Alfred Rosenberg
Rosenberg is indicted on all four
counts. He joined the Nazi
Party in 1919, participated in the Munich Putsch of 9th November,
1923, and tried to keep the illegal Nazi Party together while Hitler was in jail. Recognised as the Party's ideologist, he developed and
spread Nazi doctrines in the newspapers "Voelkischer Beobachter"
and "N S Monatshefte," which he edited, and in the numerous
books he wrote. His book, " Myth of the Twentieth Century,"
had a circulation of over a million copies.
In 1930, Rosenberg was elected to the Reichstag and
the became the Party's representative for Foreign Affairs. In April, 1933, he was made
Reichsleiter and head of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the NSDAP (The APA). Hitler, in January, 1934,
appointed Rosenberg his Deputy for the Supervision of the Entire Spiritual
and Ideological Training of the NSDAP. In January, 1940, he was designated
to set up the "Hohe Schule," the Centre of National Socialistic
Ideological and Educational Research, and he organised the “Einsatzstab
Rosenberg” in connection with this task. He was appointed Reich
Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories on 17th July, 1941.
Crimes Against Peace
As head of the APA, Rosenberg was in charge of an
organisation whose agents were active in Nazi intrigue in all parts
of the world. His own reports, for example, claim that the APA was largely
responsible for Roumania's joining the Axis. As head of the APA, he played an important role in
the preparation and planning of the attack on Norway.
Rosenberg, together with Raeder,
was one of the originators of the plan for attacking Norway. Rosenberg
had become interested in Norway as early as June, 1939,
when he conferred with Quisling. Quisling had pointed out the importance
of the Norwegian Coast in the event of a conflict between Germany and
Great Britain, and stated his fears that Great Britain might he able
to obtain Norwegian assistance. As a result of this conference Rosenberg
arranged for Quisling to collaborate closely with the National Socialists
and to receive political assistance by the Nazis.
When the war broke out Quisling began to express fear
of British intervention in Norway. Rosenberg supported this view, and
transmitted to Raeder a plan to use Quisling for a coup in Norway. Rosenberg
was instrumental in arranging the conferences in December, 1939, between
Hitler and Quisling which led to the preparation of the attack on Norway,
and at which Hitler promised Quisling financial assistance. After these
conferences Hitler assigned to Rosenberg the political exploitation
of Norway. Two weeks after Norway was occupied, Hitler told Rosenberg
that he had based his decision to attack Norway " on the continuous
warnings of Quisling as reported to him by Reichsleiter Rosenberg."
Rosenberg bears a major responsibility for the formulation
and execution of occupation policies in the Occupied Eastern Territories.
He was informed by Hitler on 2nd April, 1941, of the coming attack against
the Soviet Union, and he agreed to help in the capacity of a "
Political Adviser." On 20th April, 1941, he was appointed Commissioner
for the Central Control of Questions connected with the East European
Region. In preparing the plans for the occupation, he had numerous conferences
with Keitel, Raeder, Goering, Funk, Ribbentrop, and other
high Reich authorities. In April and May, 1941, he prepared several
drafts of instructions concerning the setting up of the administration
in the Occupied Eastern Territories. On 20th June, 1941, two days before
the attack on the U.S.S.R., he made a speech to his assistants about
the problems and policies of occupation. Rosenberg attended Hitler's
conference of 16th July, 1941, in the course of which policies of administration
and occupation were discussed. On 17th July, 1941, Hitler appointed
Rosenberg Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, and publicly
charged him with responsibility for civil administration.
War Crimes and Crimes against
Humanity
Rosenberg is responsible for a system of organised
plunder of both public and private property throughout the invaded countries
of Europe. Acting under Hitler's orders of January, 1940,
to set up the " Hohe Schule," he organised and directed the
" Einsatzstab Rosenberg," which plundered museums and libraries,
confiscated art treasures and collections and pillaged private houses.
His own reports show the extent of the confiscations. In "Action-M"
(Moebel), instituted in December, 1941, at Rosenberg's suggestion, 69,619
Jewish homes were plundered in the West, 38,000 of them in Paris alone,
and it took 26,984 railroad cars to transport the confiscated furnishings
to Germany. As of 14th July, 1944, more than 21,903 art objects, including
famous paintings and museum pieces, had been seized by the Einsatzstab
in the West.
With his appointment as Reich Minister for Occupied
Eastern Territories on 17th July, 1941, Rosenberg became the supreme
authority for those areas. He helped to formulate the policies of Germanisation,
exploitation, forced labour, extermination of Jews and
opponents of Nazi rule, and he set up the administration which carried
them out. He took part in the conference of 16th July, 1941, in which
Hitler stated that they were faced with the task of "cutting up
the giant cake according to our needs, in order to be able: first, to
dominate it, second, to administer it, and third, to exploit it,"
and he indicated that ruthless action was contemplated Rosenberg accepted
his appointment on the following day.
Rosenberg had knowledge of the brutal treatment and
terror to which the Eastern people were subjected. He directed that
the Hague Rules of Land Warfare were not applicable in the Occupied
Eastern Territories. He had knowledge of and took an active part in
stripping the Eastern Territories of raw materials and foodstuffs, which
were all sent to Germany. He stated that feeding the German people was
first on the list of claims on the East, and that the Soviet people
would suffer thereby. His directives provided for the segregation of
Jews, ultimately in Ghettos. His subordinates engaged in mass killings
of Jews, and his civil administrators in the East considered that cleansing
the Eastern Occupied Territories of Jews was necessary. In December,
1941, Rosenberg made the suggestion to Hitler that in a case of shooting
100 hostages, Jews only be used. Rosenberg had knowledge of the deportation
of labourers from the East, of the methods of " recruiting"
and the transportation horrors, and of the treatment Eastern labourers
received in the Reich. He gave his civil administrators quotas of labourers
to be sent to the Reich, which had to be met by whatever means necessary.
His signature of approval appears on the order of 14th June, 1944, for
the " Heu Aktion," the apprehension of 40,000 to 50,000 youths,
aged 10-14, for shipment to the Reich.
Upon occasion Rosenberg objected to the excesses and
atrocities committed by his subordinates, notably in the case of Koch,
but these excesses continued and he stayed in office until the end.
Conclusion
The Tribunal finds that Rosenberg is guilty on all
four counts.
Sources:
The Avalon Project
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