“No one—the Fuehrer has ordered—may know more or be told more than he needs for his immediate task, but I have no doubt at all in my mind, gentlemen, but that you need a great deal in order to be able to cope with your tasks. It is in your Gau, after all * * * that all the enemy propaganda, and the malicious rumors concentrate that try to find themselves a place among our people * * * Against this wave of enemy propaganda and cowardice you need to know the true situation, and, for this reason, I believe that I am justified in giving you a perfectly open and uncovered account of the state of affairs * * *.” (L-172)
Reichsleiter Bormann distributed to all Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, and leaders of Party affiliated organizations, by an undated letter of transmittal, an order of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht relating to self-defense by German guard personnel and German contractors and workers against prisoners of war (656-PS). The order of the Wehrmacht states that the question of treatment of prisoners of war is continually being discussed by Wehrmacht and Party bureaus. The order states that should prisoners of war refuse to obey orders to work, the guard has “in the case of the most pressing need and danger, the right to force obedience with the weapon if he has no other means. He can use the weapon as much as is necessary to attain his goal * * *.” (656-PS)
On 18 April 1944, Reich Commissar Lohse, Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, in a letter to Reich Youth Leader Axmann, proposed that the Hitler Youth participate in and supervise the military education of the Estonian and Latvian youth (347-PS). Lohse stated in this letter that “in the military education camps, the young Latvians are trained under Latvian leaders in the Latvian language not because this is our ideal, but because absolute military necessity demands this.” Lohse further stated:
“* * * in contrast to the Germanic peoples of the West, military education is no longer to be carried out through voluntary enlistments but through legal conscription. The camps in Estonia and Latvia * * * will have to be under German Leadership and, as military education camps of the Hitler Youth, they must be a symbol of our educational mission beyond Germany’s borders * * * I consider the execution of the military education of the Estonian and Latvian youth not only a military necessity, but also a war mission of the Hitler Youth especially. I would be thankful to you, Party member Axmann, if the Hitler Youth would put itself at our disposal with the same readiness with which they have so far supported our work in the Baltic area.” (347-PS)
The Reichsfuehrer of the SS, as shown earlier, was a Reichsleiter of the NSDAP (2473-PS). An order of the Reich Minister of the Interior, Frick, dated 22 October 1938, provided as follows:
“The Reichsfuehrer SS and the Chief of the German Police * * * can take the administrative measures necessary for the maintenance of security and order, even beyond the legal limits otherwise set on such measures.” (1438-PS)
This order related to the administration of the Sudeten-German territory.
In a letter dated 23 June 1943 (407-VI-PS) Gauleiter and Plenipotentiary for the Direction of Labor, Fritz Sauckel, wrote to Hitler advising him of the success of the forced labor program as of that date. Sauckel stated:
“You can be assured that the District of Thueringen [Gau] and I will serve you and our dear people with the employment of all strength * * *.” (407-VI-PS)
On 1 September 1939, Hitler wrote a memorandum stating: