It is interesting to note that Hoven’s defense that he killed for idealistic motives is the same he used in the proceedings against him in 1944, only then his alleged idealistic motive was “to prevent a scandal in the interest of the SS and the Wehrmacht.” (_NO-2380, Pros. Ex. 527_; see also, _NO-2366, Pros. Ex. 526_.) * * * * * _EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING STATEMENT OF THE PROSECUTION_[1] * * * * * In Sievers we have an unresisting member of a so-called resistance movement. He asks the Tribunal to free him from guilt for his bloody crimes on the ground that he was really working as an anti-Nazi resistance agent. Nor was he a latecomer to the resistance movement; according to him, he has been resisting since 1933. Yet in those 14 years, yes to this very day, he has not performed one overt act against the men who ran the system he now professes to have always detested. He joined the Nazi Party as early as 1929 and the SS in 1935. He stayed with Himmler’s gang until the last days of the collapse. He came to Nuernberg in 1946, not to give evidence of the horrible crimes of which he had first-hand knowledge, but to testify in defense of the SS. During his testimony before the International Military Tribunal, he consistently denied any knowledge of, or connection with, crimes committed by the Ahnenerbe of the SS. It was left to the cross-examination of Mr. Elwyn Jones to prove him the murderer and perjurer that he is. Nor did he show any signs of resistance in this trial except to the manifold crimes with which he is charged. Not one new fact did he reveal to this Tribunal, although specifically asked to tell all he knew. If asked today, he will assure one and all that there is not a guilty man in the dock, and least of all himself. But, for purposes of argument, let us concede the truth of his many lies. It does not harm our case. It is not the law that a resistance worker can commit no crime and, least of all, against the people he is supposed to be protecting. It is not the law that an undercover agent, even an FBI agent, can join a gang of murderers, lay the plans with them, execute the killings, share the loot, and go his merry way. Many are the policemen who have been convicted for taking part in crimes they were entrusted to prevent. No, the sad thing is that this collector of living Jews for transformation into skeletons has only one life with which to pay for his many crimes. * * * * * c. Selections from the Argumentation of the Defense _EXTRACTS FROM THE FINAL PLEA FOR DEFENDANT GEBHARDT_[2] * * * * * _The State Emergency and War Emergency as Legal Excuse_