19 Dec. 45
"the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.
In the course of the war, these groups grew into divisions."
THE PRESIDENT: Major Farr, is it necessary to go into this degree of
detail about the organization of the SS?
MAJOR FARR: Sir, it seemed to me that it is highly important to know
exactly what the organization with which we are dealing is. There has
been, I understand, a suggestion made to the Court that certain portions
of this organization are not criminal. It is contended by some that the
part they played was a perfectly innocuous one; and it seems to me that
before we can determine whether the organization as a whole is criminal,
whether any portion of it is severable, then we must know what the
organization is.
THE PRESIDENT: Wouldn't it be possible to leave that question to
evidence in rebuttal, if the defendants are setting up that any
particular branch of the SS is not criminal?
MAJOR FARR: If we adequately lay the basis for our case now, it may not
be necessary for us to make any rebuttal. We may satisfy the defendants
that there is nothing to the contention that any portion of the SS is a
lawful portion. The point I am particularly trying to make now is: There
has been a good deal of contention that the Waffen-SS is severable; that
whatever may be said, for example, about the SD or the Death's-Head
Units, the Waffen-SS is something different, the Waffen-SS is part of
the Army. I think it is important to establish at the outset that the
Waffen-SS is as much a part of the SS, as integral a part of the whole
organization, as any of the other branches. I propose, therefore, to
show the development of the Waffen-SS, growing out of the SS Emergency
Troops, and to call to the attention of the Tribunal evidence showing
how the Waffen-SS is an integral part of the SS as a whole.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you must take your own course.
MAJOR FARR: The Verfüngungstruppe were described in a top-secret
Hitler order dated the 17th of August 1938. it is our Document Number
647-PS. I offer it in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-443. That document
will be found in Volume I of the document book. I quote from Section II
of that order, which appears on Page 2 of the translation at the top the
page and also on Page 2 of the original:
"II. The Armed Units of the SS.
"A. The SS Verfüngungstruppe.
"1. The SS Verfüngungstruppe is neither a part of the
Wehrmacht nor a part of the police. It is a standing armed unit
exclusively at my disposal. As such and as a unit of the NSDAP, its
members are to be selected by the Reichsführer