"Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich (180 page)

60.
Diehl-Thiele,
Partei und Staat im Dritten Reich
(1969), 140 ff., 161 ff., 173 f. At the municipality and district levels, the Party constantly desired participatory powers over and above German Municipal Code sec. 118, notwithstanding the fact that
Kreisleiter
were forbidden the assumption of state functions (deputy Führer’s decree of February 29, 1937 [141 n. 116]). A Reich Ministry of the Interior decree was issued on December 28, 1939, to delimit the competencies between
Landrat
and
Kreisleiter
, under the terms of which “leadership of people” was the business of the Party, whereas all administrative matters came under the responsibility of the
Landrat
(announced in deputy Führer’s instruction of January 23, 1940,
Verfügungen
, 2:252); it is clear that nothing was achieved by this, as since 1935 the municipal authorities had at the request of the deputy Führer been instructed to consult the
Kreisleiter
or the NSDAP delegate in matters “of general significance” (Reich Ministry of the Interior instruction of May 8, 1935, reproduced in
Verfügungen
, 2:251), an instruction that was expressly repeated for the Annexed Eastern Territories (activity report of March 1943 by the
Landrat
of Alexandrowo for the period July 15, 1942, to March 1, 1943, State Archive Pozna
,
Reichsstatthalter
857, Bl. 108).

61.
German Municipal Code sec. 19; implementing decree of December 21, 1939, art. 2, sec. 6; part 5 of the Reich Ministry of the Interior decree of June 8, 1940 (
Amtsblatt Regierungspräsident Kattowitz
, 1940, Stück 30, no. 256). Reich Ministry of the Interior circular of June 8, 1940 (
RGBl.
I 2467).

62.
A Reich Ministry of the Interior note at the end of 1939 (BA R 18/461) states that an instruction for the commissars (
Amtskommissare
) was being prepared. For details of the duties and problems of commissars, see von Hohenstein (pseud.),
Wartheländisches Tagebuch
(1963), dtv vol. 99.

63.
The correspondingly difficult position of the commissars is best illustrated by the circular of February 15, 1941, sent by the district president of Łód
to the
Landräte
and Gendarmerie heads of the district, which purports to “clarify” the relations between commissars and the police (State Archive Pozna
, Gendarmerie Kreis Schrimm, 6, Bl. 190 f.):

(1) The Gendarmerie stations are not subordinate to the head of the local police authority (local police administrator) either in matters of supervision of the service or in the technical performance of their duties. The Gendarmerie does, however, … have the obligation to respond punctually and conscientiously to requests from the local police authority that relate to the execution of police decrees or instructions or other measures instituted by the local police authority. Apart from issuing warnings that are subject to a charge, Gendarmes have no powers to fine. Should a station chief have serious and well-founded doubts about the legality or appropriateness of a request, he must
immediately
attempt to achieve agreement [with the commissar—Author]. If no agreement is reached, he must immediately call for a decision from the
Landrat
(Gendarmerie-
Kreisführer
) … and inform the local police administrator of the provisional nonexecution of the request. A similar procedure is to be followed if the station chief feels it necessary to refuse a request on the grounds that it is not a policing matter…. (5) The Gendarme shall cooperate with the local police authority with understanding and consult regularly with it.

A decree of June 27, 1942, from the RFSSuChddtPol to the district president again refers to complaints by the municipal authorities and instructs “the Gendarmerie to carry out local police duties without question” (State Archive Pozna
, Gendarmerie Schrimm, 136, Bl. 4–5).

64.
Letter of August 10, 1940, from the Reich governor of Posen to the district president of Hohensalza (district archives, Lissa, Akten Stadt Kosten, 1086, 5).

65.
von Hohenstein,
Warthländisches Tagebuch
(1963), 208 ff. (in this book the author, a former commissar in the Warthegau, describes his administratiive experience). But also, without the introduction of the German Municipal Code, the controlling body insisted on the closest cooperation between commissars and
Kreisleiter/Ortsgruppenleiter
. Apparently as technical personnel, the commissars were not able to satisfy this requirement to the extent demanded; cf. activity report of March 1943 by the
Landrat
of Alexandrowo for the period July 15, 1942, to March 1, 1943, according to which it was “almost always impossible” to reconcile the interests of both parties (State Archive Pozna
,
Reichsstatthalter
857, Bl. 108).

66.
Letter of May 23, 1934, from the autonomous
Gau
administration, Posen, to the Reich governor of Wartheland (State Archive Pozna
,
Reichsstatthalter
1174, Bl. 196 f.).

67.
Letter of May 31, 1943, to the
Landräte
of the district and the police president, Posen (State Archive Pozna
,
Landrat
Schrimm, 105, Bl. 156): “There are a growing number of complaints lately of visits by Reich Germans … to Polish relatives…. That such visits are totally undesirable for nationhood and general political reasons needs no further explanation … given that departure can only be enforced by a prohibition order by the Secret State Police.”

68.
Letter of February 2, 1942, from the
Landrat
to the Bürgermeister of Schrimm (Institute for Western Studies, Pozna
).

69.
Letter of May 23, 1944, from Abt. III of the autonomous
Gau
administration in the
Reichsgau
Wartheland to the Reich governor in the Wartheland, Referat I/50 (State Archive Pozna
,
Reichsstatthalter
1174, Bl. 196–97).