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orated
into the Reich and within the Gaue of the Nazi
Party. In those territories the machinery of the
Leadership Corps was used for their
Germanization through the elimination of local
customs and the detection and arrest of persons
who opposed German occupation. This was
criminal-under Article 6 (b) of the Charter in
those areas governed by the Hague Rules of Land
Warfare and criminal under Article 6 (c) of the
Charter as to the remainder.
The
Leadership Corps played its part in the
persecution of the Jews. It was involved in the
economic and political discrimination against
the Jews which was put into effect shortly after
the Nazis came into power. The Gestapo and SD
were instructed to coordinate with the
Gauleiters and Kreisleiters the measures taken
in the pogroms of 9 and 10 November 1938. The
Leadership Corps was also used to prevent German
public opinion from reacting against the
measures taken against the Jews in the East. On
9 October 1942, a confidential information
bulletin was sent to all Gauleiters and
Kreisleiters entitled "Preparatory Measures
for the Final Solution of the Jewish Question in
Europe. Rumors concerning the Conditions of the
Jews in the East." This bulletin stated
that rumors were being started by returning
soldiers concerning the conditions of Jews in
the East which some Germans might not
understand, and outlined in detail the official
explanation to be given. This bulletin contained
no explicit statement that the Jews were being
exterminated, but it did indicate they were
going to labor camps, and spoke of their
complete segregation and elimination and the
necessity of ruthless severity. Thus, even at
its face value, it indicated the utilization of
the machinery of the Leadership Corps to keep
German public opinion from rebelling at a
program which was stated to involve condemning
the Jews of Europe to a lifetime of slavery.
This information continued to be available to
the Leadership Corps. The August 1944 edition of
Die Lage, a publication which was
circulated among the Political Leaders,
described the deportation of 430,000 Jews from
Hungary.
The Leadership Corps played
an important part in the administration of the
Slave Labor Program. A Sauckel decree dated 6
April 1942 appointed the Gauleiters as
Plenipotentiary for Labor Mobilization for their
Gaue with authority to coordinate all agencies
dealing with labor questions in their Gaue, with
specific authority over the employment of
foreign workers, including their conditions of
work, feeding, and housing. Under this authority
the Gauleiters assumed control over the
allocation of labor in their Gaue, including the
forced laborers from foreign countries. In
carrying out this task the Gauleiters used many
Party offices within their Gaue, including
subordinate Political Leaders. For example,
Sauckel's decree of 8 September 1942, relating
to the allocation for household labor of
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