Chapter XV

for further material on the Reich Cabinet.)

(4) _The Nazi conspirators caused all political parties, except the Nazi Party, to be prohibited._ After the Reichstag fire of 27 February 1933, the organization of the Communist Party was destroyed. On 9 March 1933, the Reich Minister of the Interior, Frick, announced that the Communists would be prevented from taking part in the opening of the Reichstag on 21 March 1933, because of their seditious activity. On 26 May 1933, a law was promulgated, signed by Hitler and Frick, providing for the confiscation of Communist property. (_2403-PS_; _1396-PS_)

After suspension of the Constitutional guarantees of freedom on 28 February 1933, numerous restraints were imposed on the Social Democratic Party, including the arrest of a number of its leaders and Reichstag deputies. The backbone of this Party was broken by the occupation of the trade union buildings and the smashing of free trade unions in May 1933. On 22 June 1933, the Social Democratic Party was suppressed in Prussia (_2403-PS_). On 7 July 1933 a Reich decree eliminated Social Democrats from the Reichstag and from the governing bodies of Provinces and Municipalities. (_2058-PS_)

On 14 July 1933, provisions of the Law of 26 May 1933 confiscating Communist property were made applicable to assets and interests of the Social Democratic Party and its affiliated organizations, “and also to assets and interests which are used or destined to promote Marxist or other activities found by the Reich Minister of the Interior to be subversive to people and state.” (_1388-PS_) Faced with similar pressure, the other German Parties either dissolved or combined with the Nazis (_2403-PS_).

The Nazi conspirators then promulgated a law declaring the Nazi Party to be the only political party in Germany and making it criminal to maintain any other political party or to form a new political party. This law, which was signed by Hitler, Frick, and Guertner, provided in part:

“Art. 1

The National Socialist German Worker’s Party (_National-Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei_) constitutes the only political party in Germany.

“Art. 2

Whoever undertakes to maintain the organizational structure of another political party or to form a new political party will be punished with penal servitude up to three years or with imprisonment of from six months to three years, if the deed is not subject to a greater penalty according to other regulations.” (_1388-PS_)

In a speech on 6 July 1933 Hitler stated:

“The political parties have finally been abolished. This is a historical occurrence, the meaning and implication of which one cannot yet be fully conscious of. Now, we must set aside the last vestige of democracy, particularly the methods of voting and making majority decisions which today are used in local governments, in economic organizations and in labor boards; in its place we must validate the responsibility of the individual. The achievement of external power must be followed by the inner-education of the people * * *”

Later in the same speech, Hitler said:

“The Party has become the State. All power lies with the Reich Authorities.” (_2632-PS_)

(5) _The Nazi conspirators caused the Nazi Party to be established as a para-governmental organization with extensive and extraordinary privileges._ On 1 December 1933 the Reich Cabinet promulgated a law designed for “Securing the Unity of Party and State”. It was signed by Hitler and Frick, and provided:

“Art. 1

1. After the victory of the National Socialistic Revolution, the National Socialistic German Labor Party is the bearer of the concept of the German State and is inseparably the state.

2. It will be a part of the public law. Its organization will be determined by the Fuehrer.

“Art. 2

The deputy of the Fuehrer and the Chief of Staff of the SA will become members of the Reichs government in order to insure close cooperation of the offices of the party and SA with the public authorities.

“Art. 3

1. The members of the National Socialistic German Labor Party and the SA (including their subordinate organizations) as the leading and driving force of the National Socialist State will bear greater responsibility toward Fuehrer, people and state.

2. In case they violate these duties, they will be subject to special jurisdiction by party and state.

3. The Fuehrer may extend these regulations in order to include members of other organizations.

“Art. 4

Every action or neglect on the part of members of the SA (including their subordinate organizations) attacking or endangering the existence, organization, activity or reputation of the National Socialistic German Labor Party, in particular any infraction against discipline and order, will be regarded as a violation of duty.

“Art. 5

Custody and arrest may be inflicted in addition to the usual penalties.

“Art. 6

The public authorities have to grant legal and administrative assistance to the offices of the Party and the SA which are entrusted with the execution of the jurisdiction of the Party and SA.

“Art. 7

The law regarding the authority to inflict penalties on members of the SA and SS, of the 28 April 1933 (RGBl, p. 230), will be invalidated.

“Art. 8

The Reichs Chancellor, as Fuehrer of the National Socialistic German Labor Party and as the supreme commander of SA will issue the regulation necessary for the execution and augmentation of this law, particularly with respect to the organization and procedure of the Jurisdiction of the Party and SA. He will determine the time at which the regulations concerning this jurisdiction will be effective.” (_1395-PS_)

Thus the Nazi Party became a para-governmental organization in Germany.

The Nazi conspirators granted the Nazi Party and its components extensive and extraordinary privileges. On 19 May 1933, they passed a law to protect and insure respect for Party symbols (_2759-PS_). On 20 December 1934 the Nazi conspirators caused a law to be promulgated, signed by Hitler, Guertner, Hess, and Frick, making it a crime to make false or grievous statements to injure the prestige of the Government of the Reich, the NSDAP, or its agencies. This law also declared it to be a crime to wear the uniform or the insignia of the NSDAP without authority to do so, and controlled the manufacture and sale of Party uniforms, flags, and insignia (_1393-PS_). A decree of 29 March 1935, defining the legal status of the NSDAP and of its components and affiliated organizations, is a further indication of the extraordinary privileges enjoyed by the Nazi Party. (_1725-PS_)

* * * * *

LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO ACQUISITION OF TOTALITARIAN POLITICAL CONTROL

Document │ Description │ Vol. │ Page │ │ │ │Charter of the International Military │ │ │ Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6 (a).│ I │ 5 │ │ │ │International Military Tribunal, │ │ │ Indictment Number 1, Sections IV (D) │ │ │ 1, 2. │ I │ 17, 18 │ ————— │ │ │Note: A single asterisk (*) before a │ │ │document indicates that the document was│ │ │received in evidence at the Nurnberg │ │ │trial. A double asterisk (**) before a │ │ │document number indicates that the │ │ │document was referred to during the │ │ │trial but was not formally received in │ │ │evidence, for the reason given in │ │ │parentheses following the description of│ │ │the document. The USA series number, │ │ │given in parentheses following the │ │ │description of the document, is the │ │ │official exhibit number assigned by the │ │ │court. │ │ │ ————— │ │ *047-PS │Letter to Rosenberg signed by Hitler, 24│ │ │ August 1931. (USA 725) │ III │ 82 │ │ │ *351-PS │Minutes of First Meeting of Cabinet of │ │ │ Hitler, 30 January 1933. (USA 389) │ III │ 270 │ │ │ *404-PS │Excerpts from Hitler, Mein Kampf, pp. │ │ │ 456, 475. (USA 256) │ III │ 385 │ │ │ 1388-PS │Law concerning confiscation of Property │ │ │ subversive to People and State, 14 │ │ │ July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, │ │ │ Part I, p. 479. │ III │ 962 │ │ │ 1388-A-PS │Law against the establishment of │ │ │ Parties, 14 July 1933. 1933 │ │ │ Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479. │ III │ 962 │ │ │ 1390-PS │Decree of the Reich President for the │ │ │ Protection of the People and State, 28│ │ │ February 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt,│ │ │ Part I, p. 83. │ III │ 968 │ │ │ 1393-PS │Law on treacherous attacks against State│ │ │ and Party, and for the Protection of │ │ │ Party Uniforms, 20 December 1934. 1934│ │ │ Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1269. │ III │ 973 │ │ │ *1395-PS │Law to insure the unity of Party and │ │ │ State, 1 December 1933. 1933 │ │ │ Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1016. │ │ │ (GB 252) │ III │ 978 │ │ │ 1396-PS │Law concerning the confiscation of │ │ │ Communist property, 26 May 1933. 1933 │ │ │ Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 293. │ III │ 979 │ │ │ 1725-PS │Decree enforcing law for securing the │ │ │ unity of Party and State, 29 March │ │ │ 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, │ │ │ p. 502. │ IV │ 224 │ │ │ 2001-PS │Law to Remove the Distress of People and│ │ │ State, 24 March 1933. 1933 │ │ │ Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 141. │ IV │ 638 │ │ │ 2047-PS │Law for the extension of the law │ │ │ concerning the removal of the distress│ │ │ of People and Reich, 30 January 1937. │ │ │ 1937 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. │ │ │ 105. │ IV │ 660 │ │ │ 2048-PS │Law for the extension of the law │ │ │ concerning the removal of the distress│ │ │ of the People and Reich, 30 January │ │ │ 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, │ │ │ p. 95. │ IV │ 660 │ │ │ 2050-PS │The Constitution of the German Reich, 11│ │ │ August 1919. 1919 Reichsgesetzblatt, │ │ │ Part I, p. 1383. │ IV │ 662 │ │ │ 2058-PS │Decree for the securing of the State │ │ │ Leadership, 7 July 1933. 1933 │ │ │ Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 462. │ IV │ 699 │ │ │ 2059-PS │Decree of the Reich President relating │ │ │ to the granting of Amnesty, 21 March │ │ │ 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, │ │ │ p. 134. │ IV │ 701 │ │ │ 2103-PS │Decree of Fuehrer on Cabinet │ │ │ Legislation, 10 May 1943. 1943 │ │ │ Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 295. │ IV │ 729 │ │ │ *2168-PS │Book by SA Sturmfuehrer Dr. Ernst Bayer,│ │ │ entitled “The SA”, depicting the │ │ │ history, work, aim and organization of│ │ │ the SA. (USA 411) │ IV │ 772 │ │ │ *2324-PS │Extracts from Reconstruction of a │ │ │ Nation, by Hermann Goering, 1934. (USA│ │ │ 233) │ IV │ 1033 │ │ │ 2403-PS │The End of the Party State, from │ │ │ Documents of German Politics, Vol. I, │ │ │ pp. 55-56. │ V │ 71 │ │ │ 2404-PS │Report of Hitler’s speech in his own │ │ │ defense, published in The Hitler Trial│ │ │ (1934). │ V │ 73 │ │ │ 2405-PS │Extracts from German Publications. │ V │ 79 │ │ │ 2412-PS │Extracts from Nature and Form of │ │ │ National Socialism pamphlet by Dr. │ │ │ Joseph Goebbels, Berlin, 1935. │ V │ 88 │ │ │ 2500-PS │“What do we want in the Reichstag?” one │ │ │ of Goebbels newspaper articles. │ V │ 237 │ │ │ 2511-PS │Statement by Hitler from Voelkischer │ │ │ Beobachter, 24 August 1932. │ V │ 246 │ │ │ 2512-PS │Hitler’s Testimony Before the Court for │ │ │ High Treason, published in Frankfurter│ │ │ Zeitung, 26 September 1931. │ V │ 246 │ │ │ *2513-PS │Extract from The National Socialist │ │ │ Workers’ Party as an Association │ │ │ Hostile to State and to Republican │ │ │ Form of Government and Guilty of │ │ │ Treasonable Activity. (USA 235) │ V │ 252 │ │ │ 2514-PS │Extract from Statistical Yearbook of the│ │ │ German Reich 1933, concerning │ │ │ elections in the Reichstag. │ V │ 253 │ │ │ 2532-PS │Extract from The Third Reich, by Gerd │ │ │ Ruehle. │ V │ 268 │ │ │ 2573-PS │Announcement of Official Prussian Press │ │ │ Office, in Frankfurter Zeitung, 1 │ │ │ March 1933. │ V │ 303 │ │ │ 2579-PS │Extracts from the Frankfurter Zeitung, │ │ │ 24 March 1933, concerning happenings │ │ │ 23 March. │ V │ 303 │ │ │ 2632-PS │Extracts from The National Socialist │ │ │ Revolution 1933, published in Berlin │ │ │ 1935. │ V │ 343 │ │ │ 2633-PS │Extracts from Constitutional Law of the │ │ │ Greater German Reich, 1939. │ V │ 344 │ │ │ 2634-PS │Goering to the Condemned, published in │ │ │ Voelkischer Beobachter, 26 August │ │ │ 1932. │ V │ 344 │ │ │ 2651-PS │Statement by Frick from Voelkischer │ │ │ Beobachter, 14 March 1933. │ V │ 359 │ │ │ 2652-PS │Speech of Hitler to Reichstag, 23 March │ │ │ 1933, from Voelkischer Beobachter, 24 │ │ │ March 1933. │ V │ 359 │ │ │ 2741-PS │Speech by Hitler on 9 November 1934, │ │ │ published in Voelkischer Beobachter, │ │ │ 10 November 1934. │ V │ 382 │ │ │ 2742-PS │Passage written by Frick in National │ │ │ Socialist Yearbook, 1927, p. 124. │ V │ 383 │ │ │ 2743-PS │Passage written by Frick in National │ │ │ Socialist Yearbook, 1930, p. 178. │ V │ 383 │ │ │ 2759-PS │Law for the protection of Nationalist │ │ │ Symbols, 19 May 1933. 1933 │ │ │ Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 285. │ V │ 394 │ │ │ *2955-PS │Affidavit of Magnus Heimannsberg, 14 │ │ │ November 1945, referring to SA and │ │ │ other Nazi groups posted at polling │ │ │ places. (USA 755) │ V │ 659 │ │ │ *2962-PS │Minutes of meeting of Reich Cabinet, 15 │ │ │ March 1933. (USA 578) │ V │ 669 │ │ │ *2963-PS │Minutes of meeting of Reich Cabinet, 20 │ │ │ March 1933. (USA 656) │ V │ 670 │ │ │ *3054-PS │“The Nazi Plan”, script of a motion │ │ │ picture composed of captured German │ │ │ film. (USA 167) │ V │ 801 │ │ │ *3740-PS │Affidavit of Franz Halder, 6 March 1946.│ │ │ (USA 779) │ VI │ 635 │ │ │ *L-83 │Affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, 21 July │ │ │ 1945. (USA 234). │ VII │ 859

3. CONSOLIDATION OF TOTALITARIAN POLITICAL CONTROL

_Between the Accession to Power (early 1933) and the Outbreak of the War (late 1939) the Nazi Conspirators Consolidated Their Control of Germany by Utilizing and Molding Its Political Machinery to Their Own Ends._

A. _The Nazi conspirators reduced the Reichstag to an impotent body of their own appointees._ Under the Weimar Constitution of the German Reich, adopted by the German people on 11 August 1919, the Reichstag was a representative parliamentary body with broad legislative powers. Article 20 provided that the Reichstag should be “composed of the delegates of the German people.” Article 68 of the Chapter on Legislation provided that:

“Bills are introduced by the government of the Reich or by members of the Reichstag. Reich laws shall be enacted by the Reichstag.” (_2050-PS_)

In _Mein Kampf_ Hitler stated the conspirators’ purpose to undermine the Reichstag:

“Our young movement in essence and structure is anti-parliamentarian, i.e., it rejects majority voting as a matter of principle as well as in its own organization * * * Its

## participation in the activities of a parliament has only the

purpose to contribute to its destruction, to the elimination of an institution which we consider as one of the gravest symptoms of decay of mankind * * *” (_2883-PS_).

With the passage of the Law for the Protection of the People and the Reich (also known as the Enabling Act) the Nazi succeeded, in effect, in depriving the Reichstag of its legislative functions. The legislative as well as the executive powers of the government were concentrated in Hitler and the Cabinet (_2001-PS_; the legislative activities of the Cabinet (_Reichsregierung_) and its power to contravene constitutional limitations are treated in Section 3 of