Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression
Individual Responsibility Of Defendants

Baldur Von Schirach

(Part 5 of 6)

[Page 886]

D. SCHIRACH PROMOTED THE ACCESSION TO POWER OF THE NAZI CONSPIRATORS.

This allegation of the Indictment is born out by Schirach's activities in converting students to National Socialism and by his Leadership of the Hitler Youth before the Nazis' seizure of political power. These activities are described above.

E. SCHIRACH PROMOTED THE CONSOLIDATION OF POWER OF THE NAZI CONSPIRATORS.

Schirach's acts in accomplishing the Nazis' complete control over German youth are described above. These acts were of notable assistance to the Nazi conspirators in acquiring complete control of Germany during the pre-war years. Schirach's own words in 1938 leave no doubt as to his own feeling of personal responsibility in this connection:

"the struggle for the unification of the German youth is finished. I consider it as my duty to conduct it in a hard and uncompromising manner. Many might not have realized why we went through so much trouble for the sake of the youth. And yet: The National Socialist German Workers' Party, whose trustee I felt I always was and always will be, this Party considered the struggle for the youth as the decisive element for the future of the German nation"

* * * * * * * *

"And I promise the German public that the youth of the German Reich, the youth of Adolf Hitler, will accomplish its duty in the spirit of the man to whom alone their lives belong."(2306-PS)

F. SCHIRACH PROMOTED THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL PREPARATIONS FOR AGGRESSIVE WAR AND THE MILITARIZATION OF NAZI-DOMINATED ORGANIZATIONS.

A general outline of Schirach's acts bearing on this allegation of the Indictment appears above. By his own admission, Schirach was the principal Nazi responsible for driving the entire Nazi ideology into the minds of German youths, many of whom grew up to be fanatical Nazis like Schirach himself. From Hitler, in 1938, came boastings of the accomplishments of the Hitler Youth in military training. Through the vast propaganda work of the Reich Youth Leadership, through the Adolf Hitler Schools, through the minute regimentation of youth and its subjection to the Leadership Principle, and through the military training of German youth, Schirach fulfilled the edict of the basic law concerning the Hitler Youth:

"The future of the German nation depends on its youth, and the German youth shall have to be prepared for its future duties"

It has been demonstrated that the future duties of the youth entrusted to Schirach were participation in aggressive wars.

G. SCHIRACH'S GENERAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES AS PARTY AND GOVERNMENT LEADER IN THE REICHSGAU VIENNA.

(1) Gau Leader (Gauleiter). Schirach was Gau Leader of the NSDAP for the Reichsgau Vienna from July 1940 to 1945. In common with all other Gau Leaders, Schirach was the highest representative of Hitler, the supreme Party Leader, in his Gau, he was the bearer of sovereignty (Hoheitstraeger) of the Party for this regional division of the Party. As such, he possessed "sovereign political rights" he represented the Party with Gau; and he was "responsible for the entire political situation within" this Gau. (1893-PS)

The Party manual makes it mandatory-that each Gau Leader meet at least once a month with leaders of the affiliated organizations of the NSDAP, including the SA and the SS, "for the purpose of mutual orientation" and authorizes the Gau Leader to call upon SA leaders and SS leaders as "needed for the execution of a political mission." As a Gau Leader Schirach was appointed by Hitler and was "directly subordinate" to him. He was responsible for coordinating activities of the NSDAP with various state authorities, including the police and the Gestapo. (1893-PS)

[Page 888]

(2) Reich Governor (Reichsstatthalter). Schirach was Reich Governor of the Reichsgau Vienna from July 1940 to 1945. After the Anschluss the Nazi conspirators abolished the State of Austria as a sovereign state and divided Austria into seven Reich Gaus, the most important of which was the Reichsgau Vienna (Reichsgau Wien). Schirach, in his capacity as Reich Governor, was the lieutenant of the head of the German State, Hitler, in his Gau. As Reich Governor he was authorized to make decrees and issue orders within the limitations set by the supreme Reich authorities (Oberste Reichsbehoerden). He was especially under the administrative supervision of Frick, Reich Minister of Interior. The Reich Governor was also first mayor (Erster Buergermeister) of Vienna. (3301-PS)

Schirach was also Reich Defense Commissar of Vienna from 1940 to 1945. These government positions, along with his leadership of the Party in Vienna, made Schirach the most important representative of the Nazi conspirators in the Reichsgau Vienna. Schirach himself states that as Reich Governor his "field was the direction of the general administration" in Vienna. (3302-PS)

As the highest Party and State leader in the Reichsgau Vienna, Schirach was responsible for all the crimes of the Nazi conspirators in the Reichsgau Vienna on the ground that he either initiated, approved, executed, or abetted them. Specific examples, described below, demonstrate that in fact he was actively and personally engaged in Nazi crimes.

The original plaintext version of this file is available via ftp.

[ Previous | Index | Next ]

Home ·  Site Map ·  What's New? ·  Search Nizkor