rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich-william-shirer-pdf

BARBAROSSA: THE TURN OF RUSSIA 747Punishable offenses committed by enemy civilians [in Russia] do not,until further notice, come any longer under the jurisdiction of thecourts-martial . . .Persons suspected of criminal action will be brought at once beforean officer. This officer will decide whether they are to be shot.With regard to offenses committed against enemy civilians by membersof the Wehrmacht, prosecution is not obligatory even where thedeed is at the same time a military crime or offense. ∗The Army was told to go easy on such offenders, remembering in each caseall the harm done to Germany since 1918 by the ”Bolsheviki.” Courts-martial ofGerman soldiers would be justified only if ”maintenance of discipline or securityof the Forces call for such a measure.” At any rate, the directive concluded, ”onlythose court sentences are confirmed which are in accordance with the politicalintentions of the High Command,” 1009 The directive was to ”be treated as ’mostsecret.’ ” †A second directive of the same date signed by Keitel on behalf of Hitlerentrusted Himmler with ”special tasks” for the preparation of the political administrationin Russia – ”tasks,” it said, ”which result from the struggle whichhas to be carried out between two opposing political systems.” The Nazi secretpolicesadist was delegated to act ”independently” of the Army, ”under his ownresponsibility.” The generals well knew what the designation of Himmler for”special tasks” meant, though they denied that they did when they took thestand at Nuremberg. Furthermore, the directive said, the occupied areas inRussia were to be sealed off while Himmler went to work. Not even the ”highestpersonalities of the Government and Party,” Hitler stipulated, were to beallowed to have a look. The same directive named Goering for the ”exploitationof the country and the securing of its economic assets for use by German industry.”Incidentally, Hitler also declared in this order that as soon as militaryoperations were concluded Russia would be ”divided up into individual stateswith governments of their own.” 1011Just how this would be done was to be worked out by Alfred Rosenberg, thebefuddled Bait and officially the leading Nazi thinker, who had been, as we haveseen, one of Hitler’s early mentors in the Munich days. On April 20 the Fuehrerappointed him ”Commissioner for the Central Control of Questions Connectedwith the East-European Region” and immediately this Nazi dolt, with a positivegenius for misunderstanding history, even the history of Russia, where he was∗ The emphasis is in the original order.† On July 27, 1941, Keitel ordered all copies of this directive of May 13 concerning courtsmartialdestroyed, though ”the validity of the directive,” he stipulated, ”is not affected bythe destruction of the copies.” The July 27 order, he added, ”would itself be destroyed.” Butcopies of both survived and turned up at Nuremberg to haunt the High Command.Four days before, on July 23, Keitel had issued another order marked ”Top Secret”:On July 22, the Fuehrer after receiving the Commander of the Army [Brauchitschissued the following order:In view of the vast size of the occupied areas in the East, the forces availablefor establishing security will be sufficient only if all resistance is punished notby legal prosecution of the guilty, but by the spreading of such terror by theoccupying forces as is alone appropriate to eradicate every inclination to resistamongst the population. 1010