. NMT03-T0253
Volume III · Page 253
| when the offices of Chancellor and Reich
President were united in him; that is to say, 1 August 1934.¹ That is the
latest date. Q. It was like this then — Hitler's authority developed gradually until it reached its final culmination? A. Yes, that is correct. If I may add this, one must say that the development under Hitler followed a development which occurred prior to his own era. Q. Do you mean to say by that, that 30 January 1933 did not bring about a complete break of the development prior to Hitler? A. Yes, that is what I would say. Q. Do you also mean to say by this that the so-called change-over, that is the seizure of power by the National Socialist Party, was legal? A. That is a very difficult question. First of all it is difficult because one would have to say in greater detail what events represented the change-over, whether one adheres to the formation of the government on 30 January 1933, or whether one discusses the enabling act, promulgated on 24 March 1933², or how far altogether one wants to extend the events of the change-over. I can only answer conditionally. If one considers only the formation of the government, that is to say the act of entrusting Hitler with the Chancellorship on 30 January 1933, and if by "legal", one means the purely outward formality, then it cannot be denied that the operation was carried out legally, namely, under Article 53 of the Weimar constitution,³ according to which the Reich President forms the cabinet, and the Parliament — the Reichstag — only afterwards has the opportunity to have a destructive influence on the formation of the cabinet. Under the Weimar constitution, the Reichstag does not form the cabinet alone or together with another organ, but the President does that. The other organ is immediately elected by the people of the Reich. That is why the Weimar constitution contains quite rightly article 544 which incorporates the parliamentary system by establishing the institution of the vote of nonconfidence and entrusts the President with |
| __________ ¹ Reference is made to the Law Concerning the Head of the German Reich, 1 August 1934 (1934 Reichsgesetzblatt, pt. I. p. 747). This law reads as follows: "Article 1. The office of the Reich President is herewith united with that of the Reich Chancellor. Therefore, the prerogatives hitherto held by the Reich President are transferred to the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor, Adolf Hitler. He determines his deputy. Article 2. This law becomes effective from the time of the death of Reich President Hindenburg." Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934. This law signed by Hitler and 14 Reich ministers. 2. ² This act is reproduced on page 163. 3. ³ Article 53 reads--"The President of the Reich appoints and dismisses the Chancellor of the Reich and, on the latter's recommendation, the ministers of the Reich." 4 Article 54 reads — "The Chancellor of the Reich and the ministers of the Reich require the confidence of the Reichstag in the administration of their office. Any one of them must resign should the confidence of the Reichstag be withdrawn by an express resolution." |
