. NMT03-T1117
Volume III · Page 1117
| not under the direct jurisdiction of the
Reich Minister of Justice, but are unable to believe that an Under Secretary in
the Ministry, who makes an official tour of inspection, is so feeble a person
that he could not even raise his voice against the evil of which he certainly
knew. If the defendant Rothenberger disapproved of protective custody and the consequent employment of concentration camps, it must be because of a change in heart concerning which we have had no evidence. On 13 June 1941 Rothenberger wrote Secretary Freisler suggesting that many small cases were being tried by the Special Court and that this was not compatible with the importance of the court. He referred to minor offenses which came under the public enemy decree, "in which, however, protective custody will be requested by virtue of the offender's past life and his character." Again, he speaks of cases in which motion is made for the offender to be taken into protective custody. On 5 January 1942 the defendant Rothenberger addressed a report on the general situation in the Hamburg area to the Reich Minister of Justice. From this document his attitude concerning the institution of protective custody may be ascertained. Concerning the "transfer to the public prosecutors of the right to decide about the duration of protective custody," he said: |
"In a certain connection with this problem is the transfer to the public prosecutor's office of the right to decide about the duration of the protective custody. I regret that it is obvious that the courts are more cautious and reserved than they were previously in regard to the order of protective custody, because the duration of the protective custody is not any more within their control. This attitude of the courts cannot be approved, but it is psychologically understandable; I am afraid, that the reform effected the opposite of the intended more vigorous practice in regard to protective custody." |
| In February 1939 the defendant Rothenberger and the Chief Public Prosecutor reported to the Hamburg judges upon a conference which had been held in Berlin. The record of the joint report in which Rothenberger participated is as follows (NG-629, Pros. Ex. 28) |
"A report was then made on the discussions on protective custody. The ministry is of the opinion-also held here-that no objection can be raised to protective custody as long as it is purely protective, but that corrective measures, such as became known in certain cases, must not become a habit." |
| In conclusion, the evidence discloses a personality full of complexities, contradictions, and inner conflict. He was kind to many |
