27th May 1935
DIARY OF THE GERMAN MINISTER OF JUSTICE, 1935 [Page 174]
1. Prosecuting Authorities in Waldeshut, Baden (15.5.)
Criminal proceedings against the Catholic vicar Paul Wasmer. Is submitted with the request that it be discussed, whether a penal sentence should be proposed by Rosenberg because of libel.
In a sermon the accused cited the last verse of a song which is being sung by young people and against which Bishop Bares has taken exception in his official paper dated 10/2/35. The text is as follows:
"Pope and rabbi shall yield,
We want to be pagans again No longer creep into the churches.
The orb of the sun alone is leading us.
Out with the Jews, and with the pope from the German home."
In addition the accused quoted from page 8 of "Blut und Ehre", the little book of songs published by Baldur von Schirach, a verse with the following text:
"We want to complain to the Lord in heaven, Kyrieleis! That we want to kill the priest, Kyrieleis!
Out with your spear, forward,
Set the red cock on the cloister roof!"
(Set the cloister roof on fire)
Furthermore the accused quoted a saying of Baldur v. Schi-rach's: "The path of German youth is Rosenberg."
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4. The Archbishop of Paderborn reported on 6th June regarding incidents on 12th May with the request that steps be taken to see that similar things did not occur again in the future.
On the 12th May the Archbishop of Paderborn was to hold a confirmation. On the 10th May a Hitler Youth Fuehrer conference took place, at which a secret order was issued, according to which the Hitler Youth were to attend at specified places in Hamm in uniform clothing (not Service dress). On Sunday, the 12th May, the Hitler Youth appeared in uniform clothing at the big parade ground. There the song about the foreign exchange racketeer [Devisenschieberlied] was practiced:
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"When we were foreign exchange racketeers, there were the three of us, a Father and two monks, they were foreign exchange racketeers, there was a nun with them
"And when they continued racketeering, then there were only two, one was in jail, they nabbed him, then the fun was over.
"Then she whispered softly, now it is your turn my friend, now you come with your close-cropped hair, looking like an A . . . with ears, to answer the heavenly roll-call."
Bannfuehrer Grothet then made a speech.
Scattered over the railway station and the square in front according to plan.
On the appearance of the Archbishop a civilian gave three cheers for the beloved Lord Bishop.
When the Archbishop wanted to get into his car, the Hitler Youth try to prevent him, calls of "down with the foreign exchange racketeer" and so on. Hitler Youths rush after the car and try to overturn it. A few youths jump on to the running board of the car and when they are prevented from so doing, push their way forward brandishing their daggers of honour. A Hitler Youth tries to spit into the car. Passers-by who urge them to stop, are abused and beaten. A woman civilian has to be carried away from the square. When the Archbishop arrives at the church the Hitler Youth roar "Throw the black fellow down the stairs". During the sermon, the Hitler Youth continue the uproar, often banging against the church door so that the service is greatly disturbed. Finally the emergency squad restored order. On that day alone there were 7 Hitler Youth leaders
from outside present in Hamm. They were in civilian clothes. *******
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The General Public Prosecutor in Stuttgart submits a report by the prosecuting authorities in Stuttgart concerning the case in Schorndorf against Paul Roos and accomplices charged with intimidation. The victim had refused to have "Der Stuermer" displayed in a display case at his house, and at the same time described the "Stuermer" as a vulgar newspaper which the Fuehrer had already repeatedly banned. Thereupon a demonstration was staged against him in which the defendant, Sturm-fuehrer Roos, as well as SA-reserves in civilian clothing and Hitler Youth with a band of musicians in uniform, took part. The
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injured party was forced to march through the city behind the band, and recitation in unison of anti-Jewish sentiments were staged. The incident is said to have created quite a stir in Schorndorf. .
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9. The Prosecuting Authority, Bamberg reports regarding criminal proceedings against Chaplain Heinrich Mueller and the town clergyman Franz Ruemmer concerning an offense against the Law of 20.12.34. The accused have stated, in a circle of Catholic clergy, that the following song was sung by the Hitler Youth at the Party Rally 1934:
"We are the happy Hitler Youth We need no Christian virtues,
For our Fuehrer Adolf Hitler Is always our mediator.
"No parson, no evil man can prevent us From feeling ourselves to be Hitler children,
We do not follow Christ but Horst Wessel,
Away with incense and holy water vessels.
"We follow our flags singing As worthy sons of our ancestors,
I am no Christian, no Catholic,
I go with the SA through thick and thin.
"I can do without the Church,
The Swastika is redemption on earth,
I will dog its steps,
Baldur von Schirach, take me with you!"
The prosecuting authority would like to bring [crossed out in ink at least] the one accused to trial, but considers it possible that the Court may consider the statement by the Pol. Dir. Nürnberg, that the song was unknown to all Hitler Jugend Units in Upper and Central Franconia as insufficient evidence and would therefore result in an acquittal.
The General Prosecuting Authority notes that there is no doubt that the song in question was sung or circulated in the Hitler Youth circles, but he thinks that the statement that the song was sung at the Party Rally, i.e. to a certain extent under the eyes and with the consent of the highest Party officials, can be disproved.
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Chief Public Prosecutor (OSTA) Magdeburg reports in a report to the Central Public Prosecutor's Office (subsequently forwarded
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to me) concerning a demonstration in front of the house of a member of the "Stahlhelm" by the name of Sonntag in Warsleben, District (Kr.) Neuhaldenslebe on Saturday, 6 July, about 2100. The cause for this statement which Sonntag is said to have made a few days earlier at 'a Landwehr Social Gathering, to wit: "I was and still am faithful to the Kaiser. Not Hitler but quite other forces rule in Germany. ..." Sonntag denies having made this statement. He claims to have declared that he had been true to the Kaiser and that he had then wanted to continue that his allegiance now belonged to the Fuehrer. Thereupon, on 6 July, the accused Schuett, is the leader of the party organization squads [Bereitschaftsleiter der PO] in 16 communities, at a squad evening of the party organization in Warsleben, together with the accused, District Training Leader [Kreisausbildungsleiter] Stueber, induced the 58 local officers [Amtswalter] to take part in the demonstration. In addition 17 members of the Hitler Youth organization who were working in the vicinity as farm helpers were drawn in. Schuett declared to those present that it was the task of party members to take part in remedying the existing abuses, and promised the farm helpers in particular that those who took part in the demonstration would not make themselves liable to any punishment, and in the case of official intervention the party organization [PO] would use its influence to quash the proceedings. Then they assembled in front of the house in which Sonntag lives, searched it resulting in the usual damage, threatened Sonntag's wife, who was then taken into protective custody by the police sergeant who came upon the scene. Schuett was arrested. The public prosecutor (StA) calls attention to the fact that, according to statements of the Kreisleiter, the population of Neuhaldensleben is in an alarming state of excitement because the Party and the Fuehrer were constantly being referred to contemptuously, particularly by members of the Stahlhelm.
The matter has been referred to State Secretary Schlegelberger.
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General Public Prosecutor [GenStA] Marienwerder (1.10.) Attack upon a member of the German Girls' League [BDM-Maedel] named Dux. On 22 August a report appeared in the Voelkischer Beobachter according to which a member of the German Girls' League [BDM-Maedel] named Dux in Schneidemuehl was openly assaulted in the street by members of a Catholic
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youth group and struck down with a bicycle pump. The girl is said to have been seriously injured and to have required medical attention. The same incident led to a large protest demonstration by the Hitler Youth [HJ] in Schneidemuehl and to a propaganda march by Hitler Youth in the same place.
[Marginal note to foregoing paragraph: "V. (letter to Goebbels concerning recent lying reports in the press)"]
At this point the Chief Public Prosecutor [OStA] in Schneidemuehl made a report concerning results of the inquiry. According to this it was so dark where the incident took place that the recognition of insignia of any organization was impossible. The physician who was stated by Dux to have treated her denied this. The Dux girl finally admitted that she had not been under medical care. Inspection by the police doctor revealed that no head wound existed under the dressing covering the Dux girl's forehead (minute reddened area).
3. Chief Public Prosecutor [OStA] Elbing (27. Sept.)
Legal proceedings due to an assault upon Hitler Youth Sehar-fuehrer Schubring.
A report appeared in the Voelkischer Beobachter of 16 August, under the heading "Hitler Youth member struck down by members of Catholic youth groups," according to which Sch. was assaulted and struck down in the most brutal manner. The Chief Public Prosecutor's report [OStA] indicates that the statements of Sch. are to be seriously doubted. Sch. did not see or hear anything of the assaulter. According to medical testimony the blow did not create an outwardly visible wound or induce any change at all other than a slight redness round the eyes, so that it is inexplicable how Sch. could have become unconscious, considering that he can box.
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Chief Public Prosecutor [OStA] in Duisburg (26 August 1935) compare 2825. On 9 July the attempt was made to set free the SA-man and another intruder, who had been arrested.
On the same evening—9 July—a further clash took place, during which a police official who intervened was wildly insulted and shoved around by the crowd. He drew his side-arm and injured a Hitler Youth member. There was no improper conduct on the part of the police official.
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On the same evening several window panes were broken in prelate Cupper's house, by stones being thrown.
An SA-man who had attended the meeting at which Muckermann spoke was attacked on his way home.
On the evening of 10 July encounters with the police took place by reason of the posters which were put up and again removed. 5 police officials were slightly injured.
About 2100 the Catholic Institute was stormed and its fixtures and furniture destroyed. Police who hurried to the scene were received with ugly oaths. "You bloodhounds, for shame, get out of here or we will trample you to death.''
When the Institute was stormed for a second time the police officials were actually attacked, two of them injured, one by a knife stab in the face.
About 2300 the Catholic workers' home was visited by large numbers of people then suddenly deserted as pre-arranged, without payment being made for the beer, the flags of the Catholic Workers' Association were taken away, also three sashes, carrying belts, a flag streamer and 10 ashtrays; a chocolate-machine and a bust of St. Joseph were destroyed.
On 10 July another attack on the Catholic Youth Hostel.
The participants for the most part belong to the Hitler Youth. The evening at home which had been planned was not carried out, as the Hitler Youth participants are said to have gone out of curiosity to the scenes of activity. From the fact that the places where the deeds took place were suddenly filled with a crowd of over 2000 persons, the impression is created that numerous members of the Hitler Youth were instructed to assemble at a given time by some office with authority over the youths who appeared. A 15-year-old Hitler Youth member who appeared in uniform was sent back to put on civilian clothing.
The ringleaders [Raedelsfuehrer] Schoer, Bettelhaeuser, Schulte, Schmidt, Hommrich, Schofs, are to be accused of disturbance of the peace, also Sonneborn, Mehl, Herwig and Suhr. Other cases suspended.
At first considerable disturbance among the citizens of Duisburg, now considerably more peaceful atmosphere.
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Berlin, 14 May 1935
[Pages 409-414]
The Reichminister of Justice Z.F.g.10 1717.34
Personal
To: The Reich and Prussian Minister of theJ Interior, Berlin
Subject: Ill-treatment of Communist Internees by Police Officials
Enclosure: One loose document My dear Reichminister,
Enclosed you will find copy of a report of the Inspector of the Secret State Police, dated 28 March 1935.
This report gives me an occasion to state my fundamental attitude toward the question of the beating of internees. The numerous instances of ill-treatment which have come to the knowledge of the administration of justice can be divided into three different causes for such ill-treatment of prisoners:
1. Beating as a disciplinary punishment [Hausstrafe] in concentration camps.
2. Ill-treatment, mostly of political internees, in order to make them talk.
3. Ill-treatment of internees arising out of sheer fun, or for sadistic motives.
I should like to make the following detailed comments on those three categories:
About No. 1. In the remand prisons and penal establishments under the Ministry of Justice, there was no need to introduce corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure. The experience of the administration of justice has taught that a well-trained, reliable and conscientious personnel of wardens is in a position to set up and to maintain model order under a strict discipline, even without corporal punishment. The more training and discipline the prison guards have, the less need exists to introduce corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure. .
But if, contrary to this view, one is to suppose that there might be a need to introduce corporal punishment in concentration camps, it appears indispensable that this disciplinary measure and the manner of its application should be determined, uniformly and unambiguously, for the whole territory of the Reich. It has happened recently that camp orders of individual concentration camps concerning this matter and the use of weapons, contained unusually severe instructions which were brought to the knowledge of the internees as a stern warning, while the warden personnel was administratively informed that these regulations, which dated mostly from 1933, were no longer applicable.
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Such a situation is equally dangerous for the warden personnel and for the internees. It would therefore appear, after the question of imposing protective custody was generally settled by the competent minister, that in the interests of all concerned, one should urgently and clearly define responsibility and legal aspect, furthermore that the same responsible authority would have to settle, by means of camp regulations generally applicable, the question of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure, which is still unclarified, as well as the question of the use of arms by the warden personnel.
About No. 2. I cannot concur with the opinions expressed in the enclosed letter. The present penal law, which I have to enforce, renders liable to particularly severe penalties those officials guilty of inflicting ill-treatment in the performance of their duties, especially when such ill-treatment is used to extort admissions or statements. That these legal provisions also reflect the will of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor is shown by the fact that, during the suppression of the Roehm revolt, the Fuehrer ordered the shooting of three members of the SS who had ill-treated prisoners in Stettin. That being the legal situation, it is out of order to grant silently one part of the police forces permission to extort statements by means of ill-treating prisoners. Such a measure would destroy the respect for the existing laws and would thereby lead necessarily to the confusion and demoralization of the officials concerned. '
Furthermore, such statements extorted by force are practically without value if they are supposed to serve as evidence in trials for high treason. The courts which have jurisdiction in cases of high treason consider to an ever-increasing degree statements of the defendants made before the police as worthless and without any evidenciary value for court decisions. This was the result of their getting convinced in the course of numerous proceedings that confessions and statements made before the police were extorted by ill-treatment.
Moreover, I cannot follow the statements contained in the attached report inasmuch as the beating of Communists held in custody is regarded as an indispensable police measure for a more effective suppression of Communist activities. These explanations of the Gestapo office show precisely that thé methods used up to now have not been successful in combatting the illegal Communist machine or to hinder its development.
Experience shows that such police measures may perhaps partially be successful but that they never can attain a total suppression and destruction of an illegal revolutionary organization
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which alone is of importance in the long run. Behind such revolutionary organizations there are professional revolutionaries of great experience and frequently exceptional intelligence. These succeed very soon, by means of cleverly camouflaging all more important functionaries, in excluding for all practical purposes the possibility of betrayal as a result of mistreatment.
About No. 3. The experience of the first revolutionary years has shown that the persons who are charged to administer the beatings generally lose pretty soon the feeling for the purpose and meaning of their actions and permit themselves to be governed by personal feelings of revenge or by sadistic tendencies. As an example, members of the guard detail of the former concentration camp at Bredow near Stettin completely stripped a prostitute who had an argument with one of them and beat her with whips and cowhides in such a fashion that the woman two months later still showed two open and infected wounds on the right side of her buttocks, one 17.7 by 21.5 centimeters and the other 12.5 by 16.5 centimeters, as well as a similar wound on the left side of the buttocks 7.5 by 17 centimeters. In the concentration camp at Kemna near Wuppertal, prisoners were locked up in a narrow clothing locker and were then tortured by blowing in cigarette smoke, upsetting the locker, etc. In some cases the prisoners were given first salt herring to eat, so as to produce an especially strong and torturing thirst. In the Hohenstein concentration camp in Saxony, prisoners had to stand under a dripping apparatus especially constructed for this purpose until the drops of water which fell down in even intervals caused seriously infected wounds in their scalps. In a concentration camp in Hamburg four prisoners were lashed for days—once without interruption for three days and nights, once five days and nights— to a grating in the form of a cross, being fed so meagerly with dried bread that they almost died of hunger.
These few examples show such a degree of cruelty which is an insult to every German sensibility, that it is impossible to consider any extenuating circumstances.
In conclusion, I should like to present my opinion about these three points to you, my dear Herr Reichsminister, in your capacity as cabinet member in charge of the establishment of protective custody and the camps for protective custody.
1. It seems now absolutely necessary that the competent minister should decree unified camp regulations for all camps for protective custody, which shall regulate completely and unmistakably the question of corporal punishment as disciplinary measure, and the question of use of weapons by the guards.
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2. It appears necessary that the competent cabinet minister order, valid for all police authorities, an absolute prohibition against mistreatment of prisoners for the purpose of forcing statements.
3. All mistreatments which are entirely or partly due to personal reasons must be prosecuted vigorously and punished under close cooperation of all governmental offices concerned.
Heil Hitler!
(signed) Dr. Guertner