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vise and promote the "cultural, social and economic conditions of the professions which it includes". Actual censorship of stage production was the responsibility of the Reichsdramaturg. (2529PS)

(5) Reichsfilmkammer (Reich Film Chamber). The primary function of this Chamber was to lift the film industry "out of the sphere of liberal economic thoughts" by giving it a sound economic foundation and thus enable it to "receive those tasks which it has to fulfill in the National Socialist State". (2529-PS)

(6) Reichsschrifttumskammer (Reich Chamber of Literature). The Chamber of Literature had jurisdiction over all persons concerned with the "basic production" (writing and publishing) of literature. Its task was to protect writers "from undesirable elements" and to keep out of the book market everything “unGerman." It had the further function of bringing literature to the people and making the writer more "aware of his duty to the nation." Primary responsibility for critical evaluation and censorship of literature however, was left to the Propaganda Ministry. (2529-PS)

(7) Reichsrundfunkkammer (Reich Radio Chamber). The official gazette of the Reich Culture Chamber stated that the radio was the most immediate propaganda instrument of the National Socialist leadership; that the ideal and cultural life of the nation could be shown "totally" in and through the radio; and that since the radio constituted the most important technical means of influencing the masses it was necessary to establish a close tie between the radio and the Party.

Functions of the Radio Chamber included: mobilizing of all technical possibilities of broadcasting, bringing the people closer to radio, planning the manufacture of cheap receiving sets, and propaganda in connection with the drive for new listeners. (2529PS)

LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PROPAGANDA, CENSORSHIP, AND SUPERVISION OF CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

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2082-PS

2083-PS

2315-PS

*2319-PS

*2383-PS

2415-PS

*2434-PS

Law relating to the Reich Chamber
of Culture of 22 September 1933.
1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I,
p. 661.....

Editorial control law, 4 October
1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt,
Part I, p. 713..

Order concerning the Supervision
of District Leaders of Work of
Reich Chamber of Culture, pub-
lished in The Law of the Reich
Chamber of Culture, Vol. 2,
1 January to 30 June 1935....
Extracts from Organization Book
of NSDAP, 4th edition, 1937.
(USA 602)

Ordinance for execution of decree
of Fuehrer concerning position of
the Head of Party Chancellery of
16 January 1942, published in
Decrees, Regulations, Announce-
ments. (USA 410). . . . .
First decree for the implementa-
tion of law relating to The Reich
Chamber of Culture, 1 November
1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt,
Part I...

The Reich Ministry for Enlight-
enment of the People and for
Propaganda, Berlin 1940, by
Georg Mueller. (USA 722)..

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2529-PS

Extracts from Handbook of Reich
Chamber of Culture for 1937...... V

262

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10. MILITARIZATION OF NAZI ORGANIZATIONS

A. The Nazi conspirators placed many of their organizations on a progressively militarized footing with a view to the rapid transformation and use of such organizations as instruments of

war.

(1) The Schutzstaffeln (SS). The SS was militarized beginning in March 1933, when special, volunteer, armed units were created consisting of full-time garrisoned troops. These units, which rapidly grew in strength, were a part neither of the Wehrmacht, nor of the police, but were exclusively at the disposal of the Fuehrer. This militarization of the SS was in accordance with Nazi policy. (For documentation and further discussion see Chapter XV, Section 5.)

(2) The Sturmabteilung (SA). The SA was founded in 1921 as a para-military organization to fight political enemies of the Nazis. After the accession of the Nazis to power, the SA was used to provide pre-military training at a time when the Reichswehr was legally limited to a strength of 100,000 men. Thus the SA, from its inception, had a military purpose, which was carried out and gradually increased in scope. (For documentation and further discussion see Chapter XV, Section 4.)

(3) The Hitler Jugend (HJ). One of the chief purposes of the Hitler Jugend was to provide for military training of German youth at a very early age. As early as 1933, the HJ entered into a secret program of extensive pre-military training for German youth in conjunction with the SA and the Wehrmacht. In addition to general military training, members of the HJ were given specialized training in various types of military units, such as flying units, naval units, motorized units, signal units, etc. (For documentation and further discussion, see Section 8, supra.)

(4) The National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK). The original NSKK was founded under the name of NSAK (National Socialist Automobile Corps) on 1 April 1930 by Hitler, who joined as its first member. By the end of 1931 it had a membership of approximately 10,000, as compared to 300 at the beginning of that year (2804-PS). In 1934 the motorized Hitler Jugend and the motorized SA were placed under the NSKK. Hitler, on 23 August of that year, decreed that:

"the NSAK and the motorized SA are from now on welded. together into a unit called NSKK. The NSKK is directly subordinate to me". (2804-PS)

Thus the NSKK was elevated to the position of an independent affiliated unit of the NSDAP, similar to the SA and the SS. The membership of the enlarged NSKK grew rapidly.

The military purpose of the NSKK is evident from the following statement from The Organizationbuch der NSDAP (1940): "The young driver who has received his training in the sixweek courses of the NSKK will be well prepared in body and spirit when the time comes for his military service, and will wear with pride the dress of the Armed Forces of the Nation." (2320-B-PS)

The program of militarization proceeded rapidly:

"More than one-third of all leaders and men of the NSKK, which had in the meantime grown to a membership of 350,000, were already active in the fight for power

Thus, the NSKK had in its ranks, in addition to the proud tradition of the period of our fight, also that of the World War. This front spirit and experience of a generation matured to manhood in the barrages, in the battles of attrition, in the battles of the Freikorps, and in the heroic fight of National Socialism for Germany's rebirth, is passed on to our youth as a sacred heritage." (2804-PS)

The training given to NSKK members was intended to furnish seasoned recruits for the Nazi military forces.

"Military motorized training of our youth is the cardinal task of the educational work of the NSKK. Here it collaborates most closely with the bearer of the arms of the Reich, the Wehrmacht, and it has done so already throughout the years before the seizure of power. The demands and needs of the Army, which continuously grew in scope after the awakening of our Nation and after our regained military freedom also caused the tasks and the work of the NSKK in the field of military motorized training to grow correspondingly ** By order of the Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht, the NSKK has been given charge of the pre-military training of the entire young reserve of the motorized troop units of our Army in addition to post-military training." (2804-PS) NSKK-trained men were intended to be assimilated into Reich Panzer units.

"Well prepared physically and spiritually, the young German man who has now become a motorized soldier, can serve with a motorized or partially-motorized unit of the Army. To become a tank soldier is his only ambition." (2804-PS) The NSKK was actually used for military purposes.

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