Five Brothers and a War

Nürnberg Trials—Judgment

“Seyß-Inquart is indicted under all Four Counts. Seyß-Inquart, an Austrian attorney, was appointed State Councilor in Austria in May, 1937, as a result of German pressure. He had been associated with the Austrian Nazi Party since 1931, but had often had difficulties with that Party and did not actually join the Nazi Party until 13th March, 1938. He was appointed Austrian Minister of Security and Interior with control over the police pursuant to one of the conditions which Hitler had imposed on Schuschnigg in the Berchtesgaden conference of 12th February, 1938. Activities in Austria Seyß-Inquart participated in the last stages of the Nazi intrigue which preceded the German occupation of Austria, and was made Chancellor of Austria as a result of German threats of invasion. On 12th March, 1938, Seyß-Inquart met Hitler at Linz and made a speech welcoming the German forces and advocating the reunion of Germany and Austria. On 13th March, he obtained the passage of a law providing that Austria should become a province of Germany and succeeded Miklas as President of Austria when Miklas resigned rather than sign the law. Seyß-Inquart's title was changed to Reichs Governor of Austria on 15th March, 1938, and on the same day he was given the title of a General in the SS. He was made a Reichs Minister without Portfolio on 1st May, 1939. On 11th March, 1939 he visited the Slovakian Cabinet in Bratislava and induced them to declare their independence in a way which fitted in closely with Hitler's offensive against the independence of Czechoslovakia. As Reichs Governor of Austria, Seyß-Inquart instituted a programme of confiscating Jewish property. Under his regime Jews were forced to emigrate, were sent to concentration camps and were subject to pogroms. At the end of his regime he co-operated with the Security Police and SD in the deportation of Jews from Austria to the East. While he was Governor of Austria, political opponents of the Nazis were sent to concentration camps by the Gestapo, mistreated and often killed. Criminal Activities in Poland and the Netherlands In September, 1939, Seyß-Inquart was appointed Chief of Civil Administration of South Poland. On 12th October, 1939, Seyß-Inquart was made Deputy Governor Judgments were read in Nürnberg on October 1, 1946. There were four judges and four alternate judges, one of each from the USA, Great Britain, France and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Major General Iona Timofeevich Nikitchenko, the tribunal judge from the USSR, read the following judgment against Seyß-Inquart:

the war

Five Brothers and a War

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