. NMT04-T0578
Volume IV · Page 578
| on eleven different occasions he endeavored
to be relieved from this service. It must be remarked, however, that whether he
became a member of the Einsatz forces voluntarily or involuntarily, he did his
work zestfully. It can be said in mitigation that, according to his testimony,
he did on occasion endeavor to assist potential victims of the Fuehrer Order
and in one particular instance issued passes which allowed some persons to
escape from the camp in which they were being held. Nonetheless, the Tribunal
is convinced that the evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that von
Radetzky took a consenting part in war crimes and crimes against humanity and,
therefore, finds him guilty under counts one and two of the indictment.
Insofar as count three is concerned, much evidence was introduced on behalf of the defendant to show that he did not enter the SS or SD organizations voluntarily, but was drafted. It is not sufficient however, in order to absolve oneself from the charge of membership in a criminal organization to show that one entered its ranks involuntarily. Attention is directed to that part of the International Military Tribunal decision which says that it charges with criminal membership in the SS those persons who became or remained members of the organization with knowledge that it was being used for criminal purposes, "or who were personally implicated as members of the organization in the commission of such crimes." The decision excludes those who were drafted into membership by the State in such a way as to give them no choice in the matter but adds that this exception does not apply to those who committed the acts declared criminal by Article 6 of the Charter. Thus, the question whether von Radetzky entered the SS voluntarily or involuntarily becomes moot in view of the finding of the Tribunal that he is guilty under counts one and two of the indictment, thereby proving conclusively his personal implication in the acts established as criminal by the Charter. The same finding holds true with regard to the defendant's membership in the SD. The Tribunal finds, from all the evidence in this case, that the defendant was a member of the criminal organizations SS and SD under the conditions defined by the judgment of the International Military Tribunal and is, therefore, guilty under count three of the indictment. |
| FELIX RUEHL |
| SS Captain Felix Ruehl worked as a commercial clerk at Luckenwalde from 1926 until 1929. He then went to England for one year. In February 1931 until September 1933 he worked in the Luckenwalde court and in September 1933 joined the Gestapo. In |
