[115] For various periods of time under the Hitler regime, over half of the defendants held one or more of the various titles and positions which the defendant Mettgenberg here proceeds to describe. For example, the defendant Joel was a Referent and later a ministerial counsellor; the defendants von Ammon and Westphal were ministerial counsellors; the defendant Mettgenberg himself was a Ministerialdirigent; the defendants Altstoetter and Engert were ministerial directors; and the defendants Schlegelberger, Klemm and Rothenberger were Under Secretaries. Only two persons held the position of Reich Minister of Justice during the Hitler regime, Guertner and Thierack, both of whom were dead by the time of the trial. The defendant Schlegelberger was acting Reich Minister of Justice between the death of Guertner in January 1941 and Thierack’s appointment as Minister in August 1942.
[116] This summary and the following two charts are part of the “Basic Information” submitted by the prosecution at the beginning of the case as an aid to the understanding of the evidence to be later submitted.
[117] This decree is reproduced on p. 218.
[118] This decree is reproduced on p. 231.
[119] For further information on this subject, see contemporaneous documents below in section C5.
[120] The decree on court martial procedure is reproduced below in section C6.
[121] A much enlarged copy of this chart was displayed in the courtroom during several sessions of the trial as a visual aid in argument and in the presentation of evidence.
[122] A number of the contemporaneous documents reproduced later in this volume deal with trials held before Special Courts. Among the specific cases treated herein are the Katzenberger case (Doc. NG-270, Pros. Ex. 155, and Doc. NG-154, Pros. Ex. 152), reproduced in part below in section V D2; the Kaminska-Wdowen case (Doc. NG-457, Pros. Ex. 201) reproduced in part below in section V D2; and the Father Schosser case (Doc. NG-1808, Pros. Ex. 557) reproduced in part below in section V F.
[123] This law is reproduced on p. 173.
[124] This decree is reproduced on p. 185.