Reich Foreign Office: Difference between revisions
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The Foreign Office is generally accepted to have had a role in German expansion by means other than war, but the conventional wisdom had been that it was much less important after the 1939 outbreak of war, and the diminishing power of Ribbentrop. A recent report released by the current German Foreign Ministry, however, reveals that it was significantly involved in planning and directing [[The Holocaust]]. | The Foreign Office is generally accepted to have had a role in German expansion by means other than war, but the conventional wisdom had been that it was much less important after the 1939 outbreak of war, and the diminishing power of Ribbentrop. A recent report released by the current German Foreign Ministry, however, reveals that it was significantly involved in planning and directing [[The Holocaust]]. | ||
It was the only agency that had an authority and duty to advise that a proposed government action would violate [[international law]]. The [[Ministries Case (NMT)]] ruling on the Foreign Office has been argued to have set precedent for criminal prosecution of lawyers who give illegal advice, an issue that has been raised with respect to [[intelligence interrogation, U.S., George W. Bush Administration]].<ref>{{citation | |||
| title = Want to Prosecute the Lawyers? Cite Ministries — Not the Justice Case | |||
| author = Kevin Jon Heller | |||
| journal = Opinio Juris | |||
| url =http://opiniojuris.org/2009/04/23/want-to-prosecute-the-lawyers-cite-ministries-not-the-justice-case/}}</ref> | |||
==Expansion before war== | ==Expansion before war== | ||
===Czechoslovakia=== | |||
[[Ernst von Weizsaecker]] was aware of the Czech crisis in May 1938, writing that the Western press had humiliated [[Adolf Hitler]] in suggesting that he had called off his invasion of Czechoslovakia: "Hitler had embarked on no military enterprise, and thus could not withdraw from one. But unfortunate provocation from the foreign press really set Hitler going. From then on, he was emphatically in favor of settling the Czech question by force of arms."<ref name=Toland>{{citation | |||
| author = John Toland | publisher = Doubleday | year = 1976 | |||
| title = Adolf Hitler | |||
}}, p. 464</ref> | |||
[[Ernst Woermann]] represented Weizsaecker in the field, providing military and financial assistance to the Sudeten German Party, and helped fabricate border incidents with Poland. <ref name=Maguire>{{citation | |||
| title = Law and War: An American Story | |||
| author = Peter Maguire | |||
| publisher = Columbia University Press | year = 2001 | |||
| url = http://library.northsouth.edu/Upload/Law%20and%20War.pdf | |||
}}, p. 161</ref> | |||
==Advice for war== | ==Advice for war== | ||
== | ===Poland=== | ||
In October 1941, von Weizsaecker advised that Poland not be categorized as occupied territory, which would make international law applicable, "to which we doubtless shall not submit."<ref>Browning, p. 214</ref> | |||
==The Holocaust== | |||
According to [[Eckart Conze]], professor of modern history at the [[Philipps University of Marburg]] and one of the authors of the report,"The sheer scale of the participation of Germany's Foreign Ministry in the Holocaust is bewildering. It wasn't just one department; it was the whole institution. The ministry collaborated with the Nazis' violent policies and took part in all aspects of the discrimination, deportation, persecution and genocide of the Jews."<ref>{{citation | According to [[Eckart Conze]], professor of modern history at the [[Philipps University of Marburg]] and one of the authors of the report,"The sheer scale of the participation of Germany's Foreign Ministry in the Holocaust is bewildering. It wasn't just one department; it was the whole institution. The ministry collaborated with the Nazis' violent policies and took part in all aspects of the discrimination, deportation, persecution and genocide of the Jews."<ref>{{citation | ||
| url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2027699,00.html | | url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2027699,00.html | ||
| Line 14: | Line 35: | ||
| author = Tristana Moore | | author = Tristana Moore | ||
}}</ref> | }}</ref> | ||
While SS ranks for civil servants often were honorary, [[Joschka Fischer]]the , former foreign minister who started the study made the general observation, “The sentence that shocked me the most described how the co-operation between the foreign ministry and the [SS] was so close that the boundaries became fluid.” <ref name=IrT>{{citation | |||
| url = http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1025/1224281952030.html | |||
| journal = Irish Times | |||
| author = Derek Scally | |||
| date = 25 October 2010 | |||
| title = German diplomats 'complicit in Holocaust'}}</ref> | |||
In 1940, [[Franz Rademacher]], head of the Jewish Desk, sent a memorandum to State Secretary [[Martin Luther (diplomat)|Martin Luther]], asking him to define Foreign Minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]]'s basic policy toward Jews, trying to shift the role of his desk from settling individual cases to establishing policy. <ref>{{citation | In 1940, [[Franz Rademacher]], head of the Jewish Desk, sent a memorandum to State Secretary [[Martin Luther (diplomat)|Martin Luther]], asking him to define Foreign Minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]]'s basic policy toward Jews, trying to shift the role of his desk from settling individual cases to establishing policy. <ref>{{citation | ||
| Line 21: | Line 50: | ||
| publisher = University of Nebraska Press | | publisher = University of Nebraska Press | ||
| title = The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942 | | title = The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942 | ||
}}, p. 82</ref> | }}, p. 82</ref> He also originated the [[Madagascar Plan]] proposal for deporting all European Jews to [[Madagascar]].<ref>Browning, pp. 83-88</ref> | ||
Rademacher, along with State Secretary [[Martin Luther (diplomat)|Martin Luther, received reports, from [[Reinhard Heydrich]], on [[Einsatzgruppe]]n killings. His assistant, [[Fritz Gebhard von Hahn]], summarized them. Summaries from both Hahn and Luther went to [[Ernst von Weizsaecker]] and [[Ernst Woermann]], who circulated them to interested parties in the Foreign Office. The summaries were initialed by 16 officials. <ref>Browning, pp. 491-492</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist|2}} | {{reflist|2}} | ||
Revision as of 06:13, 5 January 2011
Under the Weimar Republic and Nazi Party, the Reich Foreign Office was the cabinet ministry concerned with the conduct of diplomacy. It was headed by Foreign Ministers Constantin von Neurath (1932-1938) and Joachim von Ribbentrop (1938-1945).
The Foreign Office is generally accepted to have had a role in German expansion by means other than war, but the conventional wisdom had been that it was much less important after the 1939 outbreak of war, and the diminishing power of Ribbentrop. A recent report released by the current German Foreign Ministry, however, reveals that it was significantly involved in planning and directing The Holocaust.
It was the only agency that had an authority and duty to advise that a proposed government action would violate international law. The Ministries Case (NMT) ruling on the Foreign Office has been argued to have set precedent for criminal prosecution of lawyers who give illegal advice, an issue that has been raised with respect to intelligence interrogation, U.S., George W. Bush Administration.[1]
Expansion before war
Czechoslovakia
Ernst von Weizsaecker was aware of the Czech crisis in May 1938, writing that the Western press had humiliated Adolf Hitler in suggesting that he had called off his invasion of Czechoslovakia: "Hitler had embarked on no military enterprise, and thus could not withdraw from one. But unfortunate provocation from the foreign press really set Hitler going. From then on, he was emphatically in favor of settling the Czech question by force of arms."[2]
Ernst Woermann represented Weizsaecker in the field, providing military and financial assistance to the Sudeten German Party, and helped fabricate border incidents with Poland. [3]
Advice for war
Poland
In October 1941, von Weizsaecker advised that Poland not be categorized as occupied territory, which would make international law applicable, "to which we doubtless shall not submit."[4]
The Holocaust
According to Eckart Conze, professor of modern history at the Philipps University of Marburg and one of the authors of the report,"The sheer scale of the participation of Germany's Foreign Ministry in the Holocaust is bewildering. It wasn't just one department; it was the whole institution. The ministry collaborated with the Nazis' violent policies and took part in all aspects of the discrimination, deportation, persecution and genocide of the Jews."[5]
While SS ranks for civil servants often were honorary, Joschka Fischerthe , former foreign minister who started the study made the general observation, “The sentence that shocked me the most described how the co-operation between the foreign ministry and the [SS] was so close that the boundaries became fluid.” [6]
In 1940, Franz Rademacher, head of the Jewish Desk, sent a memorandum to State Secretary Martin Luther, asking him to define Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop's basic policy toward Jews, trying to shift the role of his desk from settling individual cases to establishing policy. [7] He also originated the Madagascar Plan proposal for deporting all European Jews to Madagascar.[8]
Rademacher, along with State Secretary [[Martin Luther (diplomat)|Martin Luther, received reports, from Reinhard Heydrich, on Einsatzgruppen killings. His assistant, Fritz Gebhard von Hahn, summarized them. Summaries from both Hahn and Luther went to Ernst von Weizsaecker and Ernst Woermann, who circulated them to interested parties in the Foreign Office. The summaries were initialed by 16 officials. [9]
References
- ↑ Kevin Jon Heller, "Want to Prosecute the Lawyers? Cite Ministries — Not the Justice Case", Opinio Juris
- ↑ John Toland (1976), Adolf Hitler, Doubleday, p. 464
- ↑ Peter Maguire (2001), Law and War: An American Story, Columbia University Press, p. 161
- ↑ Browning, p. 214
- ↑ Tristana Moore (27 October 2010), "Were German Diplomats Complicit in the Holocaust?", Time
- ↑ Derek Scally (25 October 2010), "German diplomats 'complicit in Holocaust'", Irish Times
- ↑ Christopher R. Browning (2004), The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0-8032-1327-1, p. 82
- ↑ Browning, pp. 83-88
- ↑ Browning, pp. 491-492