Civilians who joined the Speer Legion, as set forth in Paragraph (H) were required, under threat of depriving them of food, money, and identity papers, to swear a solemn oath acknowledging unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of Germany, which was to them a hostile power.
THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will now adjourn until 2 o’clock.
[The Tribunal recessed until 1400 hours.]
Afternoon Session
THE PRESIDENT: Will the Chief Prosecutor for the French Republic continue the reading of the Indictment.
M. MOUNIER: In Lorraine, civil servants were obliged, in order to retain their positions, to sign a declaration by which they acknowledged the “return of their country to the Reich”, pledged themselves to obey without reservation the orders of their chiefs and put themselves “at the active service of the Führer and of National Socialist greater Germany.”
A similar pledge was imposed on Alsatian civil servants, by threat of deportation or internment.
These acts violated Article 45 of the Hague Regulations, 1907, the laws and customs of war, the general principles of international law, and Article 6 (b) of the Charter.
(J) Germanization of occupied territories.