17 Dec. 45
And on Page 2 of the same document another brief
quotation:
"The Leadership Corps is responsible
for the complete penetration of the German nation with the National
Socialist spirit...."
The
oath of the political leaders to Hitler has been previously mentioned.
In this connection the Party manual provides, and I quote from the
second paragraph on Page 3 of the same document:
"The political leader is inseparably
tied to the ideology and the organization of the NSDAP. His oath only
ends with his death or with his expulsion from the National Socialist
community."
While the
leadership principle assured the binding nature of Hitler's statements,
program, and policies upon the entire Party and the Leadership Corps
thereof, the leadership principle also established the full
responsibility of the individual political leader within the province
and jurisdiction of his office or position.
The leadership principle applies not only to Hitler as the supreme
leader but also to the political leaders under him and thus permeated
the entire Leadership Corps. I quote from the middle of Page 2 of
Document 1893-PS:
"The basis of the Party organization
is the Führer idea ... "
All political leaders stand as appointed by the Führer and are
responsible to him. They possess full authority toward the lower
echelons ..."
The various
Hoheitsträger of the Leadership Corps were, in their respective
areas, themselves Führer I quote from the third paragraph of Page 9
of this same document:
"Within their sector of sovereignty,
the Hoheitsträger have sovereign political rights.... They are
responsible for the entire political situation within their sector."
I again refer to and quote from Document 1814-PS, Exhibit Number
USA-328, which is the Party book. It is just a one-sentence quotation,
and it states: "The Party is an Order of 'Führer.' "
The subjugation of the entire membership of the Leadership Corps to the
fiat of the leadership principle is clearly shown in the following
passage from the Party manual; it is this same document on Page 3:
"A solid anchorage for all the
organizations within the Party structure is provided and a firm
connection with the sovereign leaders of the NSDAP is created in
accordance with the leadership principle."
Next is the subject, "The Nazi Party, directed by the Leadership
Corps, dominated and controlled the German State and Government."