Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume IIVarious
Philosophy
Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume II
Various
Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946; War crime trials -- Germany -- Nuremberg
Before answering the question to what extent Sievers could involve third
persons, I have to sketch in a few lines the tactics of Hielscher and
the position of Sievers.
It was not in vain that Hielscher himself gave full particulars on this
question. We also heard other witnesses, Dr. Borkenau, Dr. Topf. Sievers
clearly outlined his tasks. All this evidence is in such unanimous
agreement that no doubt of its truth could arise.
Hielscher was one of the first and few people who realized that the way
to take measures against the system could be only from within the ranks
of the party itself. He had gained the firm conviction that a prospect
of success could be seen only by doing away with the heads of the Nazi
Government and assuming the government from the top and that nothing,
nothing at all, was to be anticipated from a revolution of the people
from below. A revolution of such a kind would have been of no avail, as
it would very quickly have been stifled in torrents of blood.
The knowledge of these facts required four groups of measures to be
taken, the particulars of which Hielscher detailed on 15 April:
Preparation of the undertaking by a well-camouflaged
organization of trusted men and spies within the ranks of the
NSDAP, i.e., the Trojan Horse policy.
Placing suitable courageous men in positions as near as possible
to leading personages of Nazism, the most dangerous of whom was
Himmler.
Doing away with Himmler and other leaders of the Nazi Government
upon a given cue.
Taking over the government by an organization prepared in
advance.
In spite of all liberty of action granted to the “activists” of his
group, Hielscher had realized that success could only be expected if
everybody, in strict discipline, obeyed his orders only. This was the
only way for him to hold the reins and to give the cue at the right
moment. Here I must emphasize that within the scope of this
indispensable discipline, Sievers in all details acted in complete
unison with Hielscher, that in all important moments he described the
real state of affairs and asked for his instructions. In this way
Hielscher obtained ample information of everything enacted around
Sievers and of what Sievers did himself. Sievers was nothing but the
tool in the hands of the leader of the movement. Therefore, your Honors,
your verdict affects Sievers’ commissioner, Hielscher, in just the same
way as Sievers himself. Hielscher is condemned together with Sievers, as
he is acquitted with Sievers. With the same courage of responsibility
with which he placed Sievers and other accomplices in most dangerous
positions, Hielscher could declare at the end of his evidence that he
not only took but also _claimed_ the whole responsibility for all the
deeds with which his follower Sievers would be charged as a result in
this trial.
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