A. No, on no account. When the indictment was phrased, and in particular because of the legal provisions which were cited, in all that there is nothing to indicate that it was intended to ask for the death sentence. On the contrary, and I should like to refer to the enclosure, the letter which was sent with the indictment. It was written on 30 July 1943, to the presiding judge of the People’s Court.
In the second paragraph of that letter, which is also signed by me, it is expressly pointed out that under article 2 of the law of 20 December 1934, prosecution under that law had been ordered. That law was the Insidious Acts Law, which has been mentioned here a great many times. I should think that is a proof for the fact that we considered the application of that law also possible, for otherwise it would have been stupid to make reference to it. The maximum penalty for violation of the Insidious Acts Law would have been a 5-year sentence. I think it is possible that not only the question of the employment of women was the cause for taking this case to the People’s Court, but also the question of the application of the law in general.
Q. Witness, what was the senate with which your department cooperated in the field of undermining military efficiency?
A. It was the fourth senate, and the presiding judge was Dr. Koehler, whose name has been mentioned in a favorable context repeatedly here. May I state that in 1944 Dr. Koehler was transferred from the People’s Court to Stettin, because Freisler did not approve of him. The fourth senate dealt mainly with high treason cases. Later on it also had to deal with the undermining of military efficiency. However, when the distribution of work was changed again, it had to return those cases because there was dissatisfaction with the sentences that that senate had passed.
*******
Presiding Judge Brand: I wonder if you could tell me what was meant by the last phrase in that letter, where you say, “The prosecution under article II of the law of 20 December 1934 has been ordered as a precaution.” The part, “the prosecution has been ordered as a precaution,” what did you mean by that?[534]
Defendant Barnickel: Your Honor, by that I want to say that that passage points out that if sentence was not to be passed on the basis of undermining military efficiency, prosecution under the Insidious Acts Law would be made.
Well, that was a case of a measure which might be taken, Your Honor.
Q. I understand. Was it the practice to appoint defense counsel even in cases where the death penalty was not expected, in your court, in the People’s Court?
A. Your Honor, at my time—I don’t know what happened later—but at my time, every defendant who appeared before the People’s Court had to have a defense counsel without exception. That had nothing to do with the death penalty.