Speaking of suspending the Constitution, here's a Nuremberg exhibit, NI-6096 about that. 4 WKS after seizing power, the Nazis suspended individual liberties. The Gestapo could take anyone into "protective custody" and there was no right to a court hearing. It was VERY EASY. 2/ From the 1933 decree: "Restrictions. . .of freedom of press, of right to combine and hold meetings. . .Entering and searching of premises. . requisitioning of property outside of present legal limitations are therefore permissible."

1/ Short thread on Nazi tactics pre-1933 and Goebbels' methods of disrupting events of other parties. IMT affidavit by Weimar policeman: Goebbels discredited Weimar govt w special column in his paper called "They lie, they lie"-- labeling as lies whatever displeased the Nazis. 2/ Goebbels set up "Rollkommandos" to disrupt events of other parties and break up their meetings. "He went so far as to break up meetings with Rollkommando raids; fights resulted" with furniture destroyed. I'm sure they blamed it on the other party. (Does this sound familiar?)

1/ Here's an excerpt from the 1935 SS manual (the REAL SS, not the US Secret Service) from Nuremberg records. "We take the oath of allegiance to you, Adolf Hitler. . we swear obedience unto death to you and superiors appointed by you, so help us God." (Hint: God didn't help.) 2/ "He must learn to keep silence, not only when reprimanded, but must also learn. . . to bear injustice in silence. Virile discipline and obedience as foundation of the NSDAP. Mute, with clenched teeth, SS men on propaganda marches pass thru hooting mobs of Reds (etc etc). .

Time for a thread on the Reichstag fire and how the Nazis used it to consolidate power and eliminate all civil rights in Germany. The Reichstag burned 27 Feb 1933. Hitler, Goering and Frick seized on this to create their dream of a police state. 2/ One day later, the "Reichstag Fire Decree" was passed. "Sections 114/115/117 etc of the Constitution are suspended until further notice. Restrictions on free expression, freedom of press, privacy, warrants for house searches etc are also permissible beyond the legal limits. ."

Today's document, R-142, is about the 10 April '38 plebiscite to approve the annexation of Austria. One of the final 2 elections held by the Third Reich (the final one was later that year, concerning the Sudetenland). German slogan was "One people, one Reich, one Führer." 2/ This is the ballot for the plebiscite. Note the strictly neutral design. Everyone was expected to give full support to Hitler and the annexation.

1/ A short but chilling document issued #OTD Feb 10 1936 by the Nazi Ministry of State, giving unlimited powers to the #Gestapo. This excerpt charges them to "combat all activities hostile to the State within the whole Reich" and to do investigations with no limits specified. . . 2/ The Gestapo is considered to be a creation of Hermann Goering, also of Luftwaffe fame. Control was given to Himmler in 1934. This Feb 1936 law gave it carte blanche to do whatever it liked. . . all without judicial review.

1/ Just found the online exhibit at Museum of Lodz Jews, so posting a few pics to lure you to visit them: lodzjews.org. Here ghetto administrator Hans Biebow out for a stroll in the "market" where starving people are trying to survive by selling off household goods. 2/ Lodz ghetto: Hans Biebow examines some books a ghetto resident is trying to sell, and later some neckties.

1/ In connection with 38 @_Stolpersteine_ being laid today in Burgwedel, I'm posting Nuremberg doc NO-4665, a letter to Himmler from E. Hilgenfeldt (NSDAP Welfare office) with concerns re visit to home for babies of "Eastern workers" (pic: slave laborers from occupied lands). @_Stolpersteine_ 2/ Author says: "all of the babies were undernourished. . 1/2 liter milk and 1+1/2 cubes sugar per day. . .with this ration the babies must perish within a few months. . .I was informed this agreement exists concerning the raising of these babies. . ."

1/ For anniversary of Kristallnacht I'm posting images from a very special project of the Technical Univ, Darmstadt: virtual reconstructions of synagogues that were destroyed in 1938. We've all seen the photos of burning synagogues; few have seen these gorgeous images. 1: Köln. 2/ Here's what the interior of the Nuremberg synagogue looked like:

1/ Nuremberg docs include PS-3051, the famous set of memos from Reinhard Heydrich to the police re events of 11/9-10, 1938 (Kristallnacht). Photo shows burning of synagogue in Hanover on that night. Memo in rest of this thread. 2/ "Re: Measures against Jews tonight." Heydrich tells police chiefs to meet with polit leaders "to discuss organization of the demonstrations" and goes on to discuss his specific instructions.

1/ Strange find: NO-4033, NMT trial 8. SS Obersturmführer Neumann-Reppert traveled to Holland 14-19 Sept '44 to retrieve card index with names of half-Jewish citizens of Netherlands, in middle of #OperationMarketGarden, with troops dropping from the skies, fighting all around. 2/ Approx 107,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands, the vast majority long before 9/44 (only 3700 in all of '44). The fact that the SS were still concerned with this card index, in the middle of Market Garden, says a lot about Nazi fanaticism. (Image: Westerbork camp)

1/ Today's doc, 3985-PS, illustrates Nazi Germany's compulsion to regulate everything -- even looting. It's an official ordinance about looting all of the works of art in Poland - private, state-owned, and church-owned. Breathtaking in scope. Written end of 1939. 2/ The ordinance was written by one of the most enthusiastic art looters in occupied Poland, Hans Frank. Pictured here entertaining Himmler at the Wawel Castle, his seat of power in Krakow, along with one of the pieces of art he stole, Lady with an Ermine (da Vinci).

1/ Today's thread inspired by mysterious suicides: "Gerstein Report", doc PS-1553, used in several trials. Gerstein worked for SS, delivered Zyklon-B to various conc camps incl Auschwitz. Tried to alert the Allies to what was happening. Pg 1 of CIOS assessment May '45. 2/ He told CIOS he entered Waffen-SS "to see this machinery and disclose it to the people." His report describes in gruesome detail visit to Belzec where he watched victims being gassed with diesel exhaust. Globocnik wanted "a thing more toxic and faster-working - prussic acid."

1/ Today's doc is 2620-PS, NMT Trial 9, defendant Otto Ohlendorf's affidavit about how the Einsatzgruppen operated. Intro: "Himmler said important part of our task. . .extermination of Jews: women, men, children - and of Communist functionaries." @BenFerencz, prosecutor. @BenFerencz 2/ "Men/women/children led to place of execution next to a deeply-excavated anti-tank ditch. Then they were shot, kneeling or standing, and corpses thrown into ditch. . .I ordered that several of the men should shoot at same time in order to avoid direct personal responsibility."

1/ Featured today: RuSHA trial prosecution doc NO-1615: decree signed by Ulrich Greifelt re obtaining Polish children for Germanization. "It is necessary that they are subjected to a racial & psychol process of selection; those considered racially valuable will be Germanized..." "age 6-12 will be sent to German Folkschools, age 2-6 boarded with families designated by Lebensborn." Childless SS families preferred. "Special attn to be given that the phrase 'Polish children suitable for Germanization' not reach the public."