By virtue of the authority vested in me as President
and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, under the Constitution
and statutes of the United States, it is ordered as follows:
1. In addition
to the authority vested in the Representative of the United States and
its Chief of Counsel by Paragraph 1 of Executive
Order No. 9547 of May 2, 1945, to prepare and prosecute charges
of atrocities and war crimes against such of the leaders of the European
Axis powers and their accessories as the United States may agree with
any of the United Nations to bring to trial before an international
military tribunal, such Representative and Chief of Counsel shall have
the authority to proceed before United States military or occupational
tribunals, in proper cases, against other Axis adherents, including
but not limited to cases against members of groups and organizations
declared criminal by the said international military tribunal.
2. The present
Representative and Chief of Counsel is authorized to designate a Deputy
Chief of Counsel, to whom he may assign responsibility for organizing
and planning the prosecution of charges of atrocities and war crimes,
other than those now being prosecuted as Case No. 1 in the international
military tribunal, and, as he may be directed by the Chief of Counsel,
for conducting the prosecution of such charges of atrocities and war
crimes.
3. Upon vacation
of office by the present Representative and Chief of Counsel, the functions,
duties, and powers of the Representative of the United States and its
Chief of Counsel, as specified in the said Executive
Order No. 9547 of May 2, 1945, as amended by this order, shall be
vested in a Chief of Counsel for War Crimes to be appointed by the United
States Military Governor for Germany or by his successor.
4. The said Executive
Order No. 9547 of May 2, 1945, is amended accordingly.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
THE WHITE HOUSE
January 16, 1946
Sources: Taylor, Telford, Final report to the Secretary of the Army
on the Nuernberg War Crimes Trials under Control Council law No. 10,
Washington, DC : Government Printing Office, 1949; The
Avalon Project