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Volume V · Page 31
| Germany through the destruction
of her neighbors. To judge these defendants this motive must be considered, as
Military Tribunal III in Case No. 3, the Justice Case,¹ said: |
"We think that a tribunal charged with the duty of enforcing these rules will do well to consider, in determining the degree of punishment imposed, the moral principles which underlie the exercise of power." |
| Genocide, as practiced by the Nazis, was a
two-edged sword, both aspects of which were equally criminal. The positive
side, according to the German concept, was the Germanization program by which
they sought to strengthen themselves by adding to their population large groups
of people selected from among the populations of the conquered territories, and
by forcing the German language, culture, citizenship, and ideals upon those so
selected. The negative side of this program, through which the so-called
positive side was in equal measure accomplished, was the deliberate
extermination and enslavement of the remaining population of these conquered
territories. Thus, Germany would be strengthened by adding to its population,
and its neighbors would be weakened by subtracting from their population, and
the strength of Germany would thereby be proportionately increased. It is the
first time in history that such elaborate plans were laid and such appalling
crimes committed in an effort to carry out a program of genocide. Only by
learning the truth about this criminal plan, by making a permanent record of
what is learned, and by punishing the perpetrators of these enormous crimes,
can it be hoped to forestall the development of similar schemes in the future.
There have been trials by other Military Tribunals here at Nuernberg in which defendants were charged with participation in certain phases of this genocidal program.² But in those cases it was primarily the negative side of the program, that is, the actual extermination of populations that was involved. The case at bar is the first where the entire program of Germanization and genocide with all its ramifications has been completely brought to light. The Office of the Reich Commissioner for the Strengthening of Germanism, with which all the defendants in this case were directly or indirectly connected, was created for the particular purpose of planning and executing this program, and it is this office and its satellites with which the evidence in |
¹ Case of the United States vs. Josef Altstoetter, et al., vol. III.
² United States vs. Oswald Pohl, et al., vol. V ; United States vs. Otto Ohlendorf, et al.. vol. IV; United States vs. Josef Altstoetter, et al., vol. III; United States vs. Karl Brandt, et al., vols. I and II. See also trial before International Military Tribunal, Trial of the Major War Criminals, vol. I, Nuremberg, 1947.
