Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremburg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946, Volume 04

by Various

Members of the SA were required to take a personal oath of fidelity to him. But when his policies conflicted with those of the Nazi leaders, he was removed and murdered and replaced by Victor Lutze. This drastic action was accomplished without revolt or dissension in the ranks of the SA and with no change in the objectives or program of the organization. The SA remained “a reliable and strong part of the National Socialist Movement”—and I am quoting; this is Document 2407-PS, Exhibit USA-412, the English translation of the Völkischer Beobachter. It is the last paragraph in the English translation, just above the name “Adolf Hitler.” I will say for the translators that the quotation is included in our text. If we might go on, I quote:

“It is my wish that the SA be built up as a reliable and strong part of the National Socialist movement, full of obedience and blind discipline. They must help to create and form the new German citizens.”

The importance of the SA in the Nazi plan for the utilization of the people of Germany is shown in Hitler’s pronouncement, “The Course for the German,” which appears in the issue of Der SA-Mann of the 5th of September 1936, at Page 22. It is our Document 3050-PS, Exhibit Numbers USA-414 and USA-418; and it is at Page 29 of the English translation—Page 29 of Document 3050-PS, the paragraph in the middle of the page; and I quote:

“. . . the young boy will enter the Jungvolk, and the adolescent will enter the Hitler Youth; the young man of the Hitler Jugend will go into the SA, the SS, and other units, and the SA and SS men will one day enter into the labor service and from there the Army, and the soldier of the Volk will return again into the organization of the Movement, of the Party, into the SA and SS, and never again will our Volk decay as it once had decayed.”

And so we see that at all times during the conspiracy the relationship between the SA and the Nazi Party was such that the SA was constantly available to the conspirators as an instrument to further their aims. The SA was created by the conspirators at the inception of the Nazi movement. It was at all times subject to the direction of Adolf Hitler. Seven of the defendants held positions of leadership and responsibility in the organization, and at all times the SA was subject to the call of the Hoheitsträger. The SA stood at the forefront of the election fights; and co-operation between the offices of the Party, of the SA, and of the State was assured by law.

And so it was declared by Victor Lutze, the former Chief of Staff of the SA, in a pamphlet entitled The Nature and Tasks of the SA; and it is our Document Number 2471-PS. The original we offer in evidence as Exhibit USA-413; and I quote from the top of Page 1 of the English translation, 2471-PS. I believe I will read that whole paragraph, the first paragraph on the top of the page:

“Before touching the real subject matter, I must tell you first, in order to clear up any uncertainty about my own position, that I never speak primarily as a member of the SA, but as a National Socialist, since the SA cannot be independent of the National Socialist movement but can only exist as a part of it.”

I should next like to present to the Tribunal evidence which will demonstrate the principal functions and activities performed by the SA pursuant to the relationship which I have described above and in furtherance of the objectives of the conspiracy. These activities may be logically classified or divided into four distinct phases or aspects, each of which, I might add, corresponds with a particular phase in the progression of the conspiracy toward the objectives alleged in the Indictment.

The first phase consists of the use of the SA and its members as the instrument for the dissemination of ideology and fanaticism of the Nazis throughout Germany. The employment of the SA for this purpose continued throughout the entire period of the conspiracy as will, I am sure, be apparent from the evidence.

The second phase relates to the period prior to the Nazi seizure of power. During this period the SA was a militant and aggressive group of fighters or gangsters whose function was to combat, physically and violently, all opponents of the Party.