In conclusion on count four, the prosecution wishes to point out certain factors which it believes should be borne in mind in considering the degree of culpability to be attributed to membership in organizations declared criminal by the International Military Tribunal. The charge of membership in these organizations, coupled with knowledge of the crimes that were committed or participation in those crimes, is a very serious one. Its consequences will, we believe, have to be more closely examined at the conclusion of this proceeding, but certain factors can be pointed out here and now. It is true, for instance, that in a sense none of the seven defendants involved in count four were “full time” or “paid” members of these organizations. All seven of them had full time jobs as judicial officials but, under the circumstances which the evidence in this case will disclose, we do not believe that this fact is significant in estimating culpability. It is true that the high officers’ ranks in the SS held by Altstoetter, Engert, and Joel were chiefly honorary. It was part of Himmler’s calculated policy to draw support to himself from all quarters by distributing honorary SS ranks and decorations. But those who accepted special ranks thereby lent the weight of their names and prestige to Himmler and to Himmler’s policies. If they did not agree with these policies, they prostituted themselves for whatever prerequisites or security these shameful ranks and awards might bring. Where it can be shown, as it will be here, that the defendants not only were fully familiar with the horrifying scope of Himmler’s program, but also participated directly in its execution, it should be considered no defense whatsoever that an individual’s SS activities were extracurricular rather than his daily bread and butter. Similar considerations apply to the defendants who were members of the Party Leadership Corps. Cuhorst, Nebelung, and Oeschey were all members of the Party years before Hitler came to power; all three of them, and Rothaug, too, played a leading role in Party affairs. They too, by the very nature of the positions they occupied in the judicial system, to say nothing of the fact that they were high in the Party councils, must have been aware of the activities recited by the International Military Tribunal as the basis for its declaration of criminality. Indeed, the guilt of these seven defendants under count four is, in many respects, deeper than that of many full-time officers of these organizations. The defendants were highly educated, professional men, and they had attained full mental maturity long before Hitler’s rise to power. Their minds were not warped at an early age by Nazi teachings; they embraced the ideology of the Third Reich as educated adults. They all had special training and successful careers in the service of the law. They, of all Germans, should have understood and valued justice. Conclusion