And Henderson added:
“I had been under the impression that all references to religion were discouraged among the Hitler Youth, and this seemed to me to refute that imputation.”
What Schirach really thought with regard to religion, and in what sense he influenced youth, is indicated not only by a statement he made on the occasion of a speech before the teachers of the Adolf Hitler Schools at Sonthofen, to the effect that Christ was the greatest leader in the history of the world, but likewise by the small book, submitted to you in evidence, entitled, Christmas Gift of the War Welfare Service. This book, which was sent out in large numbers, was dedicated by Schirach to the front-line soldiers who joined from the ranks of the Hitler Youth movement in 1944, at a time when radicalism in all spheres of German life could hardly become more pronounced.
Here also Schirach was an exception: You will find no swastika, no picture of Hitler, no SA song in the book of Reichsleiter Von Schirach, but among other things a distinctly Christian poem from Schirach’s own pen, then a picture of a Madonna, and next to it a reproduction of a painting by Van Gogh who, as is generally known, was strictly banned in the Third Reich. Instead of inflammatory words, we find an exhortation to a Christian way of thinking and the “Wessobrunner Gebet,” familiar as the earliest Christian prayer in the German language. Bormann stormed when he saw the pamphlet, but Schirach remained firm and refused to withdraw the little book or alter it in any way.
The Defendant Von Schirach has been charged with having once undertaken a hostile act against the Church, and with having thereby taken part in the persecution of the Church. From a letter by Minister Lammers of 14 March 1941 (Document R-146), it appears that Schirach had proposed to keep confiscated property at the disposal of the Gaue, and not to hand it over to the Reich, but this case is no justification at all for connecting the Defendant Von Schirach in some way or other with the persecution of the Church. The case mentioned by the Prosecution does not concern church property at all, but confiscated property of a Prince Schwarzenberg in his Vienna palace. This affair therefore never had anything to do with the Church. This is also confirmed unequivocally by Minister Lammers’ letter of 14 March 1941 (R-146), which mentions only, I quote, “a confiscation of the property (of persons) hostile to the people and the State,” whereas Bormann’s far-reaching personal intention becomes apparent and betrays his hostile attitude toward the Church when he writes about “church properties (monastic possessions, and so forth)” in his accompanying letter of 20 March 1941 referring to this case. Moreover, the confiscation of Prince Schwarzenberg’s property was not caused, pronounced, or carried out by Schirach. Schirach had nothing to do with the confiscation as such; Schirach, however, in agreement with the other Gauleiter of the Austrian NSDAP, and at their request, personally applied to Hitler and asked that such confiscated property should not be taken to the Reich and not be used on behalf of the Reich, but that it should remain in Vienna. This suggestion met with approval. Hitler complied with his request, the result of Schirach’s efforts being that, when the confiscation was rescinded later on, the property could be returned to the legitimate owner, whereas it would otherwise have been lost by him. By acting thus, Schirach no doubt rendered a service to the Gau of Vienna and to the owner of the property seized. This instance surely cannot be construed as a charge against the Defendant Von Schirach; on the contrary, it speaks in his favor just as the other case where, disregarding Bormann, he intervened on behalf of Austrian nuns and as a result brought about, by a direct order from Hitler, the discontinuance from one day to the other of the whole project of confiscating church and monastic property in the whole Reich.
If the Prosecution further undertakes to charge the Defendant Von Schirach with the fact that the Vienna authorities subordinate to him proposed to establish an Adolf Hitler School in the monastery of Klosterneuburg in 1941, I must point out that even prior to the requisitioning of this monastery, and entirely independently of Schirach, the Vienna police and several Vienna courts had uncovered a considerable number of criminal offenses in this monastery, furthermore that the confiscation of part of the monastery seemed entirely justified to the Defendant Von Schirach, since the very spacious rooms of this religious establishment were not required for monastery purposes.
It should also be noted that the monastery, as can be seen from documents submitted, did not file any protest with the Reich Minister of the Interior against the decision to confiscate, and thereby recognized the confiscation as legal, although it had been expressly informed in the confiscation decree of the possibility of lodging a complaint. Moreover, the confiscated quarters were afterward not used for the establishment of an Adolf Hitler School, but for the Museum of Historical Art (thus not for a Party establishment), which again testifies to the fact that the confiscation decree had in no way been issued because of a hostile attitude on the part of Schirach toward the Church. Had it been Schirach’s object to attack the monastery because it was an ecclesiastical institution, he would have included in the confiscation the rooms used for religious ceremonies. These, however, he strictly excluded.
Moreover, when appraising this case, attention should be paid to the fact that the justification of the confiscation decree of 22 February 1941 displays remarkable reticence. The decree restricts itself to justifying the confiscation by the fact that on the one hand Vienna badly needed room and that on the other hand the premises confiscated were not required for the purposes of the monastery. Not a single word mentions or even suggests that criminal offenses had taken place in the monastery, as recorded in a police report of 23 January 1941, which is submitted to the Court. If this confiscation had been the result of a hostile attitude of Schirach toward the Church, we could have been sure that somehow or other reference would have been made to these criminal offenses to justify the confiscation. At Schirach’s wish a monthly indemnification was paid to the clergy who had occupied some of the confiscated rooms, for which payment there existed no official obligation whatever.
Defendant Von Schirach’s further behavior does not reveal any hostile attitude toward the Church, particularly if one considers, when judging this behavior, that during these years even a Reichsleiter was under strong pressure by the Reich Chancellery and by Bormann, and that at that time a considerable amount of courage was necessary to resist this pressure and carry on a policy in opposition to the official Berlin policy.
The witness Wieshofer of Vienna, who had the opportunity of watching Schirach’s activities, confirmed before the Court that in Vienna Schirach likewise strove to establish correct relations with the Church, that he was always willing to listen to any complaints of the Cardinal of Vienna and took severe measures against the excesses of individual members of the Hitler Youth or Hitler Youth leaders. In Vienna he thus displayed a policy toward the Church quite different from that which his radical predecessor Bürckel had favored, and it is beyond doubt that ecclesiastical circles in Vienna and the whole of the Viennese population appreciated Schirach’s attitude toward the Church. This is also confirmed by the witness Gustav Hoepken who was examined here and who, by order of Schirach, held regular conferences with a Vienna theologian, Professor Ens, in order to be able to inform the Defendant Schirach of the wishes of the Church and the differences which had arisen with ecclesiastical authorities. Unless he wished to expose himself to the most serious danger, Schirach could do no more under the prevailing political circumstances, which are described in the affidavit of Maria Hoepken, Document Book Schirach Number 3.