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In 1935, the Reich Governor of Saxony, Mutschmann, attempted to quash criminal proceedings which, in this exceptional instance, had been brought against officials of the Hohnstein concentration camp for a series of extremely brutal attacks upon inmates. The trial was held and the defendants convicted, but during the trial the governor inquired of the presiding judge whether he did not think the penalty proposed by the prosecutor too severe and whether an acquittal was not indicated. After the conviction, two jurymen were ousted from the NSDAP and the prosecutor was advised by his superior to withdraw from the SA. Although Guertner, the then Minister of Justice, strongly recommended against taking any action to alter the decision, Hitler pardoned all the accused. (783-PS; 784-PS; 785-PS; 786-PS)

In another similar case, Guertner wrote directly to Hitler narrating the horrible details of maltreatment and advising that the case be regularly prosecuted. Nevertheless, Hitler ordered complete suppression of the proceedings. (787-PS; 788-PS)

Under the Nazi regime, it was part of the official duty of many Party funtionaries to supervise the administration of justice. The official papers of Hess contain detailed statements concerning his own functions and those of the Gauleiter in deciding criminal cases. (2639-PS)

Another type of governmental interference in judicial matters is evidenced by the confidential letter which the Ministry of Justice sent in early 1938 to the Chief Justices of the Regional Supreme Courts (Oberlandesgerichtspraesidenten). The judges were instructed to submit lists of lawyers who would be sufficiently able and trustworthy to represent in court persons who had been taken into "protective custody". The main requirement was absolute political reliability. Simple Party membership was not enough; to be selected, the lawyer had to enjoy the confidence of the "Gestapo". (651-PS)

After the war began, Thierack, Minister of Justice, revealed the low state to which the judiciary had fallen under Nazis rule. He argued that the judge was not the "supervisor" but the "assistant" of the government. He said that the word "independent", as applied to the judge, was to be eliminated from the vocabulary and that although the judge should retain a certain freedom of decision in particular cases, the government "can and must" give him the "general line" to follow. For this purpose, Thierack decided in 1942 to send confidential Judge's Letters (Richterbriefe) to all German judges and prosecutors, setting forth the political principles and directives with which all judicial personnel

were obligated to comply (2482-PS). The first of these Judge's Letters clearly expresses the complete subordination of the judges to the Fuehrer and his government. (D-229)

G. The Nazi conspirators greatly enlarged existing State and Party organizations and established an elaborate network of new formations and agencies.

The totalitarian character of the Nazi regime led to the establishment of a great number of new official and semi-official agencies and organizations in the various fields of life which were permeated by Nazi doctrine and practice, including culture, trade, industry, and agriculture.

New agencies had to be created to handle the large number of additional administrative tasks taken over from the Laender and the municipalities. Moreover, the mobilization of the political, economic, and military resources of Germany required the formation of such coordinating "super-agencies" as the Four Year Plan, the Plenipotentiary for Economics, the Plenipotentiary for Administration, and the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich. At the time of the launching of war, the central Reich government was an extremely complicated structure held together under strict Nazi dictatorship. (See Chart Number 18; also

2261-PS; 2194-PS; 2018-PS.)

Simultaneously, in the Party, the growth of agencies and organizations proceeded rapidly. The Party spread, octopus-like, throughout all Germany and into many foreign lands. (See Chart Number 1; also 1725-PS.)

This process of growth was summed up late in 1937 in an official statement of the Party Chancellery :

"In order to control the whole German nation in all spheres of life, the NSDAP, after assuming power, set up under its leadership the new Party formations and affiliated organizations." (2383-PS)

H. The Nazi conspirators created a dual system of government controls, set up Party agencies to correspond with State agencies, and coordinated their activities, often by uniting corresponding State and Party offices in a single person.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler announced the conspirators' purpose: "Such a revolution can and will only be achieved by a movement which itself is already organized in the spirit of such ideas and thus in itself already bears the coming state. Therefore, the National Socialist movement may today become imbued with these ideas and put them into practice in its own

organization so that it not only may direct the state according to the same principles, but also may be in a position to put at the state's disposal the finished organizational structure of its own state." (2883-PS)

The Nazis attempted to achieve a certain degree of identity between the Party and the State and, at the same time, to maintain two separate organizational structures. After the rise to power, the fundamental principle of unity was translated into "law":

"Article 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." (1395-PS)

The manner in which the Nazis retained a duality of organization despite the theory of unity is graphically portrayed in the charts of the Party and the State (Charts Number 1 and 18). These visual exhibits demonstrate the comprehensive character of the Party organization, which was established on parallel lines with the corresponding government structure. The Party structure remained at all times technically separate and could be used for non-governmental purposes whenever such use best served the needs of the conspirators. In innumerable instances, the corresponding Party and State offices were, in fact, held by the same person. For example, the Gauleiter of the Party in most instances also held the post of Reich Governor (or, in Prussia, that of Provincial President). (2880-PS)

The coordination of the Party and State functions started at the top. The Chief of the Party Chancellery was designated a Reich Minister and endowed with plenary powers in the preparation and approval of legislation. He acted as liaison officer at the highest level between Party officials and cabinet ministers. He was given also the duty of passing on the appointment of all the more important civil servants. (2787-PS)

Many of the same powers were bestowed upon the other Reichsleiter (Leaders composing the Party Directorate). The official Nazi exposition of their position is as follows:

"It is in the Reich Directorate where the strings of the organization of the German people and the State meet. By endowment of the Chief of the Party Chancellery with the powers of a Reich Minister, and by special administrative directives, the penetration of the State apparatus with the political will of the Party is guaranteed. It is the task of the separate organs of the Reich Directorate to maintain as close a contact as possible with the life of the nation through their

CHAPTER VII

sub-offices in the Gaus. Observations at the front are to be collected and exploited by the offices of the Reich Directorate." (1893-PS)

On the regional and local levels, the Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, etc., were also empowered to control the purely governmental authorities on political matters. Hess issued the following order shortly after the war began:

"I, therefore order that the bearer of sovereignty (Hoheitstraeger) of the NSDAP (Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, Ortsgruppenleiter) in the scope of his authority is responsible for the political leadership and the frame of mind (Stimmung) of the population. It is his right and his duty to take or to cause to be taken any measures necessary for the expeditious fulfillment of his political duties and for the elimination of wrong within the Party. He is exclusively responsible to his superior bearers of sovereignty (Hoheitstraeger)." (2383– PS)

In the later years, the functional coordination of Party and State offices became much more common. The appointment of Himmler as Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of the German Police is a typical example of the way in which State and Party functions became inextricably merged so as to render any clean lines of demarcation impossible.

(2073-PS)

LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO CONSOLIDATION OF TOTAL-
ITARIAN POLITICAL CONTROL

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