i>-fondant .YILELIa/l 37IUCK (Neumann rough draft, unedited) PhlC
Transcription
i>-fondant .YILELIa/l 37IUCK (Neumann rough draft, unedited) PhlC
i i>-fondant .YILELIa/l 37IUCK (Neumann rough draft, unedited) PhlC^, en early and prominent muinbor of tho Nazi xorc;*, participated in the orauhaus putsch of 192c. As Q result, ho w as bricd r.nd sontoncod to 18 months imprisonment but was never actually imprisoned, In 1924 ho was o lee tod to the Rulchstag r.nc wna selected chairmen of tho kuai Party parliamentary group end later REICKSI^SITER, positions which he retained until the downfall of the Kazi systom, and which placed him in tho highest rungs of tho Nazi hierarchy. On 2c January 19c0, the defendant became the first Nazi minister in Germany, having boon uppointod Minister of home Affairs and Education in iliuringia. In this position, his main uDjoCtivo was the speedy nnzlfication'of Thuringia, uspecially of its educational system. No was, howuver, .com- pelled to resign in April 192,1 because ho imposed three Nazi ''praters'' upon the Thuringian schools. In 1922, the defendant became Bavarian Government Councillor, using his position to further the Nazi cause in 3~varia. On cO January 19c£, tho defendant was made Reich minister of the interior, a position he held until his dismissal in «ugust 194v. following th: resignation of Hermann Gooring on 1 i.a.a.- 1954, he also assumed the position of Prussian minister of the Interior, thus becoming the prime a -ent in the pollticcl coordination of Prussia and the Roich. 1/ As Roich iiinistvr of the Interior, the defendant was responsible for all internal ?.üJaini3tration, Including that of the Reich, the'Länaor, bhc provinces and the municipalities, ho was in charge of the purge of civil sorvico personnel, ho w as responsible for the preparation and execution of elections« in particular, v,:iihcl.o FRIC'Ä, the defendant, had jurisdiction over the following J 1. As Reich Director of Elections and Roich CojuiViissioner for the Review of Elections, the preparation of the elections for the Reichstag of 5 March 13Co; 2, The onactjaont of the presidential decree of 28 February 19te which abrogated the civil liberties; e, The dissolution of all parties, except the tiazi Part"r, and the expropriation of their proper tics; 4. The enactaeht of the statuto for the Restoration of the Civil Service of 7 April 19£3j 5. The enactuient'of the Law of el March 19c? for the coordination of the Länder with the Reich. 1/ The lot tor" of appointment in i^c"kurne"n'ET" dor Loutschcön Politik Vol. 11, pp. 112/5. " e. The enactment of tho Reich Governor Law of 7 April 1935; 7. Tho anactaunt of tho Law of 1 Locomber ISC securing tho Unit;; of tarty and State and tho Amendment of 3 «July 1954 by which hit lor'a deputy was wr.de a member of the Reich Cabinet; i 5. Tho enactment of tho Lew of 1 August 19C4 which merged thw functions of tho Chancellor and Reich ^resident r.nd which arranged for the piebeseite; 9. Tho enact/aunt of all laws coordinating Stato and Party; 10. Tho unuctment of all laws prohibiting the formation of now parties and giving special privileges and functions to the Nazi Party; 11. •Oho Re ich Plag Law of IE September 1935; 12. The Reich Governor Law of 30 January 193 5 which was prepared by the defendant's i -inis try. 13. The Gorman Municipalities Act of 50 January 1935, which was crafted by tho ministry of the interior and. r.dministerod by thu defendant. All anti-Somotic legislation, notably the Lurcmburg laws of 15 September 195 5, were signed by tho defendant and "'— *" . administered in his office. In a speech delivered to the diplomatic corps on 15 t'obruary 19Z.4, tho defendant praised Germany's racial legislation, he was, moreover, in charge of all Health and Eiugonics legislation. hot only was the health office subordinated to the ministry of the Interior, but Ldvlsion IV of the ministry of the Interior was spocifically responsible for health police, racial hygiene, popular health education, a nd for the supervision of the medical and pharmaceutical professions, ana the Lisciplinary Courts. 1'ho defendant drafted the hiugonics legislation of 14 July 19'cc ana was charged with the supervision cf the Eugenics courts. AS Reich Uinister of the Interior, the defendant supervised the hoich Physical draining Academy ana the Reich Sports Office, both of which wore cf prime importance in Germany's preparation for war, i*e also supervised the administration of the la'.-; establishing compulsory military service in Germany and among the Germans in border regions, Until Juno 19G6, when attoichS3 leader end chief of police .wore appointed, the defendant was, moreover, in charge of all police matters, both in the Hoi oh as a whole and in Prussia. He continued to bo technically in charge of the police ana Reich Labor Service until hie resignation in •august 1945.. i'ho acfondant w as also in charge of the expropriation cf property and in Cooperation with thu GLw • 4- administered the REICH3LEISTUNGSGESETZ. 2/ It i3 thus clour that prior to the outbreak of hostilities the defendant played a decisive rolo in: a) the Rozi seizure of power in acvaria, Thuringia, end the Reich a 3 t whcloj and (b) tho forb tion and execution of all major l*a2i policies after 19£5. fho fc.ee that the defendant hold high positions In both tho party and tho government strongly suggests that ho also was closely involved in Germany's preparation for aggressive warfare. After thw outbreak of hostilities, tho defendant's power wna greatly expanded, Retaining '^s position 0.3 uinistor of the interior and as Chairman of thoftczigroup in tho Reichstag, no also bocamo e-n^ral Plenipotentiary for the administration of the Ho ich (General bevollmachtigor für die Reichsvorwaltung) and a member of tho ministerial Council for the Lefunso of tho Reich (Ministorrat fur ReichsVerteidigung). As General Plenipotentiary for the Administration of the Koich, the defendant exercised control over all of bho Reich i.Iinistcrics except these under the jurisdiction of tho CAW and the General Plenipotentiary for the Economy, KS a member of tho ministerial Council for the Defense of che Reich, he sat on the highest war legislative b ooy« Luring the war rll administrative functions in- volving the coordination of the occupied territories were "Ej '^ lcTttcr written by thö Chief of the ^HTn Staff office of the SS doted CO Aar eh 1942 and addressed to Piirnxulur indicates that tho defendant applied his decree of 26 April 1940 on the use of public buildings ...gainst ecclesiastical property at the request 0x wno ÜO» •c concentrated in thu Reich ministry of the Interior, end the dofendent was .specifically given wide supervisory powers over the occupied territories. On £0 «January 1955, the defendant w r.s given supervisory control over the administration of the Reich Coiumissar for the Saarland (later Saar J?elatinato), After the conquest of Austria, the defends n't became the hoed of "the Central office (Zentralstelle) for the execution of the ro-unification of Austria and the C-orman ^eici:'1 ^accordln^ to Secretary of State W. Studkart to whom che defendant delegated his power Su as 'director ef che Centn 1 Office, the defendant combined 5/ the most important functions in the reunification1'. The dafoncrint was made director of the Control Office for the incorporation of the Sud^tenland by Hitler Edict of' 1 October 1930,—/ for che incorporation of Kernel on 22 uerch 1339,2/ for .ur.nzig on 1' September 1939, for the Eastern incorporated territories immediately after their annexation, and for Supen, i«almod,T and were snot on 18 '^zy 7 ' 1940. 3y the Lecrec of 22 March 1923 ~y the defendant was made biroctor of the Central Li ffico for the so-called Pro- tectorate ef bohemia end Moravia end was made responsible for the ''uniformity1' of all measures taken by ehe supreme Reich 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ bucroe of 10 i.isrch 192b, R e 2 1 I, p. 249 On 24 inarch 19cü sec bokumonto p. 159 v., Stuckart and R. Schiodermair, i h u o s St a a t s r o_ch_t II, Leipzig 1941, p. 24 Stuckart, p. 47 R G 21 I, D. 569 « -6- Authorities" in the trotcctcrato.S/ The defendant hold similar positions in the f.cLainistraticn of the G-cvornment General,—/ cf Lower Styric v nd Upper Corinthin, or Uorway, of Alsace and Lorraine and, apparently, of oil other occupied territories, The defendsnt thus hold ;... key position in the administration of •:. 11 occupied territories and consequently bears the ul.tj.-ote responsibility for aajor legislative acta, such as the citizenship laws 'for incorporated, annexed and appended territories. In brief, the defendant PRICK boors Linjor responsibilities for the illegal annexation and incorporation of: Alsace Lorraine Üupen, »'if.lmudy and l-orosnet Lastern Incorporated Territories Lower Styria Upper Corinthia In aduition, he bears a major responsibility for the occupation policies carried out in all other occupied countries. The t the defendant's responsibility for occupation p o l i c i e s was by no uieans läcr^ly o l e g a l and t e c h n i c a l one, d e m o n s t r a t u d i n c l e t t e r w r i t t e n by t h e Heich L i n i s t o r •Justice (signed Schlagelborgor) is of on 17 A p r i l 1941 and a d d r e s s e d t o t h e Reich m i n i s t e r and Chief of the Reich Chancellory d e a l i n g with P e n a l Low a g a i n s t J.-ol,s and Jews in t h e onnexed by S/ Op. c'i't. p . 03 Op. c i t . p . 90 Decree of 12 October 1909 Eastern Territories. The lottcr states that the "provisions (namely the Ordinance of 6 Juno 1940) were established in agreement with tho Roich Minister cf tho Interior''. On 20 August 194£, after hc-ving relinquished his positions as Reich minister of tho Interior, Plenipotentiary for the iidninis tret ion cf the Roich, and member cf the Defense Council, tho defendant was made Reichsprotoktor for üohomio and L-orr.vin. —J Although nost powers in the trotoctorc.ee v/cre vested in the German Minister of State (karl R. Prank), the defendant retained tho following spocific pewors : 1. xhe approval of nominations to tho autonomous Czech cabinet; 2. The copointmont and dismissal of German officials in the Protectorate; a, Tho right to grant pardons and to grant judgments. The defendant, moreover, lent his name to all policies carried out in tho Protectorate, where he continued. to represent the Reich interests. 10/ R G 51 I, p. 527