"Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich (213 page)

20.
Quoted from “Diensttagebuch,” ed. Präg and Jacobmeyer, 10.

21.
Cf. Goebbels,
Tagebücher 1942–43
(1948), 243, 279 ff., 362; letter from RMuChdRkzlei to the head of the Party Chancellery, January 1, 1945, which clearly shows the resignation of the administration toward the political powers that be (IMT, Nuremberg, Bd. 34, 494; doc. 753 D; reproduced by Diehl-Thiele,
Partei und Staat im Dritten Reich
[1969], 257). Cf. also Schmitt: “Der Zugang zum Machthaber, ein zentrales verfassungsrechtliches Problem,” reproduced in Schmitt,
Verfassungsrechtliche Aufsätze
(1958), 430 ff.

22.
Speech by Frank to leading Party functionaries of the Department for the General Government of the NSDAP, January 11, 1941 (“Diensttagebuch 1941,” 22 ff.).

23.
For a detailed account, see von Medeazza, “Ein Jahr Verwaltung im GG” (1940); Westerkamp (head of the Department of Internal Administration in the General Government), “Die Einheit der Verwaltung” (1941); Westerkamp, “Ein Jahr Einheit der Verwaltung im GG” (1941); Frank, “Der deutsche Aufbau im GG” (1941); Weh, “Galizien, Bestandteil des GG” (1941).

24.
Lammers had wide-ranging responsibilities in his office of chief administrator, dealing with all matters centrally, submitting them to Hitler when necessary. He was also responsible for the business of the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich (Führer decree, August 30, 1939,
RGBl
. I 1539); the departments no longer had direct “access to the ruler,” as Carl Schmitt would say. For details see von Stutterheim,
Die Reichskanzlei
(1940); Just, “65 Jahre Reichskanzlei” (1943).

25.
Cf. Stuckart, “Zentralgewalt, Dezentralisation und Verwaltungseinheit” (1941), 1 ff. The “Unified Administration” centralizes the power of the state once more in the hands of the general state administration and counteracts department splintering and the “hopeless splintering of the administration” on all levels. It is the most complete embodiment of the Führer principle developed by National Socialism and the “necessary consequence” of the “
völkisch
idea of the state” and the “holistic organizational concept that stems from it” (21). Stuckart was the most zealous advocate of the idea of the Unified Administration. See also Jarmer, “Die Einräumigkeit” (1940); Maunz, “Verfassung und Organisation im Großraum,” 457.

26.
Cf. the basic principles of the administrative structure of the General Government: First Decree on the Development of the Administration in the Occupied Polish Territories, October 26, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 3); Second Decree on the Development of the Administration in the General Government (Decree on the Unified Administration), December 1, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 357), with administrative instructions nos. 1 and 2 issued on March 31, 1941; no. 3 of April 7, 1941; no. 4 of April 18, 1941; no. 5 of March 17, 1943 (Weh,
Übersicht über das Recht des Generalgouvernements
[1943], A 121–A 121 e); Third Decree on the Development of the Administration in the General Government, March 16, 1941 (
VBl.GG
[1941]: 99), with administrative instruction no. 1 of April 7, 1941; no. 2 of March 17, 1943 (Weh,
Übersicht über das Recht des Generalgouvernements
, A 122 e, 122 b); Fourth Decree on the Development of the Administration in the General Government, September 25, 1941 (
VBl.GG
[1941]: 561); for more on the development of the administration and copious statistics, see Franke, “Allgemeine Staatsverwaltung,”
Das Generalgouvernement
, ser. 13–14 (November 1941): 7 ff. (Franke worked in the Central Department of Internal Administration in the General Government); F. Siebert, “Die Hauptabteilung Innere Verwaltung der Regierung des GG,” report dated November 11, 1959 (BA Ostdok. 13 GG I b/5; ZS, Versch. 104, 769 ff., copy). Pfundtner and Warnak,
Taschenbuch für Verwaltungsbeamte
, 603 ff. (ZS, Versch. 103; 197 ff.).

27.
Secs. 3, 5 of the Führer directive of October 12, 1939 (
RGBl
. I 2077). The district governors ran the
entire
administration of the district in accordance with the instructions of the government of the General Government and were also responsible for supervising the
Kreishauptleute
(heads of regional [county] administration) (sec. 5 of the order of October 26, 1939,
VBl.GG
[1939]: 1, in conjunction with secs. 4, 5 of the order issued on December 1, 1940,
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 357). They were the “sole political representatives” of the supreme administration of the Reich and had the right to appoint and dismiss certain groups of employees and officials as well as exercising supervisory and leadership functions in various bodies (housing and settlement associations). At the same time they were representatives of the power of the NSDAP in their district. Their position cannot therefore be compared with that of the
Regierungspräsident
in the Reich, whose competence was equivalent only to that of the Department of Internal Administration in the Office of the District Governor. Secs. 4 to 6 of the First Decree on the Development of the Administration in the Occupied Polish Territories, October 26, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 3). The function of a
Kreishauptmann (Stadthauptmann)
was roughly equivalent to that of a
Landrat
(prefect of a
Land
), though with the difference that he was the central authority of all branches of the administration at district level (exceptions being railways, postal services, and the police).

28.
Order on the Unified Administration, December 1, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 397).

29.
Kundt, “Entstehung, Probleme, Grundsätze und Form der Verwaltung des GG” (1944),
Die Burg
(University Library, Warsaw, Sign. 011249).

30.
Cabinet meeting, December 9, 1942 (“Diensttagebuch 1942”). Frank spoke more candidly at the meeting held on October 15, 1941, expressly welcoming the fact that the lower echelons (
Kreishauptleute
) were disregarding the instructions of the middle echelons and the government. This, he said, was the “illegal approach typical of the East,” which worked counter to “the previous bureaucratic approach” (“Diensttagebuch,” October 15, 1941). A deliberate move to strengthen the district administration was the governor general’s request to have reports from the
Kreishauptleute
sent directly to the central administration and only duplicates circulated to the district governors (Frank’s speech to a conference of
Kreis
- and
Stadthauptleute
from the Lublin district held on March 4, 1940, “Diensttagebuch,” March 4, 1940), although the proper channels required direct delivery to the district governor. The corresponding instruction from the Central Department of Internal Administration—Department of Municipal Administration dates from October 30, 1940; in it,
Kreishauptleute
are instructed to forward their reports directly to the head of the office for the government of the General Government by the 10th of the following month (Main Commission Warsaw, Archives, Reg. des GG, Hauptabteilung Innere Verwaltung II/125).

31.
Frank to a meeting of department heads on December 2, 1939, in Kraków (“Diensttagebuch,” 1:10).

32.
Thus, for example, subdivisions of the Party—with the exception of the Hitler Youth—were not tolerated (order of April 22, 1942,
VBl.GG
[1942]: 217). Regarding the position of the Party, cf. von Medeazza, “Die Partei im GG” (1941); for an account of the tense relationship with the Party, cf. Frank’s contribution to the meeting of department heads on April 12, 1940 (“Diensttagebuch 1940,” 1:134 ff.) and at a meeting of officials from the NSDAP’s work group on the General Government held on December 14, 1942 (“Diensttagebuch 1942,” 1312–16, 1335 ff.); report by Party judge Brodmann to the meeting of the NSDAP’s work group on the General Government on May 13, 1944 (“Diensttagebuch 1944,” vol. 4); letter from SSPF Lublin to RFSS, December 10, 1942 (IfZ, Bestand Parteikanzlei, FB-50, Bl. 269); discussion between the
Hauptabschnittleiter
der NSDAP, Stahl, and Ministerial Councillor Weh of the government of the General Government, August 16, 1943 (“Diensttagebuch 1943,” 3:714 ff.); H. Frank, in “Diensttagebuch,” August 16, 1943, Bl. 716. Letter from the deputy head of the NSDAP’s work group on the General Government to the head of the Party Chancellery, September 28, 1944 (Bl. 109 f.); letter from the Cracow District Govenor to RFSS, 27 June 1944 (IfZ, Bestand RFSS/Persönl. Stab [GG], in Ma 300, 3664).

33.
See also excerpt from the protocol of the government meeting of November 18, 1943, which contains comments by Frank (“Diensttagebuch,” November 18, 1943).

34.
Cf. Frank’s interview with the
Völkischer Beobachter
on February 6, 1940, in which among other things he says: “I will send anyone packing who is not worth his salt, every weakling, every ne’er-do-well; rotten, corrupt examination candidates, etc., are no use to us. The personality is all-important here. I don’t give a damn whether someone has passed their exams. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who has the necessary abilities [for the job] can become a district governor straightaway. Hysterics and bureaucrats need not apply” (“Diensttagebuch,” 1:86 ff., 90).

35.
The designation
Kreishauptleute
had existed since 1772 when Galicia was subsumed by Austria as part of the first division of Poland; cf. memorandum concerning a reform of the administration in Galicia sent by Joseph II to Maria Theresia on May 18, 1780 (quoted from J. Sommerfeld, “Galizien bei der Besitznahme durch Osterreich,”
Das GG
, no. 3 [1942]: 4 ff., 9, 12). Frank at a discussion in Łód
on October 29 and December 2, 1939 (“Diensttagebuch,” 1:10); F. Siebert, “Der Verwaltungswirrwarr im GG” (BA Ostdok. 13 GG I a/1).

36.
The
Kreishauptleute
, who had much larger territories to administer than a
Landrat
, were usually considerably younger than
Landräte
in the Altreich, some of them less than 30 years of age (
Krakauer Zeitung
, February 20, 1942). Already in the period of military administration, the majority had been active as
Landkommissar
or
Stadtkommissar
in the 27 districts of the occupied territories (later to become the General Government). (Overview of the previously engaged
Landkommissare
, October 5, 1939, and with other dates, IfZ Bestand MiG, Ma-682, Bl. 0837 f.). In political terms, the
Kreishauptleute
were naturally orthodox National Socialists (cf. anonymous report, June 1940, “Der Kreishauptmann,” BA). “Report on the Development of the General Government,” July 1, 1940, BA R 52 II/247, 42 f.; these unqualified officials were recruited largely in spring 1941 and brought with them “a breath of fresh air into the administrative apparatus” (diary notes, Dr. Troschke, BA Ostdok. 13 GG 1a/10, Bl. 110).

37.
Cf. report by an anonymous Party comrade: “The government of the General Government has stuck, with a determination bordering on stubborness, to the principle that important leadership tasks can be entrusted only to lawyers, who are still held in esteem today, preferably to administrative lawyers with the rank of
Oberregierungsrat
[senior executive officer] and higher. There has been almost 100% adherence to this principle” (quoted from “Einzelstimmen aus der Parteigenossenschaft: Die Krise im GG,” April 12, 1942, IfZ, Bestand RSHA Ma-641, 2130 ff.); F. Siebert, “Der Verwaltungswirrwarr im GG,” BA Ostdok. 13 GG I a/1.

38.
An overview of appointments to leading positions is given in Du Prel,
Das Generalgouvernement
(1942), 375 ff.; cf. also Frank,
Nationalsozialistisches Handbuch für Recht und Gesetzgebung
(1934), introduction, xxix–xxxii and the list of collaborators in the publication. For more details, see F. Siebert, “Der Verwaltungswirrwarr im GG,” BA Ostdok. 13 GG I a/1, which gives numerous names, showing that the higher ranks were predominantly made up of “veterans” of the early struggles of the Party, high-ranking SS and SA officers, the head of the Party Reich office, etc. See also a report by F. Siebert, “Hauptabteilung Innere Verwaltung im GG,” November 11, 1959 (ZS, Versch. 104, 769 ff.).

39.
Sec. 3 of the Decree on the Development of the Administration in the Occupied Polish Territories, October 26, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 3); decree of the Führer on the setting up of a State Secretariat for Security Matters, June 3, 1942 (
VBl.GG
[1942]: 321). The line of command went from the RSHA or the Central Office of the regular police (
Ordnungspolizei
) to the HSSPF East (the higher SS and police chiefs East), from there to the head of the SIPO or the head of the regular police, then down to the SS- and police chiefs at the level of the district governor’s office, then the commanders of the SIPO and normal police, and finally to the Gendarmerie or Security Police (
Schutzpolizei
) on the local level. For an account of relations between the police and the administration, cf. Broszat,
Nationalsozialistische Polenpolitik
, 75 ff.; Eisenblätter, “Grundlinien der Politik des Reiches gegenüber dem Generalgouvernement,” 130 ff., 235 ff.