“There can be no doubt in this present state of war, when the German nation wages its fight for its very existence, that the Fuehrer must exercise the right, which he claims, to do everything which serves or helps to achieve victory. Therefore, the Fuehrer, by his authority as the leader of the nation, supreme commander of the armed forces, head of the government, and in supreme possession of all executive power, as supreme law lord, and as leader of the Party, has to be in a position to enforce, with all means which he may consider suitable, every German’s duties, whether he might be a common soldier or an officer, a subordinate or high civil servant or a judge, a leading or subordinate functionary of the Party, a worker or an employee. In case of violations of duties, he has the right to impose the proper penance, after a conscientious examination of the case. This can be done without consideration for the so-called civil service rights. In particular, he may remove anyone from his office, rank and his position, without resort to the established procedures.”[35] This menacing blast from the Fuehrer, and the resolution of the Reichstag, wiped away the last remains of judicial independence in Germany. Furthermore, within a few months a complete reorganization of the upper levels of the Ministry of Justice took place. Schlegelberger, who had seen the storm coming and made desperate efforts to meet Hitler’s wishes, was nevertheless retired and replaced by Thierack. A special Hitler decree in August 1942 gave the new Reich Minister sweeping powers to bring the administration of justice into conformity with the needs of the regime; it read: “A strong administration of justice is necessary for the fulfillment of the tasks of the Greater German Reich. Therefore, I commission and empower the Reich Minister of Justice to establish a National Socialist Administration of Justice, and to take all necessary measures in accordance with the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery and the Leader of the Party Chancellery. He can hereby deviate from any existing law.”[36] At the same time, Roland Freisler left the Justice Ministry to become president of the People’s Court, and the defendant Rothenberger took Freisler’s old job as under secretary. Earlier in the year, Rothenberger, previously president of the district court of appeals at Hamburg, had attracted the Fuehrer’s attention by submitting to him a long thesis on “judicial reform.” This thesis is a curious document; it speaks at length of the honor and dignity of the judges’ function and of the need for justice as the foundation of the Third Reich, but the reason it won the Fuehrer’s approval can perhaps be more clearly inferred from the two following quotations (_NG-075, Pros. Ex. 27_):