. NMT03-T0416
Volume III · Page 416
| effect of the introduction of the nullity plea was that a man, on whom a legal sentence had been passed without new facts or circumstances having come to light, could be retried by a court. Sometimes it could operate in his favor, but in the majority of cases it went against his interest, in my experience, that is. |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| EXTRACT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF
DEFENDANT ROTHAUG CONCERNING A CASE WHERE, AFTER A NULLITY PLEA, THE REICH SUPREME COURT CHANGED A PRISON SENTENCE TO THE DEATH SENTENCE WITHOUT REFERRING THE CASE BACK TO THE SPECIAL COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE* |
| DIRECT EXAMINATION |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| DEFENDANT ROTHAUG: * * * In order to
elucidate how severe, for example, the Reich Supreme Court, in particular,
generally judged the situation in those cases [sabotage cases during wartime]
is demonstrated by the case in the list of the death sentences of the Special
Court Nuernberg in which the notation is made — Sentence of the Reich
Supreme Court. I believe it was in 1941. The following were the facts:
A Pole had given a civilian pair of pants to a Serbian PW in order to enable him to flee into his home country. In fact, the Serbian prisoner did escape. The Pole confessed; however, he denied decisively that he had intended that the Serb should join the Tito forces; that he only did it out of compassion. Therefore, we sentenced him to a penal camp, 3 years in a penal camp. Thereupon, a nullity plea was filed, the Reich Supreme Court changed the sentence, did not even refer it back to us, but quickly sentenced the Pole to death by stating that, in their opinion the facts which we had already determined ourselves, as I have just told you in a few brief sentences now, were absolutely sufficient to pronounce the death sentence. And I still recall that the important point of view was — and I remember it, because I was interested — that it could not matter in wartime what concrete intentions he had but that it was absolutely sufficient that the Pole could have counted upon the possibility that the Serb would join Tito's forces. |
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* Tr. 6885--6886, (12 Aug 1947). Further extracts from the testimony of defendant Rothaug are reproduced earlier in this section, and below in sections V D 2. V E, and V F.
