On July 17, 1941, Rosenberg was appointed Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories. The decree by which he was appointed is in evidence as Document 1997-PS, Exhibit Number USA-319.
I would like now to examine the organizational structure and the chain of responsibility which existed within the Ministry for the occupied East.
The organizational structure of the East was such as we will show that Rosenberg was not merely a straw man. He was the supreme authority with full control.
Document 1056-PS is a mimeographed treatise entitled, “The Organization of the Administration of the Occupied Eastern Territories.” It is undated and unsigned, but we can obtain further information regarding it by reference to EC-347, which is Göring’s Green Folder, already in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-320.
It is noted that Part II, Subsection A, of Document EC-347 is entitled, and I quote: “Excerpts from the Directives of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories and for the Civil Administration,” and then in parenthesis, “Brown Folder, Part I, Pages 25 to 30.”
The two paragraphs which follow are identical to two paragraphs found at the top of Page 9 of the translation of Document 1056-PS. Thus Document 1056-PS is identified as being a mimeograph of Part I of the Brown Folder which was mentioned in the Green Folder, and was issued by the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories.
I now offer Document 1056-PS as Exhibit Number USA-605. I offer this document for the purpose of proving, from the directives issued by the Rosenberg Ministry itself, the extent of Rosenberg’s authority; that he was the supreme civilian authority in the Eastern territories. The document will show that there was a continuous chain of command from Rosenberg down to the regional administrative officials, a chain of command which extended even to the local prison warden.
The document also will show the relationship which existed between the Rosenberg Ministry and other German agencies, a relationship which varied from full control by Rosenberg to full co-operation with them, made mandatory by his directives and by Hitler’s orders.
Finally, the document will show that the various subdivisions of the Ministry were required to submit periodic reports of the situation within their jurisdiction, so that the numerous reports of unspeakable brutality which Rosenberg received, and which are already in the record, were submitted to him pursuant to his orders.
The first paragraph of this significant document states as follows:
“The newly occupied Eastern territories are subordinated to the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories. By direction of the Führer he establishes a civil administration there, upon withdrawal of the military administration. He heads and supervises the entire administration of this area and represents the sovereignty of the Reich in the Occupied Eastern Territories.”
At the top of Page 2 of the translation is stated, and I quote:
“To the Reich Ministry is assigned a deputy of the Reich Leader SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior.”
Roman numeral III on Page 2 of the translation defines the responsibility of the Reich commissioners as, and I quote:
“In the Reich commissariats, Reich commissioners are responsible for the entire civil administration under the supreme authority of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. According to the instructions of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, the Reich Commissioner, as a functionary of the Reich, heads and supervises, within his precincts, the entire civil administration. Within the scope of these instructions he acts on his own responsibility.”
And then the chain of command is outlined: Subordinate offices, general commissariats, main commissariats, district commissariats, et cetera.
In the second last paragraph on Page 3 of the translation it is stated again:
“The Higher SS and Police Leader is directly subordinated to the Reich Commissioner. However, the Chief of Staff has the general right to secure information from him also. . . .
“Great stress is to be placed on close co-operation between him, the Chief of Staff, and the other main department heads of the office of the Reich Commissioner, particularly with the one for policies.”
To digress from this document a moment, I ask that the Court take judicial notice of the decree signed by Rosenberg, dated July 17, 1941, and found in the Verordnungsblatt of the Reich Minister for the occupied East, 1942, Number 2, Pages 7 and 8.
This decree provides for the creation of summary courts for decisions on crimes committed by non-Germans in the East. The courts are to be presided over by a police officer or an SS leader, who have authority to order the death sentence or confiscation of property, and those decisions are not subject to appeal. The general commissar is given the right to reject a decision. Thus, the determination of the SS, of these summary courts, is made subordinate to the authority of a representative of the Rosenberg Ministry.
At Page 4 of the translation of Document 1056-PS, the position of the Commissioner General is defined. It is stated here that: “The Commissioner General forms the administrative office of intermediate appeal.”
Three paragraphs down it is stated, and I quote:
“The SS and Police Leader assigned to the Commissioner General is directly subordinated to him. However, the Chief of Staff has the general right of requiring information from him.”
The document goes on to describe the function of the various subdivisions of the Ministry, concluding with regional commissioners who preside over the local administrative districts. They, too, have police units assigned to them and directly subordinated to them.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Mr. Brudno, surely that could have been stated in a sentence without referring us to all these passages in this document. I mean, Rosenberg was the Minister for the Eastern Territories. He had under him Reich commissioners and SS units, who had the full administration—civil administration—of the Eastern Territories. If you had stated that, surely that would have been sufficient.
MR. BRUDNO: Very well, Your Honor.
I will proceed from that point, then, merely to point out that the economic exploitation of the territory was undertaken in the fullest co-operation with the Commissioner of the Four Year Plan, as shown by Paragraph 2 of Page 7 of the translation. It is stated there that the economic inspectorates of the Commissioner of the Four Year Plan will be substantially absorbed in the agencies of the civil administration after the establishment of the civil administration.
I also wish to call Your Honors’ attention to the first paragraph on Page 6, which reads as follows:
The various commissioners, it says, “are, aside from the military agencies, the only Reich authorities in the Occupied Eastern Territories. Other Reich authorities may not be established alongside them. They handle all questions of administration of the area which is subordinate to their sovereignty and all affairs which concern the organization and activity of the administration, including those of the police, in the supervision of the autonomous agencies and organizations and of the population.”
I now turn briefly to the second section of the document which is entitled, “Working Directives for the Civil Administration.” The first two paragraphs on Page 9 have been read into the record as part of Document EC-347, Exhibit Number USA-320. I call particular attention to the statement that the “Hague Rules of Land Warfare, which deal with the administration of a country occupied by a foreign armed power, are not valid.”
I continue quoting at the last paragraph on Page 9:
“The handling of cases of sabotage is a concern of the Higher SS and Police Leader, of the SS and Police Leader, or of the Police leaders of the lower echelon. Insofar as collective measures against the population appear appropriate, the decision about them rests with the competent commissar.
“To inflict penalties in cash or kind, as well as to order the seizure of hostages and