First Section: The Organization of the Administration of Occupied Eastern Territories
First Section: The Organization of the Administration of Occupied Eastern Territories
[Found in Rosenberg's files.]
A.Construction.
I.Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories.
The newly occupied Eastern Territories are subordinated to the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories. By directions of the Fuehrer he establishes a civil administration there upon withdrawal of the military administration. He heads and supervises the entire administration of this area and represents the sovereignty of the Reich in the occupied Eastern Territories.
The Reich Ministry for the occupied Eastern Territories is organized into the following main departments and departments under the permanent and general deputy of the Reich Minister:
Main Department I: Central Administration.Main Department II: Policies:Department II a : Policies,Department II b : Enlightenment and Press,Department II c : Labor and Tax Policies.
Main Department III: Administration:
Department III a : General Administration,Department III b : Health System,Department III c : Veterinary System,Department III d : Law,Department III e : Finance,Department III f : Science and Culture.
Main Department IV: Economic-political and Technical Cooperation:
Department IV a : Industrial Economy,Department IV b : Food and Farming,Department IV c : Forest and Lumber Economy,Department IV d : Price-fixing and Price-control,Department IV e : Labor,Department IV f : Technology,Department IV g : Transportation.
To the Reich Ministry is assigned a deputy of the Reich Leader SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior.
II.General Territorial Organization.
The Occupied Eastern Territories are organized into Reich Commissariats.
The Reich Commissariat "Ostland" is subdivided intoGeneral Districts[Generalbezirke] which are in turn subdivided intoMain Districts[Hauptbezirke] andCircuit Districts[Kreisgebiete].
The boundaries of the Reich Commissariats will be established according to political, ethnic, economic and commercial-political aspects. The boundaries of the areas of command of the Wehrmacht commanders correspond to those of the Reich Commissariats.
III.Subordinate Offices.
1. Reich Commissars.
In the Reich Commissariats, Reich Commissars are responsible for the entire civil administration under the supreme authority of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. According to the instructions of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories the Reich Commissar, as a functionary of the Reich heads and supervises, within his precincts, the entire civil administration. Within the scope of these instructions he acts on his own responsibility.
Subordinate offices of the Reich Commissar are:
General Commissariats,Main Commissariats,District Commissariats.
The boundaries of the General Districts are established by the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories upon proposal by the Reich Commissar. The boundaries of the Circuit Territories are determined by the Reich Commissar upon proposal by the pertinent General Commissar, in as far as the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories has not reserved this right for himself in individual cases. Furthermore the Reich Commissar determines—with approval of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories—the sphere of the Main Commissars.
An administrative staff is subordinated to the Reich Commissar in his Administrative grade. It is organized into:
I. Main Department: Central Administration.II. Main Department: Policies:Department II a : Policies,Department II b : Labor and Tax Policies,Department II c : Administration,Department II d : Health system,Department II e : Law,Department II f : Finance,Department II g : Science and Culture.
III. Main Department: Economy:
Department III a : Industrial Economy,Department III b : Food and Farming,Department III c : Forestry and Hunting,Department III d : Price-fixing and Price-control.
IV. Main Department: Technology, Transportation, Labor:
Department IV a : Technology,Department IV b : Transportation,Department IV c : Commitment of Labor.
The heads of the Main Departments have the rank of General Commissars.
Furthermore a Higher SS- and Police Leader is subordinated directly and personally to the Reich Commissar. In addition one official of the Reich Railways and one of the Reich Post Office are assigned to the Reich Commissar who are at the same time liaison officials with the transport and communications offices of the Wehrmacht commander.
Main Department Heads, Department Heads, and Consultants are appointed and dismissed by the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories upon proposal by the Reich Commissar. The Reich Commissar appoints one of the Main Department Heads to be his chief of staff. He has the task of assuring the smooth coordination of the individual departments and is responsible for the internal affairs of the office. For this purpose he is entitled to have himself constantly informed about their sphere of activity by the Main Department Heads.
The Higher SS- and Police Leader is directly subordinated to the Reich Commissar. However the chief of staff has the general right to secure information from him also. His official title is:
"The Reich Commissar for the Eastern TerritoryThe Higher SS- and Police Leader."
Great stress is to be placed on close cooperation between him, the Chief of Staff, and the other Main Department Heads of the office of the Reich Commissar, particularly with the one for Policies.
Insofar as the Reich Commissar is prevented from performing his duties for a prolonged period of time, a deputy will be provided by the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories upon his proposal. This deputy signs with the notation: "for the Reich Commissar." The Main Department Heads and Department Heads sign, insofar as the Reich Commissar has not reserved the final signature for himself, or in case it is not a matter of so much importance that it must be signed by the Reich Commissar, with the notation: "By order" [Im Auftrag]. The Main Department Heads regulate the manner of signing for their department and consultant heads. These must likewise always sign with "by order."
2.General Commissars.
The General Commissar forms the administrative office of intermediate appeal. Within his jurisdiction he heads the administration according to the general directives of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories and the prescriptions of the Reich Commissar.
His office is organized like that of the Reich Commissar, except that in the place of Main Departments, there are Departments whose spheres of work in turn are organized into Consulting Offices which are collected into Groups according to necessity. The General Commissar appoints one of the Department heads as Chief of Staff who has the corresponding position and corresponding rights of the Reich Chiefs of Staff of the Reich Commissars.
For purposes of representation of the General Commissar in cases of prolonged incapacity, the same provisions apply as for representation of the Reich Commissar.
The SS- and Police Leader assigned to the General Commissar is directly subordinated to him; however the Chief of Staff has the general right of requiring information from him. The SS- and Police Leader employs the following official designation:
"The General Commissar . . . .The SS- and Police Leader."
Department Heads, Group Heads and Consultants sign with the remark: "By order." The Department Heads regulate the manner of signing for their consultants.
3.Regional Commissars.
The Regional Commissar heads the entire administration of the lower administration office in the Circuit District in accordance with the instructions of the General Commissar and the superior offices. With him therefore lies the main weight of the total administrative set-up. The officials to whom the Regional Commissar has granted the right of signing sign with the notation "By order." The leader of the police unit assigned to him is directly subordinated to him.
4.Main Commissars.
Upon recommendation by the Reich Commissar the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories appoints Main Commissars for Main Districts formed by the consolidation of several Circuit Districts. They are to take care of coordination of administration of the Circuit Districts placed under him by order of the General Commissar. They can have themselves informed concerning all matters by the District Commissars subordinated to them in all decisive points of view of the administration and in urgent cases provide them with instructions. Cautious use is to be made of this right to instruct, as the Main Commissars are not to interpose themselves as a special authority between the District and General Commissars. In every case of instruction to a District Commissar the General Commissar is to be notified in conjunction with an account of the reasons. The Main Commissars are to keep themselves informed of all important matters within the sphere of their authority, by means of numerous conferences, and to inform the General Commissars of important observations. Conduct of business between the General Commissar and the District Commissar takes place directly. General Commissars inform the Main Commissars involved in writing about their orders issued to District Commissars. The same is to take place with bulletins of the District Commissars. The affairs of the Main Commissars are to be elaborated in bulletins.
The responsible office of the Main Commissar requires an understanding of the political and economic-political needs of the region to be supervised, by an exact knowledge of the existing circumstances. The Main Commissar, as representative of the General Commissar, is called upon in his sphere of office to keep Regional and City Commissars spatially in touch with the General Commissar through constant and close liaison with them, and to contribute to the speeding up of necessary decisions, namely such as go beyond the boundaries of the territory. The activity of a Main Commissar, rightly conceived and purposefully conducted, shall and must contribute, to give District and City Commissars increased certainty in their decision, to give the latter a materially and spatially strengthened effect, and to relieve the General Commissar of part of the burden of supervising his subordinated administration. The office of the Main Commissar is politically of special significance. It includes the task of leadership in the official realm subordinated to it.
IV.Relationship of Superiors in the Service.
The Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories is the service superior of the Reich Commissar and the officials and the employees subordinate to them. The Reich Commissar is the superior of all officials and employees of his office and of the offices subordinate to him. The General Commissar is the superior of the officials and employees of his office and of the officials and employees of the offices of the Main and Regional Commissars. The Main Commissar and the Regional Commissar are superior of the officials and employees of their offices.
B.Jurisdictions.
The Reich Commissars, General Commissars, Main Commissars and Regional Commissars (City Commissars) are—aside from the military agencies—the only Reich authorities in the Occupied Eastern Territories. Other Reich authorities may not be established alongside them. They handle all questions of administration of the area which is subordinate to their sovereignty and all affairs which concern the organization and activity of the administration including those of the police in the supervision of the native agencies and organizations, and of the population.
The Reich Minister governs the occupied Eastern Territories by order of the Fuehrer. He can make the law for all the territories.
The Reich Commissar directs and supervises the entire German civil administration as well as the existing and reestablished native administration in his Reich Commissariat. He can decree law (ordinances) for his territory, insofar as the law has not been or will not be decreed by the Reich Minister.
The General Commissar directs the administration of his district and supervises the Main and Regional Commissars as well as the native administration.
The Regional Commissar directs the administration of his territory as a subordinate administrative office and supervises the native offices in the lowest and county echelons.
The following are particularly important administrative tasks:
a.Police measures,
b.Making the economic forces of the territory available for the maintenance of the occupation troops and the purposes of the German war economy,
c.Caring for the population,
d.Securing of supplies and installations of all kinds which are important for life and for war,
e.Collaboration with the maintenance as well as reestablishment of inland water communications of rail and postal communications,
f.Supervision of the civil population, collaboration with the counter intelligence [Abwehr], interesting the population in rendering service,
g.Dissolution of enemy organizations which might still exist.
The Armed Forces Commanders exercise the rights of military sovereignty and the territorial power of command in their areas of jurisdiction. Their demands will be carried out in the civilian sphere by the Reich Commissars and their subordinate agencies. The military agencies are neither superior nor subordinate to the agencies of the civilian administration. The Armed Forces Commanders can provide even civilian agencies with directives in urgent cases, however, in accordance with the Fuehrer's decree of 5 June 1941. All agencies of the civilian administration are obligated to inform the military agencies of all affairs which might affect the sphere of their assignments.
Considerable value is to be laid upon a frictionless collaboration. The Commissars are to have themselves thoroughly informed by the Armed Forces Commanders, respectively by the agencies subordinated to them about their observations, experiences, and the measures already taken after taking over the administration. The laws decreed by them and the administrative orders given by them remain in effect insofar as the decrees and ordinances are not abrogated.
The Fuehrer has entrusted Reich Marshal Hermann Goering, as Commissioner for the Four-year Plan, with the supervision of the tasks of the war economy in the Occupied Eastern Territories. The economic inspectorates and economic commands are active there as his representatives (see green folio). These economic inspectorates and economic commands will be substantially absorbed in the agencies of the civil administration after the establishment of the civil administration.
If basic differences of opinion should arise between the agencies of the civil administration and the military agencies or, insofar as they still exist, the economic inspectorates and economic commands, and these cannot be settled in direct conversations, then it is to be reported to the superior civil authority immediately so that the latter can, in cooperation with the superior military agency, bring about an amicable unification.
C.Business Communications.
After taking over the businesses, the current state of affairs is to be reported briefly to the next superior agency, in particular the taking over of the administration from the hands of the agencies of the military administration as well about the state of the population and the capacity for work of any existing native authorities. It is further to be reported which office buildings have been occupied and which lines of communication are available. The Reich and General Commissars will determine the periods at which the subordinate agencies are to report regularly about the general situation without prejudice to the duty to provide individual reports and special delivery reports (at first, at short intervals which can be later lengthened). At first the Reich Commissars will give the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories a comprehensive report on the situation in brief form twice a month, on the first and fifteenth of each month. The Reich Minister is to be given a report by the Reich Commissar immediately about incidents of an especially important nature. The General Commissars and Regional Commissars must report directly to the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories by the quickest means particularly important incidents, as, for example, widespread unrest, more important acts of sabotage and strikes, great natural catastrophes and the like, and at the same time report them to the next superior agency.
The Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories will publish an official gazette under the title"Official Gazette of the Reich Minister for theOccupied Eastern Territories" (VBldRM Ost),in which all the decrees of the Reich Minister will be published. At first the official gazette will only appear when necessary. In addition there will appear the "Reich Ministerial Gazette of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories (RMBl. dRM Ost)," in which all executive decrees and other administrative directives of general validity will be published.
The Reich Commissars will publish the decree of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, as well as their own decrees and decrees of general interest, in two or more languages according to need in official gazette (Gazette of the Reich Commissar for......).
The General Commissars will publish official papers, likewise in two or more languages, in which they will publish their ordinances and orders of general interest as also the police orders of the Regional Commissars without prejudice to other means of publishing in individual instances.
The title of these official papers will read:
"Official paper of the General Commissar in....."
In cases of doubt theGermantext of the ordinances, decrees, and orders is valid.
Moreover, all publications of German agencies are to be made known in otherwise usual form, e.g. by publishing in the press which has already been allowed, by placard, public reading, loudspeaker and the like.
The Official Gazette of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories is to be kept by all the agencies within the Occupied Eastern territories. The same applies for the gazettes of the Reich Commissars and the official papers of the General Commissars within their official spheres.
"The operation procedure for the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories" will be valid for the internal conduct of business of the agencies of the Reich Commissars; for communications with secret matters "The directives for secret matters for all administrative authorities."
The last is valid until suitable safes are obtained, with the provision that secret documents may be kept in strong and well locked wooden chests, which are to be kept in rooms which are to be kept locked.
All incoming documents are to be opened by an especially trustworthy official of the Central Administration and/or of the main office and then introduced into the prescribed order of business.
Further orders about the internal operating procedure are to be decreed by the director of the office.
Second Section: Working directives for the Civil Administration
I.General.
The first task of the Civil Administration in the occupied Eastern territories is to represent the interests of the Reich. This highest fundamental is to be considered first of all measures and deliberations. It is time the occupied Eastern territories are to be able to lead a certain life of their own in the more distant future in this or that not yet determined form. They remain however parts of the Greater German sphere and are always to be governed from the viewpoint of this main thought.
The regulations of the Hague Rules of Land Warfare which deal with the administration of a country occupied by a foreign armed power are not valid since the USSR is dissolved and the Reich, as a result, has the duty of exercising all the powers of government and the other usual powers of sovereignty in the interest of the inhabitants. All measures therefore, which the German administration deems necessary and suitable for the execution of this comprehensive task are permissible.
II.Political Directives.
(Are being worked on by the political department. See next page).
III.Administration, Law, Finances.
1.Administration.
a.The specially assigned administration of the country will already be broken up upon the beginning of the Civil Administration. Its representatives will have fled or have been removed by the Soviets. Village Soviets will exist only in individual cases. These are to be dissolved immediately as a rule.
b.The Reich Commissars are to make sparing use of the authority to decree laws above all at first, so that the administration is not choked by red tape. The exact knowledge of the territory and its inhabitants, which naturally is not available at present, is essential for an extensive legislation. Likewise the fewest possible binding ordinances are to be decreed. The higher authorities must rather take the path of work directives which will give the subordinate authorities sufficient leeway for the consideration of the local conditions.
c.As far as the boundaries of the Regional Commissariat are concerned, at first the boundaries of the corresponding Soviet administrative regions are to be the basis, since the population is accustomed to these and bases for any other determination of boundaries are lacking. As soon as another determination of boundaries appears more to the purpose, in the course of time, it can be done later.
d.The handling of cases of sabotage is the concern of the Senior SS- and police leader, of the SS- and Police leader and/or the police leaders of the lower echelon. Insofar, however, as collective measures against the population of a definite region appear appropriate, the decision about them rests with the competent Commissar on the proposal of the Police leader. The calling of the population for the tasks of guarding can be ordered by the Regional Commissar.
The assessment of fines of money or goods, as well as the ordering of the seizure of hostages and the shooting of inhabitants of the territory in which the acts of sabotage have taken place, can only be done by the General Commissar, insofar as the Reich Commissar himself does not intervene. The most sparing use of the seizing of hostages is to be made. Above all it is only to be ordered when the desired result can be forced by this measure and when the case is such that if necessary, in the case of negative results, the consequences of the seizure can be neutralized.
e.In cities, villages, worker settlements, city settlements, etc., the interest of reliable persons is to be acquired as soon as possible. From the ranks of these reliable persons a local commissioner (similar to our Buergermeister) and confidential councillors can later be appointed, so that in this way the local life will be set in motion again and the Regional Commissar will have organs under him who will carry out his orders. Insofar as such commissioners and confidential councillors have already been set up by the military administration, they are to be taken over by the Civil Administration at first. In case financial means are necessary for the fulfillment of urgent tasks within individual communities, they are to be supplied by means of credits. The credits are to be charged to the banking institutions of the country, or, in case this is not possible, to the Reich credit bank.
f.Where an urgent need of the population for provision goods exists, this is to be satisfied within the range of possibility so that famines can be avoided. It may be desired to grant assistance in money and in goods to urgently needy persons (unemployed and the like).
g.With the dissolution of the USSR which accompanied the defeat of this state there is no longer any state structure in the Eastern Regions and consequently no state citizenship for the inhabitants. However, for practical reasons with respect to citizenship the further existence of a common state must be assumed for the time being, so that the inhabitants should not be considered as stateless, which is undesirable for various reasons. The final question of state citizenship can only be decided later since it depends on the state development in the East. Since this problem can only be solved for the whole Eastern Territory, the subordinate authorities must refrain from every independent ruling. At a given time the Reich Minister for the Eastern territories will issue appropriate decrees.
The racial Germans present in the Eastern territories do not become German Reich citizens automatically with the dissolution of the USSR, but rather they are, for the present, placed on a par with the other inhabitants as regards citizenship. Petitions from racial Germans for naturalization are not to be accepted at first, since a general regulation will be executed. Independent of this is that racial Germans, confirmed as such without objection, should already enjoy privileges which are generally granted only to Reich citizens.
h.The prohibition of entering or leaving the occupied Eastern territories which was issued by the Supreme Commander of the Army remains effective even after the withdrawal of the military administration. Exceptions to this prohibition of entering and leaving will be granted by the Permit Office attached to the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories and Permit Offices attached to the Reich Commissars and if necessary to other authorities of the occupied Eastern territories. Entering and leaving may only be allowed on urgent political, economical or other service reasons.
The following are not affected by the prohibition of entering and leaving:
(1) Members of the Armed Forces and members of the Armed Forces personnel with proper identification and travel orders.
(2) Members of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories and of the authorities subordinated to it with valid official identification.
No application need be made to the Permit Office or Permit Branch Offices for minor frontier traffic. By "minor frontier traffic" is meant those journeys which have to be made on account of economic contacts over the frontier with the neighbouring countries on either side and are merely to some place lying not more than 50 km. from the frontier. Only the lower-ranking administrative authorities, that is the Regional Commissars, can give permission for frontier traffic.
Permits and frontier traffic passes can be issued for single or several journeys over the frontier. In every case, their validity is limited to a definite period.
The examination of claims, for the issue of permits, is made from political, security police and economic points of view. In cases of doubt, therefore, the Permit Branch Offices attached to the Reich Commissars must obtain the approval of the appropriate department of the Reich Commissars before the permit is issued.
The Permit Branch Offices issue permits merely for journeys from the former territory of the USSR. For journeys into the Occupied Eastern Territories, the Permit Office attached to the Reich Minister is, for the present, the only competent office.
The question, whether a ban on journeys from one Reich Commissariat to another is to be decreed, cannot yet be decided. Only the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories has the authority to make the decision.
i.The attitude of the German authorities to the native population is determined, on the one hand, by the political and economic aims, and, on the other, by the attitude of the inhabitants to the Germans. Unprovoked severe measures against the population of the country are not desired and must therefore not be taken.
For reasons of security, it may be necessary, especially in towns and cities, to establish a curfew-hour, which means that, after that hour the population may no longer walk the public thoroughfares and squares. As the time of the curfew can be decided only in accordance with local requirements, the Regional Commissar must be made responsible for imposing it on the instructions of the Reich Commissar and/or the General Commissar.
The same applies to the police closing-time, i.e. the time after which taverns may no longer be opened and no guests may remain in the tavern rooms. The establishing of the curfew and of the police closing-time is to be effected by Police Decree and/or Police Order with appropriate threat of punishment. Apart from this, breaking the curfew order is punishable under the Decree concerning the liability for registration and limitation of sojourn.
2.Health.
It is of great importance that the health and veterinary services be reestablished as quickly as possible. Doctors, veterinary surgeons or medical personnel on the spot are to be instructed to continue with their work or start it again. In times of emergency, especially in the case of epidemics, a request that doctors, veterinary surgeons and medical supplies be made available is to be sent to the Military Authorities, should it be impossible to overcome the emergency in any other way.
3.Law.
The Reich Commissars are responsible for controlling the Special Courts set up and attached to the Reich Commissars. These are also Senior Officials of the Prosecuting Authorities attached to these Courts. The SS Executive and Police Officers and Senior SS Executive and Police Officers are in charge of the Courts Martial.
It is desirable (in the Eastern regions first of all) that the country's own jurisdiction be reestablished, formed of reliable persons where they can be found. This is all the more necessary in that the German Courts, on account of the scarcity of personnel, can pass judgment only on offences which are punishable under German Laws and the punishment of which is of urgent German interest. The punishment of other criminals, however, can only remain in abeyance for a short period. The concerns of the civil administration of justice can remain in the background for the time being and some honorary Courts of Justice may suffice at first. Wherever the country's own jurisdiction is still intact, which may be the case in the East, it is to be instructed to continue its work immediately after unreliable elements have been removed.
Those arrested by the Soviet Legal Authorities on account of sentence which has been passed may only be released after each individual case has been examined.
This examination is to be carried out with the greatest speed in regard to convicted nationalists and other political prisoners. In cases of doubt the opinion of the Political Department attached to the Reich Commissar or the General Commissar or the Executive SS and Police Officer should be obtained.
The District Commissar is responsible for the supervision of all prisons, insofar as the Reich Commissar does not decree otherwise.
As it is impossible at the moment to produce a comprehensive new Penal Code, the Soviet Penal Law (in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania the pre-Soviet Laws) are for the time being still applicable to the country's own courts, nevertheless without those regulations which apply to political offences. This also applies with regard to the Civil Law, the right of voluntary jurisdiction and to the right of procedure.
4.Finance.
It is intended to draw up a unified General Budget for the complete Administration of the Eastern Territories, in other words from the Reich Minister downwards to the District Commissar. Whether there is any point in separating this plan into separate budgets for the various Reich Commissariats, or whether credit accounts will simply be established for the subordinate administrative bodies, can only be decided after the whole Administration has been set up. The basic principle of this General Budget must be that the cost of the whole administration shall be borne by the country itself. Until such a budget has been drawn up and further regulations have been issued regarding the use of the income derived from taxes and from balances from the State undertakings, the Reich will use credits to cover public expenditure. These credits which will be allotted to the Reich Commissars and from there on to the subordinate offices by the Reich Commissar for the Occupied Eastern Territories are to be administered in accordance with the directives as per printed Appendix.
Until further notice taxes are to continue to be paid by the inhabitants in accordance with the existing Soviet taxation system (in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in accordance with the taxation system of the pre-Soviet era) if nothing is decided to contrary. The taxation officials in question who are still capable of working are to take up their duties immediately and/or continue them. The same applies to the utilization of the balances from the State undertakings.
The country's own authorities are forbidden to dispose of the amounts collected without the permission of the German authorities (for the time being Reich Commissars).
5.Learning and Education.
Schooling will, in most parts of the country, have ceased due to the military events. There is in general no particular need for schooling to be put into operation again quickly, as long as there are other urgent tasks to carry out. In the East the resumption of schooling in the near future should be aimed at, insofar as there are suitable and reliable teachers to hand. For the time being further directives from the Reich Minister should be awaited with regard to Universities and other Academic Institutions and with regard to cultural establishments.
IV.Economic Administration.
As the Reich Marshall in his capacity as Plenipotentiary for the Four-year Plan has been charged by the Fuehrer with the supreme coordination of the Economy of the whole Eastern Region, his directives are applicable to the economic measures which are laid down in the printed collective folder attached. When carrying out these directives the general political aim as laid down in figure 2. of this section should be minutely observed. If in individual cases, the aims of economic policy conflict, in the opinion of the German department dealing with the matter, with this general political goal, the Reich Commissar should be informed, where a matter of principle is involved, and his decision requested.
V.Engineering and Communications.
With regard to urgent constructional measures, particularly the repairing and improving of highways, the necessary directives are likewise given in the "Green file," published by the Reichsmarschall. The departments of the Civil Administration should most emphatically support the carrying out of these directives.
The Reich Railways and the Reich Post Office are under the control of the military departments for the duration of the war. Thus the Reich Commissars and the authorities under their orders have no power to issue instructions to the Reich Railways and the Reich Post Office. Each Reich Commissar, however, is allotted a delegate of the Reich Railways and the Reich Post Office who will hear the wishes of the Civil Administration and submit them to his administration.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 1058-PS
Extract from a speech of Reichsleiter Rosenberg before the closest participants in the problem of the East, on 20 June, 1941.
Extract from a speech of Reichsleiter Rosenberg before the closest participants in the problem of the East, on 20 June, 1941.
The job of feeding the German people stands, this year, without a doubt, at the top of the list of Germany's claims on the East; and here the southern territories and the northern Caucasus will have to serve as a balance for the feeding of the German people. We see absolutely no reason for any obligation on our part to feed also the Russian people with the products of that surplus-territory. We know that this is a harsh necessity, bare of any feelings. A very extensive evacuation will be necessary, without any doubt, and it is sure that the future will hold very hard years in store for the Russians. A later decision will have to determine to which extent industries can still be maintained there (wagon factories etc.). The consideration and execution of this policy in the Russian area proper is for the German Reich and its future a tremendous and by no means negative task, as might appear, if one takes only the harsh necessity of the evacuation in consideration. The conversion of Russian dynamics towards the East is a task which requires the strongest characters. Perhaps, this decision will also be approved by acomingRussian later, not in 30 but maybe in a 100 years. For the Russian soul has been torn in the struggle of the last 200 years. The original Russians are excellent artistic craftsmen, dancers and musicians. They have certain hereditary talents, but these talents are different from those of the Western people. The fight between Turgnjew and Dostejewsky was symbolic for the nation. The Russian soul found no outlet either way. If we now close the West to the Russians, they might become conscious of their own inborn, proper forces and of the area to which they belong. A historian will maybe see this decision in a different light, in hundreds of years than it might appear to a Russian today.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 1060-PS
1938 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGES 249-250, of 16 March 1938Supplementary Ordinance to the Law concerning the reunion of Austria with the German Reich, of 16 March 1938
1938 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGES 249-250, of 16 March 1938
Supplementary Ordinance to the Law concerning the reunion of Austria with the German Reich, of 16 March 1938
On the basis of the law of 13 March 1938 (Reichsgesetzblatt I. p. 237) concerning the reunion of Austria with the German Reich, I order:
Paragraph 1
1. The Reichsminister of the Interior is the central office for the accomplishment of the Reunion of Austria with the German Reich.
2. He can delegate his authority to a deputy, whose office is in Vienna and who holds the official title of "Reichs deputy for Austria."
Paragraph 2
The deputy for the four-year plan can delegate authority to the Reichs deputy for Austria.
Paragraph 3
The Reichs deputy for Austria is therefore appointed jointly by the Reichs minister of the interior and the deputy for the four-year plan.
Munich, 16 March 1938The Fuehrer and Reichs ChancellorAdolf HitlerThe Reichs Minister of the InteriorFrickThe Deputy for the Four-year PlanGoeringGeneral Field Marshal
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 1061-PS
THE WARSAW GHETTO IS NO MORE
For the Fuehrer and their country the following fell in the battle for the destruction of Jews and bandits in the former Ghetto of Warsaw:
[follow 15 names]
Furthermore, the Polish Police Sergeant Julian Zielinski, born 13 November 1891, 8th Commissariat * * * fell on 19 April 1943 while fulfilling his duty. * * * They gave their utmost, their life. We shall never forget them. The following were wounded:
[follow the names of—60 Waffen SS personnel.11 "Watchmen" from Training Camps, probably Lithuanians, to judge by their names.12 Security Police Officers in SS Units.5 men of the Polish Police2 regular Army personnel engineers]
[Translator's note: This obviously means, 36 officers, 2054 men]
[Translator's note: This obviously means, 36 officers, 2054 men]
The creation of special areas to be inhabited by Jews, and the restriction of the Jews with regard to residence and trading is nothing new in the history of the East. Such measures were first taken far back in the Middle Ages; they could be observed as recently as during the last few centuries. These restrictions were imposed with the intention of protecting the aryan population against the Jews.
Identical considerations led us as early as February, 1940 to conceive the project of creating a Jewish residential district in Warsaw. The initial intention was to establish as the Ghetto that part of the City of Warsaw which has the Vistula as its Eastern frontier. The particular situation on prevailing in Warsaw seemed at first to frustrate this plan. It was moreover opposed by several authorities particularly by the City Administration. They pointed in particular that disturbances in industry and trade would ensue if a Ghetto were founded in Warsaw, and that it would be impossible to provide the Jews with food if they were assembled in a closed area.
At a conference held in March 1940, it was decided to postpone the plan of creating a Ghetto for the time being, owing to the above objections. At the same time a plan was considered to declare the District of Lublin the collecting area for all Jews within the Government General, especially for the evacuated or fugitive Jews arriving from the Reich. But as early as April 1940, the Higher SS and Police Leader, East, Cracow, issued a declaration that there was no intention of assembling the Jews within the Lublin District. In the meantime, the Jews had increasingly taken to crossing the frontiers without permission and illegally. This noted especially at the limits of the Districts of Lowicz and Skierniewice. Conditions in the town of Lowicz became dangerous from the point of view of hygiene as well as from that of the Security Police, owing to these illegal migrations of Jews. The District President of Lowicz therefore, began to install Ghettos in his district in order to avoid these dangers.
The experiences in the district of Lowicz, after Ghettos had been installed, showed that this method is the only one suitable for dispelling the dangers which emanate repeatedly from the Jews.
The necessity of erecting a Ghetto in the City of Warsaw as well became more and more urgent in the summer of 1940, since more and more troops were being assembled in the district of Warsaw after termination of the French campaign. At that time the Department for Hygiene urged the speedy erection of a Ghetto in the interest of preserving the health of the German Forces and of the native population as well. The original plan of establishing the Ghetto in the suburb of Praga as intended in February 1940, would have taken at least 4 to 5 months, since almost 600,000 persons had to be moved. But since experience showed that greater outbreaks of epidemics might be expected in the winter months and since for this reason the District Medical Officer urged that the resettling action ought to be completed by 15 November 1940 at the latest, the plan of establishing a suburban ghetto in Praga was dropped; and instead, the area which hitherto had been used as a quarantine area for epidemics was selected for use as a Jewish residential area. In October 1940, the Governor ordered the Commissioner of the District, President for the City of Warsaw, to complete the resettlement necessary for establishing the Ghetto within the City of Warsaw by 15 November 1940.
The Ghetto thus established in Warsaw was inhabited by about 400,000 Jews. It contained 27,000 apartments with an average of 2-1/2 rooms each. It was separated from the rest of the city by partition and other walls and by walling-up of thoroughfares, windows, doors, open spaces, etc.
It was administered by the Jewish Board of Elders, who received their instructions from the Commissioner for the Ghetto, who was immediately subordinated to the Governor. The Jews were granted self-administration in which the German supervising authorities intervened only where German interests were touched. In order to enable the Jewish Board of Elders to execute its orders, a Jewish Police force was set up, identified by special armbands and a special beret and armed with rubber truncheons. This Jewish Police force was charged with maintaining order and security within the Ghetto and was subordinated to the German and Polish Police.
II
It soon became clear, however, that not all dangers had been removed by this confining the Jews to one place. Security considerations required removing the Jews from the city of Warsaw altogether. The first large resettlement action took place in the period from 22 July to 3 October 1942. In this action 310,322 Jews were removed. In January 1943 a second resettlement action was carried out by which altogether 6,500 Jews were affected.
When the Reichsfuehrer SS visited Warsaw in January 1943 he ordered the SS and Police Leader for the District of Warsaw totransfer to Lublin the armament factories and other enterprises of military importance which were installed within the Ghetto including their personnel and machines. The execution of this transfer order proved to be very difficult, since the managers as well as the Jews resisted in every possible way. The SS and Police Leader thereupon decided to enforce the transfer of the enterprises in a large-scale action which he intended to carry out in three days. The necessary preparations had been taken by my predecessor, who also had given the order to start the large-scale action. I myself arrived in Warsaw on 17 April 1943 and took over the command of the action on 19 April 1943, 0800 hours, the action itself having started the same day at 0600 hours.
Before the large-scale action began, the limits of the former Ghetto had been blocked by an external barricade in order to prevent the Jews from breaking out. This barricade was maintained from the start to the end of the action and was especially reinforced at night.
When we invaded the Ghetto for the first time, the Jews and the Polish bandits succeeded in repelling the participating units, including tanks and armored cars, by a well-prepared concentration of fire. When I ordered a second attack, about 0800 hours, I distributed the units, separated from each other by indicated lines, and charged them with combing out the whole of the Ghetto, each unit for a certain part. Although firing commenced again, we now succeeded in combing out the blocks according to plan. The enemy was forced to retire from the roofs and elevated bases to the basements, dug-outs, and sewers. In order to prevent their escaping into the sewers, the sewerage system was dammed up below the Ghetto and filled with water, but the Jews frustrated this plan to a great extent by blowing up the turning off valves. Late the first day we encountered rather heavy resistance, but it was quickly broken by a special raiding party. In the course of further operations we succeeded in expelling the Jews from their prepared resistance bases, sniper holes, and the like, and in occupying during the 20 and 21 April the greater part of the so-called remainder of the Ghetto to such a degree that the resistance continued within these blocks could no longer be called considerable.
The main Jewish battle group, mixed with Polish bandits, had already retired during the first and second day to the so-called Muranowski Square. There, it was reinforced by a considerable number of Polish bandits. Its plan was to hold the Ghetto by every means in order to prevent us from invading it. The Jewish and Polish standards were hoisted at the top of a concrete building as a challenge to us. These two standards, however, were captured on the second day of the action by a special raiding party. SS Untersturmfuehrer Dehmke fell in this skirmish with the bandits; he was holding in his hand a hand-grenade which was hit by the enemy and exploded, injuring him fatally. After only a few days I realized that the original plan had no prospect of success, unless the armament factories and other enterprises of military importance distributed throughout the Ghetto were dissolved. It was therefore necessary to approach these firms and to give them appropriate time for being evacuated and immediately transferred. Thus one of these firms after the other was dealt with, and we very soon deprived the Jews and bandits of their chance to take refuge time and again in these enterprises, which were under the supervision of the Armed Forces. In order to decide how much time was necessary to evacuate these enterprises thorough inspections were necessary. The conditions discovered there are indescribable. I cannot imagine a greater chaos than in the Ghetto of Warsaw. The Jews had control of everything, from the chemical substances used in manufacturing explosives to clothing and equipment for the Armed Forces. The managers knew so little of their own shops that the Jews were in a position to produce inside these shops arms of every kind, especially hand grenades, Molotov cocktails, and the like.
Moreover, the Jews had succeeded in fortifying some of these factories as centers of resistance. Such a center of resistance in an Army accommodation office had to be attacked as early as the second day of the action by an Engineer's Unit equipped with flame throwers and by artillery. The Jews were so firmly established in this shop that it proved to be impossible to induce them to leave it voluntarily; I therefore resolved to destroy this shop the next day by fire.
The managers of these enterprises, which were generally also supervised by an officer of the Armed Forces, could in most cases make no specified statements on their stocks and the whereabouts of these stocks. The statements which they made on the number of Jews employed by them were in every case incorrect. Over and over again we discovered that these labyrinths of edifices belonging to the armament concerns as residential blocks, contained rich Jews who had succeeded in finding accommodations for themselves and their families under the name of "armament workers" and were leading marvelous lives there. Despite all our orders to the managers to make the Jews leave those enterprises, we found out in several cases that managers simply concealed the Jews by shutting them in, because they expected that the action would be finished within a few days and that they then would be able to continue working with the remaining Jews. According to the statements of arrested Jews, women also seem to have played a prominent part. The Jews are said to have endeavored to keep up good relations with officers and men of the armed forces. Carousing is said to have been frequent, during the course of which business deals are said to have been concluded between Jews and Germans.
The number of Jews forcibly taken out of the buildings and arrested was relatively small during the first few days. It transpired that the Jews had taken to hiding in the sewers and in specially erected dug-outs. Whereas we had assumed during the first days that there were only scattered dug-outs, we learned in the course of the large-scale action that the whole Ghetto was systematically equipped with cellars, dug-outs, and passages. In every case these passages and dug-outs were connected with the sewer system. Thus, the Jews were able to maintain undisturbed subterranean traffic. They also used this sewer network for escaping subterraneously into the Aryan part of the city of Warsaw. Continuously, we received reports of attempts of Jews to escape through the sewer holes. While pretending to build air-raid shelters they had been erecting dug-outs within the former Ghetto ever since the autumn of 1942. These were intended to conceal every Jew during the new evacuation action, which they had expected for quite a time, and to enable them to resist the invaders in a concerted action. Through posters, handbills, and whisper propaganda, the communistic resistance movement actually brought it about that the Jews entered the dug-outs as soon as the new large-scale operation started. How far their precautions went can be seen from the fact that many of the dug-outs had been skilfully equipped with furnishings sufficient for entire families, washing and bathing facilities, toilets, arms and munition supplies, and food supplies sufficient for several months. There were differently equipped dug-outs for rich and for poor Jews. To discover the individual dug-outs was difficult for the units, as they had been efficiently camouflaged. In many cases, it was possible only through betrayal on the part of the Jews.
When only a few days had passed, it became apparent that the Jews no longer had any intention to resettle voluntarily, but were determined to resist evacuation with all their force and by using all the weapons at their disposal. So-called battle groups had been formed, led by Polish-Bolshevists; they were armed and paid any price asked for available arms.
During the large-scale action we succeeded in catching some Jews who had already been evacuated and resettled in Lublin or Troolinka, but had broken out from there and returned to the Ghetto, equipped with arms and ammunition. Time and again Polish bandits found refuge in the Ghetto and remained there undisturbed, since we had no forces at our disposal to comb out this maze. Whereas it had been possible during the first days to catch considerable numbers of Jews, who are cowards by nature, it became more and more difficult during the second half of the action to capture the bandits and Jews. Over and over again new battle groups consisting of 20 to 30 or more Jewish fellows, 18 to 25 years of age, accompanied by a corresponding number of women kindled new resistance. These battle groups were under orders to put up armed resistance to the last and if necessary to escape arrest by committing suicide. One such battle group succeeded in mounting a truck by ascending from a sewer in the so-called Prosta, and in escaping with it (about 30 to 35 bandits). One bandit who had arrived with this truck exploded 2 hand grenades, which was the agreed signal for the bandits waiting in the sewer to climb out of it. The bandits and Jews—there were Polish bandits among these gangs armed with carbines, small arms, and in one case a light machine gun, mounted the truck and drove away in an unknown direction. The last member of this gang, who was on guard in the sewer and was detailed to close the lid of the sewer hole, was captured. It was he who gave the above information. The search for the truck was unfortunately without result.
During this armed resistance the women belonging to the battle groups were equipped the same as the men; some were members of the Chaluzim movement. Not infrequently, these women fired pistols with both hands. It happened time and again that these women had pistols or hand grenades (Polish "pineapple" hand grenades) concealed in their bloomers up to the last moment to use against the men of the Waffen SS, Police, or Wehrmacht.
The resistance put up by the Jews and bandits could be broken only by relentlessly using all our force and energy by day and night.On 23 April 1943 the Reichs Fuehrer SS issued through the higher SS and Police Fuehrer East at Cracow his order to complete the combing out of the Warsaw Ghetto with the greatest severity and relentless tenacity.I therefore decided to destroy the entire Jewish residential area by setting every block on fire, including the blocks of residential buildings near the armament works. One concern after the other was systematically evacuated and subsequently destroyed by fire. The Jews then emerged from their hiding places and dug-outs in almost every case. Not infrequently, the Jews stayed in the burning buildings until, because of the heat and the fear of being burned alive they preferred to jump down from the upper stories after having thrown mattresses and other upholstered articles into the street from the burning buildings. With their bones broken, they still tried to crawl across the street into blocks of buildings which had not yet been set on fire or were only partly in flames. Often Jews changed their hiding places during the night, by moving into the ruins of burnt-out buildings, taking refuge there until they were found by our patrols. Their stay in the sewers also ceased to be pleasant after the first week. Frequently from the street, we could hear loud voices coming through the sewer shafts. Then the men of the Waffen SS, the Police or the Wehrmacht Engineers courageously climbed down the shafts to bring out the Jews and not infrequently they then stumbled over Jews already dead, or were shot at. It was always necessary to use smoke candles to drive out the Jews. Thus one day we opened 183 sewer entrance holes and at a fixed time lowered smoke candles into them, with the result that the bandits fled from what they believed to be gas to the center of the former Ghetto, where they could then be pulled out of the sewer holes there. A great number of Jews, who could not be counted, were exterminated by blowing up sewers and dug-outs.
The longer the resistance lasted, the tougher the men of the Waffen SS, Police, and Wehrmacht became; they fulfilled their duty indefatigably in faithful comradeship and stood together as models and examples of soldiers. Their duty hours often lasted from early morning until late at night. At night, search patrols with rags wound round their feet remained at the heels of the Jews and gave them no respite. Not infrequently they caught and killed Jews who used the night hours for supplementing their stores from abandoned dug-outs and for contacting neighboring groups or exchanging news with them.
Considering that the greater part of the men of the Waffen-SS had only been trained for three to four weeks before being assigned to this action, high credit should be given for the pluck, courage, and devotion to duty which they showed. It must be stated that the Wehrmacht Engineers, too, executed the blowing up of dug-outs, sewers, and concrete buildings with indefatigability and great devotion to duty. Officers and men of the Police, a large part of whom had already been at the front, again excelled by their dashing spirit.
Only through the continuous and untiring work of all involved did we succeed in catching a total of 56,065 Jews whose extermination can be proved. To this should be added the number of Jews who lost their lives in explosions or fires but whose numbers could not be ascertained.
During the large-scale operation the Aryan population was informed by posters that it was strictly forbidden to enter the former Jewish Ghetto and that anybody caught within the former Ghetto without valid pass would be shot. At the same time these posters informed the Aryan population again that the death penalty would be imposed on anybody who intentionally gave refuge to a Jew, especially lodged, supported, or concealed a Jew outside the Jewish residential area.
Permission was granted to the Polish police to pay to any Polish policeman who arrested a Jew within the Aryan part of Warsaw one third of the cash in the Jew's possession. This measure has already produced results.
The Polish population for the most part approved the measures taken against the Jews. Shortly before the end of the large-scale operation, the Governor issued a special proclamation which he submitted to the undersigned for approval before publication, to the Polish population; in it he informed them of the reasons for destroying the former Jewish Ghetto by mentioning the assassinations carried out lately in the Warsaw area and the mass graves found in Catyn; at the same time they were asked to assist us in our fight against Communist agents and Jews (see enclosed poster).
The large-scale action was terminated on 16 May 1943 with the blowing up of the Warsaw synagogue at 2015 hours.
Now, there are no more factories in the former Ghetto. All the goods, raw materials, and machines there have been moved and stored somewhere else. All buildings etc., have been destroyed. The only exception is the so-called Dzielna Prison of the Security Police, which was exempted from destruction.
III
Although the large-scale operation has been completed, we have to reckon with the possibility that a few Jews are still living in the ruins of the former Ghetto; therefore, this area must be firmly shut off from the Aryan residential area and be guarded. Police Battalion III/23 has been charged with this duty. This Police Battalion has instructions to watch the former Ghetto, particularly to prevent anybody from entering the former Ghetto, and to shoot immediately anybody found inside the Ghetto without authority. The Commander of the Police Battalion will continue to receive further direct orders from the SS and Police Fuehrer. In this way, it should be possible to keep the small remainder of Jews there, if any, under constant pressure and to exterminate them eventually. The remaining Jews and bandits must be deprived of any chance of survival by destroying all remaining buildings and refuges and cutting off the water supply.
It is proposed to change the Dzielna Prison into a concentration camp and to use the inmates to remove, collect and hand over for reuse the millions of bricks, the scrap-iron, and other materials.
IV
Of the total of 56,065 Jews caught, about 7,000 were exterminated within the former Ghetto in the course of the large-scale action, and 6,929 by transporting them to T.II, which means 14,000 Jews were exterminated altogether. Beyond the number of 56,065 Jews an estimated number of 5,000 to 6,000 were killed by explosions or in fires.
The number of destroyed dug-outs amounts to 631.
Booty: