22 Nov. 45

requires some brief observations before the Prosecution proceeds with the submission of proof on the Common Plan of Conspiracy, with which the defendants have been charged.

If the Tribunal will allow, the Prosecution will offer as its second exhibit, another chart, delineating substantially the governmental structure of the Reich Government as it existed in March 1945, and also the chief Leadership Corps of the Reich Government and the Reich Administration during those years. (Document Number 2905-PS, Exhibit USA-3)

This chart has been prepared by the Prosecution on the basis of information contained in two official publications, Das Taschenbuch für Verwaltungsbeamte, (the Manual for Administrative Officers) and the National Sozialistisches Jahrbuch, to which I have already alluded, edited by the Defendant Ley.

This chart has been examined, corrected, and certified by the Defendant Wilhelm Frick, whose affidavit is submitted with the chart. In fact, it is reproduced directly on the copies of the charts before Your Honors.

It seems plain that the Defendant Frick, a former Minister of Interior of the Reich from January 1933 to August 1943, was well qualified, by reason of his position and long service in public office during the National Socialist regime, to certify to the substantial accuracy of the facts disclosed in this chart.

Now, with the permission of the Tribunal, I would like to make some brief comments on this chart.

First of all, we refer to the Reichsregierung, which is the big box in the center of the chart on the vertical line, directly below Hitler. The Reichsregierung is a word that may not be translated literally as "government of the Reich." The word "Reichsregierung" is a word of art and is applied collectively to the ministers who composed the German Cabinet.

The Reichsregierung has been named as a defendant in this proceeding, and as used in the Indictment the expression "Reichsregierung" identifies a group which, we will urge, should be declared to have been a criminal organization.

This group includes all the men named in that center box, who were members of the Cabinet after 30 January 1933, that is, Reich ministers with and without portfolio, and all other officials entitled to participate in the deliberations of the Cabinet.

Secondly, it includes members of the Counsel of Ministers for the Defense of the Reich. It is called "Ministerrat für die Reichsverteidigung", which is the large box to the right of the vertical line.

Then, it includes the members of the Secret Cabinet Council, which is the small box to the left of the vertical line, the Geheimer