16. The Ministry of Justice granted immunity to and amnesty following prosecutions and convictions of Nazi Party members for major crimes committed against civilians of occupied territories. Pardons were granted to members of the Party who had been sentenced for proved offenses. On the other hand, discriminatory measures against Jews, Poles, “gypsies,” and other designated “asocials” resulted in harsh penal measures and death sentences, deprivation of rights to file private suits and rights of appeal, denial of right to receive amnesty and to file clemency pleas, denial of right of counsel, imposition of special criminal laws permitting the death penalty for all crimes and misdemeanors, and finally, in the transfer to the Gestapo for “special treatment” of all cases in which Jews were involved. The defendants von Ammon, Joel, Klemm, Rothenberger, and Schlegelberger are charged with special responsibility for and participation in these crimes.
17. By decrees signed by the Reich Minister of Justice and others, the citizenship of all Jews in Bohemia and Moravia was forfeited upon their change of residence by deportation or otherwise; and upon their loss of citizenship their properties were automatically confiscated by the Reich. There were discriminatory changes in the family and inheritance laws by which Jewish property was forfeited at death to the Reich with no compensation to the Jewish heirs. The defendants Altstoetter and Schlegelberger are charged with special responsibility for and participation in these crimes.
18. The Ministry of Justice through suspension and quashing of criminal process, participated in Hitler’s program of inciting the German civilian population to murder Allied airmen forced down within the Reich. The defendants Klemm and Lautz are charged with special responsibility for and participation in these crimes.
19. The said war crimes constitute violations of international conventions, particularly of Articles 4–7, 23, 43, 45, 46, and 50 of the Hague Regulations, 1907, and of articles 2, 3, and 4 of the Prisoner of War Convention (Geneva, 1929), the laws and customs of war, the general principles of criminal law as derived from the criminal laws of all civilized nations, the internal penal laws of the countries in which such crimes were committed, and of Article II of Control Council Law No. 10.
COUNT THREE—CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
20. Between September 1939 and April 1945 all of the defendants herein unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly committed crimes against humanity as defined by Control Council Law No. 10, in that they were principals in, accessories to, ordered, abetted, took a consenting part in, and were connected with plans and enterprises involving the commission of atrocities and offenses, including but not limited to murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, illegal imprisonment, torture, persecution on political, racial and religious grounds, and ill-treatment of and other inhumane acts against German civilians and nationals of occupied countries.
21. Extraordinary irregular courts were used by all of the defendants in creating a reign of terror to suppress political opposition to the German Reich, in the course of which German civilians and nationals of occupied countries were subjected to criminal abuses of judicial and penal process, resulting in murders, brutalities, cruelties, tortures, atrocities, plunder of private property, and other inhumane acts. These crimes are further particularized in paragraph 9 of this indictment, which is incorporated herein by reference.
22. Special Courts subjected certain German civilians, and nationals of occupied countries to discriminatory and special penal laws and trials, and denied them all semblance of judicial process. Convicted German civilians and nationals of other countries who were deemed to be political prisoners and criminals designated as “asocial,” were turned over to the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) for extermination in concentration camps. These crimes are further particularized in paragraph 10 of this indictment, which is incorporated herein by reference. The defendants von Ammon, Engert, Joel, Klemm, Lautz, Mettgenberg, and Rothenberger are charged with special responsibility for and participation in these crimes.
23. The German criminal laws, through a series of additions, expansions, and perversions by the defendants became a powerful weapon for the subjugation of the German people and for the extermination of certain nationals of the occupied countries. This program resulted in the murder, torture, illegal imprisonment, and ill-treatment of thousands of Germans and nationals of occupied countries. These crimes are further particularized in paragraph 11 of this indictment, which is incorporated herein by reference. The defendants Barnickel, Cuhorst, Klemm, Lautz, Mettgenberg, Nebelung, Oeschey, Petersen, Rothaug, Rothenberger, Schlegelberger, and Westphal are charged with special responsibility for and participation in these crimes.
24. The Ministry of Justice, through the People’s Court and certain Special Courts, aided and implemented the unlawful annexation and occupation of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and France. These crimes are further particularized in paragraph 12 of this indictment, which is incorporated herein by reference. The defendants Klemm, Lautz, Mettgenberg, Schlegelberger, and Westphal are charged with special responsibility for and participation in these crimes.