As to count four, the proof establishes that Cuhorst was a Gaustellenleiter and so a member of the Gau staff and a “sponsoring” member of the SS. His function as Gaustellenleiter was that of a public propaganda speaker.
In its judgment the International Military Tribunal, in defining the members of the Party Leadership Corps who came under its decision as being members of a criminal organization, states the following:
“The decision of the Tribunal on these staff organizations includes only the Amtsleiter who were heads of offices on the staffs of the Reichsleitung, Gauleitung, and Kreisleitung. With respect to other staff officers and Party organizations attached to the Leadership Corps other than the Amtsleiter referred to above, the Tribunal will follow the suggestion of the prosecution in excluding them from the declaration.”
There is no evidence in this case which shows that the office of Gaustellenleiter was the head of any office on the staff of the Gauleitung.
With regard to the SS the judgment of the International Military Tribunal is as follows:
“The Tribunal declares to be criminal within the meaning of the Charter the group composed of those persons who had been officially accepted as members of the SS as enumerated in the preceding paragraph who became or remained members of the organization with knowledge that it was being used for the commission of acts declared criminal by Article 6 of the Charter * * *.”[672]
Referring back to the membership enumerated, the judgment declares:
“In dealing with the SS, the Tribunal includes all persons who had been officially accepted as members of the SS, including the members of the Allgemeine SS, members of the Waffen SS, members of the SS Totenkopf-Verbaende, and the members of any of the different police forces who were members of the SS.”[673]
It is not believed by this Tribunal that a sponsoring membership is included in this definition.
The Tribunal therefore finds the defendant Cuhorst not guilty under counts two and four of the indictment.