LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PURGE OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS AND TERRORIZATION

DocumentDescriptionVol.Page
Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6, especially 6 (a).I5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1, Section IV (D) 3 (b).I19
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Note: A single asterisk (*) before a document indicates that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg trial. A double asterisk (**) before a document number indicates that the document as referred to during the trial but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason given in parentheses following the description of the document. The USA series number, given in parentheses following the description of the document, is the official exhibit number assigned by the court.
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 *784-PSLetters from Minister of Justice to Hess and SA Chief of Staff, 5 June 1935, concerning penal proceedings against merchant and SA leader and 22 companions because of inflicting bodily injury on duty. (USA 732)III559
 *786-PSMinister of Justice memorandum, 29 November 1935, concerning pardon of those sentenced in connection with mistreatment in Hohnstein concentration camp. (USA 734)III568
 *787-PSMemorandum to Hitler from Public Prosecutor of Dresden, 18 June 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel on account of bodily injury while in office. (USA 421)III568
 *788-PSLetters from Secretary of State to the Minister of Justice, 25 June 1935 and 9 September 1935, concerning criminal procedure against Vogel. (USA 735)III571
 1388-PSLaw concerning confiscation of Property subversive to People and State, 14 July 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 479.III962
 1390-PSDecree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State, 28 February 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 83.III968
 1393-PSLaw on treacherous attacks against State and Party, and for the Protection of Party Uniforms, 20 December 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1269.III973
 1430-PSCompilation of Leading Men of the System Era, June 1939.IV15
 1652-PSDecree of the Reich President for protection against treacherous attacks on the government of the Nationalist movement, 21 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 135.IV160
*1669-PSCorrespondence between Dr. Haushofer and Hess, 24 and 28 August 1933. (USA 741)IV184
*1759-PSAffidavit of Raymond H. Geist. (USA 420)IV288
*1852-PS“Law” from The German Police, 1941, by Dr. Werner Best. (USA 449). (See Chart No. 16)IV490
*1856-PSExtract from book entitled “Hermann Goering—Speeches and Essays”, 3rd edition 1939, p. 27. (USA 437)IV496
*1857-PSAnnouncement of creation of SS as independent formation of NSDAP. Voelkischer Beobachter, 26 July 1934, p. 1. (USA 412)IV496
 1956-PSMeaning and Tasks of the Secret State Police, published in The Archives, January 1936, Vol. 22-24, p. 1342.IV598
 1962-PSLaw to change the Penal Code of 28 June 1935. 1935 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 839.IV600
 2057-PSLaw relating to National Emergency Defense Measures of 3 July 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 529.IV699
 2107-PSLaw on Secret State Police of 10 February 1936. 1936 Preussiche Gesetzsammlung, pp. 21-22.IV732
 2344-PSReconstruction of a Nation by Goering, 1934, p. 89.IV1065
 2347-PSCourt decisions from 1935 Reichsverwaltungsblatt, Vol. 56, pp. 577-578, 20 July 1935.IV1066
*2386-PSJoint affidavit of George S. Messersmith and Raymond H. Geist, 29 August 1945. (USA 750)V39
*2460-PSAffidavit of Rudolf Diels. (USA 751)V205
*2472-PSAffidavit of Rudolf Diels, 31 October 1945. (USA 752)V224
 2491-PSExtract from Legal Review, published Lawyers’ Journal, 1935.V235
 2494-PSPrime Minister Goering’s Press Conference, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, Berlin edition, 23-24 July 1933, p. 1.V236
 2496-PSExtract from Goering’s address to Public Prosecutors of Prussia on 12 July 1934 from the Archive, 1934, Vols. IV-VI, p. 495.V236
*2499-PSOriginal Protective Custody Order served on Dr. R. Kempner, 15 March 1935. (USA 232)V236
 2533-PSExtract from article “Legislation and Judiciary in the Third Reich”, from Journal of the Academy for German Law, 1936, pp. 141-142.V277
 2543-PSExtract from The Mission of the SS, published in The National Socialist Magazine, Issue 46, January 1934.V288
*2544-PSAffidavit of Rudolf Diels, former Superior Government Counsellor of the Police Division of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. (USA 753)V288
 2545-PSExtract from Hitler’s cleaning up act in Reich, published in Voelkischer Beobachter, Berlin edition, No. 182-183, 1-2 July 1934, p. 1.V290
 2548-PSLaw about changing rules of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure of 24 April 1934. 1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 34.V291
 2549-PSExtract from “Germany’s Road to Freedom” as published in Documents of German Politics, Vol. 3.V292
 2550-PSLaw on modification of rules of general criminal procedure, 16 September 1939. 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 1841.V293
 2552-PSExcerpt concerning criminals, published in Journal of the Academy for German Law. No. 3. March 1935.V293
 2554-PSLaw concerning adjudication and execution of the death penalties of 29 March 1933. 1933 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, p. 151.V294
 2572-PSHitler’s speech to the Reichstag on 13 July 1934, printed in The Third Reich, Vol. II, p. 247.V302
*2614-PSAffidavit of Dr. Wilhelm Hoettl, 5 November 1945. (USA 918)V337
 2639-PSOrdinances of the Deputy of the Fuehrer, published in Munich 1937.V345
*2950-PSAffidavit of Frick, 19 November 1945. (USA 448)V654
*2967-PSAffidavit of Dr. Hans Anschuetz, 17 November 1945. (USA 756)V673
*L-73Affidavit of Bruno Bettelheim, 10 July 1945. (USA 746)VII818
*L-83Affidavit of Gerhart H. Seger, 21 July 1945. (USA 234)VII859
*L-135Affidavit of Kate Eva Hoerlin, 9 July 1945. (USA 747)VII883

5. DESTRUCTION OF THE FREE TRADE UNIONS AND
ACQUISITION OF CONTROL OVER THE
PRODUCTIVE LABOR CAPACITY

A. They destroyed the independent organization of German labor.

(1) Before the Nazis took control, organized labor held a well established and influential position in Germany. Most of the trade unions of Germany were joined together in two large congresses or federations, the Free Trade Unions (Freie Gewerkschaften) and Christian Trade Unions (Christlichen Gewerkschaften). Unions outside these two large groupings contained only 15 per cent of the total union membership. The Free Trade Unions were a congress of two federations of affiliated unions: (1) the General German Trade Union Federation (Allgemeinen Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbund, or the “ADGB”) with 28 affiliated unions of industrial workers; (2) the General Independent Employees Federation (Allgemeinen Freien Angestelltenbund, or the “AFA”) with 13 affiliated unions of white collar workers. (392-PS)

The membership of the Free Trade Unions, the affiliated organizations of the Christian Trade Unions, and all other unions at the end of 1931 (the last year for which the official government yearbook gives statistics) was as follows (2411-PS):

Union GroupNumber of membersPercentage of total
Free Trade Unions4,569,87665.9
Christian Trade Unions1,283,27218.5
Others Unions1,081,37115.6
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      Total6,934,519100.0

Under the Weimar Constitution, workers were “called upon to take part on equal terms” with employers in regulating conditions of employment. “It was provided that organizations on both sides and agreements between them shall be recognized.” Factory Representative Councils (otherwise known as Workmens or Factory Works Councils) had the right, in conjunction with employers’ representatives, to take an official part in the initiation and administration of social and economic legislation. (2050-PS)

(2) The Nazi conspirators conceived that the free trade unions were incompatible with their objectives.

Hitler stated in Mein Kampf: