The laws enacted by the Cabinet established the framework within which the Nazi conspirators established their control of Germany, set forth in Count One of the Indictment, by virtue of which they were enabled to commit the crimes alleged in Counts One, Two, Three, and Four of the Indictment. The Cabinet enacted harsh penal laws, discriminatory laws, confiscatory laws, in violation of the principles of justice and humanity. Decrees enacted by the Ministerial Council during the war clothed the criminal acts of the Nazi conspirators with a semblance of legality. As an instrument of the Party, the Cabinet effectively implemented the notorious points of the Party program. Finally, the Cabinet, almost immediately upon the coming into power of Hitler, became a war-planning group through its establishment in 1933 of a Reich Defense Council and its active participation in the schemes and plans for waging aggressive war.
It is therefore most respectfully submitted that, by virtue of all of the foregoing, the Reichsregierung, as defined in Appendix D, Page 35, of the Indictment, should be declared a criminal group within the meaning of Article 9 of Section II of the Charter.
That concludes, if Your Honor pleases, this presentation, and the next subject is the SA. It will take just about a couple of minutes to be ready for that.
May it please the Tribunal, I passed up Document Book Y, which contains the English translations of the documents relied upon in this presentation.
The organization which I shall now present for your consideration is the Sturmabteilung, the organization which the world remembers as the “Brown Shirts” or “Storm Troops,” the gangsters of the early days of Nazi terrorism. It came to be known in latter years as the SA, and I shall refer to it in that manner in the course of my presentation.
The SA was the first of the organizations conceived and created by the Nazis as the instrument and weapon to effectuate their evil objectives, and it occupied a place of peculiar and significant importance in the scheme of the conspirators. Unlike some of the other organizations, the functions of the SA were not fixed or static. On the contrary, it was an agency adapted to many designs and purposes, and its role in the conspiracy changed from time to time—always corresponding with the progression of the conspiracy through its various phases towards the final objective: abrogation of the Versailles Treaty and acquisition of the territory of other peoples and nations. If we might consider this conspiracy as a pattern, with its various parts fitting together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, we would find that the piece representing the SA constituted a link in the pattern vitally necessary to the presentation and development of the entire picture.
The SA participated in the conspiracy as a distinct and separate unit having a legal character of its own. This is shown by Document 1725-PS, which is tabbed in the document book, of which the Court will take judicial notice. It is an ordinance passed in March 1935, Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page 502. It declares that the SA and certain other agencies were thereafter to be considered “components” of the Nazi Party. This ordinance further provided in Article 5—and it is on the second page of the English translation, right after the word “Article 5”—I quote, “The affiliated organizations can have their own corporate identity.”
Similarly the Organization Book of the Nazi Party characterizes the SA as an “entity.” Document 3220-PS, which I now offer, is an excerpt from the 1943 edition of the Organization Book, Page 358 of the original, and I quote from the English translation. It is there declared:
“The Führer prescribes the law of conduct and commands its use. The Chief of Staff represents the SA as a complete entity on the mandate of the Führer.
I am sure the evidence will demonstrate and characterize the SA as an entity and organization having a legal character of its own. This evidence will show that, while the SA was composed of many individual members, these members acted collectively and cohesively as a unit. They were closely bound and associated together by many common factors, including: uniform membership standards and disciplinary regulations; a common and distinctive uniform; common aims and objectives; common activities, duties, and responsibilities; and—probably the most important factor of all—a fanatical adherence to the philosophies and ideologies conceived by the Nazi conspirators.
This is partially demonstrated by Document Number 2354-PS, which again is simply an excerpt from the Organization Book; and it is found on Page 7 of the English translation. It provides that membership in the SA was voluntary but that the SA man should withdraw if “he can no longer agree with SA views or if he is not in a position to fulfill completely the duties imposed upon him as a member of the SA.”
The SA man was well schooled in the philosophies, attitudes, and activities which he was expected and required to adopt and reflect in his daily life. Cohesion of thought and uniformity of action with respect to such matters was in part obtained by the publication and distribution of a weekly periodical entitled Der SA-Mann (The SA Man). This publication was principally devoted to the creation and fostering of the various aspects of Nazi ideology which constituted the doctrinal motives of many of the conspirators.
May I digress from my text and say to the Tribunal that we have here on the table all of these publications, beginning with the year 1934, up through and including the year 1939. The official weekly newspaper entitled Der SA-Mann, meaning The SA Man, published in Munich, had wide distribution and was on sale at news stands and distributed throughout Germany and occupied countries.
In addition, Der SA-Mann served to report upon and document the activities of the SA as an organization and those of its constituent groups. I shall have occasion at a later point to refer to certain portions of this publication for the consideration of the Tribunal.
The general organizational arrangement or plan of the SA will be demonstrated to the Tribunal by the documents which will subsequently appear. At this point I may say simply that this proof will show that the SA developed from scattered bands of street ruffians to a well-knit, cohesive unit organized on a military basis with military training and military functions and, above all, with an aggressive, militaristic, and warlike spirit and philosophy. The organization extended throughout the entire Reich territory and was organized vertically into local groups and divisions. Horizontally, there were special units including military cavalry, communications, engineer, and medical units. Your Honors will observe the chart that I will introduce officially a little later on the wall. Co-ordination of these various groups and branches was strictly maintained by the SA headquarters and operational offices, and those offices were located in Munich.
The relationship between the SA and the NSDAP is the next subject.
The case against the SA is a strong one and its basis or foundation consists of its significant and peculiar relationship and affiliation with the Nazi Party and the principal conspirators.
It is submitted that a relationship or association among the alleged conspirators constitutes important and convincing evidence of their joint participation in an established conspiracy; and this principle is particularly applicable because the affiliation between the SA and the Nazi leaders was closely maintained and adhered to and was adapted to the purpose of enabling the conspirators to employ the SA for any use or activity which might be necessary in the course of effectuating the objectives of the conspiracy.
Thus we find that the SA was, in fact, conceived and created by Hitler himself in the year 1921 at the very inception of the conspiracy. Hitler retained direction of the SA throughout the period of the conspiracy, delegating the responsibility for its leadership to a Chief of Staff. Hitler, in fact, was often known throughout Germany as OSAF, or “Oberster SA Führer,” or, translated, meaning the highest SA Führer.
The Defendant Göring was an early member of the SA and he maintained a close affiliation with it throughout the course of the conspiracy.
The Defendant Hess participated in many of the early battles of the SA and was leader of an SA group