7152 - Julius Streicher Document Signed at Nuremberg, Denying Responsibility for Kristallnacht

Julius Streicher Document Signed at Nuremberg, Denying Responsibility for Kristallnacht Partly-printed DS, in German, one page, 8 x 12, February 18, 1946. Document headed (translated), "The International Military Tribunal, Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness," made while preparing his defense for the Nuremberg trials. Streicher and his defense lawyer request testimony from "Friedrich Strobel, Attorney-at-Law," citing his knowledge that "Streicher addressed a meeting of the National Socialist Lawyers' League on 3 December 1938, and stated in the course of his lecture that the demonstration against the Jewish population, which took place in the night from November 9th to 10th, was a completely erroneous measure, that the World Jewish Question could not be solved in this way, but would only provoke an unfavorable counter-reaction" and "that Streicher made the proposal, in his 'Stuermer' Publishing House, that the island of Madagascar be considered as a settlement area for the Jews." Signed at the conclusion in pencil by Julius Streicher, and countersigned by his defense attorney. Backed by archival paper and in fine condition, with professional cleaning to the paper. Accompanied by a contemporary English translation. Streicher’s request reveals the narrow defense he was attempting to construct at Nuremberg. As publisher of the violently antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer, he did not claim to oppose the Nazi regime’s persecution of the Jews; instead, he sought to show that he had criticized Kristallnacht as a tactical mistake. Through Friedrich Strobel, Streicher hoped to establish that he had called the November 1938 pogrom “a completely erroneous measure” because it provoked an “unfavorable counter-reaction,” while pointing to the so-called Madagascar Plan as evidence that he favored mass deportation rather than such public violence. Strobel ultimately testified on April 30, 1946, but his evidence did little to help Streicher. Recalling Streicher’s 1938 remarks, Strobel testified that he had said, 'I should not have carried out this action in this way. In such a manner it is impossible to fight a power like World Jewry.' More damagingly, Strobel questioned whether Streicher’s criticism reflected any genuine objection to the pogrom, suggesting instead that vanity, political resentment, or concern that the rapid 'extermination of the Jews' might diminish Streicher’s own importance lay behind his remarks. The tribunal halted that portion of the testimony as opinion, and other parts of Strobel’s evidence were later struck as irrelevant. The episode underscores the weakness of Streicher’s defense: his objection was not to antisemitic persecution itself, but to the method and timing of its execution. He was convicted of crimes against humanity for his sustained incitement to the persecution and murder of Jews and was executed by hanging on October 16, 1946.