities; that he was especially under the administrative supervision of the Defendant Frick, Reich Minister of the Interior; and that he was also the first mayor of the city of Vienna. For the same period that Schirach was Gau leader and Reich Governor of Vienna, he was also Reich Defense Commissioner of Vienna; and after 1940, of course, the Reich was engaged in war.

Because of his far-reaching responsibilities and authority in these positions, the Prosecution contends that Schirach must be held guilty, specifically, of all the crimes of the Nazi conspirators in the Reichsgau Vienna, on the ground that he either initiated, approved, executed, or abetted these crimes. Specific examples follow which, in fact, demonstrate that Schirach was actively and personally engaged in Nazi crimes, and that, when he became boastful—a characteristic never lacking in most of these defendants—he himself admitted his own involvement in acts which are crimes within the competence of this Tribunal.

I come first to slave-labor.

The slave-labor program naturally played its part in staffing the industries of as large and important a city as Vienna. The general nature of this program and the crimes flowing therefrom have been in part set before you by Mr. Dodd. The Soviet prosecutors will present further acts later on. Our Document Number 3352-PS, found at Page 116 of your document book, which I would like to offer as Exhibit USA-206, gives extracts from a number of orders of the Party chancellery. Each of these orders from which the extracts have been taken bear on the Gau leader’s responsibility for manpower placement and utilization. They prove quite simply and in unmistakable language that the Gau leaders under the direction of the experienced old Gau leader Sauckel, who was plenipotentiary for manpower, became the supreme integrating and co-ordinating agents of the Nazi conspirators in the entire manpower program. At Page 116 of your document book—Page 508 of the original volume of orders—the Defendant Göring is shown to have agreed, as leader of the Four Year Plan, to Sauckel’s suggestion that the Gau leaders be utilized to assure the highest efficiency in manpower. At Page 117 of your document book—Page 511 of the orders of the Party chancellery—Sauckel in July 1942 makes the Gau leaders his special plenipotentiaries for manpower within their Gaue, with the duty of establishing a harmonious co-operation of all interests concerned. In effect the Gau leader became the supreme arbitrator for all the conflicting interests that exist during wartime with respect to claims upon manpower. Under this same order the regional labor offices and their staffs were “directed to be at the disposal of the Gau leaders for information and advice and to fulfill the suggestions and demands of the Gau leader for the purpose of improvements in manpower. . . .” At Pages 118 and 119 of your document book—Page 567 of the Party chancellery orders—the Defendant Sauckel ordered that his special plenipotentiaries, the Gau leaders, familiarize themselves with the general regulations on Eastern Workers. He stated that his immediate objective was “to prevent politically inept factory heads giving too much consideration to the care of Eastern Workers and thereby cause justified annoyance among the German workers.”

We submit to the Tribunal that if Schirach as Gau leader was required to concern himself in such manpower details as concern over the alleged annoyance of German workers for the consideration given Eastern Workers, it is unnecessary to press further into the detailed workings of the manpower program to establish Schirach’s connection with, and responsibility for, the slave-labor program in the Reichsgau Vienna.

I now pass to the persecution of the churches.

The elimination of the religious youth organizations while Schirach was chief Nazi youth leader has already been noted. In March 1941 two letters, one from the Defendant Bormann, the other from the conspirator Hans Lammers. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Captain Sprecher, have you any other evidence which connects Von Schirach with the problem of manpower?

CAPT. SPRECHER: I had planned on presenting nothing further, Your Honor. I felt that in view of the fact that our Soviet colleagues are going further with the details of the manpower program, particularly in the East, the main objective under Count One should merely be to show the general responsibility of the Defendant Schirach for the slave-labor program, and the question of specific acts will have to be taken from the other proof in the Record, which will come, into the Record later.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

CAPT. SPRECHER: There is just one further point: When I come to the treatment of the Jews in a few minutes, there will be one or two specific examples.

THE PRESIDENT: You are now going to deal with the persecution of churches, is that right?

CAPT. SPRECHER: Yes, Sir.

Now, the Tribunal is referred to Document R-146, at Page 5 of the document book. This is offered as Exhibit USA-678.

I am a little in doubt, Your Honors, as to whether I should read all this document, in view of our common anxiousness to pass rapidly on; but perhaps I may paraphrase it, and if you are not satisfied I will read it.

These documents establish clearly that during a visit by Hitler to Vienna, Schirach and two other officials brought a complaint before the Führer that the confiscations of Church property in Austria, made on various pretexts, should be made in favor of the Gaue rather than of the Reich. Later the Führer decided the issue in favor of the position which had been taken by Schirach, namely, in favor of the Gau. I use this merely to connect Schirach with the persecution of the churches, concerning which there has been a great deal of evidence before this time.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): None of it is in evidence yet. You have not put anything in evidence. We cannot take judicial notice of something unless you ask us to.

CAPT. SPRECHER: Your ruling is that this would not be in evidence unless I read it?

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): I am not making any ruling; I was merely pointing out to you that we have nothing in evidence on the last document.

CAPT. SPRECHER: I think, under the circumstances, I had better read this document:

“Munich, 20 March 1941, Brown House, Personal-Secret.

“To: All Gau leaders. Subject: Sequestration of Church properties (Monastery property, _et cetera_).

“Recently, valuable church properties have had to be sequestered on a large scale, especially in Austria; according to reports of the Gauleiter to the Führer, these sequestrations were often because of violations of ordinances relating to war economy (for example, hoarding of foodstuffs of various kinds, textiles, leather goods, _et cetera_). In other cases they were for violations of the law relating to subversive acts against the State and in some cases because of illegal possession of arms. Obviously no compensation is to be paid to the churches for sequestrations made for the above-mentioned reasons.

“With regard to further sequestrations, several Austrian Gau leaders, on the occasion of the Führer’s last visit to Vienna, attempted to clarify the question of who should acquire such sequestered properties. Please take note of the Führer’s decision, as contained in the letter written by Reich Minister Dr. Lammers to the Reich Minister of the Interior, dated 14 March 1941. I enclose copy of extracts of the same.”—Signed—“M. Bormann.”

I had offered that document as Exhibit USA-678. Do you still wish me to read the enclosure that went with it?

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): I don’t wish you to read anything; I was simply pointing out that, as you had not read it, it was not in evidence.

CAPT. SPRECHER: In that event I will continue, Your Honor. The copy reads as follows:

“Berlin, 14 March 1941; The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery.

“To the Reich Minister of the Interior. Subject: Draft of an ordinance supplementing the provisions on confiscation of property of enemies of the People and State.

“The Reichsstatthalter and Gauleiter Von Schirach, Dr. Jury and Eigruber complained recently to the Führer that the Reich Minister of Finance still maintains the point of view that confiscation of property of enemies of the People and State should be made in favor of the Reich and not in favor of the Reich Gaue. Consequently the Führer has informed me that he desires the confiscation of such properties to be effected in favor of the Reich Gau in whose area the confiscated property is situated, and not in favor of the Reich. . . .”

THE PRESIDENT: You need not read any more of it.

CAPT. SPRECHER: I pass over now to the Jewish persecution.

The Prosecution submits, finally, that Schirach authorized, directed, and participated in anti-Semitic measures. Of course, the whole ideology and teaching of the Hitler Youth was predicated upon the Nazi racial myth. Before the war, Schirach addressed a meeting of the National Socialist German Students’ League, the organization he headed from 1929 to 1931. Document 2441-PS is offered as Exhibit USA-679, an affidavit by Gregor Ziemer. I wish to read merely from the bottom of Page 95 of the document book to the end of the first paragraph at the top of Page 96 of the document book. The deponent Ziemer is referring to a meeting at Heidelberg, Germany, which he personally attended some time before the war, at which Baldur von Schirach addressed the Students’ League, which he himself had at one time led. . . .

THE PRESIDENT: What is this document?

CAPT. SPRECHER: It is an affidavit of Gregor Ziemer:

“He”—meaning Schirach—“declared that the most important phase of German university life in the Third Reich was the program of the NSDSTB. He extolled various activities of the League. He reminded the boys of the service they had rendered during the Jewish purge. Dramatically he pointed across the river to the old university town of Heidelberg where several burnt-out synagogues were mute witnesses of the efficiency of Heidelberg students. These skeleton buildings would remain there for centuries as inspiration for future students, as warning to enemies of the State.”

To attempt to visualize the true extent of the fiendish treatment of Jews under Schirach, we must look to his activities in the Reichsgau Vienna and to the activities of his assistants, the SS and the Gestapo, in Vienna.

Document Number 1948, Page 63 of your document book, is offered as Exhibit USA-680. You will note it is on the stationery of the last Governor of Vienna.

THE PRESIDENT: Captain Sprecher, I have been reading on in this Document 2441-PS, on Page 96 of the document book. It seems to me you ought to read the next three paragraphs on Page 96 from the place where you left off.

CAPT. SPRECHER: Yes, Sir.

THE PRESIDENT: The second, third, and fourth paragraphs.

CAPT. SPRECHER: “Even as old Heidelberg Castle was evidence that Old Germany had been too weak to resist the invading Frenchmen who destroyed it, so the black remains of the synagogues would be a perpetual monument reminding coming generations of the strength of New Germany.

“He reminded the students that there were still countries which squandered their time and energy with books and wasteful discussions about abstract topics of philosophy and metaphysics. Those days were over. New Germany was a land of action. The other countries were sound asleep.

“But he was in favor of letting them sleep. The more soundly they slumbered, the better opportunity for the men of the Third Reich to prepare for more action. The day would come when German students of Heidelberg would take their places side by side with legions of other students to conquer the world for the ideology of Nazism.”

I was about to refer, Your Honors, to Document Number 1948-PS, which is found at Page 63 of your document book, and which I offer as Exhibit USA-680. This, you will note, is on the stationery of the Reich Governor of Vienna, the Reichsstatthalter in Vienna.

“. . . 7 November 1940.

“Subject: Compulsory labor of able-bodied Jews.

“1. Notice: On 5 November 1940 telephone conversation with Colonel”—Standartenführer—“Huber of the Gestapo. The Gestapo has received secret directions from the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) as to how able-bodied Jews should be drafted for compulsory labor service. Investigations are being made at present by the Gestapo to find out how many able-bodied Jews are still available, in order to make plans for the contemplated mass projects. It is assumed that there are not many more Jews available. If some should still be available, however, the Gestapo has no scruples to use the Jews even for clearing away the destroyed synagogues.

“SS Standartenführer Huber will make a report personally to the Regierungspräsident in this matter.

“I have reported to the Regierungspräsident accordingly. The matter should be kept further in mind.”

The signature is by Dr. Fischer.

I want to call the Court’s attention to the significance of the title Regierungspräsident. The SS Colonel, you will note, was to report to the Regierungspräsident. If you will refer back again to the decree which set up the Reichsgau Vienna, 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page 777 (Document 3301-PS), you will find that the Regierungspräsident was Schirach’s personal representative within the governmental administration of Vienna.

Now, it seems to us that this Document Number 1948-PS, which was signed by Fischer, concerning compulsory labor of able-bodied Jews, answers the argument that persons of the rank of Gauleiter were ignorant of the atrocities of the Gestapo and the SS in their own locality. It shows further that even the assistants of the Gau leaders were informed of the details of the persecution projects which were afoot at the time.

Schirach also had concern for, and knowledge of, the housing shortage in Vienna, which was alleviated for some members of the alleged master race who succeeded to the houses of the luckless Jews who were moved into oblivion in Poland.

On December 3, 1940, the conspirator Lammers wrote a letter to Schirach. It is our Document 1950-PS, Page 64 of your document book, and it is offered in evidence as Exhibit USA-681. The letter is very short:

December 1940. . .”

the stationery of the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery, and it is marked “secret”:

“To the Reich Governor in Vienna, Gauleiter Von Schirach:

“As Reichsleiter Bormann informs me, the Führer has decided, after receipt of one of the reports made by you, that the 60,000 Jews still residing in the Reichsgau Vienna will be deported most rapidly”—that is, still during the war—“to the Government General, because of the housing shortage prevalent in Vienna. I have informed the Governor General in Kraków, as well as the Reichsführer SS, about this decision of the Führer, and I request you also to take cognizance of it.”—Signed—“Lammers.”

As a last piece of illustrative evidence against this youngest member of the defendants in the dock, I take something from his own lips, which was published for all Vienna and, indeed, for all Germany and the world to know, even at that time. It appears in the Vienna edition of the _Völkischer Beobachter_, on the 15th of September 1942, Document 3048-PS, your document book, Page 106. It is already in evidence as Exhibit USA-274.

I would like to point out that these words were uttered before the so-called European Youth League in Vienna in 1942. The Tribunal will recall that Schirach was still Reich Leader for Youth Education in the NSDAP at that time:

“Every Jew who exerts influence in Europe is a danger to European culture. If anyone reproaches me with having driven from this city, which was once the European metropolis of Jewry, tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of Jews into the ghetto of the East, I feel myself compelled to reply, ‘I see in this an action contributing to European culture.’”

Although Schirach’s principal assistance to the conspiracy was made in his commission of the German youth to the conspirators’ objectives, he also stands guilty of heinous Crimes against Humanity as a Party and governmental administrator of high standing, after the conspiracy had reached its inevitable involvement in wars of aggression.

This completes, Your Honors, the presentation on the individual responsibility of the Defendant Schirach.

The Prosecution will next take up the responsibility of the Defendant Martin Bormann, and the presentation will be made by Lieutenant Lambert.

DR. SAUTER: Mr. President, as to the various errors made in the case against Schirach, I shall state my position when the Defense has its turn. But I should like to take the opportunity now of pointing out an error in translation in one of the documents. It is in Document 3352-PS.

It is an order of the Reich Chancellery to the subordinate offices, and this order mentions that the labor offices had to be at the disposal of the Gauleiter under certain circumstances. In the German original of this order it reads as follows: “Anregungen und Wünsche.” Now “Anregungen und Wünsche,” that is. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Which page of the document is it?

DR. SAUTER: I think, Page 512 of Document 3352-PS, on Page 117 of the document book.

This German expression “Anregungen und Wünsche” has been translated by “suggestions” (for “Anregungen”) and “demands” (for “Wünsche”).

The first translation, the translation for “Anregungen,” we consider to be correct; but the second translation, namely, “demands” for “Wünsche,” we consider false, because, so far as we know, this word is “Befehle” or “Forderungen” in German. We should consider it correct if the English translation “demands” could be translated by another word, “wishes,” which is an exact translation of the word “Wünsche.” I do not know whether I have pronounced the word correctly in English. That is all I have to say for the time being. Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT (to Captain Sprecher): Do you wish to say anything about that?

CAPT. SPRECHER: I think that Dr. Sauter has made a very good point. I have checked with the translator beside me, Your Honor, and the German word “Wünsche” has been translated too strongly.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

LIEUTENANT THOMAS F. LAMBERT, JR. (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): May it please the Tribunal, the Prosecution comes now to deal with the Defendant Bormann and to present the proofs establishing his responsibility for the crimes set forth in the Indictment. And, if the Tribunal will allow, we should like to observe on the threshold that because of the absence of the Defendant Bormann from the dock we believe that we should make an extra effort to make a solid record in the case against Bormann, out of fairness to Defense Counsel and for the convenience of the Tribunal.

I offer the document book supporting this trial address as U.S. Exhibit JJ, together with the trial brief against the Defendant Bormann.

The Defendant Bormann bears a major responsibility for promoting the accession to power of the Nazi conspirators, the consolidation of their total power over Germany, and the preparation for aggressive war set forth in Count One of the Indictment.

Upon the Record of this Trial the Nazi Party and its Leadership Corps were the main vehicles of the conspiracy and the fountainhead of the conspiracy.

Now, following the flight of the Defendant Hess to Scotland in May 1941, Bormann became executive chief of the Nazi Party. His official title was Chief of the Party Chancellery. Before that date Bormann was chief of staff to the Defendant Hess, the Deputy to the Führer.

By virtue of these two powerful positions—Chief of the Party Chancellery and Chief of Staff to the Deputy to the Führer—Bormann stands revealed as a principal architect of the conspiracy. Subject only—and we stress—subject only to the supreme authority of Hitler, Bormann engineered and employed the vast powers of the Party, its agencies, and formations, in furtherance of the Nazi conspiracy; and he employed the Party to impose the will of the conspirators upon the German people; and he then directed the powers of the Party in the drive to dominate Europe.

Accordingly, the Defendant Bormann is blameworthy for the multiple crimes of the conspiracy, for the multiple crimes committed by the Party, its agencies, and the German people, in furthering the conspiracy.

It might be helpful to give a very brief sketch of the career in conspiracy of the Defendant Bormann.

Bormann began his conspiratorial activities more than 20 years ago. In 1922, only 22 years of age, he joined the Organization Rossbach, one of the illegal groups which continued the militaristic traditions of the German Army and employed terror against the small struggling pacifist minority in Germany. While he was district leader for this organization in Mecklenburg, he was arrested and tried for his part in a political assassination, which, we suggest, indicates his disposition to use illegal methods to carry out purposes satisfactory to himself. On 15 May 1924 he was found guilty by the State Tribunal for the Protection of the Republic and sentenced to 1 year in prison.

Upon his release from prison in 1925 Bormann resumed his subversive activities. He joined the militarist organization “Frontbann,” and in the same year he joined the Nazi Party and began his ascent to a prominent position in the conspiracy. In 1927 he became press chief for the Party Gau of Thuringia. In other words, relating back to the case against the Leadership Corps, he became an important staff officer of a Gauleiter. On 1 April 1928 he was made District Leader (Bezirksleiter) in Thuringia and business manager for the entire Gau.

We come now to a particularly important point involving Bormann’s tie-up with the SA.

From 15 November 1928 to August 1930 he was on the staff of the Supreme Command of the SA.

Now the Tribunal has heard the demonstration of the criminality of the SA and knows full well that this was a semi-military organization of young men whose main mission was to get control of the streets and to impose terror on oppositional elements of the conspiracy.

Our submission at this stage is that, by virtue of Bormann’s position on the staff of the Supreme Command of the SA, he shares responsibility for the illegal activities of the SA in furtherance of the conspiracy.

In August 1930 Bormann organized the Aid Fund (Hilfskasse) of the Nazi Party, of which he became head. Through this fund he collected large sums for the alleged purpose of aiding the families of Party members who had been killed or injured while fighting for the Party.

As the Tribunal knows, on 30 January 1933 the conspirators and their Party took over the Government of Germany. Shortly thereafter, in July 1933, Bormann was given the number three position in the Party, that of chief of staff to the Defendant Hess, the Deputy to the Führer. At the same time he was made a Reichsleiter; and as the Tribunal knows, that makes him a member of the top level of the alleged illegal organization, the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party.

In November 1933 he was made a member of the Reichstag.

I request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of the authoritative German publication _The Greater German Reichstag_, edition of 1943. The facts which I have recited in the foregoing sketch of Defendant Bormann’s career are set forth on Page 167 of that publication, the English translation of which appears in Document 2981-PS of the document book now before the Tribunal.

With respect to Bormann’s conviction for political murder, I offer in evidence Document 3355-PS, Exhibit USA-682, which is the affidavit of Dr. Robert M. W. Kempner, and I quote therefrom briefly as follows:

“I, Robert M. W. Kempner, an expert consultant of the War Department, appeared before the undersigned attesting officer and, having been duly sworn, stated as follows:

“In my capacity as Superior Government Counsellor and Chief Legal Advisor of the pre-Hitler Prussian Police Administration, I became officially acquainted with the criminal record of Martin Bormann, identical with the Defendant Martin Bormann now under indictment before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.

“The official criminal record of Martin Bormann contained the following entry:

“Bormann, Martin, sentenced on May 15, 1924, by the State Tribunal for the Protection of the Republic, in Leipzig, Germany, to 1 year in prison, for having been an accomplice in the commission of a political murder.”—Signed—“Robert M. W. Kempner.”—End of quotation.

THE PRESIDENT: Lieutenant Lambert, I don’t think it is necessary for you, when dealing with a document of that sort, to read the formal parts. If you state the nature of the document and read the material part, you needn’t deal with the formal parts, for instance, “I, Robert Kempner, an expert consultant,” and all that. Do you understand me?

LT. LAMBERT: Thank you very much, Sir, for a very helpful suggestion.

As Defendant Hess’ chief of staff, Bormann was responsible for receiving and channelling up to the Defendant Hess the demands of the Party in all fields of State action. These demands were then secured by the Defendant Hess by virtue of his participation in the legislative process, his power with respect to the appointment and promotion of government officials, and by virtue of his position in the Reich Cabinet.

I come now, as it seems to us, to an important point, which ties up the Defendant Bormann with the SD and the Gestapo. As chief of staff of the Defendant Hess, Bormann took measures to reinforce the grip of the Gestapo and the SD over the German civil population. I request the Tribunal to notice judicially a Bormann order of 14 February 1935, set forth in the official publication _Decrees of the Deputy of the Führer_, Edition 1937, Page 257. I quote merely the pertinent portions of that decree, the English version of which is set forth in our Document 3237-PS, which reads as follows. That is our Document 3237-PS.

THE PRESIDENT: If it is a document of which we can take judicial notice, it is sufficient for you to summarize it without reading it.

LT. LAMBERT: I appreciate that, Sir. This quotation is so succinct and so brief that we perhaps could avoid summarization.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well, go on.

LT. LAMBERT: “The Deputy to the Führer expects that Party offices will now abandon all distrust of the SD and will support it wholeheartedly in the performance of the difficult tasks with which it has been entrusted for the protection of the Movement and our people.

“Because the work of the SD is primarily to the benefit of the work of the Party, it is inadmissable that its development be upset by uncalled-for attacks when individuals fall short of expectations. On the contrary, it must be wholeheartedly assisted.”—Signed—“Bormann, Chief of Staff to the Deputy to the Führer.”

That is with respect to Bormann’s support of the SD. I deal now with Bormann’s effort to support the work of the Gestapo.

THE PRESIDENT: Lieutenant Lambert, wouldn’t it be sufficient to say that document indicates the support Bormann promised to the SD?

LT. LAMBERT: I was anxious merely on one point, Sir, that a document was not in evidence unless it had been quoted.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you began by asking us to take judicial notice of it. If we can take judicial notice of it, it need not be quoted.

LT. LAMBERT: Then, with respect to Bormann’s efforts to reinforce the grip of the Gestapo, I request the Tribunal to notice judicially a Bormann order of 3 September 1935, calling on Party agencies to report to the Gestapo all persons who criticize Nazi institutions or the Nazi Party. This decree appears in the official Party publication _Decrees of the Deputy of the Führer_, 1937, at Page 190. The English translation is set forth in our Document 3239-PS. I shall summarize the effect of this document shortly. In its first paragraph it refers to a law of 20 December 1934. As the Tribunal will recall, this law gave the same protection to Party institutions and Party uniforms as enjoyed by the State; and in the first and second paragraphs of this decree it is indicated that whenever a case came up involving malicious or slanderous attack on Party members or the Nazi Party or its institutions, the Reich Minister of Justice would consult with the Deputy of the Führer in order to take joint action against the offenders. Then, in the third paragraph, Bormann gives his orders to all Party agencies with respect to reporting to the Gestapo individuals who criticized the Nazi Party or its institutions. I quote merely the last paragraph.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I took down what you said in your first sentence, which was that the document showed that he was ordering that a report should be made to the Gestapo on anyone criticizing the Party. Well, that is sufficient, it seems to me, and all that you said after is cumulative.

LT. LAMBERT: There is, however, one brief point, if I may be permitted, which I should like to emphasize, about the last paragraph, because I think it is helpful to the Prosecution’s case against the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party.

The Tribunal will recall that it asked certain very material questions with respect to whether the Prosecution’s evidence involved the rank and file of the Leadership Corps. In the last paragraph of this decree Bormann instructs the Ortsgruppenleiter—now that is way down in the Leadership Corps hierarchy under Kreisleiter and Gauleiter—to report to the Gestapo persons who criticize Nazi Party institutions.

Now, an important point with respect to the tie-up between Bormann and the SS. The Tribunal has already received the evidence establishing the criminality of the SS. In this connection, I respectfully request the Tribunal to notice judicially the July 1940 issue of _Das Archiv_, our Document 3234-PS. On Page 399 of that publication, under date 21 July 1940, it is stated that the Führer promoted Defendant Bormann from major general to lieutenant general in the SS. Accordingly, we respectfully submit that Bormann is chargeable and jointly responsible for the criminal activities of the SS.

After the flight of the Defendant Hess to Scotland in May 1941, the Defendant Bormann succeeded him as head of the Nazi Party under Hitler, with the title Chief of the Party Chancellery. I request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of a decree of 24 January 1942, 1942 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 35. In our conception this is an extremely important decree, because by virtue of it the participation of the Party in all legislation and in government appointments and promotions had to be undertaken exclusively by Bormann. He was to take part in the preparation—and we emphasize that—as well as the enactment and promulgation of all Reich laws and enactments; and further, he had to give his assent to all enactments of the Reich Länder—that is, the states—as well as all decrees of the Reich governors. All communications between state and Party officials had to pass through his hands. And, as a result of this law, we respectfully submit, Bormann is chargeable for every enactment issued in Germany after 24 January 1942 which facilitates and furthers the conspiracy.

It will be helpful, I believe, to point out and to request the Court to take judicial notice of a decree of 29 May 1941, 1941 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 295 (Document 2099-PS); in this decree Hitler ordered that Bormann should take over all powers and all offices formerly held by the Defendant Hess. I request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of another very important decree, that of the Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich, 16 November 1942 . . .

THE PRESIDENT: Are these documents set out in the document book?

LT. LAMBERT: Yes, Sir.

THE PRESIDENT: You haven’t given us the reference.

LT. LAMBERT: That is true, Sir. I recall from memory, although I do not have it in my manuscript, that document, that important decree of 24 January 1942, is our Document, I believe, 2100-PS.

I now request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of the important decree of the Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich, dated 16 November 1942, 1942 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 649 (Document JN-5). Under this decree all Gauleiter, who were under Bormann by virtue of his position as Chief of the Party Chancellery, were appointed Reich defense commissars and charged with the co-ordination, supervision, and management of the aggressive Nazi war effort.

From then on the Party, under Bormann, became the decisive force in planning and conducting the aggressive Nazi war economy.

On 12 April 1943, as is shown in the publication _The Greater German Reichstag_, 1943 edition, Page 167, our Document 2981-PS, Bormann was appointed Secretary of the Führer, and we submit that this fact testifies to the intimacy and influence of the Defendant Bormann with the Führer and enlarges his role in, and responsibility for, the conspiracy.

We now come to the important point of Bormann’s executive responsibility for the acts of the Volkssturm. I request the Tribunal to notice judicially a Führer order of 18 October 1944, which was published in the official _Völkischer Beobachter_, 20 October 1944 edition, in which Hitler appointed Bormann political and organizational leader of the Volkssturm. This is set forth in our Document 3018-PS. In this decree Himmler is made the military leader of the Volkssturm, but the organizational and political leadership is entrusted to Bormann. The Tribunal will know that the Volkssturm was an organization consisting of all German males between 16 and 60. By virtue of his leadership of the Volkssturm Bormann was instrumental in needlessly prolonging the war, with a consequential destruction of the German and the European economy and a loss of life and destruction of property.

We come now to deal with the responsibility of the Defendant Bormann with respect to persecution of the Church. The Defendant Bormann authorized, directed, and participated in measures involving the persecution of the Christian Church. The Tribunal, of course, has heard much in this proceeding concerning the acts of the conspiracy involving the persecution of the Church. We have no desire now to rehash that evidence. We are interested in one thing alone, and that is nailing on the Defendant Bormann his responsibility, his personal, individual responsibility, for the persecution of the Church.

I shall now present the proofs showing the responsibility of Bormann with respect to such persecution of the Christian churches.

Bormann was among the most relentless enemies of the Christian Church and Christian clergy in Germany and in German-occupied Europe. I refer the Tribunal, without quoting therefrom, to Document D-75, previously introduced in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-348, which contains a copy of the secret Bormann decree of 6 June 1941 entitled “The Relationship of National Socialism to Christianity.” In this decree, as the Tribunal will well recall, Bormann bluntly declared that National Socialism and Christianity were incompatible, and he indicated that the ultimate aim of the conspirators was to assure the elimination of Christianity itself.

I next refer the Tribunal, without quotation, to Document 098-PS, previously put in as Exhibit Number USA-350. This is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to the Defendant Rosenberg, dated 22 February 1940, in which Bormann reaffirms the incompatibility of Christianity and National Socialism.

Now, in furtherance of the conspirators’ aim to undermine the Christian churches, Bormann took measures to eliminate the influence of the Christian Church from within the Nazi Party and its formations. I now offer in evidence Document 113-PS, as Exhibit USA-683. This is an order of the Defendant Bormann, dated 27 July 1938, issued as chief of staff to the Deputy of the Führer, Hess, which prohibits clergymen from holding Party offices. I shall not take the time of the Tribunal to spread this quotation upon the Record. The point of it is, as indicated, that Bormann issued an order forbidding the appointment of clergymen to Party positions.

THE PRESIDENT: Perhaps this would be a good time to break off for 10 minutes.

[_A recess was taken._]

LT. LAMBERT: May it please the Tribunal, we are dealing with the efforts of the Defendant Bormann to expel and exorcise from the Party all church and religious influence.

I offer in evidence Document 838-PS, as Exhibit USA-684. I shall not burden the Record with extensive quotation from this exhibit, but merely point out that this is a copy of a Bormann decree dated 3 June 1939, which laid it down that followers of Christian Science should be excluded from the Party.

The attention of the Tribunal is next invited to Document 840-PS, previously introduced in evidence as Exhibit USA-355. The Tribunal will recall that this was a Bormann decree of 14 July 1939, referring with approval to an earlier Bormann decree of 9 February 1937 in which the Defendant Bormann ruled that in the future all Party members who entered the clergy or who undertook the study of theology were to be expelled from the Party.

I next offer in evidence Document 107-PS, Exhibit USA-351. This is a circular directive of the Defendant Bormann, dated 17 June 1938, addressed to all Reichsleiter and Gauleiter—top leaders of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party—transmitting a copy of directions relating to the non-participation of the Reich Labor Service in religious celebrations. The Reich Labor Service, the Tribunal will recall, compulsorily incorporated all Germans within its organization.

DR. FRIEDRICH BERGOLD (Counsel for Defendant Bormann): The member of the Prosecution has just submitted a number of documents, in which he proves that, on the suggestion of Bormann, members of the Christian religion were to be excluded from the Party or from certain organizations. I beg the High Tribunal to allow the member of the Prosecution to explain to me how and why this activity, that is, the exclusion of Christians from the Party, can be a War Crime. I cannot gather this evidence from the trial brief. The Party is described as criminal—as a conspiracy. Is it a crime to exclude certain people from membership in a criminal conspiracy? Is that considered a crime? How and why is the exclusion of certain members from the Party a crime?

THE PRESIDENT: Counsel will answer you.

LT. LAMBERT: If the Tribunal will willingly accommodate argument at this stage, we find that the question. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Only short argument.

LT. LAMBERT: Yes, Sir. . . . admits of a short, and, as it seems to us, an easy answer.

The point we are now trying to prove—and evidence is abounding on it—is that Bormann had a hatred and an enmity and took oppositional measures towards the Christian Church. The Party was the repository of political power in Germany. To have power one had to be in the Party or subject to its favor. By his efforts, concerted, continuing, and consistent, to exclude clergymen, theological students, or any persons sympathetic to the Christian religion, Bormann could not have chosen a clearer method of showing and demonstrating his hatred and his distrust of the Christian religion and those who supported it.

THE PRESIDENT: Counsel for Bormann can present his argument upon this subject at a later stage. The documents appear to the Tribunal to be relevant.

LT. LAMBERT: With the Tribunal’s permission, I had just put in Document 107-PS and pointed out that it transmitted directions relating to the non-participation of the Reich Labor Service in religious celebrations. I quote merely the fourth and fifth paragraphs of Page 1 of the English translation of Document 107-PS, which reads as follows:

“All religious discussion is forbidden in the Reich Labor Service because it disturbs the comrade-like union of all working men and women.

“For this reason also any participation of the Reich Labor Service in church, that is, confessional, services and celebrations is impossible.”

The attention of the Tribunal is next invited to Document 070-PS, previously put in as Exhibit USA-349. The Tribunal will recall that this was a letter from Bormann’s office to the Defendant Rosenberg, dated 25 April 1941, in which Bormann declared that he had achieved progressive success in reducing and abolishing religious services in schools and in replacing Christian prayers with National Socialist mottoes and rituals. In this letter Bormann also proposed a Nazified morning service in the schools in place of the existing confession and morning service.

In his concerted efforts to undermine and subvert the Christian churches, Bormann authorized, directed, and participated in measures leading to the closing, reduction, and suppression of theological schools, faculties, and institutions. The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document 116-PS, Exhibit Number USA-685, which I offer in evidence. This is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to the Defendant Rosenberg, dated 24 January 1939, enclosing for Rosenberg’s cognizance a copy of Bormann’s letter to the Reich Minister for Science, Education, and Popular Culture. In the enclosed letter Bormann informs the Minister as to the Party’s position in favor of restricting and suppressing theological faculties. Bormann states that, owing to war conditions, it had become necessary to reorganize the German high schools and, in view of this situation, he requested the Minister to restrict and suppress certain theological faculties.

I now quote from the first paragraph on Page 3 of the English translation of Document 116-PS, which reads as follows:

“I therefore should like to see you put the theological faculties under substantial limitations, where, for the above reasons, they cannot be entirely eliminated. This will apply not only to the theological faculties at universities but also to the various state institutions which, as seminaries having no affiliation with any university, still exist in many places.

“I request that no express explanations be given to churches or other institutions and that public announcement of these measures be avoided. Complaints and the like are to be answered if at all, with the explanation that these measures are carried out in the course of planned economy and that the same is happening to other faculties.

“I would be glad if the professorial chairs thus made vacant could then be turned over especially to those fields of research newly created in recent years, such as racial research, archeology, _et cetera_, Martin Bormann.”

In our submission, what this document comes to is a request from Bormann to this effect: Please close down the religious faculties and substitute in their place Nazi faculties and university chairs with the mission of investigating racism, cultism, Nazi archeology. This sort of thing was done in the Hohe Schule, as was so clearly demonstrated in the Prosecution’s case against the plundering activities of the Einsatzstab Rosenberg.

The attention of the Tribunal is next invited to Document 122-PS, previously put in as Exhibit Number USA-362. The Tribunal will recall that 122-PS is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to the Defendant Rosenberg, dated 17 April 1939, transmitting to Rosenberg a photostatic copy of the plan of the Reich Minister of Science, Education, and Popular Culture for the combining and dissolving of certain specified theological faculties. In his letter of transmittal Bormann requested Rosenberg to take “cognizance and prompt action” with respect to the proposed suppression of religious institutions.

I next offer in evidence Document 123-PS, Exhibit USA-686. This is a confidential letter from the Defendant Bormann to the Minister of Education, dated 23 June 1939, in which Bormann sets forth the Party’s decision to order the suppression of numerous theological faculties and religious institutions. The Tribunal will note that the letter lists 19 separate religious institutions with respect to which Bormann ordered dissolution or restriction.

After directing the action to be taken by the Minister in connection with the various theological faculties, Bormann stated as follows—and I quote from the next to last paragraph of Page 3 of the English translation of Document 123-PS:

“In the above I have informed you of the Party’s wishes, after thorough investigation of the matter with all Party offices. I should be grateful if you would initiate the necessary measures as quickly as possible. With regard to the great political significance which every single case of such a consolidation will have for the Gau concerned, I ask you to take these measures and particularly to fix dates for them always in agreement with me.”

I next offer in evidence, without quotation, Document 131-PS as Exhibit USA-687. In summary, without quotation therefrom, this is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to the Defendant Rosenberg, dated 12 December 1939, relating to the suppression of seven professorships in the near-by University of Munich.

Now I deal briefly with the responsibility of Bormann for the confiscation of religious property and cultural property. Bormann used his paramount power and position to cause the confiscation of religious property and to subject the Christian churches and clergy to a discriminatory legal regime.

I offer in evidence Document 099-PS, Exhibit USA-688. This is a copy of a letter from Bormann to the Reich Minister for Finance, dated 19 January 1940, in which Bormann demanded a great increase in the special war tax imposed on the churches. I quote from the first two paragraphs of Page 2 of the English translation of Document 099-PS, which read as follows:

“As it has been reported to me, the war contribution of the churches for the 3-month period beginning 1 November 1939 has been tentatively set at RM 1,800,000 per month, of which RM 1 million are to be paid by the Protestant Church, and RM 800,000 by the Catholic Church.

“The fixing of such a low amount has surprised me. I see from numerous reports that political communities are obliged to raise such a large war contribution that the performance of their tasks—some of them very important; for example, in the field of public welfare—is endangered. In view of this, a higher quota also from the churches appears to me to be absolutely justified.”

The question may arise: Of what criminal effect is it to demand larger taxes from church institutions? As to this demand of Bormann’s taken by itself, the Prosecution would not suggest that it had criminal effect, but when viewed within the larger frame of Bormann’s demonstrated hostility to the Christian Church and his efforts not merely to circumscribe but to eliminate it, we suggest that this document has probative value in showing Bormann’s hostility and his concrete measures to effectuate that hostility against the Christian churches and clergy.

I next refer the Tribunal to Document 089-PS, previously put in as Exhibit Number USA-360. The Tribunal will recall that this was a letter from Bormann to Reichsleiter Amann, dated 8 March 1940, in which Bormann instructed Amann, Reichsleiter of the Press, to make a sharper restriction in paper distribution against religious writings in favor of publications more acceptable to the Nazi ideology.

I next offer in evidence Document 066-PS, as Exhibit USA-689. This is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to the Defendant Rosenberg, dated 24 June 1940, transmitting a draft of a proposed discriminatory church law for Danzig and West Prussia. This decree is a direct abridgment of religious freedom, for in Paragraph 1—I do not quote, but briefly and rapidly summarize—the approval of the Reich deputy for Danzig and West Prussia is required as a condition for the legal competence of all religious organizations.

Paragraph 3 of the decree suspended all claims of religious organizations and congregations to state or municipal subsidies and prohibited religious organizations from exercising their right of collecting dues without the approval of the Reich deputy.

In Paragraph 5 of the decree the acquisition of property by religious organizations was made subject to the approval of the Reich deputy. All credit rights acquired by religious organizations prior to 1 January 1940 were required to be ratified by the Reich Deputy in order to become actionable.

I now offer in evidence Document 1600-PS, Exhibit USA-690. This comprises correspondence of Bormann during 1940 and 1941 relating to the confiscation of religious art treasures. I quote the text of the second letter set forth on Page 1 of the English translation of Document 1600-PS, which is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to Dr. Posse of the State Picture Gallery in Dresden, dated 16 January 1941, which reads as follows, and I quote:

“Dear Dr. Posse:

“Enclosed herewith I am sending you the pictures of the altar from the convent in Hohenfurth near Krumau. The convent and its entire property will be confiscated in the immediate future because of the subversive attitude of its inmates toward the State.

“It would be up to you to decide whether the pictures are to remain in the convent at Hohenfurth or are to be transferred to the museum at Linz after its completion.

“I shall await your opinion in the matter. Bormann.”

The Tribunal may know that, in what is described as Hitler’s last will and testament, he makes a bequest of all the art treasures he had in the museum at Linz, and from a legal point of view he uses the euphemism “art treasures which I have bought.” This document, on its face, suggests how at least certain of the properties, the art treasures in the museum at Linz, were acquired.

Finally, as the war drew increasing numbers of German youth into the Armed Forces, the Defendant Bormann took measures to exclude and exorcise all religious influence from the troops. The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document 101-PS, previously put in as Exhibit Number USA-361. The Tribunal will recall that this is a letter from the Defendant Bormann, dated 17 January 1940, in which Bormann pronounced the Party’s opposition to the circulation of religious literature to the members of the German Armed Forces. In this letter Bormann stated that if the influence of the church upon the troops was to be effectively fought, this could only be done by producing, in the shortest possible time, a large amount of Nazi pamphlets and publications.

I now offer in evidence Document 100-PS, as Exhibit Number USA-691. This is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to Rosenberg, dated 18 January 1940, in which Bormann declares that the publication of Nazi literature for army recruits as a counter measure to the circulation of religious writings was the “most essential demand of the hour.”

I forbear quoting from that document. Its substance is indicated.

I now request the Tribunal to notice judicially the authoritative Nazi publication entitled _Decrees of the Deputy of the Führer_, edition of 1937; and I quote from Page 235 of this volume the pertinent and important decree issued by the Defendant Bormann to the Commissioner of the Party Directorate, dated 7 January 1936, the English version of which is set forth in the English translation of our Document 3246-PS. In this one sentence Bormann aims and directs the terror of the Gestapo against dissident church members who crossed the conspirators, and I quote:

“If parish priests or other subordinate Roman Catholic leaders adopt an attitude of hostility toward the State or Party, it shall be reported to the Secret State Police”—Gestapo—“through official channels.”—Signed—“Bormann.”

By leave of the Tribunal, I come now to deal with the responsibility of the Defendant Bormann for the persecution of the Jews.

Again, the Prosecution seeks not to rehash the copious evidence in the Record on the persecution of the Jews but rather to limit itself to evidence fastening on the Defendant Bormann his individual responsibility for the persecution of the Jews. Bormann shares the deep guilt of the Nazi conspirators for their odious program in the persecution of the Jews. It was the Defendant Bormann, we would note, who was charged by Hitler with the transmission and implementation of the Führer’s orders for the liquidation of the so-called Jewish problem.

Following the Party-planned and Party-directed program of 8 and 9 November 1938, in the course of which a large number of Jews were killed and harmed, Jewish shops pillaged and wrecked, and synagogues set ablaze all over the Reich, the Defendant Bormann, on orders from Hitler, instructed the Defendant Göring to proceed to the “final settlement of the Jewish question” in Germany.

The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document 1816-PS, previously put in as Exhibit USA-261. The Tribunal is well acquainted with this document. It has frequently been referred to. The Tribunal knows that Document 1816-PS is the minutes of a conference on the Jewish question, held under the direction of Göring on the 12th of November 1938. 1 quote only the first sentence of Document 1816-PS, which fastens the responsibility upon Bormann and which reads as follows:

“Göring: ‘Gentlemen, today’s meeting is of a decisive nature. I have received a letter written on the Führer’s orders by the Chief of Staff of the Führer’s Deputy, Bormann, requesting that the Jewish question be now, once and for all, co-ordinated and solved in one way or another.’”

The Tribunal is well aware of the proposals, the discussions, and the actions taken in this conference that constituted the so-called “settlement of the Jewish question.”

As a result of this conference a series of anti-Jewish decrees and measures were issued and adopted by the Nazi conspirators. I offer in evidence Document 069-PS, Exhibit USA-589. This is a decree of Bormann, dated 17 January 1939, in which Bormann demands compliance with the new anti-Jewish regulations stemming and flowing from the Göring conference just referred to, under which Jews were denied access to housing, travel, and other facilities of ordinary life. I quote the Bormann order, which appears at Page 1 of the English translation of Document 069-PS, which reads as follows:

“According to a report of General Field Marshal Göring, the Führer has made some basic decisions regarding the Jewish question. The decisions are brought to your attention in the enclosure. Strict compliance with these directives is requested.”—Signed—“Bormann.”

In the interests of expediting the proceedings, I shall resist the temptation to quote extensively from the enclosed order in Bormann’s letter of transmittal. In effect, the crux of it is that Jews are denied sleeping compartments in trains, the right to give their trade to certain hotels in Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, and the like. They are banned and excluded from swimming pools, certain public squares, resort towns, mineral baths, and the like. The stigma, the degradation, and the inconvenience in the ordinary affairs of life promoted by this decree are plain.

I next request the Tribunal to notice judicially the decree of 12 November 1938, 1938 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 1580 (Document JN-6), quite familiar to this Tribunal, for it was the decree which excluded Jews from economic life. This decree forbade Jews to operate retail shops, and it was a decree which went far to eliminate Jews from economic life.

Now Bormann also acted through other state agencies to wipe out the economic existence of large sections of the Jewish population. In that respect I request the Tribunal to notice judicially the authoritative Nazi publication entitled _Decrees of the Deputy of the Führer_, edition of 1937, our Document 3240-PS. At Page 383 of this publication there appears a decree of the Defendant Bormann, dated 8 January 1937, reproducing an order of the Defendant Frick, issued at Bormann’s instigation, denying financial assistance to government employees who employed the services of Jewish doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, morticians, and other professional classes. I shall forbear from quoting the text of that decree. Its substance is as given.

If it please the Tribunal, for the benefit of the translators I shall continue reading from Page 25 of the manuscript.

After the outbreak of war the anti-Jewish measures increased in intensity and brutality. Thus, the Defendant Bormann participated in the arrangements for the deportation to Poland of 60,000 Jewish inhabitants of Vienna, in co-operation with the SS and the Gestapo. I have no doubt that the Tribunal received this document in connection with the case against Von Schirach; it is our Document 1950-PS, and on its face it points out, and Lammers says: Bormann has informed Von Schirach of your proposal to bring about the deportations. I limit myself to pointing out that single, solitary fact.

When Bormann succeeded the Defendant Hess as Chief of the Party Chancellery, he used his vast powers in such a way that he was a prime mover in the program of starvation, degradation, spoliation, and extermination of the Jews—and we use those terms advisedly—subject to the Draconian rule of the conspirators.

I request the Tribunal to notice judicially the decree of 31 May 1941, 1941 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 297, which was signed by the Defendant Bormann and which extends the discriminatory Nuremberg laws into the annexed Eastern territories. I request the Tribunal to notice judicially the 11th ordinance under the Reich citizenship law of 25 November 1941, 1941 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 722, signed by Defendant Bormann, which ordered the confiscation of the property of all Jews who had left Germany or who had been deported.

I request the Tribunal to notice judicially an order of Bormann’s dated 23 October 1941. . .

THE PRESIDENT: You have not given us the PS numbers of either the decree of 31 of May 1941 or the one after that.

LT. LAMBERT: I confess dereliction of duty there. These decrees, in translated form, are all in the document book. I do not have, in my manuscript, their PS citation. However, in the brief now filed with or soon to be delivered to the Tribunal, these decrees are given with their PS numbers opposite.

THE PRESIDENT: 3354-PS and 3241-PS.

LT. LAMBERT: That is very good of you, Sir. Thank you.

I request the Tribunal to notice judicially an order of the Defendant Bormann, dated 23 October 1942, Volume II of the publication _Decrees, Regulations, Announcements_, Page 147. This is our document, I rejoice to be able to say, 3243-PS, which announces a Ministry of Food decree, issued at Bormann’s instigation, which deprived Jews of many essential food items, all special sickness and pregnancy rations for expectant mothers and ordered confiscation of food parcels sent to the beleaguered Jews from the sympathetic outside world.

I now request the Tribunal to notice judicially the 13th ordinance under the Reich citizenship law of 1 July 1943, 1943 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 372, signed by the Defendant Bormann, under which all Jews were completely withdrawn from the protection of the ordinary courts and handed over to the exclusive jurisdiction of Himmler’s police. This is our Document 1422-PS.

With leave of the Tribunal, we respectfully request the opportunity to underline the significance of that decree. In a society which desires to live under the rule of law, men are judged only after appearance before, and adjudication by, a court of law. The effect of this decree was to remove all alleged Jewish offenders from the jurisdiction of the courts of law and to turn them over to the police. The police were to have jurisdiction over alleged Jewish offenders, not the tribunal of law.

The result of this law was soon forthcoming, a result for which the Defendant Bormann shares the responsibility. On July 3, 1943, Himmler issued a decree, our Document 3085-PS, 1943 _Ministry of Interior Gazette_, Page 1085. I respectfully request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of this decree, which charged the Himmler police and Gestapo with the execution of the foregoing ordinance closing the courts to the Jews and entrusting them to Himmler’s police.

Finally, with respect to Bormann’s responsibility for the persecution of the Jews, I request the Tribunal to notice judicially a decree of Bormann’s, dated 9 October 1942, Volume II, _Decrees, Regulations, Announcements_, Pages 131, 132. It declared that the problem of eliminating forever millions of Jews from Greater German territory could no longer be solved by emigration merely, but only by the application of ruthless force in special camps in the East.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): What are you referring to there?

LT. LAMBERT: That, Sir, is Document 3244-PS.

We had desired at the outset, Sir, to quote this decree in full as an irrefutable answer to a question put by Defense Counsel some days ago in cross-examination, as to whether or not anti-Semitic policies of the conspirators were the policies merely of certain demented or deviational members of the conspiracy and not the concerted, settled policy of the conspiracy itself. Time does not permit the full quotation of this decree, but with the indulgence of the Tribunal, if I may offer the essence of this decree in a brief sentence or two.

Bormann starts out in this decree by saying: Recently rumors have been stimulated throughout the Reich as to “‘violent things’ we are doing with respect to the Jews.” These rumors are being brought back to the Reich by our returning soldiers who have eye-witnessed them in the East. If we are to combat the effect of these rumors, then our attitude, as I now outline it to you officially, must be communicated to the German civil population. Bormann then reviews what he terms “the two-thousand-year-old struggle against Judaism,” and he divides the Party’s program into two spheres: the first, the effort of the Party and the conspirators to excommunicate and expel the Jews from the economic and social life of Germany. Then he adds: When we started rolling with our war, this measure by itself was not enough; we had to resort to forced emigration and set up our camps in the East. He then goes on to say that: As our armies have advanced in the East, we have overrun the lands to which we have sent the Jews, and now these emigration measures, our second proposal, are no longer sufficient.

Then he comes to the proposal, the considered proposal of himself and the Party Chancellery: We must transport these Jews eastward and farther eastward and place them in special camps for forced labor. I quote now merely the last sentence of Bormann’s decree:

“It lies in the very nature of the matter that these problems, which in part are very difficult, can be solved only with ruthless severity in the interest of the final security of our people.”—Bormann.

With leave of the Tribunal, I come now to deal. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Is it signed by Bormann? It does not appear to be. I thought you said, “Bormann.”

LT. LAMBERT: That is what I said, true, Sir.

If the Tribunal will refer, as it has, to Document 3244-PS, it is clear that this is a Bormann decree, issued from the Office of the Deputy to the Führer. It is true in this translation of the decree, Sir, Bormann’s name is not affixed; but in the original volume it is very clear that this is a decree of Bormann’s, issued from the Party Chancellery. The Prosecution so assures the Tribunal and accepts responsibility for that submission.

With leave of the Tribunal, I now come to deal with the responsibility of the Defendant Bormann for overt acts, for the commission and planning of a wide variety of crimes in furtherance of the conspiracy. The Tribunal knows the vast powers that Bormann possessed; that has already been put in evidence. Our point is that he used these vast powers, buttressed by his position as secretary to the Führer attending all the conferences at the Führer’s headquarters, in the planning, the authorization, and the participation in overt acts denominated War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.

The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document L-221, previously put in as Exhibit USA-317. The Tribunal knows that this document is a comprehensive report, dated 16 July 1941, made by the Defendant Bormann just 3 weeks after the invasion of the territory of the Soviet Union by Germany. It is a report of a 20-hour conference at Hitler’s field headquarters with the Defendants Göring, Rosenberg, Keitel, and with Reich Minister Lammers. This conference resulted in the adoption of detailed plans and directives for the enslavement, depopulation, Germanization, and annexation of extensive territories in the Soviet Union and other countries of eastern Europe.

In his report on this conference, set forth in Document L-221, Bormann included numerous proposals of his own for the execution of these plans.

Later the Defendant Bormann took a prominent part in implementing the conspiratorial program. The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document 072-PS, previously put in as Exhibit USA-357. The Tribunal will recall that this is a letter from the Defendant Bormann to the Defendant Rosenberg, dated 19 April 1941, dealing with the confiscation of cultural property in the East. I quote merely the last two paragraphs of the English translation of Document 072-PS, which reads as follows:

“The Führer emphasized that in the Balkans the use of your experts”—I parenthetically insert that that is the experts of the Einsatzstab Rosenberg organization, the plundering organization—“the use of your experts would not be necessary, since there were no art objects to be confiscated. In Belgrade, only the collection of Prince Paul existed, which would be returned to him completely. The remaining material of the lodges, _et cetera_, would be seized by the men of SS Gruppenführer Heydrich.

“The libraries and art objects of the monasteries confiscated in the Reich were to remain for the time being in these monasteries, insofar as the Gauleiter had not determined otherwise. After the war, a careful examination of the stock could be undertaken. Under no circumstances, however, should a centralization of all the libraries be undertaken . . . .”—Signed—“Bormann.”

I now offer in evidence Document 061-PS, Exhibit USA-692. This is a secret letter from Bormann, dated 11 January 1944, in which Bormann discloses—and we stress this, very important as it seems to us—the existence of large-scale operations to drain off commodities from German-occupied Europe for delivery to the bombed-out population in Germany. The Tribunal knows that the Hague Regulations and the laws of war permit the requisitioning of goods and services only for the use of the Army of Occupation and for the needs of the administration of the area. This proposal and this action represent the requisitioning of materials in occupied areas for the use of the folk at home—of the home front.

I now quote the first two paragraphs of the English translation—Bormann’s letter of 11 January 1944, set forth in the English translation of our Document 061-PS, which reads as follows:

“Since the supply of textiles and household goods for the bombed population is becoming increasingly difficult, the proposition was made repeatedly to effect purchases in the occupied territories in greater proportions. Various Gauleiter proposed to let these purchases be handled by suitable private merchants who know these districts and have corresponding connections.

“I have brought these proposals to the attention of the Reich Minister of Economics and am quoting his reply of 16 December 1943 on account of its fundamental importance:

“‘I consider it an especially important task to make use of the economic power of the occupied territories for the Reich. You are aware of the fact that, since the occupation of the Western territories, the buying out of these countries has been effected to the greatest extent possible. Raw materials, semi-finished products, and stocks in finished goods have been rolling into Germany for months; valuable machines were sent to our armaments industry. Everything was done at that time to increase our armament potentialities. Later on, the shipments of these important economic goods were replaced by the so-called transfer of orders from industry to industry.’”

I shall end the quotation there. The rest is not material to the point.

In the course of the war—and this is of utmost importance in the view of the Prosecution. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Is it clear that that was confiscation?

LT. LAMBERT: It was not suggested, Sir, that this was confiscation. Our point was that the Hague regulations allow requisitions in return for payment only for the needs of the army of occupation and for the needs of administration of the occupied area. This represents, as it seems to us, a requisitioning program for the needs of the home front. It is on that point that we offer it.

We come now to what the Prosecution considers a most important point against the Defendant Bormann. In the course of the war Bormann issued a series of orders establishing Party jurisdiction over the treatment of prisoners of war, especially when employed as forced labor.

The Tribunal knows that, under the Geneva Convention of 1929 relating to prisoners of war, prisoners of war are the captives, not of the troops who take them or even of the army which captures them, but of the capturing power; and it is the capturing power which has jurisdiction over and responsibility for them.

By the series of decrees now to be put in, Bormann asserts and establishes Nazi Party jurisdiction over Allied prisoners of war. In the exercise of that Party jurisdiction he called for excessively harsh and brutal treatment of Allied prisoners of war.

I now offer in evidence Document 232-PS as Exhibit USA-693. This is a decree of the Defendant Bormann, dated 13 September 1944, addressed—will the Tribunal please note—to all Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, and Kreisleiter, and leaders of the Nazi affiliated organizations—numerous levels, that is, of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party—a decree establishing Nazi Party jurisdiction over the use of prisoners of war for forced labor.

I quote the first three paragraphs of Bormann’s order, set forth on Page 1 of the English translation of Document 232-PS, which reads as follows:

“The regulations valid until now on the treatment of prisoners of war and the tasks of the guard units are no longer justified in view of the demands of the total war effort.”

The Prosecution would intrude to ask the question: Since when do the exigencies of the war effort repeal or modify the provisions of international law?

“Therefore, the OKW, on my suggestion issued the regulation, a copy of which is enclosed.

“The following observations are made on its contents:

“1. The understanding exists between the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces and myself that the co-operation of the Party in the commitment of prisoners of war is inevitable. Therefore, the officers assigned to the prisoner-of-war organization have been instructed to co-operate most closely with the Hoheitsträger. The commandants of the prisoner-of-war camps have immediately to detail liaison officers to the Kreisleiter.

“Thus the opportunity will be afforded the Hoheitsträger to alleviate existing difficulties locally, to exercise influence on the behavior of guards units”—and this is the point we underline—“and better to assimilate the commitment of prisoners of war to the political and economic demands.”

Will the Tribunal permit me to observe that on the face of this order, addressed to Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, and Kreisleiter, and so to the officials of the Leadership Corps, in the terms of the order itself Hoheitsträger are referred to as co-operating media in this scheme.

The Tribunal has graciously given me an opportunity to observe that this decree is addressed to Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, and to the leaders of the affiliated and controlled Nazi organizations. As the Tribunal knows, within the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party the Kreisleiter is a pretty low level. That is a county leader. On the face of the decree itself the co-operation of the Hoheitsträger is directed—and the Tribunal knows, under the evidence presented against the Leadership Corps, that Hoheitsträger range all the way from the Reichsleiter on the top—down to and including the 500,000 or so Blockleiter implicated.

I next offer in evidence Document D-163 as Exhibit USA-694. This is a letter of the Defendant Bormann, dated 5 November 1941, addressed—the Tribunal will please note—to all Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, and Kreisleiter (the last just mere county leaders), transmitting to these officials of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party the instructions of the Reich Minister of the Interior prohibiting decent burials with religious ceremonies for Russian prisoners of war. I quote the pertinent portions of these instructions, beginning with the next to the last sentence of Page 1 of the English translation of D-163, which reads as follows:

“To save costs, service departments of the Army will generally be contacted regarding transport of corpses (furnishing of vehicles) whenever possible. No coffins will be indented for the transfer and burial. The body will be completely enveloped with strong paper (if possible, oil, tar, asphalt paper) or other suitable material. Transfer and burial is to be carried out unobtrusively. If a number of corpses have to be disposed of, the burial will be carried out in a communal grave. In this case, the bodies will be buried side by side (not on top of each other) and in accordance with the local custom regarding depth of graves. Where a graveyard is the place of burial a distant part will be chosen.

“No”—we repeat—“No burial ceremony or decoration of graves will be allowed.”

I now offer in evidence Document 228-PS, Exhibit USA-695. This is a Bormann circular, dated 25 November 1943, issued from the headquarters of the Führer, demanding harsher treatment of prisoners of war and the increased exploitation of their manpower. I now quote the Bormann circular which is set forth on Page 1 of the English translation of Document 228-PS, which reads as follows:

“Individual Gau administrations often refer in reports to a too indulgent treatment of prisoners of war on the part of the guard personnel. In many places, according to these reports, the guarding authorities have even developed into protectors and caretakers of the prisoners of war.

“I informed the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces of these reports, with the comment that the productive German working population absolutely cannot understand it if, in a time when the German people is fighting for existence or nonexistence, prisoners of war—hence our enemies—are leading a better life than the German working man and that it is an urgent duty of every German who has to do with prisoners of war, to bring about a complete utilization of their manpower.

“The chief of prisoner-of-war affairs in the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces has now given the unequivocal order, attached hereto in copy form, to the commanders of prisoners of war in the military districts. I request that this order be brought orally to the attention of all Party office holders in the appropriate manner.

“In case that in the future, complaints about unsuitable treatment of prisoners of war still come to light, they are to be immediately communicated to the commanders of the prisoners of war with a reference to the attached order.”

The Tribunal will note, of course, that on the face of the decree Bormann instructs that these orders be communicated orally to all Party officials and that surely must include the members of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party.

THE PRESIDENT: Speaking for myself, I don’t see anything particularly wrong in that communication.

LT. LAMBERT: On that point, Sir, we submit that if you take a document which says, “We wish to utilize all the labor power of prisoners of war in our control possible and to get this result by suitable means,” probably it tends to appear unexceptional. But viewing this document in relation to the other evidence in, and to be presented, which show a concerted and settled policy by Bormann and his co-conspirators to. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it isn’t necessary to argue it.

LT. LAMBERT: Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.

The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document 656-PS, previously put in as Exhibit USA-339. The Tribunal will recall that this is a secret Bormann circular transmitting instructions of the Nazi High Command of 29 January 1943, providing for the enforcement of labor demands on Allied prisoners of war through the use of weapons and corporal punishment. I quote a brief excerpt from these instructions, beginning with the third sentence of the third numbered paragraph of Page 2 of the English translation of Document 656-PS, which reads as follows; and I quote:

“Should the prisoner of war not fulfill his order, then he has”—that is the guard unit, the guard personnel—“then he has, in the case of very exceptional need and extreme danger, the right to force obedience with weapons, if he has no other means. He may use the weapon insofar as this is necessary to attain his goal. If the assistant guard is not armed, then he is authorized in forcing obedience by other appropriate means.”

The Tribunal knows that, under the Geneva Prisoners-of-War Convention of 1929, when prisoners of war prove derelict and refuse to carry out proper orders of the captive power or its forces, such prisoners of war are subject to court-martial and military proceedings as if they were serving under their own forces. Here is a decree which, on its face, authorizes or attempts to authorize guard personnel to use the rifle or other suitable means of violence; and of course Your Lordship will understand it was this type of document we had in mind when we suggested that the decree of Bormann should be considered in the light of his other orders relating to the treatment of prisoners of war.

THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn now.

[_The Tribunal recessed until 1400 hours._]

_Afternoon Session_

LT. LAMBERT: The Tribunal will recall that at the close of the morning session I had been putting in a series of decrees of the Defendant Bormann in which he called for increasingly harsh and severe treatment of Allied prisoners of war. These instructions issued by the Defendant Bormann culminated in his decree of 30 September 1944. The attention of the Tribunal is invited to Document 058-PS, previously put in as Exhibit Number USA-456. The Tribunal will recall that this decree of the Defendant Bormann removed jurisdiction over all prisoners of war from the Nazi High Command and transferred it to Himmler. The decree also provided that all PW camp commanders should be under the orders of the local SS commanders. By virtue of this order of the Defendant Bormann, Hitler was enabled to proceed with his program of inhuman treatment and even extermination of Allied prisoners of war.

We now proceed to put in what the Prosecution conceive to be extremely important and extremely incriminating evidence against Bormann and the co-conspirators, that is, the responsibility of the Defendant Bormann for the organized lynching of Allied airmen. I offer in evidence Document 062-PS, Exhibit Number USA-696; and I very respectfully request the Tribunal to turn to this document. On its face it is an order dated 13 March 1940 from the Defendant Hess addressed to Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, and other Nazi officials and organizations. In this order these Party officials are instructed by the Defendant Hess to instruct the German civil population to arrest or liquidate all bailed-out Allied fliers. I call the attention of the Tribunal to the third paragraph on the first page of the English translation of Document 062-PS. In the third paragraph Hess directs that these instructions, which I shall soon read, are to be passed out only orally to all—will the Tribunal please mark that—district leaders or Kreisleiter, Ortsgruppenleiter, cell leaders, and even the block leaders; that is to say, this order must be passed out by all the officials of the Leadership Corps to the Hoheitsträger, ranging from Reichsleiter down to, and including, the Blockleiter.

Now turn to Document 062-PS, and the Tribunal will find the instructions which Hess demanded be disseminated by the Leadership Corps orally: The lynching of Allied fliers. These directions are headed: “About behavior in case of landings of enemy planes or parachutists.” The first three instructions I omit as not material to the basic point now being made. Instruction 4 reads, and I quote: “Likewise enemy parachutists are immediately to be arrested or liquidated.”

It speaks for itself and requires no further comment from the Prosecution.

Now, in order to insure the success of this scheme ordered by the Defendant Hess, Bormann issued a secret letter, dated 30 May 1944, to the officials, if the Tribunal will please mark, of the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, prohibiting any police measures or criminal proceedings against German civilians who had lynched or murdered Allied airmen. This document, our 057-PS, has been previously put in and received by the Tribunal in connection with the Prosecution’s case against the alleged criminal organization, the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party.

Now, may it please the Tribunal, that such lynchings, organized, authorized, and consented to by Defendant Bormann, actually took place has since been fully and indisputably demonstrated by trials by American military commissions which have resulted in the conviction of German civilians for the murder of Allied fliers. I request the Tribunal to take judicial notice of Military Commission Order Number 2, Headquarters 15th U. S. Army, dated 23 June 1945. This order is our Document 2559-PS. This order imposed the sentence of death upon a German civilian for violation of the laws and usages of war in murdering an American airman who had bailed out and landed without any means of defense.

The Tribunal will note from that order of the American Military Commission the 15th of August 1944 as date of crime; Bormann’s order was dated May 1944.

I request the Tribunal to notice judicially Military Commission Order Number 5, Headquarters 3rd U. S. Army and Eastern Military District, dated 18 October 1945. This order is set forth in Document 2560-PS. This order imposed a sentence of death upon a German national for violating the laws and usages of war by murdering, on or about 12 December 1944, an American airman who landed in German territory.

We could cite further orders of American and other Allied military commissions sentencing German civilians to death for the lynching and murdering of Allied airmen who had bailed out and landed without means of defense on German territory. We think our point is made by taking the time of the Tribunal to cite those two orders.

As previously mentioned in the trial address, on 20 October 1944, when Nazi defeat in the war had become certain, Bormann assumed political and organizational command of the newly-formed Volkssturm, the people’s army. By virtue of ordering the continued resistance by the Volkssturm, Bormann bears some responsibility for the resistance which prolonged the aggressive war for months.

I come now, if it please the Tribunal, to present the proofs showing that Bormann authorized, directed, and participated in a wide variety of Crimes against Humanity in aid of the conspiracy. Bormann played an important role in the administration of the forced labor program. I offer in evidence Document D-226, Exhibit Number USA-697. This is a Speer circular, a circular of the Defendant Speer of 10 November 1944, transmitting Himmler’s instructions that the Party and the Gestapo should co-operate in securing a larger productivity from the millions of impressed foreign workers in Germany. I quote the second numbered paragraph of Page 2 of the English translation of Document D-226, which reads as follows. I quote:

“All men and women of the NSDAP, its subsidiaries and affiliated bodies in the works”—meaning of course factories—“will, in accordance with instructions from their Kreisleiter, be warned by their local group leaders”—we intrude to say that means Ortsgruppenleiter—“and be put under obligation to play their part in keeping foreigners under the most careful observation. They will report the least suspicion to the works foreman, which he will pass on to the defense deputy or, where such a deputy has not been appointed, to the police department concerned, while at the same time reporting to the works manager and the local group leader”—the Ortsgruppenleiter—“to exert untiringly and continuously their influence on foreigners, both in word and deed, in regard to the certainty of German victory and the German will to resist, thus producing a further increase of output in the works.

“Party members, both men and women, and members of Party organizations and affiliated bodies must be expected more than ever before to conduct themselves in an exemplary manner.”

Now, in a word, the significance of that decree: It is true it is a circular of Speer’s reciting an arrangement between himself and Himmler, but the effect of the arrangement is to impose the onus and the continuous task of supplying foreign workers on Party members, a Party which, as the Tribunal knows, Bormann headed as executive chief.

Under the decree of 24 January 1942 no such directive could have been issued without the participation of Bormann, both in its preparation and its enactment.

I now offer in evidence Document 025-PS as Exhibit Number USA-698. This is a conference report dated 4 September 1942 which states that the recruitment, importation, mobilization, and processing of 500,000 female domestic workers from the east would be handled exclusively by the Defendant Sauckel, Himmler, and the Defendant Bormann. I quote the first two sentences of the third paragraph of the English translation of Document 025-PS, which reads as follows:

“The Führer has ordered the immediate importation of 400,000 to 500,000 female domestic eastern workers from the Ukraine between the ages of 15 and 35 and has charged the Plenipotentiary for Allocation of Labor with the execution of this action which is to end in about 3 months. In connection with this—this is also approved by Reichsleiter Bormann—the illegal bringing of female housekeepers into the Reich by members of the Armed Forces, or various other agencies is to be allowed subsequently and, furthermore, irrespective of the official recruiting, is not to be prevented.”

And I now quote from the first sentence of the last paragraph on Page 4 of the English translation of Document Number 025-PS, and this is the part that hooks in the Defendant Bormann with the scheme:

“Generally one gathered from this conference that the questions concerning the recruitment and mobilization, as well as the treatment of female domestic workers from the east, are being handled by the Plenipotentiary for Allocation of Labor, the Reichsführer SS, and the Chief of the German Police and the Party Chancellery, and that the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories is in these questions considered as having no, or only limited, competence.”

The Party Chancellery is here mentioned in terms, and Bormann was the leader of the Party Chancellery, as the Tribunal knows.

Now the defendant imposed his will on the administration of the German-occupied areas and insisted on the ruthless exploitation of the inhabitants of the occupied East. The attention of the Tribunal is respectfully invited to Document R-36, previously put in as Exhibit Number USA-344. The Tribunal is well acquainted with this document, for it has been referred to several times in these proceedings, and knows that this is an official memorandum of the Ministry for Occupied Eastern Territories, dated 19 August 1942, which states that the repressive views of the Defendant Bormann with respect to the inhabitants of the Eastern areas actually determined German occupational policies in the East. The Tribunal recalls the now almost notorious quotation from this Document R-36, which purports to paraphrase and constitute the essence of Bormann’s views with respect to German occupational policy in the East. So often has it been quoted that I shall resist the temptation to repeat it, but in essence it comes to this. Bormann in effect says:

“The Slavs are to work for us. In so far as we don’t need them, they may die. They should not receive the benefits of the German public health system. We do not care about their fertility. They may practice abortion and use contraceptives; the more the better. We don’t want them educated; it is enough if they can count up to 100. Such stooges will be the more useful to us. Religion we leave to them as a diversion. As to food, they will not get any more than is absolutely necessary. We are the masters; we come first.”

We respectfully submit this as an accurate paraphrase and summary of the text of that document, Document R-36.

The attention of the Tribunal is next respectfully invited to Document 654-PS, previously put in as Exhibit Number USA-218. The Tribunal will recall that this is a conference report, dated 18 November 1942, embodying an agreement between the Minister of Justice and Himmler entered into by Bormann’s suggestion under which all inhabitants of the Eastern occupied areas are subjected to a brutal police regime in the place of an ordinary judicial system. And the agreement refers all disputes between the Party, Reich Minister for Justice, and Himmler to Bormann for settlement.

Now, because Bormann issued these and related orders, we submit that he bears a large share of the responsibility for the discriminatory treatment and the extermination of great numbers of persons in German-occupied areas of the East.

With the indulgence of the Tribunal, I put the substance of what I have been privileged to present in a few words. We have shown that Bormann, only 45 years old at the time of Germany’s defeat, contributed his entire adult life to the furtherance of the conspiracy. His crucial contribution to the conspiracy lay in his direction of the vast powers of the Nazi Party in advancing the multiple objectives of the conspiracy. First, as Chief of Staff to the Defendant Hess and then, as leader, in his own name, of the Party Chancellery, subject only to Hitler’s supreme authority, he applied and directed the total power of the Party and its agencies to carry into execution the plans of the conspirators. He used his great powers to persecute the Christian Church and clergy and was an unrepentant foe of the fundamentals of the Christianity with which he warred.

He actively authorized and participated in measures designed to persecute the Jews, and his was a strong hand in pressing down the crown of thorns of misery on the brow of the Jewish people, both in Germany and in German-occupied Europe.

As Chief of the Party Chancellery and secretary to the Führer, Bormann authorized, directed, and participated in a wide variety of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, including, without limitation, the lynching of Allied airmen, the enslavement and inhuman treatment of the inhabitants of German-occupied Europe, the cruelty of impressed labor, the breaking up of homes contrary to the clear provisions of the Hague regulations, and the planned persecution and extermination of the civil population of Eastern Europe.

May it please this Tribunal, every schoolboy knows that Hitler was an evil man. The point we respectfully emphasize is that without chieftains like Bormann, Hitler would never have been able to seize and consolidate total power in Germany, but he would have been left to walk the wilderness alone.

He was, in truth, an evil archangel to the Lucifer of Hitler; and, although he may remain a fugitive from the justice of this Tribunal, with an empty chair in the dock, Bormann cannot escape responsibility for his illegal conduct.

And we close with what seems to us an extremely important point. Bormann may not be here, but under the last sentence of Article VI of the Charter every defendant in this dock shown in our evidence to have been a leader, an organizer, an inciter, and an accomplice of this conspiracy is responsible for the acts of all persons in furtherance of the general scope of the conspiracy. And resting squarely on this proposition we submit, even though Bormann is not here, that every man in the dock shares responsibility for his criminal acts. And with this we close. The name of Bormann is not “written in water,” but will be remembered as long as the Record of Your Honors’ Tribunal is preserved.

I now have the privilege of introducing Lieutenant Henry Atherton, who will present the case for the Prosecution against the individual Defendant Seyss-Inquart.

LIEUTENANT HENRY K. ATHERTON (Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States): May it please the Tribunal, the Prosecution has prepared a trial brief for the convenience of the Tribunal showing the individual responsibility of the Defendant Seyss-Inquart. Copies of this brief are now being handed to the Tribunal. At the same time the document books which bear the letters “KK” and which contain translations of the evidence referred to in the brief, or to be introduced in evidence at this time, are also being handed to the Tribunal. At the outset I wish to make clear my intention to deal at this time only with the individual responsibility of Seyss-Inquart for the crimes charged in Counts One and Two of the Indictment. Evidence to show his guilt as charged under Counts Three and Four of the Indictment, that is, evidence specifically directed thereunto, is to be introduced later by the prosecutors of the French Republic and the Soviet Union.

Seyss-Inquart has agreed that he held the following positions in State and Party, and I am referring now to Document 2910-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-17. He was State Councillor of Austria from May 1937 to 12 February 1938. He was Minister of [the] Interior and Security of Austria from 16 February 1938 to 11 March 1938; Chancellor of Austria from 11 March to 15 March 1938; Reich Governor of Austria from 15 March 1938 to 1 May 1939; Reich Minister without Portfolio from 1 May 1939 until September of that year; member of the Reich Cabinet from 1 May 1939 until the end of the war; Chief of the Civil Administration of South Poland from the early part of September 1939 until 12 October 1939; Deputy Governor General of Poland under the Defendant Frank from 12 October 1939 until May 1940; and, finally, Reich Commissioner of the Occupied Territories of the Netherlands from 29 May 1940 until the end of the war. He has also agreed that he became a member of the National Socialist Party on 13 March 1938 and that he was appointed a general in the SS 2 days later.

Now this list of positions which Seyss-Inquart has agreed that he held, if the Tribunal please, shows the place which he held in the Nazi Common Plan or Conspiracy. It shows his steady rise to greater influence and power, and especially it emphasizes his particular talent, his skill in effecting the enslavement of the smaller nations surrounding Germany for the benefit of what he called the Greater German Reich.

Now the Defendant Seyss-Inquart first became a member of the Nazi conspiracy in connection with the Nazi assault on Austria. Mr. Alderman has shown how the Nazis implemented their diplomatic and military preparations for this event by intensive political preparations within Austria.

The ultimate purpose of these preparations was to secure the appointment of Nazis, or persons known to be sympathetic to them, to key positions in the Austrian Government, particularly that of Minister of the Interior and Security, which controlled the police, thus permitting quick suppression of all opposition to the Nazis when the time came.

For this purpose Seyss-Inquart was a most effective tool, the first of the so-called Quislings or traitors used by the Nazis to further their aggressions and to fasten their hold on their victims. Seyss-Inquart has admitted his membership in the Party only from 13 March 1938, but I want to show that he was closely affiliated with them at a much earlier time. For this purpose I now offer in evidence Document 3271-PS as Exhibit Number USA-700.

Reading from Page 9 of the translation, he says in this letter, which is a letter to Himmler, dated 19 August 1939:

“As far as my membership in the Party is concerned, I state that I was never asked to join the Party but had asked Dr. Kier in December 1931 to clarify my relationship with the Party, since I regarded the Party as the basis for the solution of the Austrian problem . . . I paid my membership fees and, as I believe, directly to the Gau Vienna. These contributions also took place after the period of suppression. Later on I had direct contact with the Ortsgruppe in Dornbach. My wife paid these fees, but the Blockwart”—and I believe that is another word for Blockleiter—“was never in doubt, considering that this amount, 40 shillings per month, was a share for my wife and myself, and I was in every respect treated as a Party member.”

Seyss-Inquart, in the last sentence of the paragraph says:

“In every way, therefore, I felt as a Party member, considered myself a Party member, thus, as stated, as far back as December 1931.”

Now, if the Tribunal please, and before I leave this letter, I want just to refer to one or two sentences which the Tribunal will find in the third paragraph on Page 7 of the translation. Referring to a meeting which he had had with Hitler, Seyss-Inquart says:

“I left this discussion a very upright man with the unspeakably happy feeling of being permitted to be a tool of the Führer.”

The truth of the matter is that Seyss-Inquart was an active supporter of the Nazis at all times after 1931. But after the Nazi Party in Austria was declared illegal in July 1934, he avoided too notorious a connection with the Nazi organization, in order to safeguard what the Nazis called his good legal position. By this device he was better able to use his connections with Catholics and others in his work of infiltration for his Nazi superiors.

The Tribunal will remember, as Document 2219-PS, Exhibit Number USA-62, a letter from Seyss-Inquart to Göring of 14 July 1939, in which Seyss-Inquart makes this clear. It was in this letter also that he said:

“Yet, I know that I cling with unconquerable tenacity to the goal in which I believe; that is Greater Germany and the Führer.”

The evidence which Mr. Alderman introduced told in detail the manner in which the Nazi conspirators carried out their assault on Austria. I do not intend to attempt to review any part of this evidence. I merely wish to refer the Tribunal to two documents which are particularly important in showing the part played by this defendant. I refer to the Rainer report to Gauleiter Bürckel, dated 6 July 1939, which relates the part played by the Austrian Nazi Party, the Defendant Seyss-Inquart and others between July 1934 and March 1938; and the astonishing record of telephone calls between the Defendant Göring or his agents in Berlin and Seyss-Inquart and others in Vienna on 11 March 1938. The Rainer report is Document 812-PS, Exhibit Number USA-61, and was read into the Record beginning at Page 502 (Volume II, Page 370) of the English version and continuing for a number of pages thereafter. The transcript of the telephone calls is Document 2949-PS, Exhibit Number USA-76, and was introduced first at Page 566 (Volume II, Page 414) of the English Record.

Now, in order to supplement this and further to show that part played by Seyss-Inquart, I wish now to introduce in evidence the voluntary statement which Seyss-Inquart signed with advice of his counsel on 10 December 1945. This is Document 3425-PS, and I offer it as Exhibit Number USA-701.

In this statement Seyss-Inquart explains, from his point of view, his part in bringing about the Anschluss. I want to read first just a few sentences from the second paragraph on the first page. It states, and I quote:

“In 1918 I became interested in the Anschluss of Austria with Germany. From that year on I worked, planned, and collaborated with others of a like mind to bring about a union of Austria with Germany. It was my desire to effect this union of the two countries in an evolutionary manner, and by legal means.”

Skipping just a sentence or two:

“I supported also the National Socialist Party as long as it was legal, because it declared itself with particular determination in favor of the Anschluss. From 1932 onwards I made financial contributions to this Party, but I discontinued financial support when it was declared illegal in 1934.”

Then skipping down another couple of sentences:

“From July 1936 onwards I endeavored to help the National Socialists to regain their legal status and, finally, to participate in the Austrian Government. During this time, particularly after the Party was forbidden in July 1934, I knew that the radical element of the Party was engaged in terroristic activities, such as attacks on railroads, bridges, telephone communications, et cetera. I knew that the governments of both Chancellors, Dollfuss and Schuschnigg, although they held in principle the same total German viewpoint were opposed to the Anschluss then because of the National Socialist regime in the Reich. I was sympathetic towards the efforts of the Austrian Nazi Party to gain political power and corresponding influence, because they were in favor of the Anschluss.”

Now, briefly summarizing, the Tribunal will note that the defendant tells how his appointment as State Councillor, in May 1937, was the result of an agreement between Austria and Germany in July 1936, and that was the agreement which Rainer agreed Seyss-Inquart had helped to bring about; that his appointment as Minister of the Interior and Security was one of the results of the agreement between Schuschnigg and Hitler at Berchtesgaden, 12 February 1938. And he admits that after the appointment and the agreement the Austrian National Socialists engaged in more and more widespread demonstrations. He tells how immediately after this appointment as Minister of the Interior and Security he went directly to Berlin and talked with Himmler and Hitler; and then, finally, he describes the events of that day, of the 11th of March 1938, when with the full support of German military power he became Chancellor.

I don’t want to quote at length from that description, because the Tribunal knows already what happened. Reading from the middle of Page 3, he says:

“At 10 o’clock in the morning Glaise-Horstenau and I went to the office of the Bundeskanzler and conferred for about 2 hours with Dr. Schuschnigg. We frankly told him all that we knew, particularly about the possibility of disturbances and of preparations by the Reich.

“The Chancellor said that he would give his decision by 1400 hours. While I was with Glaise-Horstenau and Dr. Schuschnigg, I was repeatedly called to the telephone to speak to Göring.”

THE PRESIDENT: Has this been read already?

LT. ATHERTON: No, Sir; this document has not been in before.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

LT. ATHERTON: “He informed . . . me that the agreement of 12 February had been cancelled and demanded Dr. Schuschnigg’s resignation and my appointment as Chancellor.”

The Tribunal has heard the other side of that story, the actual telephone conversations. And then, finally, the next two paragraphs, he tells how Keppler repeatedly urged him to send a telegram calling on Germany to send troops, and that at first he refused but finally acquiesced, and I now read from the next to the last paragraph:

“As I am able to gather from the records available, I was requested about 10 p. m. to give my sanction to another somewhat altered telegram about which I informed President Miklas and Dr. Schuschnigg. Finally President Miklas appointed me Chancellor, and a little while later he approved my list of proposed ministers.”

If the Tribunal will recall, the telegram in question called on Hitler, on behalf of the Provisional Austrian Government, to send German troops as soon as possible in order to support it in its task and help it to prevent bloodshed. The text of the telegram, as printed in Volume 6 of the _Dokumente der Deutschen Politik_, appears as Document 2463-PS of the document book. It is interesting to note that the text of this telegram is substantially identical with that dictated by Göring over the phone to Keppler on the evening of the 11th of March, which appears on Page 575 (Volume II, Page 420) of the Record.

Now, on the next morning, again referring to the statement of the defendant, he admits that he telephoned Hitler. . .

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): Are you reading?

LT. ATHERTON: No, Sir; I am summarizing.

THE TRIBUNAL (Mr. Biddle): If you don’t read it it is not in evidence.

LT. ATHERTON: In that event I will read a little further. I read now the last paragraph on Page 3:

“During the morning of the 12th of March I had a telephone conversation with Hitler in which I suggested that, while German troops were entering Austria, Austrian troops, as a symbol, should march into the Reich. Hitler agreed to this suggestion and we agreed to meet in Linz, Upper Austria, later on that same day. I then flew to Linz with Himmler, who had arrived in Vienna from Berlin. I greeted Hitler on the balcony of the City Hall and said that Article 88 of the Treaty of St. Germain was now inoperative.”

I have referred to the slavish manner in which, as the evidence has shown, Seyss-Inquart carried out orders conveyed to him by telephone from Göring on 11 March 1938 in his negotiations with Chancellor Schuschnigg and President Miklas. This relationship had in fact existed for some time. Early in January 1938, Seyss-Inquart, although he then held an important position in the Austrian Government, had already considered himself as holding a mandate from the Nazi conspirators in Berlin in his negotiations with his own Government. As evidence of the way in which this happened, I offer Document 3473-PS as Exhibit Number USA-581. This is a letter from Keppler to Göring, dated 6 January 1938, in which he states, and I quote:

“My dear Colonel General:

“Councillor of State, Dr. Seyss-Inquart, has sent a courier to me with the report that his negotiations with the Federal Chancellor, Dr. Schuschnigg, have run aground, so that he feels compelled to return the mandate entrusted to him. Dr. Seyss-Inquart desires to have a discussion with me regarding this before he acts accordingly.

“May I ask your advice, whether at this moment such a step, entailing automatically also the resignation of the Federal Minister Glaise von Horstenau, appears indicated or whether I should put forth efforts to postpone such an action.”

The letter is signed by Keppler. On top of the original is a brief note apparently attached by the secretary of the Defendant Göring and dated Karinhall, 6 January 1938, reading as follows:

“Keppler should be told by telephone:

“1) He should do everything to avoid the resignation of Councillor of State Dr. Seyss-Inquart and State Minister Glaise von Horstenau. If some difficulties should arise, Seyss-Inquart should come to him first of all.”

Now as a result of this directive, apparently telephoned to Keppler, Keppler, on the 8th of January 1938, wrote a letter to Seyss-Inquart. I now offer this letter, which is Document Number 3397-PS, in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-702. Keppler writes, and the Tribunal will remember that Keppler was, at that time, Secretary of State in charge of Austrian affairs of the German Government:

“Dear State Councillor:

“The other day I had a visit from Mr. Pl. who gave us a report of the state of affairs, and informed us that you are seriously considering the question of whether or not you are forced to hand back the mandate entrusted to you.

“I informed General Göring of the situation in writing, and G. just had me informed that I should try my utmost to prevent you, or any one else, from taking this step. This is also in the same vein as G.’s conversation with Dr. J. before Christmas; at any rate, G. requests you to undertake nothing of this nature under any circumstances before he himself has the opportunity of speaking with you once more.

“I can also inform you that G. is, furthermore, making an effort to speak to Ll., in order that certain improper conditions be eliminated by him.”

Then the letter is signed by Keppler.

The two letters together, if the Tribunal please, show clearly enough the extent to which this defendant was a tool, the extent to which he was being used at that time by the conspirators in their planning for their assault on Austria. Now, once German troops were in Austria and Seyss-Inquart had become Chancellor, he lost no time carrying out the plan of his Nazi fellow conspirators.

I next offer in evidence Document 3254-PS, which is a memorandum written by the Defendant Seyss-Inquart entitled, “The Austrian Question.” It is Exhibit Number USA-704. I offer it only because of the description which he gives of the manner in which he secured the passage of an Austrian act in annexing Austria to Germany. He said that on March 13 German officials brought him a proposal for inviting Austria into Germany. They reported that. . .

THE PRESIDENT: Are you quoting?

LT. ATHERTON: I now quote from the middle of Page 20 of the English text:

“I called a meeting of the Council of Ministers, after having been told by Dr. Wolf that the Bundespräsident would make no difficulties in regard to that realization; he would return to his home in the meantime and would await me there. On my proposal the Council of Ministers assembled in the meantime adopted the draft bill to which my law section had made some formal modifications. The vote on the 20th of April had been planned already in the first draft. According to the provisions of the Constitution of 1 May 1934, any fundamental modification of the Constitution could be decided by the Council of Ministers with the approbation of the Bundespräsident. A vote or a confirmation by the nation was in no way provided for. In the event that the Bundespräsident should, for any reason, either resign his functions or be for some time unable to fulfill them, his prerogatives were to go over to the Bundeskanzler. I went to the Bundespräsident with Dr. Wolf. The President told me that he did not know whether this development would be of benefit to the Austrian nation but that he did not wish to interfere and preferred to resign his functions, so that all constitutional rights would come into my hands.”

And then, skipping two or three sentences to the top of Page 21:

“Thereafter I returned to Linz by car, where I arrived about midnight and reported to the Führer the accomplishment of the Anschluss law.”

The same day Germany formally incorporated Austria into the Reich by a decree and declared it to be a province of the German Reich, in violation of Article 80 of the Treaty of Versailles. I ask the Court to take judicial notice of Document Number 2307-PS, which is the decree to this effect, published in 1938 _Reichsgesetzblatt_, Part I, Page 237.

If the Defendant Seyss-Inquart seems unduly modest as to the part which he played in undermining the Government to which he owed allegiance, his fellow conspirators were quick to recognize the importance of his contributions. In a speech on the 26th of March 1938, the Defendant Göring said—and I am reading now from Document 3270-PS, Exhibit Number USA-703, which is an extract from the _Dokumente der Deutschen Politik_,