“Just as they, all of them, had during the years of oppression unshakeably believed in the victory of the movement, so his friend and comrade in the battle, Streicher, had stood faithfully at his side at all times. It had been this unshakeable belief that had moved mountains.
“For Streicher it would surely be a solemn thought, that this 50th anniversary meant not only the halfway point of a century, but also of a thousand years of German history to him. He had in Streicher a companion of whom he could say that here in Nurnberg was a man who would never waver for a single second and who would unflinchingly stand behind him in every situation.” (M-8).
A letter from Himmler, published in “Der Stuermer” of April 1937, declared:
“If in future years the history of the reawakening of the German people is written, and if already the next generation will be unable to understand that the German people was once friendly to the Jews, it will be stated that Julius Streicher and his weekly paper ‘Der Stuermer’ have contributed a great deal towards the enlightenment regarding the enemy of humanity. “(Signed) For the Reichsfuehrer SS, Himmler.” (M-22).
Finally, a letter from von Schirach, the Reich Youth Leader, published in “Der Stuermer” of January 1938, had this to say:
“It is the historical merit of ‘Der Stuermer’ to have enlightened the broad masses of our people in a popular way as to the Jewish world danger. ‘Der Stuermer’ is right in refusing to fulfill its task in the tone of the aesthetic drawing room. Jewry has shown no regard for the German people. We have, therefore, no cause to be considerate and to spare our worst enemy. What we fail to do today our youngsters of tomorrow will have to suffer for bitterly.” (M-45).
D. CONCLUSION.
It may be that Streicher is less directly involved in the physical commission of the crimes against Jews than some of his coconspirators. The submission of the Prosecution is that his crime is no less worse for that reason. No government in the world, before the Nazis came to power, could have embarked upon and put into effect a policy of mass Jewish extermination in the way in which they did, without having a people who would back them and support them, and without having a large number of people who were prepared to carry out the murder themselves. (See Chapter XII on Persecution of the Jews.)
It was to the task of educating and poisoning the people with hate, and of producing murderers, that Streicher set himself. For 25 years he continued unrelentingly the perversion of the people and youth of Germany. He went on and on, as he saw the results of his work bearing fruit.
In the early days he was preaching persecution. As persecution took place he preached extermination and annihilation and, as millions of Jews were exterminated and annihilated, in the Ghettos of the East, he cried out for more and more.