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the participation therein or knowledge thereof by any particular person may be concerned. Statements of the International Military Tribunal in the judgment in Case No. 1 constitute proof of the facts stated, in the absence of substantial new evidence to the contrary." |
| The sentences authorized by Ordinance No. 7
are made definite only by reference to those provided for by C. C. Law 10.
(Ordinance No. 7, Art. XVI). As thus established the Tribunal is authorized and empowered to try and punish the major war criminals of the European Axis and "those German officers and men and members of the Nazi Party who have been responsible for, or have taken a consenting part in," or have aided, abetted, ordered, or have been connected with plans or enterprises involving the commission of the offenses defined in C.C. Law 10. |
| SOURCE OF AUTHORITY OF C. C. LAW 10 |
| Having identified the instruments which
purport to establish the jurisdiction of this Tribunal, we next consider the
legal basis of those instruments. The unconditional surrender of Germany took
place on 8 May 1945.¹ The surrender was preceded by the complete
disintegration of the central government and was followed by the complete
occupation of all of Germany. There were no opposing German forces in the
field; the officials who during the war had exercised the powers of the Reich
Government were either dead, in prison, or in hiding. On 5 June 1945 the Allied
Powers announced that they "hereby assume supreme authority with respect to
Germany, including all the powers possessed by the German Government, the High
Command, and any state, municipal or local government or authority," and
declared that "there is no central government or authority in Germany capable
of accepting responsibility for the maintenance of order, the administration of
the country, and compliance with the requirements of the victorious powers."
The Four Powers further declared that they "will hereafter determine the
boundaries of Germany or any part thereof and the status of Germany or of any
area at present being a part of German territory."² On 2 August 1945 at Berlin, President Truman, Generalissimo Stalin, and Prime Minister Attlee, as heads of the Allied Powers, entered into a written agreement setting forth the principles which were to govern Germany during the initial control period. Reference to that document will disclose the wide scope of author- [...ity] |
¹ Text is reproduced in "The Axis in Defeat." Department of State Publication No. 2423 (Government Printing Office. Washington, D. C.), pages 24 and 25.
² Ibid., pages 62 and 63.
