. NMT03-T0484
Volume III · Page 484
| I |
| In April of this year I made a trip through various provinces [Gaue] — Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Graz — to inform myself to conditions in central Germany and Austria. |
| II |
| The Fuehrer's speech of 26 April 1942 did not
surprise me very much. It confirmed to me the regrettable fact that the Fuehrer
has no confidence in the German administration of justice and in the German
judges. A radical National Socialist reform of the legal system which I have
suggested for years in verbal and written reports¹ has therefore become
even more urgent. The effect of the Fuehrer's speech on the judges in my district was absolutely crushing. It is impossible to gauge the effect on the German judges of the proclamation regarding the removal of judges and the way in which this was made known to the world in the form of an enabling act² passed by the Reichstag with frantic applause. I therefore considered it my first duty to counteract this effect by taking the following measures: 1. On Tuesday, 28 April, I had a preliminary discussion with my presidents to hear how my staff felt about the matter. 2. On Wednesday, 29 April, I discussed the present situation in detail with the Gauleiter and asked him to address, together with me, all judges of my district. 3. We did this on Friday, 1 May. I spoke for approximately three-quarters of an hour, next the Gauleiter spoke for about 20 minutes. Neither of us glossed over the seriousness of the situation; we openly faced the Hamburg judges whose jurisdiction did not cause the present crisis, and we stressed the necessity for a fundamental reform. We pointed out that two dangers had to be forestalled: |
a. further loss of authority of the judge's verdict, |
| I have, therefore assumed responsibility for each verdict which the judges discuss with me before passing it |
| . 4. On Wednesday, 6 May, the Gauleiter upon my request addressed all political and economic leaders of Hamburg on the subject of the present crisis. I considered this necessary so as not to alarm the population and prevent attacks against the judges. |
¹ Cf. Rothenberger's "Reflections on a National Socialist Judicial Reform," Document NG-075, Prosecution Exhibit 27, reproduced above.
² Not to be confused with The Enabling Act of 24 March 1933 reproduced on page 163 (Doc. NG-715. Pros. Ex. 112).
