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Seyss-Inquart
contends that he was not responsible for many of
the crimes committed in the occupation of the
Netherlands because they were either ordered
from the Reich, committed by the Army, over
which he had no control, or by the German Higher
SS and Police Leader, who, he claims, reported
directly to Himmler. It is true that some of the
excesses were the responsibility of the Army,
and that the Higher SS and Police Leader,
although he was at the disposal of
Seyss-Inquart, could always report directly to
Himmler. It is also true that in certain cases
Seyss-Inquart opposed the extreme measures used
by these other agencies, as when he was largely
successful in preventing the Army from carrying
out a scorched earth policy, and urged the
Higher SS and Police Leaders to reduce the
number of hostages to be shot. But the fact
remains that Seyss-Inquart was a knowing and
voluntary participant in War Crimes and Crimes
against Humanity which were committed in the
occupation of the Netherlands.
Conclusion
The Tribunal finds that
Seyss-Inquart is guilty under Counts Two, Three,
and Four. Seyss-Inquart is not guilty on Count
One.
SPEER
Speer is indicted under
all four Counts. Speer joined the Nazi Party in
1932. In 1934 he was made Hitler's architect and
became a close personal confidant. Shortly
thereafter he was made a department head in the
German Labor Front and the official in charge of
capital construction on the staff of the deputy
to the Führer, positions which he held
through 1941. On 15 February 1942, after the
death of Fritz Todt, Speer was appointed Chief
of the Organization Todt and Reich Minister for
Armaments and Munitions (after 2 September 1943,
for Armaments and War Production). The positions
were supplemented by his appointments in March
and April 1942 as General Plenipotentiary for
Armaments and as a member of the Central
Planning Board, both within the Four Year Plan.
Speer was a member of the Reichstag from 1941
until the end of the war.
Crimes
against Peace
The
Tribunal is of opinion that Speer's activities
do not amount to initiating, planning, or
preparing wars of aggression, or of conspiring
to that end. He became the head of the armament
industry well after all of the wars had been
commenced and were under way. His activities in
charge of German armament production were in aid
of the war effort in the same way that other
productive enterprises aid in the waging of war;
but the Tribunal is not prepared to find that
such activities involve engaging in the common
plan to wage
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