18 Dec. 45
Deputy, the Reich Minister and Chief of
the Reich Chancellery, the President of the Secret Cabinet Council,
the Plenipotentiary General for the Reich Administration, the
Plenipotentiary General for Economics, the Reich Minister for Foreign
Affairs, the Reich Minister of the Interior, the Reich Minister of
Finance, the Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda,
the President of the Reich Bank Directorate.
"The other Reich Ministers and the Reich offices directly
subordinate to the Führer and the Reich Chancellor will be
consulted if necessary. Further personalities may be called as the
case demands."
THE
PRESIDENT: Colonel Storey, it would help me if you explained to me what
conclusions you are asking us to draw from these documents.
COL. STOREY: If Your Honor pleases, we were trying to show the
progressive domination of the Reich Cabinet by the defendants and the
members of this group, so that, as Your Honors will see as we later go
ahead, they could pass laws and decrees secretly, by circulatory process
or at the will, in effect, of the defendants. I realize it is a little
detailed, but we are trying to show the composition and how it was set
up, and the conclusions will be drawn later.
By that time the Supreme Commanders of the Army and Navy had been given
ministerial rank and authorized to participate in Cabinet meetings. I
cite 1938 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page 215.
May we at this time call the attention of the Tribunal to two members
of the Defense Council who will also appear in the Ministerial Council
under the same title: the Plenipotentiary for Administration and the
Plenipotentiary for Economy. The former post was held by the Defendant
Frick, while the latter was first held by the Defendant Schacht and then
by the Defendant Funk, who signed the decree in that capacity. These
facts are verified by the Defendant Frick in Exhibit Number USA-3, which
is the Nazi governmental organization chart previously referred to.
As we will later show, these two posts had many of the other ministries
subordinated to them for war-planning aims and purposes. They, together
with the Chief of the OKW, formed a powerful triumvirate, known as the "Three-Man
College" — that is shown in the three boxes down from 1935 to
1938 — which figured prominently, as the proof will disclose, in
the plans and preparations to wage aggressive war. And the incumbents of
these positions were Cabinet members: the Defendants Frick, Funk, and
Keitel.
This utilization of the ordinary Cabinet as a supply center for other
governmental agencies and the cohesion between all of the groups is
perhaps quickly seen on the chart which is shown.