Nazi conspiracy and aggression, Volume 02 (of 11) — A Closer Reading

Documentary Evidence as Legal Argument

The volume's structure mirrors a legal brief: each section opens with a legal principle, then arrays documents as proof. For example, the section on the criminality of groups begins with a legal analysis of conspiracy, then catalogs evidence against the Nazi Party Leadership Corps, the Reich Cabinet, the SA, SS, Gestapo, and the military high command. The excerpts show how the prosecution used orders like Keitel's Nacht und Nebel decree (L-90) to argue that organizations systematically terrorized occupied populations. The text does not narrate events; it presents documents as self-evident proof, with minimal commentary. This approach means the reader must evaluate the documents' context and weight, much as a tribunal would.

The Mechanics of Atrocity: Orders and Quotas

The excerpts detail specific mechanisms of Nazi policy. Keitel's 12 December 1941 communication states that 'efficient and enduring terrorization can be achieved only either by capital punishment or by measures to keep the relatives... in the dark.' This is followed by Canaris's implementation instructions and a report that a Frenchman's family was not notified of his death to 'create anxiety.' Similarly, forced labor is tracked through quotas: a 4 January 1944 conference with Hitler set a target of 4,000,000 new workers. The volume connects these orders to individual defendants—Keitel initialled the 'Atlantic Wall' labor order (556-2-PS) and Sauckel's appointment decree (1666-PS). The evidence is concrete, but the excerpts do not reveal the full chain of command or the actual number of victims.

Individual Responsibility Through Paper Trails

The second half of the volume assigns individual responsibility by linking each defendant to specific documents. For example, Keitel is tied to the commando order (498-PS) and the forced labor program via meetings and decrees. The excerpts show that Jodl and Warlimont were designated as representatives to Rosenberg's Eastern Territories administration (865-PS), implicating them in crimes there. The text does not provide biographies or motives; it builds cases from signatures, initials, and attendance at meetings. This method is effective for legal proof but leaves gaps: the excerpts do not show how defendants responded to these documents or whether they objected. The reader must infer the strength of each link from the documentary record alone.

Readers should approach this volume as a primary source for understanding how the Nuremberg prosecution constructed its case. The documents are not neutral records but selected exhibits intended to prove conspiracy and criminality. To assess their full significance, one would need to consult the defense's counter-evidence and the tribunal's judgments. The volume is best used alongside other trial records, not as a standalone history of Nazi crimes.

Among the dry, dreadful files of the Nuremberg volumes—those lists of decrees and death—I sometimes find my mind drifting to a quieter shelf. Beside the brutal paperwork of forced labor sits a gentler, worn little book on wartime women’s work. They share a strange, hushed kinship. One records the shadows; the other, the quiet people who kept a small light burning. Women and War Work — Context and Discussion feels like a memory alongside that cold official record.