Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 4, p. 100
		18 Dec. 45 is shown at the top immediately under Hitler — " Supreme Commander of the Army, Colonel General Walther von Brauchitsch; Supreme Commander of the Navy, Grand Admiral Dr. Raeder; Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, General of the Artillery Wilhelm Keitel." It will be noted that every member was either a Reich Minister or, as in the case of the Army, Navy, and OKW heads, had the rank and authority of a Reich Minister. On 30 August 1939 Hitler established the Council of Ministers for Defense of the Reich, better known as the Ministerial Council — coming down from the year 1939, the Ministerial Defense Council. This was the so-called war cabinet. The decree appears in the 1939 Reichgesetzblatt Part I, at Page 1539. 1 now refer to Document 2018-PS of the Laws and Decrees, and I quote Section Number 1: "(1) A Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich shall be formed out of the Reich Defense Council as a standing committee; "(2) The standing members of the Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich shall include: "General Field Marshal Göring as chairman; the Führer's Deputy" -the Defendant Hess — "the Plenipotentiary General for Reich Administration" — who was the Defendant Frick — "the Plenipotentiary General for Economy" — the Defendant Funk — "the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery" — Dr. Lammers — "the Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces" — who was the Defendant Keitel. "(3) The chairman may draw on any other members of the Reich Defense Council as well as other personalities for advice." Again it will be seen that all were also members of the ordinary Cabinet. But this use of the Cabinet as a manpower reservoir from whom the trusted collaborators were selected becomes particularly poignant when we consider the actions of the Nazi conspirators which were not published in the Reichsgesetzblatt, which were concealed from the world, and which were part and parcel of their conspiracy to wage aggressive war. It will have been noted that the decree setting up the Ministerial Council contained this language, the one to which I have just referred: "A Ministerial Council for Defense of the Reich shall be formed out of the Reich Defense Council as a standing committee — also Subparagraph 3 of the same one — "The chairman may draw on any other members ... " There is evidence already before this Tribunal establishing the creation — by the Cabinet — on 4 April 1933 of this really secret war- planning body. I refer the Tribunal to Exhibit USA-24, which 100
		Text: English     International Military Tribunal "Blue Series," Vol. 4, p. 100     Last modified: October 10, 1998 Copyright © 1998 The Mazal Library and The Holocaust History Project. All rights reserved. Technical/administrative contact: webmaster@holocaust-history.org Find a typo? Let us know.