Q. I asked only, was that regularly on Saturdays?
A. In the beginning yes, the first half year.
Q. And later?
A. Later, either if an inquiry had been sent to us from some other source or when, on the basis of reports which we had received from other sources we had questions to put before him, or when Rothaug on his part had to report anything on the basis of his activity, and I emphasized yesterday that he was very productive for us, that in the field of political law, not only in the field of general law, but beyond that and also in the field of civil law, he brought to us experiences and inspirations.
Q. If I understand you correctly, Rothaug dealt with matters of principle of a general nature not, for instance, the treatment of individual cases, the manner in which individual cases were handled.
A. You have to distinguish here between the—you have to start here from the assignment which the SD had as information sources for the whole country. As I emphasized yesterday, the purpose was to eliminate wrong developments first, to point them out. In case of these developments in the wrong direction it could only be matters of principle in the beginning. According to the instructions we had received, it did not suffice to point out a principal wrong, that is to say a gap in the law, but it was necessary that on the basis of concrete examples of definite individual examples that gap be proved, and if possible at the same time in this case, of course, by the expert, recommendations had to be made for modifications. And on the basis of this activity individual cases were the subject of discussions and conferences. Frequently, as far as I remember, it occurred that at times the individual case itself was discussed as, for instance, the case of Katzenberger and another case which I still remember.
Q. So it was a matter of justifying opinions if individual cases were mentioned?
A. Yes.
Q. It was not a matter of interfering into an individual case on the part of superior offices, an interference into a pending, into an actual proceeding?
A. Well, of course it was possible that the individual case itself, through the leadership office, became known to the Ministry and caused individual measures. I can give you an example. In the directives concerning files there is a provision according to which wills are to be attached to the files of the court. Furthermore, there is some directive of some sort according to which last letters of soldiers who have been killed could be considered, under certain circumstances, as having the force of a “last will.” That was particularly customary in the air force, that, in case a flier died, these letters were considered, and if there were any provisions in these letters concerning the heritage, and there was no other proof of any will existing, they were considered to represent the will. That happened, for instance, in one case. There was a soldier by name of Schneiderbanger. The woman who had lost her husband in the First World War, and I believe already one son in this war, lost her last son. It was in air combat over London, I believe. She presented to the court the letter in which some provisions were included about his luggage, I believe. The court considered that letter to represent his will, and asked for the original from the woman—asked that the original be put in the files. Since for sentimental reasons she objected to that, she was threatened with a fine or a prison term. That affair raised a lot of discussion. Various offices of the Party intervened, and it came before us. I reported that case. In the opinion of the RSHA it was not a rare case, but a development which would have to be taken into account either by law or by directive from the Ministry. It was strange that in this case the reaction of the Ministry of Justice was not the issuance of a general instruction, but an order through channels that the woman in this particular case be permitted to keep the letter.