 |
| included freezing to death, and killing by poison bullets, the SS was
able to obtain an allocation of government funds for this kind of research on
the grounds that they had access to human material not available to other
agencies.” |
| |
| SS career of Buetefisch. "Honorary" SS
Leaders |
| |
| (77) The IMT does not exempt the so-called honorary SS leaders from
the categories of criminal membership in the SS. Only the members of the Reiter
SS were excluded and also, “those who were drafted into membership by the
State in such a way as to give them no choice in the matter, and who had
committed no such crimes.” In general, the IMT excludes from criminal
membership all persons “Who had ceased to belong to the organizations * *
* prior to 1 September 1939.” The character of the so-called honorary SS
officers is shown by the Decision of the Supreme Spruchkammer Court of Hamm in
the appeal case against the honorary SS leaders Baron von Schroeder (NI-15203,
Pros. Ex. 2191) stating: |
| |
''The Nuernberg judgment counts
into the SS all ‘officially accepted members’ and of them excludes
only the members of the Reiter SS. |
| * * * * * * * * * * |
| |
“But while the Reiter SS
was active exclusively in the relatively harmless, even though also not
unimportant field of sports, the Ehrenfuehrer (honorary leader) customarily
took an eminent position in the public life of the state, the economy or
science and enjoyed at home, often also abroad, a particular reputation. As
Ehrenfuehrer of the SS they did not only contribute to it splendor and good
standing with the outer world. The SS, by binding into its organization as
Ehrenfuehrer such leading men of public life it rather secured for itself
increasingly a determining influence upon all fields of public life relevant to
the achievement of leadership and strengthening of power within the state.
Reiter SS and Ehrenfuehrer did by no means have the same importance to the SS,
rather a very different one, so that already for this reason it is not
permissible to extend the saving clause referring to the Reiter SS to the
Ehrenfuehrer. Rather is it necessary to start from the fact that according to
the Nuernberg judgment the Ehrenfuehrers are also to be considered genuine SS
members, inasfar as they have been ‘officially accepted.’”
|
| .(78) The defendant testified that he did not apply for membership,
but that it was offered to him, and that he did not render any oath, nor did he
enter into any obligations upon acceptance of his honorary rank (Tr. pp. 8819,
8820). The Spruchkanumer decision (supra) finds in that connection:
|
855 |
. 
