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10. Julius Streicher
Through his words and his deeds Julius Streicher assumed for
himself the unofficial title of “Jew-baiter Number One” of
Nazi Germany. For the course of some twenty-five years,
Streicher educated the German people in hatred and incited
them to the persecution and to the extermination of the
Jewish race. He was an accessory to murder, on a scale
perhaps never attained before.
A. STREICHER’s CAREER AND POSITIONS.
Streicher was born in 1885. He became a school teacher in
Nurnberg and formed a party of his own, which he called the
German Socialist Party. The chief policy of that party was
anti-semitism. In 1922 he handed over his party to Hitler,
who wrote a glowing account of Streicher’s generosity in
Mein Kampf (M-3)
The appointments which Streicher held in the Party and state
were few. From 1921 until 1945, he was a member of the Nazi
Party. In 1925 he was appointed Gauleiter of Franconia, and
he remained until about February 1940. From the time
[Page 690]
that the Nazi government came into power in 1933 until 1945
he was a member of the Reichstag. In addition to that, he
held the title of Obergruppenfuehrer in the SA (2975-PS).
The propaganda which Streicher carried out throughout those
years was chiefly done through the medium of his newspapers.
He was the editor and publisher of “Der Stuermer' from 1922
until 1933, and thereafter the publisher and owner of the
paper. In 1933 he also founded and thereafter published a
daily newspaper called the “Fraenkische Tageszeitung.”
In addition, in later years he published several other
papers, mostly local journals, from Nurnberg.
B. STREICHER’s PART IN THE REMOVAL OF OPPOSITION
THROUGH ANTI-JEWISH PROPAGANDA AND INCITEMENT.
The course of Streicher’s incitement and propaganda may be
traced more or less in chronological order by referring to
short extracts from “Der Stuermer.” The extracts which
follow were selected at random. They were selected with a
view to showing the various methods which Streicher employed
to incite the German people against the Jewish race, but his
newspapers are crowded with them, week after week, day after
day. It is impossible to pick up any copy without finding
the same kind of invective and incitement in the headlines
and in the articles.
In a speech which Streicher made in 1922 in Nurnberg, after
abusing the Jews in the first paragraph, he went on to say:
“We know that Germany will be free when the Jew has
been excluded from the life of the German people.” (M-
11. ).
In a speech in 1924 he stated:
“I beg you and particularly those of you who carry the
cross throughout the land to become somewhat more
serious when I speak of the enemy of the German people,
namely, the Jew. Not out of irresponsibility or for fun
do I fight against the Jewish enemy, but because I bear
within me the knowledge that the whole misfortune was
brought to Germany by the Jews alone.
“I ask you once more, what is at stake today? The Jew
seeks domination not only among the German people but
among all peoples. The communists pave the way for him.
Do you not know that the God of the Old Testament
orders the Jews to consume and enslave the peoples of
the earth?
“The government allows the Jew to do as he pleases. The
people expect action to be taken. You may think about
[Page 691]
Adolf Hitler as you please, but one thing you must
admit. He possessed the courage to attempt to free the
German people from the Jew by a national revolution.
That was action indeed.” (M-12).
In a speech in April 1925 Streicher declared:
“You must realize that the Jew wants our people to
perish. That is why you must join us and leave those
who have brought you nothing but war, inflation, and
discord. For thousands of years the Jew has been
destroying the nations. Let us make a new beginning
today so that we can annihilate the Jews.” (M-13)
This appears to be the earliest expression of one of the
conspirators' primary objectives — the annihilation of the
Jewish race. Fourteen years later it became the official
policy of the Nazi Government.
In April 1932 Streicher made the following statement:
“For 13 years I have fought against Jewry.”
*******
“We know that the Jew whether he is baptized as a
Protestant or as a Catholic, remains a Jew. Why cannot
you realize, you Protestant clergymen, you Catholic
priests, you who have scales before your eyes and serve
the god of the Jews who is not the God of Love but the
God of Hate. Why do you not listen to Christ, who said
to the Jews, 'You are children of the devil'.” (M-14).
(1) The Ant-Jewish Boycott of 1933.
When the Nazi Party came to power, they officially started
their campaign against the Jews by the boycott of 1 April
1933. The boycott was agreed on and approved by the whole
government, as appears from Goebbel’s diary (2409-PS).
Streicher vas appointed the chairman of the central
committee for the organization of that boycott. He started
his work on Wednesday, 29 March (2156-PS).
On that same day the central committee issued a proclamation
announcing that the boycott would start on Saturday at 10:00
-AM sharp:
“Jewry will realize whom it has challenged.” (M-7).
On 30 March, two days before the boycott was due to start,
an article was published under the title, “Defeat the Enemy
of the World !by Julius Streicher, official leader of the
central committee to combat the Jewish atrocity and boycott
campaign” (2153-PS). The article stated, in part:
“Jewry wanted this battle. It shall have it until it
realizes
[Page 692]
that the Germany of the brown battalions is not a
country of cowardice and surrender. Jewry will have to
fight until we have won victory.
“National Socialists! Defeat the enemy of the world.
Even if the world is full of devils, we shall succeed
in the end.” (2153-PS) .
As head of the central committee for that boycott, Streicher
outlined in detail the organization of the boycott in orders
which the committee published on 31 March 1933 (2154-PS).
The committee stressed that no violence should be employed
against the Jews during the boycott, but not for
humanitarian reasons. The order was issued because, if no
violence were employed, Jewish employers would have no
grounds for discharging their employees without notice, and
for refusing to pay them any wages. The Jews were also
reported, apparently, to be transferring businesses to
German figureheads in order to alleviate the results of this
persecution; accordingly the committee declared that any
property so transferred was to be considered as Jewish for
the purpose of the boycott (2154-PS).
It is therefore clear that early in 1933 Streicher was
taking a leading part, as appointed by the Government, in
the persecution against the Jews.
Further extracts from Streicher’s newspapers illustrate the
form which his propaganda developed as the years went on. An
article in the New Year’s issue of a new paper founded and
edited by Streicher — a semimedical paper called “The
People’s Health Through Blood and Soil” — is an example of
the remarkable lengths to which he went in propagandizing
against the Jews:
“It is established for all eternity; alien albumen is
the sperm of a man of alien race. The male sperm in
cohabitation is partially or completely absorbed by the
female, and thus enters her bloodstream. One single
cohabitation of a Jew with an Aryan woman is sufficient
to poison her blood forever. Together with the alien
albumen she has absorbed the alien soul. Never again
will she be able to bear purely Aryan children, even
when married to an Aryan. They will all be bastards,
with a dual soul and a body of a mixed breed. Their
children will also be crossbreeds; that means, ugly
people of unsteady character and with a tendency to
illnesses. Now we know why the Jew uses every artifice
of seduction in order to ravish German girls at as
early an age as possible; why the Jewish doctor rapes
his patients while they were under anaesthetic. He
wants the German
[Page 693]
girl and the German woman to absorb the alien sperm of
the Jew. She is never again to bear German children.
But the blood products of all animals right down to the
bacteria like the serum, lymph, extracts from internal
organs etc., are all alien albumen. They have a
poisonous effect if directly introduced into the blood
stream either by vaccination or by injection. By these
products of sick animals the blood is ravished, the
Aryan is impregnated with an alien species. The author
and abettor of such action is the Jew. He has been
aware of the secrets of the race question for
centuries, and therefore plans systematically the
annihilation of the nations which are superior to him.
Science and authorities are his instruments for the
enforcing of pseudo-science and the concealment of
truth.” (M-20).
At the beginning of 1935, the following extract, entitled
"The Chosen People of the Criminals,” appeared in “Der
Stuermer":
“ *** and all the same, or, let us say, just because of
this, the history book of the Jews, which is usually
called the Holy Scriptures, impresses us as a horrible
criminal romance, which makes the 150 penny-dreadfuls
of the British Jew, Edgar Wallace, go green with envy.
This 'holy' book abounds in murder, incest, fraud,
theft, and indecency.” (2697-PS).
In a speech on 4 October 1935 (the month following the
proclamation of the Nurnberg Decrees) Streicher made a
speech which is reported in the Voelkischer Beobachter and
is entitled in that newspaper “Safeguard of German Blood and
German Honor.” The report in that article reads in part:
“Gauleiter Streicher speaks at a German Labor Front
mass demonstration for the Nurnberg laws.”
*******
“We have therefore, to unmask the Jew, and that is what
I have been doing for the past fifteen years.” (M-54).
In a leading article in “Der Stuermer” Streicher again
emphasized the part which he himself had taken in this
campaign:
“The 'Stuermer's' 15 years of work of enlightenment has
already led an army of those who know — millions
strong — to National Socialism. The continued work of
the 'Stuermer' will help to ensure that every German
down to the last man will, with heart and hand, join
the ranks of those whose aim it is to crush the head of
the serpent Pan-Juda beneath their heels. He who helps
to bring this about helps to eliminate the devil, and
this devil is the Jew.” (M-6).
[Page 694]
The extraordinary length to which Streicher went in his
propaganda is illustrated by the publication in “Der
Stuermer” of a photograph of the burning hull of the airship
"Hindenburg, which caught fire in June 1937 in America. The
caption beneath the picture includes the comment:
“The first radio picture from the United States of
America shows quite clearly that a Jew stands behind
the explosion of our airship Hindenburg. Nature has
depicted clearly and quite correctly that devil in
human guise.”
Although it is not clear from that photograph, the meaning
of that comment is apparently that the cloud of smoke in the
air is in the shape of a Jewish face.
In a speech in September 1937 at the opening of the Wilhelm
Gustloff bridge in Nurnberg, Streicher declared:
“The man who murdered Wilhelm Gustloff had to come from
the Jewish people, because the Jewish text books teach
that every Jew has the right to kill a non-Jew, and,
indeed, that it is pleasing to the Jewish God to kill
as many non-Jews as possible.
“Look at the way the Jewish people have been following
for thousands of years past; everywhere murder,
everywhere mass murder. Neither must we forget that
behind present-day wars there stands the Jewish
financier who pursues his aims and interests. The Jew
always lives on the blood of other nations; he needs
such murder and such victims. For us who know, the
murder of Wilhelm Gustloff is the same as ritual
murder.”
“It is our duty to tell the children at school and the
bigger ones what this memorial means.”
*******
“The Jew no longer shows himself among us openly as he
used to. But it would be wrong to say that victory is
ours. Full and final victory will have been achieved
only when the whole world has been rid of Jews.” (M 4)
Extracts from the correspondence columns of “Der Stuermer,”
show another method which Streicher employed in his
propaganda (M-26; M-27; M-28). The correspondence columns of
every issue are full of purported “letters” from Germans
protesting that some German has been buying shoes from a
Jewish shop, etc., thus by printing these letters assisting
in the general boycott of the Jews.
[Page 695]
(2) “Ritual Murder” Propaganda.
Another form of propaganda employed by Streicher concerned
the “Ritual Murder.” Sometime in 1934 “Der Stuermer” began
publishing accounts of Jewish ritual murder which horrified
the whole world to such an extent that even the Archbishop
of Canterbury, together with people from every country in
the world, protested that any government should allow such
matter to be published in their national newspapers.
Streicher based his ritual murder propaganda on a medieval
belief that during their Eastertide celebrations the Jews
were in the habit of murdering Christian children. Streicher
misrepresented this medieval belief to make it appear that
not only was this done in the Middle Ages, but that the Jews
are still doing it and still want to do it. A few passages
from “Der Stuermer” together with descriptions of
photographs published therein will illustrate the type of
propaganda that Streicher was putting out concerning “ritual
murder":
“This the French front-line soldier should take with
him to France: The German people have taken a new lease
of life. They want peace, but if anyone tries to attack
them, if anyone tries to torture them again, if anyone
tries to push them back into the past, then the world
would see another heroic epic; then heaven will decide
where righteousness lies — here, or where the Jew has
the whiphand and where he instigates massacres, one
could almost say the biggest ritual murders of all
times. If the German people are to be slaughtered
according to the Jewish rites, the whole world will be
thus slaughtered at the same time.”
*******
“As you have drummed morning and evening prayers into
your children’s heads, so now drum this into their
heads, so that the German people may gain the spiritual
power to convince the rest of the world which the Jews
desire to lead against us.” (M-2).
A photograph published in “Der Stuermer” in April 1937
purports to show three Jews ritually murdering a girl by
cutting her throat, with the blood pouring out into a bucket
on the ground The caption underneath that photograph is as
follows:
“Ritual murder at Polna. Ritual murder of Agnes Hruza
by the Jews Hilsner, Erdmann, and Wassermann, taken
from a contemporary postcard.
Another article in “Der Stuermer", in April 1937, describes
what is alleged to happen when ritual murder takes place,
and the blood is mixed with the bread and drunk by the Jews
in their
[Page 696]
feast. During the feast the head of the family is supposed
to explain:
“May all gentiles perish — as the child whose blood is
contained in the bread and wine.” (2699-PS).
An article in “Der Stuermer” for July 1938 has these further
remarks to make on “ritual murder":
“Whoever had the occasion to be an eye-witness during
the slaughtering of animals or to see at least a
truthful film on the slaughtering-will never forget
this horrible experience. It is atrocious. And
unwillingly, he is reminded of the crimes which the
Jews have committed for centuries on men. He will be
reminded of the ritual murder. History points out
hundreds of cases in which non-Jewish children were
tortured to death. They also were given the same
incision through the throat as is found on slaughtered
animals. They also were slowly bled to death while
fully conscious.” (2700-PS).
On special occasions, or when Streicher had some particular
subject matter to put before Germany, he was in the habit of
issuing special editions of “Der Stuermer.” “Ritual murder”
was such a special subject that he issued one of these
special editions dealing solely with it, in May 1939. One of
the photographs published in this issue shows a child having
knives stuck into its side, from which blood is spurting;
and below the pedestal on which the child stands are five
presumably dead children bleeding on the ground. The caption
beneath that picture reads as follows: “In the year 1476 the
Jews in Regensburg murdered six boys. They drew their blood
and tortured them to death in an underground vault which
belongs to the Jew Josfel. The judges found the body of the
murdered boys; and blood stains are on an altar.”
Two other pictures are explained by their captions. One
reads: “For the Jewish New Year celebrations in 1913, World
Jewry published this picture. On the Jewish New Year and on
the Day of Atonement the Jews slaughtered a so-called
'kapores' cock; that is to say, dead cock, whose blood and
death is intended to purify the Jews. In 1913 the 'kapores'
cock had the head of the Russian Czar Nicholas II. By
publishing this postcard the Jews intended to say that
Nicholas II would be their next purifying sacrifice. On 6
July 1918, the Czar was murdered by the Jews Jurowsky and
Goloschtschekin.”
The other picture shows the Jews holding a similar bird:
“***the 'kapores' cock which has the head of the
[Page 697]
Fuehrer. The Hebrew script says that one day Jews will
kill all Hitlerites. Then the Jews will be delivered
from all misfortunes, but in due course the Jews will
realize that they have reckoned without an Adolf
Hitler.
In addition to reproductions of a number of previous
articles on “ritual murder” beneath a picture of Streicher,
another picture bears the caption: “At the Passover Meal.
The wine and Matzoh, unleavened bread, contains non-Jewish
blood. The Jew prays before the meal. He prays for death to
all non-Jews.”
The fifth page of this same issue reproduces some of the
European and American newspaper articles and letters
protesting against this propaganda on “ritual murder.” Among
these is the “Stuermer's” answer to the letter from the
Archbishop of Canterbury, written to the editor of the
London Times in protest (M-10)
Page 6 contains another picture of a man having his throat
cut; again the usual spurt of blood falling into a basin on
the floor, with the following caption:
“The ritual murder of the boy Heinrich. In the year
1345 the Jews in Munich slaughtered a non-Jewish boy.
The martyr was declared holy by the church.”
On page 8 appears another picture entitled:
“The Holy Gabriel. This boy was crucified and tortured
to death by the Jews in the year 1690. The blood was
drawn off him.”
Page 11 reproduces a piece of sculpture on the wall of the
Wallfahrts Chapel, representing the ritual murder of a boy
named Werner. The picture shows the boy strung up by his
feet and being murdered by two Jews. Page 12 reproduces
another picture taken from the same place. The caption is:
“The embalmed body of Trient who was tortured to death
by the Jews.”
Page 13 contains another picture; somebody else having a
knife stuck into him; more blood coming out into a basin. On
page 14 are two pictures. One is said to show the ritual
murder of the boy Andreas. The other is the picture of a
tombstone, and the caption reads as follows:
“The tombstone of Hilsner. This is the memorial to a
Jewish ritual murderer, Leopold Hilsner. He was found
guilty of two ritual murders and was condemned to death
by hanging in two trials. The emperor was bribed and
pardoned him. Masaryk, the friend of the Jews,
liberated him
[Page 698]
from penal servitude in 1918. On his tombstone Iying
Jewry calls this twofold murderer an innocent victim.”
The next page produces yet another picture of a woman being
murdered by having her throat cut in the same way. Page 17
produces a picture of the Archbishop of Canterbury together
with a picture of an old Jewish man, with a caption reading:
“Dr. Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest
dignitary of the English Church, and his allies, a
typical example of the Jewish Race.”
The last page contains a picture of “Holy Simon, who was
tortured to death.”
This issue of “Der Stuermer” is nothing but an incitement to
the people of Germany who read it, an incitement to murder.
It is filled with pictures of murder, murder alleged to be
against the German people. It is an encouragement, to all
who read it to avenge themselves in the same way.
In January 1938 the persecution of the Jews became more and
more severe another special issue of “Der Stuermer” was
published. A passage from the leading article in that issue
written by Streicher, states:
“*** The supreme aim and highest task of the state is
therefore to conserve people, blood, and race. But if
this is the supreme task, any crime against this law
must be punished with the supreme penalty. 'Der
Steurmer' takes therefore the view that there are only
two punishments for the crime of polluting the race:
“1. Penal servitude for life for attempted race pollution.
“2. Death for committing race pollution.” (M-39).
The following are some of the headlines on the articles
contained in that edition:
“Jewish race polluters at work.”
*******
“Fifteen year old non-Jewess ravaged.”
*******
“A dangerous race polluter. He regards German women as
fair game for himself.”
*******
“The Jewish sanatorium. A Jewish institution for the
cultivation of race pollution.”
*******
“Rape of a feeble-minded girl.”
*******
“The Jewish butler. He steals from his Jewish masters
and commits race pollution.” (M-40).
[Page 699]
Another article appearing in “Der Stuermer,” written by
Streicher’s editor, Karl Holz, states:
“The revenge will break loose one day and will
exterminate Jewry from the surface of the earth.” (M-
35).
Again, in September 1938, “Der Stuermer” published an
article describing the Jews as follows:
“A parasite, an enemy, an evil-doer, a disseminator of
diseases who must be destroyed in the interest of
mankind.” (M-36) .
This is no longer propaganda for the persecution of the
Jews; this is propaganda for the extermination of Jews, and
for the murder not of one Jew but of all Jews (see 2698-PS).
A picture published in “Der Stuermer” in December 1938 shows
a girl being strangled by a man whose hands are around her
neck. The shadow of the man’s face, which is shown against
the background, has quite obvious Jewish features. The
caption under that picture is as follows:
“Castration for Race Polluters. Only heavy penalties
will preserve our womenfolk from a tighter grip from
ghastly Jewish claws. The Jews are our misfortune.”
(3) The Anti-Jewish demonstrations of November 1938.
While his anti-Jewish propaganda was becoming constantly
fiercer, Streicher took a leading part in the organized
demonstrations against the Jews which took place on 9
November 1938 and 10 November 1938. In the autumn of that
year, on the occasion of a meeting of press representatives
in Nurnberg, Streicher organized the breaking-up of the
Nurnberg synagogues. It was announced that Streicher
personally would set the crane in motion with which the
Jewish symbols would be torn down from the synagogues 1724-
PS). The event was described as follows:
“ *** the synagogue is being demolished! Julius
Streicher himself inaugurates the work by a speech
lasting more than an hour and a half. By his order --
so to speak as a prelude of the demolition — the
tremendous Star of David came off the cupola.” (2711-
PS).
Streicher took active part in the November demonstrations of
that year, particularly in his Gau of Franconia. The
Nurnberg demonstrations were reported as follows in the
"Fraenksche Tageszeitung, which was Streicher’s paper, on 11
November:
“ *** In Nurnberg and Furth it resulted in
demonstrations by the crowd against the Jewish murders.
These lasted until the early hours of the morning. Far
too long had one watched the activities of the Jews in
Germany.”
*******
[Page 700]
“After midnight the excitement of the populace reached
its peak and a large crowd marched to the synagogues in
Nurnberg and Furth and burned these two Jewish
buildings where the murder of Germans had been
preached.
“The fire-brigades, which had been notified
immediately, saw to it that the fire was continued to
the original outbreak The windows of the Jewish
shopkeepers, who still had not given up hope of selling
their junk to the stupid Goims, were smashed. Thanks to
the disciplined behavior of the SA men and the police,
who had rushed to the scene, there was no plundering.”
(M-42).
On 10 November, the day of the demonstrations, Streicher
made a speech stating in part as follows:
“From the cradle, the Jew is not being taught, like we
are, such texts as, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself,' or 'If you are smitten on the left cheek,
offer then your right one.' No, he is told: 'With the
non-Jew you can do whatever you like.' He is even
taught that the slaughtering of a non-Jew is an act
pleasing to God. For 20 years we have been writing
about this in 'Der Stuermer'; for 20 years we have been
preaching it throughout the world and we have made
millions recognize the truth.”
“The Jew slaughtered in one night 75,000 people; when
he emigrated to Egypt he killed all the first-born,
i.e. a whole future generation of Egyptians. What would
have happened if the Jew had succeeded in driving the
nations into war against us, and if we had lost the
war? The Jew protected by foreign bayonets, would have
fallen on us and would have slaughtered and murdered
us. Never forget what history has taught us.” (M-41)
After the November 1938 demonstrations, irregularities
occurred in the Gau of Franconia in connection with the
organized Aryanization of Jewish property. Aryanization of
Jewish property was regulated by the Nazi State, which had
decreed that the proceeds of the transfer of Jewish
properties to Aryans were to go to the State. In Streicher's
Gau of Franconia, however, a good deal of the proceeds never
found their way as far as the State. -As a result Goering
set up a commission to investigate what had taken place. The
report of that commission (1757-PS) describes what had been
taking place in Streicher’s Gau:
“*** Following upon the November demonstrations the
Deputy Gauleiter, Holz, took up the Jewish questions.
His
[Page 701]
reasons can be given here in detail on the basis of his
statement of 25 March 1939:
“The 9th and 10th of November 1938.
“In the night of the 9 November 1938 and 10 November
1938 and on 10 November 1938, events took place
throughout Germany which I [Holz] considered to be the
signal for a completely different treatment of the
Jewish question in Germany. Synagogues and Jewish
schools were burnt down and Jewish property was smashed
both in shops and in private houses. Besides this, a
large number of particular Jews were taken to
concentration camps by the police. Toward midday we
discussed these events in the Gauleiter’s house. All of-
us were of the opinion that we now faced a completely
new state of affairs on the Jewish question. By the
great action against the Jews, carried out in the night
and morning of the 10th of November, all guiding
principles and all laws on the subject had been made
illusory. We were of the opinion (particularly myself)
that we should now act on our own initiative in this
respect. I proposed to the Gauleiter that in view -of
the great existing lack of housing, the best thing
would be to put the Jews into a kind of internment
camp. Then the houses would become free in a twinkling,
and the housing shortage would be relieved, at least in
part. Besides that, we would have the Jews under
control and supervision. I added 'The same thing
happened to our prisoners of war and war internees.'
The Gauleiter said that this suggestion was for the
time being impossible to carry out. Thereupon I made a
new proposal to him. I said that I considered it
unthinkable that, after the Jews had had their property
smashed, they -should continue to be able to own houses
and land. I proposed that these houses and this land
ought to be taken away from them, and declared myself
ready to carry through such an action. I declared that
by the Aryanization of Jewish land and houses a large
sum could accrue to the Gau out of the proceeds. I
named some million of marks. I stated that, in my
opinion, this Aryanization could be carried out as
legally as the Aryanization of shops. The Gauleiter's
answer was something to this effect: 'If you think you
can carry this out, do so. The sum gained will then be
used to build a Gau school.' “
*******
“The Aryanization was accomplished by the alienation
[Page 702]
of properties, the surrender of claims, especially
mortgage claims, and reductions in buying price.
“The payment allowed the Jews was basically 10% of the
nominal value or nominal sum of the claim. As a
justification for these low prices, Holz claimed at the
Berlin meeting of 6 February 1939, that the Jews had
mostly bought their property during the inflation
period for a tenth of its value. As has been shown by
investigating a large number of individual cases
selected at random, this claim is not true.” (1757-PS)
The second part of this report, which contains the findings
of the commission, reads in part as follows:
“*** Gauleiter Streicher likes to beat people with a
riding whip but only if he is in the company of several
persons assisting him. Usually the beatings are carried
out with sadistic brutality.
“The best known case is that of Steinruck, whom he beat
bloodily in the prison cell, together with Deputy
Gauleiter Holz and SA Brigadier General Koenig. After
returning from this scene to the Deutscher Hof he said:
'Now I am relieved. I needed that again!' Later he also
stated several times that he needed another Steinruck
case in order to 'relieve' himself.
“In August 1938, he beat Editor Burker at the District
House together with District Office Leader Schoeller
and his Adjutant Koenig.
“On 2 December 1938 he asked to have three youthful
criminals (15 to 17 years old) who had been arrested
for robbery brought to the room of the director of the
Criminal Police Office in Nurnberg-Furth. Streicher who
was accompanied by his son, Lothar, had the youths
brought in singly and question them about their sex
life and in particular, through clear and detailed
questioning, he laid stress on determining whether and
since when they masturbated. ***
“*** The last one of these three boys he beat with his
riding whip, with blows on the head and on the rest of
the body.” (1757-PS)
A later passage shows the authority and power which
Streicher held in his Gau:
“According to reports of reliable witnesses Gauleiter
Streicher is in the habit of pointing out on the most
varied occasions that he alone gives orders in the
district of Franconia. For instance, at a meeting in
the Colosseum in Nurn-
[Page 703]
berg in 1935 he said that nobody could remove him from
office. In a meeting at Herkules Hall, where he
described how he had beaten Professor Steinruck, he
emphasized that he would not let himself be beaten by
anybody, not even by an Adolf Hitler.
“For, this also must be stated here, in Franconia the
Gau acts first and then orders the absolutely powerless
authorities to approve.” (1757-PS)
That report shows the kind of treatment and persecution
which the Jews were receiving in the Gau over which
Streicher ruled. It further shows the absolute authority
with which Streicher acted in his district.
As a result either of that investigation or of some other
matter, Streicher was relieved of his position as Gauleiter
in February 1940, but he did not cease from propaganda or
from control of his newspaper. In an article written in “Der
Stuermer,” on 4 November 1943, Streicher declared:
“It is really the truth that the Jews, so to speak,
have disappeared from Europe and that the Jewish
reservoir of the East, from which the Jewish plague has
for centuries beset the peoples of Europe, has ceased
to exist. However, the Fuehrer of the German people at
the beginning of the war prophesied what has now come
to pass.” (1965-PS).
That article, signed by Streicher, shows that he had
knowledge of the Jewish exterminations which were going on
in the East. Streicher’s article was written in November
1943. In April 1943 the Warsaw ghetto was destroyed. Between
April 1942 and April 1944 more than 1,700,000 Jews were
killed in Auschwitz and Dachau. It seems clear from this
article that Streicher knew what was happening, perhaps not
the details, but the fact that Jews were being exterminated.
(4) Perversion of Youth.
Streicher paid particular attention to the instruction and
perversion of the children and youth of Germany. He was not
content with inciting the German population. He started to
poison the minds of the children at school at the earliest
possible date. He continually emphasized the need for
teaching children antisemitism. In a speech as early as June
1925 Streicher said:
“I repeat, we demand the transformation of the school
into a national German institution of education. If we
let German children be taught by German teachers, then
we shall have laid the foundations for the national
German school. This national German school must teach
racial doctrine.”
[Page 704]
*******
“We demand, therefore, the introduction of racial
doctrine into the school.” (M-30)
The “Fraenkische Tageszeitung” of 19 March 1934 reports
Streicher’s address at a girls' school at Preisslerstrasse:
“Then Julius Streicher spoke about his life and told
them about a girl who at one time went to his school
and who fell for a Jew and was finished for the rest of
her life.” (M-43)
Every summer in Nurnberg a youth celebration was held. At
this pagan rite the youth of Nurnberg were rallied,
organized, and incited, encouraged by Streicher. Streicher's
speech to the Hitler Youth on the “Holy Mountain” near
Nurnberg on 22 June 1935 contained the following statements:
“Boys and girls, look back to a little more than 10
years ago. A great war — the World War — had whirled
over the peoples of the earth and had left in the end a
heap of ruins. Only one people remained victorious in
this dreadful war, a people of whom Christ said its
father is the devil. That people had ruined the German
nation in body and soul. Then Adolf Hitler, unknown to
anybody, arose from among the people and became the
voice which called to a holy war and battle. He cried
to the people for everybody to take courage again and
to rise and get a helping hand to take the devil from
the German people, so that the human race might be free
again from these people that have wandered about the
world for centuries and millennia, marked with the sign
of Cain.
“Boys and girls, even if they say that the Jews were once
the chosen people, do not believe it, but believe us when we
say that the Jews are not a chosen people. Because it cannot
be that a chosen people should act among the peoples as the
Jews do today.” (M-1).
A report of Streicher’s address to 2,000 children at
Nurnberg at Christmas-time, 1936, states:
“'Do you know who the Devil is,' he asked his
breathlessly listening audience. 'The Jew, the Jew,'
resounded from a thousand children’s voices."(M-44).
Streicher was not content with writing and talking. He
issued a book for teachers, written by one Fink and
published from the “Der Stuermer” offices, called “The
Jewish Question and School Instruction.” This book
emphasizes the necessity of anti-semitic teaching in
schools, and suggests ways in which the subject can be
introduced and handled. The preface, written by Streicher,
reads in part as follows:
[Page 705]
“The National Socialist state brought fundamental
changes into all spheres of life of the German people.
“It has also presented the German teacher with some new
tasks. The National Socialist state demands that its
teachers instruct German children in social questions.
As far as the German people is concerned the racial
question is a Jewish question. Those who want to teach
the child all about the Jew must themselves have a
thorough knowledge of the subject.
“Those who take to heart all that has been written with
such feeling by Fritz Fink, who for many years has been
greatly concerned about the German people, will be
grateful for the creator of this outwardly
insignificant publication.” (M-46). The preface is
signed by Julius Streicher, City of the Reich Party
Rallies, Nurnberg, in the year 1937.
The introduction to this book reads as follows:
“Racial and Jewish questions are the fundamental
problems of the National Socialist ideology. The
solution of these problems will secure the existence of
National Socialism and with this the existence of our
nation for all time. The enormous significance of the
racial question is recognized almost without exception
today by all the German people. In order to attain this
recognition our people had to travel through a long
road of suffering.
“No one should be allowed to grow up in the midst of
our people without this knowledge of the monstrous
character and dangerousness of the Jew.” (M-46).
A later passage in the book contains this statement:
“One who has reached this stage of understanding will
inevitably remain an enemy of the Jews all his life and
will instill this hatred into his own children.” (M-
46).
“Der Stuermer” also published some children’s books.
Although Streicher himself did not write the books,
they were published from his publishing business, and
they are on the same line of everything else published
and issued from that business. Among these books was
one entitled “Don’t trust the Fox in the green meadow
nor the Jew on his oath.” It is a picture book for
children. The pictures all depict Jews in an offensive
light. And Opposite each picture there is a little
story. For instance, opposite one picture, which
portrays an unpleasant-looking Jewish butcher cutting
up meat, there appears the following
“The Jewish butcher: he sells half refuse instead of
meat. A piece of meat lies on the floor; the cat claws
another. This doesn’t worry the Jew butcher since the
meat increases in
[Page 706]
weight. Besides one mustn’t forget he won’t have to eat
it himself.” (M-32).
The story opposite another picture reads as follows:
“Jesus Christ says 'The Jew is a murderer through and
through'. And when Christ had to die the Lord didn’t
know any other people who would have tortured Him to
death so he chose the Jews. That is why the Jews pride
themselves on being the chosen people.” (M-32).
Other pictures in this book portray: a girl being led away
by an evil-appearing Jew; Streicher smiling benignly at a
children’s party, greeting the little children; children
looking at copies of “Der Stuermer” posted on a wall; Jewish
children being taken away from an Aryan school by an
unpleasant-looking father, with all the Aryan children
shouting and dancing and enjoying the fun very much (M-32).
Another book, called “The Poisonous Fungus,” is very similar
in character and appearance, and likewise calculated to
poison the minds of readers. One of the pictures in this
book shows a girl sitting in a Jewish doctor’s waiting room.
The story that goes with this picture is not a very pleasant
story, but it is only by adverting to these matters that it
becomes possible to believe the kind of education which
German children received from Streicher.
The story reads as follows:
“Inge sits in the reception room of the Jew doctor. She
has to wait a long time. She looks through the journals
which are on the table. But she is much too nervous to
read even a few sentences. Again and again she
remembers the talk with her mother. And again and again
her mind reflects on the warnings of her leader of the
League of German Girls: 'A German must not consult a
Jew doctor. And particularly not a German girl. Many a
girl that went to a Jew doctor to be cured, found
disease and disgrace !'
“When Inge had entered the waiting room, she
experienced an extraordinary incident. From the
doctor’s consulting room she could hear the sound of
crying. She heard the voice of a young girl: 'Doctor,
doctor, leave me alone!'
“Then she heard the scornful laughing of a man. And
then, all of a sudden, it became absolutely silent.
Inge had listened breathlessly.
“'What may be the meaning of all this?' she asked
herself and her heart was pounding. And again she
thought of the warning of her leader in the League of
German Girls.
“Inge was already waiting for an hour. Again she takes
the
[Page 707]
journals in an endeavor to read. Then the door opens.
Inge looks up. The Jew appears. She screams. In terror
she drops the paper. Horrified she jumps up. Her eyes
stare into the face of the Jewish doctor. And this face
is the face of the devil. In the middle of this devil's
face is a huge crooked nose. Behind the spectacles two
criminal eyes. And the thick lips are grinning, a
grinning that expresses: 'Now I got you at last, you
little German girl !'
“And then the Jew approaches her. His fleshy fingers
stretch out after her. But now Inge has composed
herself. Before the Jew can grab hold of her, she
smacks the fat face of the Jew doctor with her hand.
One jump to the door. Breathlessly Inge runs down the
stairs. Breathlessly she escapes the Jew house.” (1778-PS).
Another photograph shows youthful admirers standing around
looking at Streicher’s picture, with the following
commentary:
“'Without a solution of the Jewish question there will
be no salvation for mankind.' That is what he shouted
to us. All of us could understand him. And when, at the
end, he shouted 'Sieg Heil' for the Fuehrer, we all
acclaimed him with tremendous enthusiasm. For two hours
Streicher spoke at that occasion. To us it appeared to
have been but a few minutes.” (1778-PS).
The effect of all this propaganda is evident from the
columns of “Der Stuermer” itself. In April 1936 there was
published a letter, which is typical of many others that
appear in other copies from children of all ages. The third
paragraph of this letter, signed by the boys and girls of
the National Socialist Youth Hostel at Grossmuellen, reads:
“*** Today we saw a play on how the devil persuades -
the Jew to shoot a conscientious National Socialist. In
the course of the play the Jew did it too. We all heard
the shot. We would have all liked to jump up and arrest
the Jew. But then the policeman came and after a short
struggle took the Jew along. You can imagine, dear
Stuermer, that we heartily cheered the policeman. In
the whole play not one name was mentioned, but we all
knew that this play represented the murder by the Jew
Frankfurter. We were very sick when we went to bed that
night. None felt like talking to the others. This play
made it clear to us how the Jew sets to work.” (M-25).
[Page 708]
C. STREICHER’s USE OF HIS AUTHORITY AS GAULEITER
IN THE SERVICE OF THE CONSPIRACY
Streicher’s authority as a Gauleiter was extensive. The
Organization Book of the NSDAP for 1938 describes the duties
and authority of Gauleiters as follows:
“The Gauleiter bears over-all responsibility for the
Fuehrer for the sector of sovereignty entrusted to him.
The rights, duties and jurisdiction of the Gauleiter
result primarily from the mission assigned by the
Fuehrer and, apart from that, from detailed direction.”
(1814-PS)
Streicher’s association with the Fuehrer and other Nazi
conspirators may also be seen from the newspapers. On the
occasion of Streicher’s 50th birthday, Hitler paid a visit
to Nurnberg to congratulate him. The account of that meeting
is published in the “Voelkischer Beobachter” of 13 February
1934 as follows:
“Adolf Hitler spoke to his old comrades in battle and
to his followers in words which went straight to their
hearts. By way of introduction he remarked that it was
a special pleasure to be present for a short while in
Nurnberg, the town of the National Socialist community
which had been steeled in battle, at this day of honor
of Julius Streicher, and to be within the circle of the
standard bearers of the National Socialist idea during
many years.
“Just as they, all of them, had during the years of
oppression unshakeably believed in the victory of the
movement, so his friend and comrade in the battle,
Streicher, had stood faithfully at his side at all
times. It had been this unshakeable belief that had
moved mountains.
“For Streicher it would surely be a solemn thought,
that this 50th anniversary meant not only the halfway
point of a century, but also of a thousand years of
German history to him. He had in Streicher a companion
of whom he could say that here in Nurnberg was a man
who would never waver for a single second and who would
unflinchingly stand behind him in every situation.” (M-
8).
A letter from Himmler, published in “Der Stuermer” of April
1937, declared:
“If in future years the history of the reawakening of
the German people is written, and if already the next
generation will be unable to understand that the German
people was once friendly to the Jews, it will be stated
that Julius Streicher and his weekly paper 'Der
Stuermer' have contributed a great deal towards the
enlightenment regarding the
[Page 709]
enemy of humanity. “(Signed) For the Reichsfuehrer SS,
Himmler.”
Finally a letter from von Schirach, the Reich Youth Leader,
published in “Der Stuermer” of January 1938, had this to
say:
“It is the historical merit of 'Der Stuermer' to have
enlightened the broad masses of our people in a popular
way as to the Jewish world danger. 'Der Stuermer' is
right in refusing to fulfill its task in the tone of
the aesthetic drawing room. Jewry has shown no regard
for the German people. We have, therefore, no cause to
be considerate and to spare our worst enemy. What we
fail to do today our youngsters of tomorrow will have
to suffer for bitterly.” (M-45).
D. CONCLUSION.
It may be that Streicher is less directly involved in the
physical commission of the crimes against Jews than some of
his coconspirators. The submission of the Prosecution is
that his crime is no less worse for that reason. No
government in the world, before the Nazis came to power,
could have embarked upon and it; into effect a policy of
mass Jewish extermination in the way in which they did,
without having a people who would back them and support
them, and without having a large number of people who were
prepared to carry out the murder themselves. (See Chapter
XII on Persecution of the Jews.)
It was to the task of educating and poisoning the people
with hate, and of producing murderers, that Streicher set
himself. For 25 years he continued unrelentingly the
perversion of the people and youth of Germany. He went on
and on, as he saw the results of his work bearing fruit.
In the early days he was preaching persecution. As
persecution took place he preached extermination and
annihilation and, as millions of Jews were exterminated and
annihilated, in the Ghettos of the East, he cried out for
more and more.
The crime of Streicher is that he made these crimes
possible, which they would never have been had it not been
for him and for those like him. Without Streicher and his
propaganda, the Kaltenbrunners, the Himmlers, the General
Stroops would have had nobody to do their
In its extent Streicher’s crime is probably greater and more
far-reaching than that of any of the other defendants. The
misery which they caused ceased with their capture. The
effects of this man’s crime, of the poison that he has put
into the minds of millions of young boys and girls goes on,
for he concentrated upon the youth and childhood of Germany.
He leaves behind him a legacy of almost a whole people
poisoned with hate, sadism, and murder, and perverted by
him. That people remain a problem and perhaps a menace to
the rest of civilization for generations to come.
LEGAL REFERENCES AND LIST OF DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO JULIUS STREICHER
[Page 710]
Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Article 6.
Vol. I, Pg. 5
International Military Tribunal, Indictment Number 1,
Section IV (H); Appendix A. Vol. I, Pg. 29,66
[Note: A single asterisk (*) before a document indicates
that the document was received in evidence at the Nurnberg
trial. A double asterisk (**) before a document number
indicates that the document was referred to during the trial
but was not formally received in evidence, for the reason
given in parentheses following the description of the
document. The USA series number, given in parentheses
following the description of the document, is the official
exhibit number assigned by the court.]
*1724-PS; Announcement in Press Conference, 4 August 1938,
of breaking up of synagogue. (USA 266) . Vol. IV, Pg. 224
[Page 711]
*1757-PS; Report of Goering’s Commissioners for
investigation of Aryanisations. (GB 175) . Vol. IV, Pg. 283
*1778-PS; Book “The Poisonous Mushroom", published in
Nurnberg 1938, concerning Jews. (USA 257) . Vol. IV, Pg. 358
*1814-PS; The Organization of the NSDAP and its affiliated
associations, from Organization book of the NSDAP, editions
of 1936, 1938, 1940 and 1943, pp. 86 88. (USA 328) . Vol.
IV, Pg. 411
*1965-PS; Article by Streicher, 4 November 1943, published
in Der Sturmer. (GB 176) . Vol. IV, Pg. 602
*2153-PS; Defeat the Enemy of the World, published in
National Socialist Party Correspondence No. 358, 30 March
1933. (GB 166) . Vol. IV, Pg. 760
*2154-PS; Streicher decrees, published in National
Socialist Party Correspondence, No. 359, 31 March 1933. (GB
167) . Vol. IV, Pg. 760
*2156-PS; Announcement of Central Committee for defense
against Jewish horror and boycott agitation, 29 March 1933,
published in National Socialist Party Correspondence No.
357. (USA 263) . Vol. IV, Pg. 761
*2409-PS; Extracts from The Imperial House to the Reich
Chancellery by Dr. Joseph Goebbels. (USA 262) . Vol. V, Pg.
83
2583-PS; Quotation from speech made by Streicher, 31
October 1939. . Vol. V, Pg. 311
*2697-PS; Article: “The Chosen People of the Criminals”
from Der Stuermer, No. 2, January 1935. (USA 259). Vol. V,
Pg. 372
*2698-PS; Article: “Two little Talmud Jews", from Der
Stuermer, No. 50, December 1938. (USA 260) . Vol. V, Pg. 372
[Page 712]
*2699-PS; Article on Ritual Murder, from Der Stuermer, No.
14, April 1937. (USA 258) . Vol. V, Pg. 372
2700-PS; Article: “The Ritual Murder", from Der Stuermer,
No. 28, July 1938. Vol. V, Pg. 373
*2711-PS; Article: “Symbolic Action", published in
Fraenkische Tageszeitung Nurnberg, 11 August 1938. (USA 267)
. Vol. V, Pg. 376
*2975-PS; Streicher’s affidavit, 19 November 1945,
concerning positions held. (USA 9) . Vol. V, Pg. 681
*M-1; Speech by Julius Streicher to Hitler Youth on “Holy
Mountain", 22 June 1935. (GB 178) . Vol. VII, Pg. 1115
*M-2; Speech by Julius Streicher, 10 May 1935. (GB 172) .
Vol. VIII, Pg. 1
M-3; Extract from Mein Kampf, p. 440. Vol. VIII, Pg. 2
*M-4; Streicher’s speech, 5 September 1937 commemorating
the opening of the Wilhelm-Gustloff Bridge in Nurnberg. (GB
717) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 3
M-5; Report of press conference of 4 August 1938. Vol.
VIII, Pg. 5
*M-6; Leading article by Julius Streicher from Der Stuermer
of September 1936. (GB 170) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 6
M-7; NSDAP Proclamation from Voelkischer Beobachter, 29
March 1933, concerning the boycott. Vol. VIII, Pg. 7
*M-8; Hitler’s visit to Nurnberg on Streicher’s 50th
birthday, from Voelkischer Beobachter, 13 February 1935. (GB
182) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 8
*M-10; Streicher’s letter to Archbishop of Canterbury, from
Special edition of The Stuermer in May 1939. (GB 173) . Vol.
VIII, Pg. 9
[Page 713]
*M-11; Streicher’s speech in Central Hall of Coliseum in
Nurnberg, 23 November 1922. (GB 165) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 10
*M-12; Streicher’s speech, 20 November 1924. (GB 165) .
Vol. VIII, Pg. 10
*M-13; Streicher’s speech in Nurnberg, 3 April 1925. (GB
165) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 11
*M-14; Streicher’s speech in the Hercules Hall in Nurnberg,
21 April 1932. (GB 165) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 11
*M-20; Article from 1935 New Year’s issue of “German
People’s health from Blood and Soil". (GB 168) . Vol. VIII,
Pg. 12
M-21; Article: “Jewish Blood in a Priest’s Robe", from Der
Stuermer, March 1936. . Vol. VIII, Pg. 12
M-22; Letter from Himmler, 19 January 1937, from Der
Stuermer, April 1937. . Vol. VIII, Pg. 13
*M-25; Letter from Der Stuermer, April 1936, concerning the
teachings to boys and girls of Jewish question. (GB 170; USA
861) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 14
M-26; Article: “He calls himself a party member", from Der
Stuermer, March 1936. Vol. VIII, Pg. 15
M-27; Article: “Friends of the Jews on the Moselle", from
Der Stuermer, March 1936. Vol. VIII, Pg. 15
M-28; Article: “She must stick to the Jews", from Der
Stuermer, March 1936. Vol. VIII, Pg. 16
*M-30; Speech by Julius Streicher in Bavarian Diet, 26 June
1925. (GB 165) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 16
M-31; Editorial “The Approaching finale, The Prophecy of
the Fuehrer", by Julius Streicher, published in Der
Stuermer. Vol. VIII, Pg. 19
[Page 714]
*M-32; Extracts from book “Don’t trust a Fox on a green
meadow nor the Jew on his oath". (GB 181) . Vol. VIII, Pg.
20
*M-33; “100,000 demonstrate in Koenigsplatz against Jewish
incitements to cruelty", from Muenchener Beobachter, 1-2
April 1933. (GB 329) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 21
*M-34; “Safeguard of German Blood and German Honor", from
Voelkischer Beobachter, 6 October 1935. (GB 169) . Vol.
VIII, Pg. 24
M-35; Extract from Leading Article in Der Stuermer, July
1938. Vol. VIII, Pg. 24
M-36; Extract from Leading Article in Der Stuermer,
September 1938. Vol. VIII, Pg.25
M-39; Extract from Leading Article in Der Stuermer, January
1938. Vol. VIII, Pg. 26
M-40; Headlines of Articles in Stuermer Special Issue No.
8, January 1938. Vol. VIII, Pg. 26
M-41; Speech by Streicher, 10 November 1938. Vol. VIII, Pg.
26
*M-42; Account of November 1938 demonstrations in Nurnberg
and Fuerth. (GB 174) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 28
*M-43; Streicher’s address to young girls of vocational
training centre, 19 March 1934, from Fraenkische
Tageszeitung. (GB 177) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 28
*M-44; Report of Streicher’s address to 2,000 children at
Nurnberg at Christmas celebrations, from Fraenkische
Tageszeitung, 22 December 1936. (GB 179) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 29
*M-45; Letter by von Schirach, published in Der Stuermer,
January 1938. (USA 871) . Vol. VIII, Pg. 30
*M-46; Extracts from book: “Jewish Question and School
Instruction", published in Der Stuermer, 1937. (GB 180) .
Vol. VIII, Pg. 30