A. I never received such direct instructions from the Gauleitung.
Q. What were your duties as Gaugruppenwalter in the NSRB for the judges’ and prosecutors’ groups?
A. In part, that question has already been answered. All problems which fell within the scope of that professional organization, the Jurists’ League, all problems which reached that organization could come to us from any quarter, as they could come from the population itself. All those problems were passed on to the Gaugruppenwalter to deal with, and they were forwarded to that group, the members of which were in some way affected by the event under discussion.
On the other hand, naturally, we also had to cope with the particular difficulties and problems of our members and we had to take care of their affairs because, after all, they had joined a professional organization like ours for that purpose.
I should like to give a practical example to explain this matter, and I will give an example of an event which actually occurred, an event with which we had to deal.
When the administration of justice was centralized, certain offices of judges were downgraded. Here at the district court of Nuernberg, for example, the department chiefs who had had the rank of local court directors [Amtsgerichtsdirector], overnight, and only because the administration of justice was being centralized, were downgraded by one grade. That was done without it being their fault in any way. Naturally that caused a tension, and naturally the people whom it affected were very much annoyed. They came to see me and told me about the matter. As far as I remember they were not Party members, they were of the older generation, and they said that they had been treated in a way in which people should be treated only if they had violated service regulations. I then gave a precise account of the occurrence, made a report, and drew attention to the fact that such treatment of officials was untenable. To begin with, Berlin was against taking any interest and they used the well known slogan, “The interests of the people have to take precedence over the interests of the individual.” However, by again and again digging away at the matter, we succeeded in solving the problem in a way which was satisfactory to everybody concerned.
That was, for example, one of the duties with which we had to deal.
Q. As Gaugruppenwalter for the judges’ and prosecutors’ groups, did you have an office of your own?
A. I neither had an office of my own nor a staff of my own. I merely had my chair and my two hands. The work that I had to do there I did as an individual, and as a rule I wrote it out with my own hand. I then submitted the matters to the Gauwalter.
Q. Did you wear a uniform in that capacity?