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96rupted. The defendants clicked their heels, but Ludendorffmaintained a frosty aloofness. Landesgerichtsrat Neidhardtwas grandfatherly. He gave the defendants a quick smile,or it may have been addressed only to Ludendorff. The professionaljudges walked quickly behind him and they werefollowed by two lay judges. One of the laymen was constantlywiping two pairs of glasses which, in his embarrassmenthe put on his nose alternately.No sooner did the judges settle down than they droppedout of the picture. Cameras were aimed at the defendantswhom the State of Bavaria accused of high treason and whomthe people of Bavaria accepted as their heroes.Staatsanwalt Dr. Stenglein did not like the rôle of thevillain of the show. Apologetically, in a voice almost inaudible,he read the indictment. Adolf Hitler was the primemover of the plot, he declared; it was he who had aimed atthe overthrow of the State, assigned the public offices andassumed the leadership of the movement. General Ludendorff,whom the public prosecutor described as a great patriot,was acquainted with the plans of the plotters. He was accusedof being the leader of the so-called national army, ofissuing orders to the Reichswehr and of placing himself atthe head of a demonstration in Munich in order to influencethe Reichswehr and the police in favour of the plot throughhis prestige and commanding personality.The State prosecutor did not deny that the expulsionof the princes by the republican government had been a hightreason, nor did he want to deny that he had the greatestrespect for General Ludendorff and Adolf Hitler, but the law