Arthur R. Butz – The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century

Chapter 1: Trials, Jews and Nazis
weeks to take over in Jerusalem. The only hint we get of any activity in the period
August 1945 to January 1948 is a story on June 24, p. 15, reporting that the London
Daily Telegraph of the same date said that:
“He was at the time of his death a full colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s
office of the organized reserve of officers. […] Although not subject to
military discipline, he had agreed to remain subject to recall.”
Marcus had, in fact, been Weir’s successor as head of the War Crimes Branch.
Immediately after the war, he had been “number three man in making American
policy” in occupied Germany, but was taken out of this position early in 1946 in
order to take the war crimes job. His appointment was effective as of February 18,
1946, but he spent a few months in Japan after leaving Germany and then moved
into the Washington office of the War Crimes Branch until April 1947, when he
retired from the Army and went into private law practice. 46
Our previous observations obviously suggest that it was in reality the War
Crimes Branch that exercised the crucial functions in respect to the NMT. This is
the case, as is made clear by a careful reading of Taylor’s official final report on
the NMT trials, although the fact is not emphasized there. 47 The fact is confirmed
by the remarkable book by Josiah E. DuBois, who headed the I. G. Farben NMT
prosecution, and Berkman’s book about Marcus provides some sketchy information
on this aspect of Marcus’ career. 48
Marcus was made head of the War Crimes Branch primarily in order “to take
over the mammoth task of selecting hundreds of judges, prosecutors and lawyers”
for the NMT and Far East (Tokyo) trials. In December 1946, DuBois had been
summoned to Marcus’ office in Washington to discuss the possibility of DuBois’
taking over the prosecution of leading officials of the great German chemicals
firm, I. G. Farben. DuBois had been undecided, so he conferred at length with
Marcus on the problems involved; one of the problems being whether or not there
was sufficient evidence to charge Farben with an “aggressive war” plot and, if so
charged, the possible political repercussions that might ensue. They discussed the
general advantages of bringing the Farben men to trial. One point Marcus made
was that a trial might show how Farben managed to develop certain weapons in
total secrecy. Then too, if they went free, they might start working for the Russians.
Marcus displayed great knowledge of Farben. He pointed out that there was
a “warehouse full” of Farben records in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, a fact that
DuBois forgot, until later events forced him to recall and act on it during the pretrial
investigation.
They got around to the required length of the pre-trial investigation. Marcus
said: “As far as I’m concerned, you could go over there for as long or as short a
time as you liked.” DuBois suggested that he would need about four months, and
Marcus replied: “I have no objection to that. Within a few days after you get
home, you should get a wire from Telford Taylor agreeing to it.”
46
47
48
Marcus; Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 11, 1945; Berkman, 44-45; Saturday Evening Post (Dec. 4,
1948), 179.
Taylor (Aug. 15, 1949), 13, 14, 34, 35.
DuBois, 19-22, 31, 53, 63, 69-70, 74-75; Berkman, 195-199, 157-159.
47