R & A No. 3113.7 / Principal Nazi Organizations Involved in the ...

a yftiile, in his heart that ho ca.:rnot bring h:'jiu3elf to do it (''jrom
Angriff geht, auoh wenn or elxcna). glauben sollte,, es in seinam Hsraon
nicht jibemlndon zu können,"
The Party /Manual adds hcrei
"It is for this reason that every SS tan ia willing to exeoute blindly
any ordor originating with the F Ihrer or issued by cne cf hia superiors,
1
even if it demands the highest sacrifices•"
(4) Legal Implio&tions. It should be noted that, in the version of the Party
Manual3 the qualification tliat orders by s iperiors should be "rightfully" (resh-feaassig
issued is Mssing. Una question arises vtfiather this qialifio&tion, present ia
Himmler's owa statement, could be Construe.! as a permission for the Irdividual S3
man to check the "legality" 1 ("Iteohtmasclgk.3it n ) of ord>ra, not of the Führer
himself, but of any authority below Hitler, including linnler and high S6 officers»
The choice of the term "rechtmässig" is significant» It recalls the pari
lei expression in Article 113 of the Gerne I Legal Code. Article 113 permitted
resistance against the authority of the state, if an official representing tha
state did not act "In rightful administration of his office" (RecMasassige
Ausübung seines Antes)« That is to say» in cases in which an individual HIS
faced with an order or act by an offic'-al or oven by a superior officer, imich
he did not consider rightful (rechtmässig)» he could resist, or, at least, refuse
to obey, provided one or several of the fcllowirig conditions prev&iledt (a)
the order did net originate with the proper authority; (b) the ordor was not
addressed to the proper person; (o) the pzoper form was not emplcyodB or (d)
the situation did not actually -warrant such an order, or the authority wldch
1. Organlsationsbuoh der üSftAPf, 1945e po 418«,
SECRET
0