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Volume IV · Page 696
| individual has to obey the laws and orders; the life of the state lies in the creation of laws and the issuing of orders. The European attitude is laid down in the English postulate, "The King can do no wrong." The American attitude is a fundamentally different one. Mr. Justice Jackson summarized it in his statement on 7 June 1945, in the following way, and I quote — |
"We adhere to the principle of the responsible government, as expressed already three hundred years ago by the Lord High Justice Coke, to King James, with the words that even a king is still subordinated to God and His law." |
| However, even if we claim the most direct
responsibility of the head of the state for his authoritative actions, we have
to enter into the discussions of two problems. 1. Who is the responsible carrier of the state authority — in our case, Greifelt? 2. Were the measures which had been undertaken in the scope of resettling measures in the form of state and people's guidance — and only on this high level can this subject be discussed — crimes? That is, did they violate a valid law? And which law? The prosecution characterized Greifelt as the deputy of Himmler. I will be obliged to set forth that the defendant Greifelt was never anything more than an executive organ of Himmler, not more than an official who obeyed and forwarded orders, drew up drafts which were ordered, and later on approved or altered, and who, at the most, issued regulatory statutes to the principal orders of his superiors. This is not only true for Greifelt, but also for that part of the state authority of which he was the chief, and his co-workers. I will show that in all individual counts of the indictment which are not proved by individual facts, the design and initiative did not originate with Greifelt, but that he was only a subordinated medium which had been set up later than other organizations. In that respect, a careful explanation of the manifold authorities and offices, with their overlapping and constantly clashing competency is necessary. The defendant Greifelt, too, has become aware of many facts only now; he can understand clearly only now the connections which were formerly unknown to him due to the secrecy which was prescribed for all offices, the mistrust and personal rivalries. By drawing an anatomic simile, I submit this picture to the high Tribunal as a kind of skeleton which later on, by the interrogation of the defendant Greifelt, through the descriptions of the actual happenings, the events, and the persons participating in same, should be provided with flesh and blood, thus giving the impression of a whole, living body. Without such an optical im- [...pressive] |
