A Rothaug actually never spoke to me about a promotion. By saying this I want to state that a possibility of promotion which any person had suggested to him would have been welcomed by him. In his remarks, as far as I remember, he pointed out that he did not want to become Oberlandsgerichts President at all, President of the District Court of Appeals, because, in my opinion, he felt that he was more suited to be a judge of criminal cases.
Q Thus he did not want to have an administrative job, but he wanted to be a judge?
A Yes, that is correct.
Q In the personal opinion which Rothaug had of you, and according to the mutual trust between you, would Rothaug have told you about the efforts which he made?
A Do you mean personal?
Q I moan whether he would have trusted you enough, whether he would have had the confidence in you, and also whether he showed that confidence in you.
A That was not a question of confidence, in my opinion, but a question of tact. He did not talk with me about a possible promotion for him.
Q But you opened up the question before as to whether a promotion into another position was suggested to him. I wanted to ask you whether he would have told you such a thing, or did do so, whether he entrusted you with such a thing.
A lean only answer that in the same way as I did before.
Q You yourself were SS Hauptsturmfuehrer or SD Hauptsturmfuehrer; how was that called?
A During the course of the war I came to the rank of SD Hauptsturmfuehrer, in 1942.
Q For long how have you been interned since 1945?
A May I ask you whether-
Q (Interposing) You are supposed to answer that.
A Must I answer that?
Q Yes.
MR. KING: I think it might be well, in view of well known facts, as to certain individuals, if that question were not answered or were not required to be answered, because I don't think we have to restrict the defendant, or the witness, rather, to any particular type of answer and I can offer the Court no guarantee that an answer will not be forthcoming which would be extremely embarrassing to several people in the courtroom at the moment.
MR. LA FOLLETTE: If Your Honors please, I don't think it is relevant to any issue in this case, in any event.
JUDGE BRAND: Is counsel not familiar with the general practice which permits questions of this nature as going to the credibility of the witness in every court that counsel has ever seen?
MR LAFOLLETTE: I don't think there is any question about that. If Your Honor please, that is not my position. The question as to whether the man has ever been interned or not is not relevant to his credibility or as to any fact bearing upon any position which he stated that he held. He has stated his position. Whether or not he was interned doesn't seem to me to be important.
JUDGE BRAND: It is remotely possible, though I am not suggesting it, that it might fortify rather than weaken his testimony.
A My only point is that I don't think it is relevant. I am concerned about whether it fortifies or weakens.
DR. KOESSL: may it please the Court, I waive the answer to this question.
THE PRESIDENT: Do any other defense counsel desire to cross examine this witness?
(No response.)
THE PRESIDENT: Is there any re-direct examination?
MR. KING: No questions on re-direct, Your Honor.
THE PRESIDENT: Then the witness may be excused.
(Witness excused)
MR. WOOLEYHAN: May it please the Court, the Prosecution has now the medical report on the defendant Engert, which was requested from the Bench two days ago. We offer it now for the Court's attention, it being a memorandum dated the 30th of April 1947, signed by 1st Lieutenant Martin, Medical Corps, Prison Physician.
Now, this report was only received this morning, and it is in the English language. Does the Tribunal suggest that I read it for the benefit of defense counsel or not?
THE PRESIDENT: It is in no sense a matter of evidence upon any issue in the case, it is only for the Court's information. Therefore, it does not come within the rule, but I think the easiest way to dispose of it is to read it to the translator so that everybody will get it.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: "Medical Dispensary, 30 April, 1947.
"Subject: Medical Report on Defendant Karl Engert.
"To: Military Tribunal No. 3.
"1. Defendant Karl Engert was this day examined in the Stadt Krankenhaus, Nurnberg.
He has been in the hospital since 19 April 1947. He was admitted to this institution from the Oberschule Hospital, Fuerth.
"2. This is a chronically ill, 69 year old man. The principal complaint is chronic chronicccholecystitis. This produces daily fever and severe colic pain. He was jaundiced for some weeks, but at the present time is free of jaundice. His gall bladder is very large, due to inflammation. A second condition, less obvious but basically more important, is cardiovascular disease. He has extreme arteriosclerosis. The blood vessels are like pipe stems. In addition, he suffers from coronary insufficiency. He also has gastritis. Because of the heart condition, age, and general physical condition, it is not possible to remove his gal bladder. Without removal of the diseased gall bladder, he will probably continue the role of an invalid.
"Any activity or indiscretion of diet will result in an acute flare-up. He also will nave to continue on a low or fat-free diet. Because of his gastritis he will need a bland diet. Any moderate activity may bring on an attack of coronary heart disease or failure due to the poor supply of oxygen to the heart. It is possible that any time he may have apoplexy from the arteriosclerosis. At the present time it is quite impossible for him to return to the prison. There is no possible way to prepare special meals for him in the prison. In addition, he could not return to prison because of the gallbladder disease, which is not yet quiescent. If it were quiescent, an acute flare-up could be expected in a snort time with normal activity in the prison. It will be some weeks before it becomes quiescent, if it ever does. If convicted to a prison term, he could not serve time in a prison but would have to be placed in a prison hospital. Signed, Roy Martin, 1st Lt., Medical Corps, Prison Physician."
THE PRESIDENT: Summing up the affidavit, it would appear that except for the things mentioned in the affidavit he is in good physical condition.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Other than that, Your Honor, he is in excellent health, yes sir.
THE PRESIDENT: This Tribunal will take no action whatever. It is just informative matter.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: There is one farther question, Your Honor. The prison hospital called this morning to state that they are very snort of guards. The defendant Engert naturally is under constant guard while he is in the Hospital. They want to transfer him to an unguarded hospital if the Tribunal so rules, and the unguarded hospital is somewhere either Garmisch or Munich. It requires some action, I believe.
THE PRESIDENT: It is the opinion of the Tribunal that we are here merely to decide some questions of fact upon issues raised upon this indictment and the evidence either for or against, and we desire to take no part in anything other than that.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: The Prosecution at this time desires to present several documents which were received in evidence before the International Military Tribunal with respect to concentration camps, particularly Mauthausen, Flossenbuerg, and Auschwitz. On their face these documents do not name any of the defendants in this dock, but at the conclusion of the presentation of these documents we will link them briefly to these defendants, as has been requested previously from the bench.
The first document we offer as judicial notice on the ground that it is an official report by the office of the Judge Advocate General Headquarters, Third United States Army. This document is designated HO 2176 PS.
For the benefit of defense counsel, I have one German Copy in addition to a number of English copies. Would defense counsel prefer that I gave this one German copy to the interpreter, and thereafter they may look at it? That would probably be the most efficient method. This is a report by the aforesaid authority.
THE PRESIDENT: One moment. Will you give defense counsel a copy at this time? Maybe there is a misunderstanding. How many copies are there of this? Is there a copy now for the use of defense counsel?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: There is a copy in English, Your Honor, for defense counsel. This document is entitled "Report of Investigating Officer -- Confidential. Headquarters, Third United States Army, Office of the Judge Advocate, APO 403, 17 June, 1945.
SUBJECT: Report of Investigation of Alleged War Crimes.
TO: The Commanding General, Twelfth Army Group, APO 655, U.S. Army.
"I. Authority. This investigation was conducted to conformity with a letter from the European Theater of Operations, 24 February 1945, by Eugene Cohen, Major, 514th Quartermaster Group, Unites States Army, as Investigator-Examiner, during the period 6 May 1945 to 15 June 1945.
"II. Matters Investigated. Murder by shooting, beating, use of poison gas, drowning, starving, injections, stoning, exposure, burning and choking of nationals of twenty-three nations.
"III. Proceedings. The testimony of all witnesses examined in the course of this investigation and which is attached and made a part hereof was secured through tho use of interpreters whore requisite, after the witness had boon sworn."
Skipping to Page 2 of this document, Paragraph 4, Summary of Facts, Subparagraph a:
"Between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 political prisoners are known to have been incarcerated and labeled for extermination at the Mauthausen system of concentration camps from available records. The Chain consisted ob between 23 and 30 individual camps between the years 1941 and 1945, the number varying as the smaller of these were occasionally evacuated.
"b. Of the camps affiliated with Mauthausen, the present investigation covered 13 of them, of which tho largest were Mauthausen, Gusen, Number 1 and Number 2, Ebensee, Steyr, and Gunskirchen."
May I interpolate a moment to invite the Court's attention to the fact that Ebensee, which I have just read, was tho satellite camp of Mauthausen to which the witness Hach was transferred, as is already in the record.
"The victims of this chain of camps were murdered by the SS guards working in these camps under the command of --" certain officials whose names I will not read. Skipping to Paragraph 5:
It may be added that one of the functions of the International Committee formed by this investigator to assist in the investigation of those camps was to arrange for each nation to copy the names of its dead from tho available records in order to notify the next of kin." Skipping tho next sentence, "This International Committee was selected from the inmates by the team and consisted of tho most distinguished members selected by the prisoners themselves."
Skipping to Paragraph 5, labeled "Conclusions:
"The evidence collected in this case shows very clearly that the whole purpose of the Mauthausen chain of concentration camps was extermination of human beings for no other reason than their opposition to tho Nazi way of thinking. There is no doubt that Mauthausen was the basis for long term planning. It was constructed as a gigantic stone fortress on top of a mountain flanked by small barracks."
Skipping to the last sentence of the next paragraph:
"It was conducted with the solo purpose in mind of exterminating any so-called prisoner who entered within its walls.
"Tho so-called branches of Mauthausen wore under direct command of tho SS officials located there. All records, orders, and administrative facilities were handled for these branches through Mauthausen. Tho other camps, including Gusen and Ebenesee, its two most notorious and largest branches, were not exclusively used for extermination but prisoners wore used as tools in construction and production until they wore beaten or starved into uselessness, whereupon they were customarily sent to Mauthausen for final disposal."
Without further reading from this document, we offer it for the judicial notice of the Tribunal as Prosecution Exhibit No. 412.
THE PRESIDENT: You offer the entire document and not merely that portion which you have read, as I understand it.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: To be consistent with what we have done in the past, Your Honor, I believe that in all fairness to defense counsel we only offer that portion which we read, for the reason that we only have one German copy, which is rather insufficient for distribution. However, if we can later find enough German copies, perhaps we could offer the whole thing. He so offer it.
THE PRESIDENT: You are apparently not ready to declare about translations and further use of the document?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: We request, Your Honor, at this time to offer it as Exhibit 412 so far as the record will show the portions which we road.
THE PRESIDENT: It will be received. Tho time has arrived for our usual noon adjournment, and we therefore adjourn until 1:30 o'clock.
(A recess was taken until 1330 hours.)
AFTERNOON SESSION (The hearing reconvened at 1330 hours, 1 May 1947.)
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal is again in session.
DR. GRUBE: May it please the Tribunal, I ask to be permitted to present a request to the Tribunal in the name of the defendants. The defendants have told me that in the evening they receive supper at halfpast five and that ton minutes thereafter, that is twenty minutes before six, they have to get ready in order to be brought over when they want to speak to their defense counsel. The defense counsel, according to the existing ruling, can only speak to the defendants at half-past six. Therefore, the defendants are asking that it be ruled that they can be brought over only at a quarter after six into the gymnasium so that they have an opportunity to eat their dinner.
THE PRESIDENT: It looks like that is a fairly reasonable request but I don't know what we can do about it.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Your Honors, if the Court would care to make such an order, the prosecution would undertake to approach the prison authorities to see if that arrangement would be possible, or we could do it off the cuff for that matter without an order, I suppose, Whether or not the prison regime will allow that I don't know, but I will certainly find out.
JUDGE BRAND: My only difficulty was that I didn't quite get the change which is requested. I didn't quite understand it. I am sure it's a reasonable request.
DR. GRUBE: I ask to rule that the defendants are no longer brought over at twenty minutes of six, but at six-fifteen; that is, if their defense counsel want to talk to them.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will be willing to recommend that change but whether we have any power I doubt. We can recommend anything along that line that may be desirable, if you so state.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: With that in mind the prosecution will endeavor to secure the change. If defense counsel will come to my office after the session this afternoon, we will get it down in writing and see what can be done.
May it please the Court, pursuant to written notice, which we filed some days ago in proper form, we wish to notify both the Tribunal and defense counsel that tomorrow morning at the beginning of the session the prosecution will call a witness, one Eberhard Staud, former member of the Reich Ministry of Justice, who will testify relating to matters concerning the defendant Alstoetter.
THE PRESIDENT: That is at nine-thirty tomorrow morning, you mean?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Yes, Your Honor.
I continue now with further documents of the same nature as that described generally this morning with relation to concentration camps. These documents, as I have said, were previously introduced into evidence in the International Military Tribunal's case, The document read this morning was an official U.S. Army investigation into the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. I wish to refer now to a similar report concerning the Flossenburg Concentration Camp. This document will be offered as a matter of judicial notice in its entirety for the reason that we are able to furnish copies of it in German to the defense as well as to the Court.
This document is entitled "Headquarters, Third United States Army, Judge Advocate Section, War Crimes Branch". It is dated 21 June 1945. Subject: Report of Investigation of War Crimes. To: Commanding General, Third United States Army.
We note from Paragraph II that the matters investigated concerned the Flossenburg Concentration Camp. We note in Paragraph III, under Proceedings, that the testimony of all witnesses in the course of this investigation was secured through the use of an interpreter after the witness had been sworn.
On Page 2 we find the Summary of Facts:
"Concentration Camp Flossenburg was founded in 1938 as a camp for political prisoners. Construction was commenced on the camp in 1938 and it was not until April 1940 that the first transport of prisoners was received.
From this time on prisoners began to flow steadily into the camp. Flossenburg was the mother camp and under its direct control and jurisdiction were 47 satellite camps for male prisoners and 27 camps for female workers. To these satellite camps were supplied the necessary prisoners for the various work projects undertaken."
Skipping to the middle of the next paragraph:
"This labor was performed completely underground and as a result of the brutal treatment, working and living conditions a daily average of 100 prisoners died. To the one camp Oberstaubling" - which I take it to be a satellite camp of Flossenburg - "700 prisoners were transported in February 1945 and on the 15th of April 1945 only 405 of these men were living. During the 12 months preceding the liberation Flossenburg and the branch camps under its control accounted for the death of 14,739 male inmates and 1,300 women. These figures represent the deaths as were obtained from the available records in the camp; however, they are in no way complete as many secret mass executions and deaths took place. In 1941 an additional stockade was added at the Flossenburg camp to hold 2,000 Russian prisoners. From these 2,000 prisoners only 120 survived.
"Flossenburg Concentration Camp can best be described as a factory dealing in death. Although this camp had in view the primary object of putting to work the mass slave labor, another of its primary objectives was the elimination of human lives by the methods employed in handling the prisoners.
"Hunger and starvation rations, sadism, housing facilities, inadequate clothing, medical neglect, disease, beatings, hangings, freezing, hand hanging, forced suicides, shooting, etc. all played a major role in obtaining their objective. Prisoners were murdered at random, spite killings against Jews were common. Injections of poison and shooting in the neck were everyday occurrences. Epidemics of typhus and spotted fever were permitted to run rampant as a means of eliminating prisoners.
Life in this camp meant nothing. Killing became a common thing, so common that quick death was welcomed by the unfortunate ones."
Skipping to the next paragraph:
"The system set up at this camp seemed to be one of mass elimination of the prisoners caused by devious moans. Starvation diets wilfully designed to produce death within a few months played a major role. Typhus and spotted fever were encouraged as a means of disposing of many. There were innumerable executions, mistreatments, beatings, flogging to death, which continued up until the time this camp was overrun by our forces. Mass hanging took place. Generally, the persons hanged were stripped naked. Of times they were beaten before hanging till the unfortunate victims begged for immediate hanging to ease the pain. At first the SS men in charge of the hanging were given extra rations for each hanging. Later on the hangings became so numerous that the extra rations were stopped. Hanging a person by his wrists with a heavy barrel suspended from his ankles was another method of execution, This caused the person's insides to be torn up and he died. On Christmas 1944 a number of prisoners were hung at one time. The prisoners were forced to view this hanging. By the side of the gallows was a decorated Christmas tree and as expressed by one prisoner, 'It was a terrible sight, that combination of prisoners hanging in the air and the glistening Christmas tree.'" Skipping to the last paragraph:
"Many thousands were tortured and killed by every known method. New methods of brutal punishment and torture killing were devised by certain members of the camp who became particularly known for their sadistic methods."
Skipping to the paragraph labeled "Conclusions" at the bottom of page 4:
"Flossenburg Concentration Camp, Germany, was the scene of every type and form of Nazi brutality and atrocity committed upon the unfortunate individuals who happened to he sent to this camp. Practically every nationality of Europe was at sometime or another represented in this camp.
The majority of prisoners, however, were Russians and Poles. No line of demarkation was made between sexes. Men, women, and children were executed in the most brutal fashions."
We offer as Exhibit 413 this entire document for judicial notice.
JUDGE BRAND: Major Wooleyhan, will you perhaps exchange the copy that you have given to me.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Certainly.
JUDGE BRAND: This is almost illegible.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Would you please hand the Justice the copy which I read from.
JUDGE BRAND: I don't want to take the official copy.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: No, that is not the official copy, Your honor. It is marked, is it not, with a pencil marking; the one I read from was marked.
JUDGE BRAND: This is much better. This is all right.
THE PRESIDENT: The document will be received.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: The last two documents to which we have referred were each respectively concerned with Mauthausen and Flossenburg. We turn now to the document which we will offer in evidence. It is document No. 2605-PS. It was distributed to defense counsel yesterday afternoon. However, in view of the fact that there are only a couple of hours difference before the expiration of the twenty-four hour rule, and since I am able to supply copies in both the English and the German now, I am hoping the defense counsel will waive the couple of hours difference.
THE PRESIDENT: There is no objection heard.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Distribute please, these German copies to the defense counsel, and the interpreters, and the English copies to the Bench.
This is a sworn affidavit that is offered in evidence in its entirety. However, I wish to read a few brief excerpts from it. On page 2 the affidavit begins as follows: "Dr. Rudolph Kastner, being duly sworn deposes and says: I was born in 1906 at Kolossvar, Rumania, solicitor and journalist, residing at Chemin Krieg, 16 Pension Sergey, Geneva. Now temporarily at 109, Clarence Gate Gardens, London.
I was in Budapest until November 28, 1944; as one of the leaders of the Hungarian Zionist organization I not only witnessed closely the Jewish persecution, dealt with officials of the Hungarian puppet government, and the Gestapo, but also gained insight into the operation of the Gestapo, their organization and witnessed the various phases of Jewish persecution. The following biographical data of mine might be of interest." And skipping now to page 8 of this document, at the bottom half of the page: "The particular officer who directed the deportations from some particular country had the authority to indicate whether the train should go to a death camp or not, and what should happen to the passengers. The instructions were usually carried by the SS--NCO escorting the train. The letters "A" or "M" on the escorting instruction documents indicated Auschwitz (Oswiecim) or Majdanek; it meant that the passengers were to be gassed."
Skipping a line: "Regarding Hungarian Jews the following general ruling was laid down in Oswiecim", which is Auschwitz," and children up to the age of 12, older people above 50, as well as the sick, or people with criminal records (who were transported in specially marked wagons) were taken immediately on their arrival to the gas chambers. The others passed before an SS doctor who on sight indicated who was fit for work, and who was not. Those unfit were sent to the gas chambers, while the others were distributed in various labor camps."
Skipping now to page 9, third paragraph: "In the first half of November 1944 about 20,000 Jews were taken from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz and were gassed, on instructions from Aichmann. As far as I could ascertain this was the last gassing process."
I offer this document in evidence as Prosecution's Exhibit No. 414 in its entirety, with particular reference to remarks which I noted as being pertinent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
THE PRESIDENT: Is it desired to have this become part of any document book?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: I would suggest, Your Honor, it be made part of Document Book IV. Before introducing those documents, I have just mentioned -- I beg your pardon, is that accepted?
THE PRESIDENT: The document will be received in evidence.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Before offering the last three exhibits, I said that those exhibits, although they don't mention on their face any of the defendants in the dock, that we would link them to said defendants. To be very brief, the documents just presented relate to every defendant in this case who was in the Reichsministry of Justice at any time from the middle of 1942 until 1945. In view of the Ministry's policy and working agreement with the SS to transfer prisoner inmates to the concentration camps, that agreement whereby, and how, and by whom it was done, as far as the defendants in this case are concerned, is already in evidence, particularly with respect to the concentration camps of Mauthausen, Flossenburg and Auschwitz. It was this policy of the Ministry of Justice to send people of all nationalities to a fate described in these last three documents.
Your Honors, with respect to this chart of the concentration camps on the wall, at this time the Prosecution request of the Tribunal to take judicial notice of the concentration camps names and locations as specified on that chart under Ordinance No. 7, as a matter of common knowledge, and we may, if desired, submit a photostat of that chart as an exhibit when it can be processed.
THE PRESIDENT: Under what particular language of that Section 9 or 10, of No. 7 do you think this charge comes?
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Your Honor, I submit that this chart comes within the phrase, "Common knowledge." "For matters of common knowledge", as set forth in the judicial notice paragraph of Ordinance No. 7.
DR. HAENSEL: Dr. Karl Haensel for the defendant Joel. I wish to object against the use of this document, or the acceptance of this document. It is not a captured document, but it is a map which was made after the collapse of Germany, against which detailed objections still may be made.
The action in which the concentration camps are pictured is not according to the real conditions, for if one looks at this map one could assume that a much larger knowledge existed about the number of concentration camps in Germany then which actually existed. Besides, the document in no way shows the date for which it applies, as the organization of concentration Camps was in a continuous state of fluctuation and development, so that one can only come to understand the manner in which these concentration camps were distributed over the entire Germany and occupied territories, if one also supplies the dates for which that map has been made.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: In brief reply to the objection of the defense counsel, I feel it necessary only to repeat the manner in which I first offered this chart or map. I offer this map for the judicial notice of the Tribunal for only two things, one, the names of the concentration camps portrayed thereon, and, two, their geographical location. We are not concerned with the organization of the concentration camps, dates, statistics, or anything else other than the names and geographical locations. If the defense has any objection to that, I would like to hear it.
DR. HAENSEL: We have to stick to the principle of the best available proof. What the representative of the Prosecution has said now can be proved by documents that arc documents which do not admit any doubt with a list of the camps, and with a definite identification to their location. Such proof is to be referred to not in a map which is not authentic and has been prepared afterwards.
THE PRESIDENT: It would seem that, strictly speaking, there is no authentication of this map. The man who made it can testify concerning it, or maybe it is not amiss to suggest that there may be hundreds of men who could look at it and say that it is a correct representation of locations. That is all you are seeking to prove, and so I think we should conform to the laws of evidence rather strictly. Above all things, we are concerned with a fair trial here.
JUDGE BRAND: May I suggest--this is a personal suggestion--the rejection of the map as it is at the present time unauthenticated does not mean that this Tribunal can not or will not take judicial notice of the facts of common knowledge.
JUDGE BRAND: As far as they are of common knowledge, regardless of maps.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: And, further, with respect to whatever effect the map's display in the courtroom these past two days may have had, we might like to point out that there have been no objections to the names or geographical locations thereon.
JUDGE BRAND: It might be helpful to the Tribunal as to certain of the names there if some witness who knows European geography better than we do would tell us in what country some of these camps are. I assume that we know where Dachau is judicially without anybody telling us.
MR. WOOLEYHAN: Does Your Honor recall the pointing out of the geographical locations of Mauthause, Flossenbuerg, and Auschwitz the other day? With regard to the rest of them, if it is desired, we will have testimony.
MR. KING: We wish to proceed at this time with the introduction of several documents that, for one reason or another, were either not presented at the time the documents to which they belong were presented or for the reason that they were not included in the document books.
I think distribution has been made of all of these to Defense Counsel, and I do have some extra copies for distribution to the Bench in the event that they are not readily available to you.
The first document which we would like to introduce is 2412-PS, which will become when formally offered Exhibit 415. This document was not included in any of the previous document books, but we suggest that it be place at the end of Document Book 1-A.
Document 2412-PS is an excerpt from a pamphlet, the author of which was Goebbels. The pamphlet was entitled "Nature and Form of National Socialism", and it was published in Berlin in 1935. I would like to read a paragraph from the document, and that paragraph is the third one in the English translation as distributed:
"National Socialism is now in the process of slowly stabilizing the new legality in Germany which was created by revolution. This is basically different from the former legality and is also beyond the possibilities of criticism, which National Socialism could itself apply in the old system. When democracy granted democratic methods for us in the times of opposition, this was bound to happen in a democratic system. However, we National Socialists never asserted that we represented a democratic point of view, but we have declared openly that we used democratic methods only in order to gain the power and that, after assuming the power, we would deny to our adversaries without any consideration the means which were granted to us in the times of opposition. In spite of this, we can assert that our government meets the rules of an ennobled democracy."
We offer the Document 2412-PS as Exhibit 415.
THE PRESIDENT: The document will be received in evidence.
MR. KING: The next document which will be, when received in evidence, Exhibit 416, is the Document NG 737. This document is listed in the index of Document Book 6 and should be placed in that book according to the page designation in the index. I anticipate some argument-
THE PRESIDENT: Book 6?
MR. KING: Book 6, yes. I anticipate some argument from Defense Counsel as to the receipt of this document in evidence. This is a sworn affidavit of one Robert Hecker, who has appeared before this Court as a witness.