Thus, if we relinquish the false conception of uniformity: One party, one philosophy, one ideology, one crime—and we will have to, in view of the indisputable fact that Rosenberg himself never pursued a policy of extermination, destruction, and enslavement in the East—we shall have to admit that the facts of the terrible central executive orders and of Rosenberg’s philosophy are not identical, and on these grounds alone the conclusions of the Prosecution are invalid.
Karl Marx teaches that historical events and political social reality are conditioned by the mere casual play of materialistic forces. Whether Marx in addition acknowledges the independent influence of man and ideas on history is at least doubtful. On the other hand, Rosenberg stresses emphatically the influence and the necessity of the highest ideas in the history of peoples. But Rosenberg does not overlook the fact that every event in history is the result of a totality of acting forces. The will, the passions and the intelligence of the people involved work together to form a historical process which cannot be calculated in human terms. It has already been pointed out that, just as little as Voltaire’s and Rousseau’s ideas can be recognized as the causes of the French Revolution, and the slogans of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” be taken as the cause of the Jacobinic terror, as little as one can say that Mirabeau and Sièze had wanted or plotted such a blood bath, so little can one ascribe to Rosenberg as his moral or even criminal guilt that which National Socialism became during its development through the decades. In other words, I believe it is as unjust as it is unhistorical to ascribe today, in retrospect, the negative aspects of National Socialism, which were connected with the terrible collapse, to a plan desired from the outset and emanating from Rosenberg’s ideas.
Therefore, in considering Rosenberg’s work the mistake of a standardization which does not correspond to reality is added to the further mistake of mechanization; there is neither a mechanical man nor mechanical history. And, finally, the construction of the Indictment is also an absolutely negative one; it views the defendant from the standpoint of political polemics and is impressed by the excitement of people in these excited times. I must briefly take exception to this distortion of the defendant’s mental traits.
The spiritual state of the period after the first World War and even of the preceding period, which gave birth to the defendant’s ideas, are known to all of us only too well: The turmoil in the spirit and soul of man brought about by the technical age, his hunger and thirst for a new spirit and a new soul; liberty was the slogan and a “new beginning” the impulse which directed the will of youth. Its longing and enthusiasm were aimed at nature. The thoughts and wishes of this generation were led into political paths by the contrast between rich and poor, which youth considered unjust and sought to bridge through socialism and the fellowship of the people. In Germany the development along political lines was given further impetus by the national misfortune of 1918-19 and the Treaty of Versailles, which was likewise felt to be unjust. The idea of building German history through the union of nationalism and socialism glowed unconsciously in the hearts of millions, as the undisputed tremendous success of National Socialism proves. The spiritual foundation was the desire for external and internal self-assertion and love for one’s fellow countrymen and for the people themselves, who had had to suffer so much torment and misery in history.
The desire for self-assertion and love for one’s own people, together with the whole system of National Socialist ideas, then developed in an inexplicable manner into a furious conflagration. The most primitive considerations of common sense were eliminated just as in a delirium; in complete delusion everything was risked and everything was lost.
The searching questions which present themselves to Rosenberg time and time again are whether he could have done more for what he thought and upheld as just and worthy; where he neglected essential things; where he fell short of requirements; what negative symptoms, insofar as he had knowledge of them, he should have paid more attention to. Can such questions, which every person asks when he is crushed by disaster, be considered as evidence for his objective guilt? I do not think so. On 17 January 1946 the French Chief Prosecutor, M. de Menthon, stated the following, which I quote (Volume V, Pages 378, 379):
“We are rather facing systematic criminality which directly and necessarily derives from a monstrous doctrine with the full will of the leaders of Nazi Germany. The crime against peace, which was undertaken, is immediately derived from the National Socialist doctrine.”
To refute this assertion I must briefly present this doctrine. I have classified the National Socialist ideology—in accord, I believe, with scientific opinions—under the so-called new romanticism. This trend, which was grounded in fate and the necessities of history, had gone through the whole civilized world since the turn of the century as a reaction against rationalism and the technical age. It differs from the old romanticism in that it adopts the naturalistic and biological consideration of man and history. It is borne up by a confident faith in the value and meaning of life and the whole of reality. It does not glorify sentiment or intellect, but the innermost motives of man—heart, will, and faith. This philosophy receives its National Socialist stamp through the emphasis which is placed upon the mysterious importance of peoples and races for all human experience and activity. It is in the people, in the common possession of blood, history, and culture, that the real roots of strength are thought to be found. Only by participating in the movements of a people and its strength does the individual serve himself and his generation.
Rosenberg’s scientific contribution to the racial ideology consists in his description of the rise and fall of great historical figures, who sprang from races and peoples and set up definite standards in all spheres: language, custom, art, religion, philosophy, and politics. According to Rosenberg the efforts of the twentieth century to establish a form for itself are a struggle for the independence of the human personality. In Rosenberg’s opinion, its essence is the consciousness of honor. The myth of national honor is at the same time the myth of blood and race, which produce and support honor in its highest form. Therefore, the struggle for honor in its highest form is also a spiritual struggle with other systems and their maximum values. Thus, intuition stands against intuition, will against will.
Rosenberg expresses this thought in the following manner (The Myth of the 20th Century, Introduction, Pages 1 and 2):