"Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich (233 page)

34.
Police order on the use of public transport by “non-Germans” in the General Government, October 18, 1943 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 613); exceptions included journeys to and from work, as well as persons employed in German public offices with appropriate documentation (sec. 1, par. 2).

35.
Decree of November 17, 1941 (ZS, Polen 256, Bl. 93 and 210); cf. also police order on the transporting of “non-Germans” and goods on trucks, October 18, 1943 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 613).

36.
Proclamation by the representative of the district chief for the City of Warsaw, September 24, 1940 (
Krakauer Zeitung
, September 25, 1940, quoted from
Doc. Occ.
6:380). This stipulated that the front platform and the front section of the bus were reserved for Reich Germans and
Volksdeutsche
; the rear section and the second car were for the use of Poles. Jews could be accommodated only in cars specially designated “Jews Only.”

37.
VBl.GG
(1942): 421 f.

38.
Sec. 3 of the decree of August 3, 1942 (ibid.), in conjunction with the decree on use in road traffic, February 20, 1941 (
VBl.GG
[1941]: 36).

Part One. Section 3. C. IX. Restrictions on Communication and Information Exchange

1.
There was a general ban on postal and news communications with enemy countries (decree of April 22, 1942,
VBl.GG
[1942]: 225).

2.
Decree on News Communications of April 22, 1942 (ibid.), with amendment of October 20, 1943 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 621).

3.
Decree of April 22, 1942 (
VBl.GG
[1942]: 225); it is impossible to establish whether such restrictions were imposed.

4.
A decree issued on March 3, 1943 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 115), concerning “punishment of postal fraud,” provided for penalties “commensurate with the scale of the particular offense,” without reference to the basis of computation for penalties set out in sec. 27 of the Postal Services Law of October 28, 1931 (
RGBl.
I 347).

5.
SD report on domestic matters (previously
News from the Reich
), November 8, 1943 (BA R 58/190).

6.
Letter from the government of the General Government to its plenipotentiary in Berlin, August 16, 1940 (ZS, Polen 257, Bl. 26, 30 b; copy). The German administration thwarted attempts by an American telegraphic agency to establish a branch in the General Government for Jews who wished to emigrate (ibid., correspondence).

7.
Directive on Termination of Delivery Services for Small Parcels and Packages Sent by Jews, November 21, 1941 (ZS, Ordner “Verschiedenes” 94, Bl. 369), my emphasis.

8.
Order issued by
Armeeoberkommando
14 (Army HQ 14), October 5, 1939 (IfZ, MA-682, Bl. 0395).

9.
Proclamation issued by the
Stadthauptmann
of Kraków, January 11, 1940 (Main Commission Warsaw, Plakatsammlung III t 24—doc. 24 t/22); at the same time, the removal of all “unnecessary aerials” was ordered.

10.
Decree on the Confiscation of Radio Transmitters, December 15, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 225 f.).

11.
Sec. 4 of the Decree on the Confiscation of Radio Transmitters, ibid.

12.
“Diensttagebuch,” 1:128 ff.

13.
Decree on the Registration of Film Equipment, October 18, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 318). Cf. Decree on the Surrender of Skis and Ski-boots in the General Government, December 31, 1941, with first directive dated December 31, 1941 (
VBl.GG
[1941]: 749 f.;
VBl.GG
[1942]: 2); failure to comply was punishable by a penitentiary sentence—statement by Dr. Biberstein, January 20, 1948 (ZS, Ordner 21).

14.
In this sense, see also H. Roos,
Polen in der Besatzungszeit
, 179; concerning the initial optimism of the rural population and industrial workers, see situation report by the military governor, Kraków, October 9, 1939 (IfZ, Bestand MiG, MA-682, Bl. 486 ff.).

15.
Summary by the chief of the General Staff of the District Military Command (
Wehrkreiskommando
) in the General Government to the chief of the General Staff, Army, January 7, 1943 (IfZ, Ma-1017, Bl. 0715 ff.).

16.
For a detailed account, see the survey of conditions in the General Government, prepared in the Reich Chancellery (based on material supplied by HSSPF Kraków), which was sent to the
Reichsführer
-SS on April 17, 1943 (Nuremberg doc., NG-3321; IfZ, Ma-300, 4008 ff.).

17.
This emerges indirectly from the report by F. Siebert, “Hauptabteilung Innere Verwaltung,” November 11, 1939 (BA Ostdok. 13 GG, no. I b/5).

18.
Report dated January 7, 1943 (IfZ, Ma-1017, Bl. 0715 ff.).

19.
VBl.GG
(1939): 5.

20.
Discussion between Governor General Frank and the head of the Central Department of Internal Administration on November 21, 1941 (“Diensttagebuch” 1941).

21.
Cf. report dated April 7, 1943 (IfZ, “Diensttagebuch,” Ma-1017, Bl. 0718).

22.
Minutes of a meeting about the security situation, October 19, 1943 (“Diensttagebuch” 1943). He (Frank) was determined “to give the security services
every power
appropriate to the task of guaranteeing security” (cabinet meeting, October 26, 1943; “Diensttagebuch,” Bl. 757). See also comments by the commander of the Security Police and SD at a meeting on the security situation in the General Government, September 27, 1943 (“Diensttagebuch” 1943). For an account of the police raids and other reprisals that followed the granting of these powers, see Bartoszewski,
Der Todesring um Warschau
(1968), 196 ff.

23.
VBl.GG
(1943): 589.

24.
On the activities of the resistance movement, cf. information given by the commander of the Security Police and SD at a police meeting on October 19, 1943, “Diensttagebuch”: at the beginning of January 1942, only six robberies a day were reported; by September 1943 this had risen to an average of 223 daily, and by the first third of October 1943 it was as high as 250 a day.

25.
The decree served above all as a basis for shooting hostages and members of the resistance. Such shootings were often carried out summarily—without even a drumhead court-martial. However, on October 23, 1943, the commander of the Security Police and SD ordered that prisoners should in future be sentenced at a court-martial; this was probably the result of protests by Bühler, state secretary in the government of the General Government, who was concerned about the foreign policy implications and advocated avoiding the term
hostage
to describe detainees (discussion, October 23, 1943, “Diensttagebuch” 1943).

26.
In a discussion with the president of the Central Department of Justice (Kurt Wille) on May 31, 1944, the governor general expressed strong reservations about the “exceptional executions” carried out by the Security Police. He thought that “perhaps the time had come to nullify the provisions of the Decree on Acts of Violence.” Wille counseled against this on the grounds that the security situation had deteriorated (“Diensttagebuch,” May 31, 1944). According to remarks by the governor general at a meeting of district governors on October 27, 1943, the national resistance movement (the
Armija Krajowa
) became less active, but not the Communists, who continued their actions in spite of the severity of the reprisals. In a meeting between Frank and police representatives on November 8, 1943, it was stated that the Decree on Acts of Violence had “to some degree calmed” the situation, even brought a “significant improvement” (“Diensttagebuch,” October 27 and November 8, 1943). At a cabinet meeting on April 19, 1944, the commander of the Security Police and SD gave the number of murdered Germans as 220 in October 1943, 79 in November 1943, 78 in December 1943, 61 in January 1944, 120 in February 1944, 130 in March 1944 (“Diensttagebuch,” April 19, 1944).

27.
See Wolfgang Jacobmeyer, “Polnischer Widerstand im deutschen Urteil,”
VjhZ
4 (1977): 658 ff., with detailed examples.

Part Two. Section 1. A. I. The General Thrust of National Socialist Policy in Penal Law

1.
For a summary, see Leppin, “Der Schutz des deutschen Blutes und der deutschen Ehre” (1937).

2.
Originally sec. 3, par. 1, of the Penal Code, old version, limited liability under German law to the national territory (territorial principle). The Decree on the Scope of the Penal Code of May 6, 1940 (
RGBl.
I 754), broadened the application of German criminal law to offenses committed by Germans on foreign soil.

3.
See full details in Schäfer, “Zehn Jahre nationalsozialistische Strafgesetzgebung” (1943). L. Schäfer was
Ministerialdirigent, Geheimer Regierungsrat
, and head of Dept. 3 (criminal legislation in the Reich Ministry of Justice).

4.
For amendment of the content of the Penal Code, see also the Reich president’s Decree on the Defense of the People and the State of February 28, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 83); the Reich president’s Decree on Treason against the German People and Treasonable Activities of March 21, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 85); Decree on Measures to Counter Subversive Activities against the Government of the National Revolution of March 21, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 135), which was superseded by the Law against Treacheous Attacks on the Party and the State and Protection of the Party Uniform (the Treachery Law) of December 20, 1934 (
RGBl.
I 1269); Law on the Reintroduction of the Death Penalty of March 29, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 151); Law on Defense against Political Crimes of April 4, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 162); Law to Guarantee the Public Order of October 13, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 723); the so-called Police Trap Law of June 22, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 651); see also the so-called Wartime Penal Code: Decree on Exceptional Radio Measures of September 1, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 1883); also Müller-Payer,
Die deutsche Sünde wider das Recht
(1946), 42; Decree on Parasites upon the
Volk
of September 5, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 1679); Decree on Special Wartime Criminal Code of August 17, 1938; Wartime Criminal Proceedings Code of August 17, 1938 (
RGBl.
I 1939, 1455 ff.); Decree on Supplementing the Penal Provisions for the Protection of the Defense of the German People of November 25, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 2319); Penal Code Amendment Law of September 4, 1941 (
RGBl.
I 549); Decree on Violent Criminality of December 5, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 2378); War Economy Code: War Economy Decree of September 4, 1939 (
RGBl.
I 1609); Decree on Penalties and Criminal Proceedings in the Event of Violations of the Price Regulations of June 3, 1936 (
RGBl.
I 999); Penal Decree on Consumption Regulations of November 26, 1941 (
RGBl.
I 734).

For amendment of the form of the Penal Code, see Penal Code Amendment Laws of May 26, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 295); April 24, 1934 (
RGBl.
I 341) (with supplementary laws of September 16, 1939 [
RGBl.
I 1841], and November 29, 1942 [
RGBl.
I 668]); June 28, 1935 (
RGBl.
I 839); and September 4, 1941 (
RGBl.
I 549); the Law against Dangerous Habitual Criminals of November 24, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 995); the Law against Kidnapping of Children with Intent to Ransom of June 22, 1936 (
RGBl.
I 493); law of July 2, 1936 (
RGBl.
I 532).

5.
An example of tightening existing legislation is the Law on Prevention of Acts of Political Violence of April 4, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 162), which threatened a sentence of death or penal servitude for bomb attacks, arson, and other offenses such as carrying of poisons, flooding, and damaging railway installations. The death penalty was extended by a law of November 24, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 994). According to the documents available, reproduced in Wagner,
Der Volksgerichtshof
(1974), 943 f. (appendixes 30, 31), the number of death sentences rose from 78 in 1933 to 250 in 1940 and then very much more steeply, but the number of executions did not increase at the same rate. The Reich criminal statistics for 1942 (Nuremberg doc. NG-787) indicated 1,085 death sentences in 1941 and 2,199 in 1942. According to the
Führerinformationen
(BA R 22/4089), 3,643 death sentences were passed within the boundaries of the Reich in 1942 (including the Eastern Territories and the Protectorate). A report by Reich Minister of Justice Thierack in the information sheet
Die Lage
of August 1944 (Nuremberg doc. NG-252) gave the number of death sentences in the Reich (including the Eastern Territories and the Protectorate) as 99 in 1939, 929 in 1940, 1,292 in 1941, 3,360 in 1942, and 5,336 in 1943. In 1943 the majority of death sentences (1,745) were for high treason; 894 sentences were passed in the Annexed Eastern Territories.

6.
Law of March 29, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 151).

7.
Decree of March 21, 1933, on the Establishment of Special Courts, issued by the Reich government (
RGBl.
I 136), superseded by the so-called Jurisdiction Decree of February 21, 1940 (
RGBl.
I 405). Penal Code Amendment Law of April 24, 1933 (
RGBl.
I 341), and Law on the People’s Court of April 18, 1936 (
RGBl.
I 369). For more details of the decisions of the People’s Court, see the statistics in Wagner,
Der Volksgerichtshof
, 944 (appendixes 32 and 33).

8.
For example, the abandonment of remand proceedings, the abolition of the prohibition of worsening of a sentence on appeal, the greater freedom of the courts to consider evidence, the freer status of the Reich Supreme Court (which was not bound by precedents predating 1933), the curtailment of preliminary investigations, the extension of the grounds for arrest, the facilitation of proceedings against people who had fled the country, and the limitation of swearing in for criminal proceedings. See also the abolition of the Courts of Lay Assessors and the Courts of General Sessions by the Simplification Decree of September 1, 1939, and other provisions of the Simplification Decree of August 13 1942; further details will be found in Schäfer, “Zehn Jahre nationalsozialistische Strafgesetzgebung.”