[Page 593]

A. THE POLITICAL CAREER OF ROSENBERG.

I The political career of Alfred Rosenberg embraced the entire history of National Socialism and permeated nearly every phase of the conspiracy. In order to obtain a full conception of his Influence upon and participation in the conspiracy, it is necessary to review his political history and to consider each of his political activities in their relation to the thread of the conspiracy, which stretches from the inception of the party in 1919 to the defeat of Germany in 1945.

It is interesting to note that for Rosenberg 30 November 1918 marked the

"Beginning of political activities with a lecture about the 'Jewish Problem' " (2886-PS)

An official German pamphlet entitled, "Dates in the History of the NSDAP" discloses that Rosenberg was a member of the German Labor Party (afterwards the National Socialist German Workers Party) in January 1919, and that Hitler joined forces with Rosenberg and his colleagues in October of the same year (3557-PS). Thus, Rosenberg was a member of the National Socialist movement even before Hitler himself.

An extract from "Das Deutsch Fuehrer Lexikon" 1934/35 (3530- PS) completes the biographical data on Rosenberg:

"From 1921 until the present, editor of the Voelkische Beobachter; editor of the 'N.S. Monatshefte'; 1930, Reichstag deputy and representative of the foreign policy of the movement; since April 1933, leader of the foreign political office of the NSDAP; then designated as Reichsleiter; January 1934, deputized by the Fuehrer for the spiritual and philosophical education of the NSDAP, the German labor front -and all related organizations" (350-PS).

In July 1941 Rosenberg was appointed Reichsminister for the Occupied Eastern Territories. (2886-PS)

B. ROSENBERG'S PART, AS OFFICIAL NAZI IDEOLOGIST, IN PREPARING FOR THE SEIZURE OF POWER AND THE LAUNCHING OF AGGRESSIVE WAR.

Rosenberg was the official National Socialist ideologist. Through the ideological tenets which he expounded he exerted an influence upon the unification of German thought, a unification which was an essential part of the conspirator's program for seizure of power and preparation for aggressive war.

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Rosenberg wrote extensively on, and actively participated in, virtually every aspect of the National Socialist program. His first publication was the "Nature, Basic Principles, and Aims of the NSDAP" which appeared in 1922. Rosenberg spoke of this book in the following

"During this time (that is, during the early phase of the party) a short thesis was written, which nevertheless is significant in the history of the NSDAP. It was always being asked what points of program the NSDAP had and how they each were to be interpreted. Therefore, I wrote the principal program and aims of the NSDAP, and this writing made the first permanent connection between Munich and local organizations being organized and friends within the Reich."

Thus, the original draftsman of and spokesman for the party program was Rosenberg.

Without attempting to survey the entire ideological program advanced by Rosenberg in his various writings and speeches, certain of his statements may be considered as indicating the nature and scope of the ideological program which he championed. There was not a single basic tenet of the Nazi philosophy which was not given authoritative expression by Rosenberg.

(1) The theory of racism. Rosenberg wrote the "Myth of the Twentieth Century" published in 1930. At page 479 of this work (3553-PS), Rosenberg expressed the following views on the race question:

"The essence of the contemporary world revolution lies in the awakening of the racial types, not in Europe alone but on the whole planet. This awakening is the organic counter movement against the last chaotic remnants of liberal economic imperialism, whose object of exploitation out of desperation has fallen into the snare of Bolshevik Marxism, in order to complete what democracy had begun, the extirpation of the racial and national consciousness." (3553-PS)

(2) "Lebensraum" Rosenberg expounded the "Lebensraum" idea, which was utilized as the dynamic impulse behind Germany's waging of aggressive war. In his journal, the "National Socialist Monatshefte" for May 1932, he wrote:

"The understanding that the German nation, if it is not to perish in the truest sense of the word, needs ground and soil for itself and its future generations, and the second sober perception that this soil can no more be conquered in Africa,

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but in Europe and first of all in the East -- these organically determine the German foreign policy for centuries." (2777-PS)

The original plaintext version of this file is available via ftp.

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