"Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich (2 page)

2. Other Restrictions on Personal Freedom of Movement

IX. Restrictions on Communication and Information Exchange among “Non-Germans”

PART TWO: The Principle of Special Law against “Non-Germans” in the Field of Justice

Section One: The Implementation of
Völkisch
Inequality in the Altreich

A. Penal Law

I. The General Thrust of National Socialist Policy in Penal Law

1. Rejection of the Established Principles of Law

2. The Main Contours of the National Socialist “Authoritarian Penal Law”

II. “Non-German” Offenders

1. The Introduction of Standards of Special Law

2. Discrimination against “Non-German” Offenders by a Harsher Interpretation of the Regular Law

III. The Situation of “Non-Germans” in Procedural Law

1. The Tightening Up of the Technical Jurisdiction Regulations (Discriminatory Jurisdiction)

2. The Situation of “Non-German” Defendants and Witnesses in the Penal Process

3. Final Objective: Exclusion of “Non-Germans” from the Whole Penal Procedure and Judicial Criminal Prosecution (Thirteenth Decree to the Reich Citizenship law)

Excursus: The “Rectification” of Justice by the NSDAP, the SS, and the Police

1. The Influence of the Party

2. The Influence of Hitler, the SS, and the Police Command

a. The Ousting of the Judiciary from the Field of General Criminal Jurisdiction

b. The Judiciary’s Part in the Process of Its Displacement by the Police

aa. Institutionalized Cooperation: The Obligation to Provide Information and Channels of Information between the Judiciary and the Police and Party

bb. Reactions of the Judicial Administration to Police Intervention: Basic Acceptance and Specific Criticism

cc. Flight Forward as Response: Tightening Up Sentencing Practice

dd. The Justice System Comes under the Control of the Police Command in 1942: Systematization

3. Police “Rectification” Measures in the Prosecution of “Non-Germans”

a. Collaboration between the Reich Ministry of Justice and the Police: “Non-Germans” Are Handed Over to the Gestapo

b. Usurpation of Sentencing Powers in Specific Domains

aa. So-Called Political Crimes (Including
Nacht und Nebel
Cases and Racial and Sexual Offenses)

bb. Labor Law Offenses

c. General Usurpation of Jurisdiction

aa. Decree of the
Reichsführer
-SS and Chief of the German Police, January 19, 1942

bb. The Circular of June 30, 1943, by the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA)

4. Judicial Consequences of the Usurpation of the Prosecution of “Non-Germans” by the Police

B. Civil Law

I. Main Elements of the Transformation of Civil Law on an Ethnic Basis

II. The Principle of
Völkisch
Inequality in the Domain of Substantive Law

1. General Principles

2. The Main Areas of Discriminatory Practices

a. Family Law

b. Inheritance Law

c. Law of Tenancy

d. Labor Law

e. Commercial Law

III. Discriminatory Principles in Procedural Law

1. Discrimination against Jewish Judges and Lawyers

2. Discrimination against Jewish Parties (Legal Aid) and Witnesses: The Plan to Renounce from Legal Proceedings

3. Discrimination against Jewish Participants in the Estate Execution/Administration Process

Section Two: The Implementation of
Völkisch
Inequality in the Annexed Eastern Territories

Introduction: The Political Objectives in the Annexed Eastern Territories: Testing the Ethnic Struggle

A. Stages in the Implementation of
Völkisch
Inequality

I. The Principle of the Analogous Application of German Law (October 1939–May 1940)

II. From the Analogous Application of German Law to Special Law (Summer 1940–Fall 1941)

III. The Establishment of Overt Special Law for “Non-Germans” (after Fall 1941)

B. Penal Law as a Central Element of the Special Law against “Non-Germans”

I. Principles of Substantive Special Penal Law

1. Decrees of the Military Administration

2. Führer Decree on the Division and Administration of the Eastern Territories, October 8, 1939

3. Decree on the Implementation of German Penal Law in the Annexed Eastern Territories, June 6, 1940

4. The “Special Penal Provisions for the Annexed Eastern Territories” in the Decree on the Implementation of German Penal Law in the Annexed Eastern Territories, June 6, 1940

5. The Decree on the Administration of Penal Justice against Poles and Jews (Decree on Penal Law for Poles), December 4, 1941

a. Basic Principles of the Decree on Penal Law for Poles and Its Justification

b. Details of the Decree on Penal Law for Poles

c. Plans by the Ministry of Justice to Extend the Decree on Penal Law for Poles

II. The Status of “Non-German” Individuals in Procedural Law

1. Special Courts as an Instrument for Combating “Non-German” Crime

a. Jurisdiction

b. Proceedings

2. Procedural Discrimination against Poles and Jews under the Decree on Penal Law for Poles

III. The Elaboration of Special Law by the Courts: Overview of Sentencing Practice

Excursus: Encroachment upon the Jurisdiction of the Judiciary: Extension of Police Jurisdiction for Criminal Matters

1. Efforts by the Police to Create a Police “Penal Law for Alien Peoples”

2. Developments before the Coming into Force of the Decree on Penal Law for Poles: Arbitrary Acts and Police Court-Martial Jurisdiction

3. Developments Following the Coming into Force of the Decree on Penal Law for Poles

a. Continuation of Illegal Police Practices

b. Legalization of the Jurisdiction of the Police Courts-Martial

c. The Undermining of the Decree on Penal Law for Poles by Police Orders

C. Civil Law

I. “Analogous Application” of Civil Law

II. Disputes between the Judicial Administration and the Political Powers about the Implementation of Civil Law

III. Decree on the Implementation of Civil Law in the Annexed Eastern Territories, September 15, 1941 (Decree on the Civil Law in the East)

1. Substantive Law

a. The Principle of Political Reservation for the Application of German Law in the Annexed Eastern Territories (Sec. 4)

b. Areas of Application of Section 4

2. Procedural Law

a. Rejection of Polish Claims on the Basis of “General Legal Principles”

b. The Principle of Political Reservation toward Claims by Polish Nationals (Sec. 5)

c. The Principle of Political Reservation for the Recognition of Decisions by Polish Courts and for Their Enforcement

Section Three: The Implementation of
Völkisch
Inequality in the General Government

Introduction: Main Contours of the Legal Policy: Continuation of Domestic Law and Primacy of the German Supervisory Authority

A. The Function and Structure of the German Judiciary

I. Supervision of the Polish Judiciary

II. The Adoption of the Principles of Reich Law

1. Supervisory and Control Powers

2. Review of Unappealable Decisions

3. The Structure and Organization of the German Judiciary

B. Criminal Law as the Principal Tool of Discriminatory Law (Special Law) against “Non-Germans”

I. The Basis of the Substantive Penal Law

II. The Situation of “Non-Germans” under Procedural Law

1. The Special Courts as Instruments in the Struggle against “Non-German” Offenses

a. The Competence of Courts

b. Procedure

2. Jurisdiction and Procedure of the “German Courts”

III. The Elaboration of Discriminatory Law by the Courts: A Review of Sentencing Practice

Excursus: The Criminal Jurisdiction of the Police

1. Summary Police Jurisdiction Following the Decree on Combating Acts of Violence in the General Government, October 31, 1939

2. The Extension of Police Summary Jurisdiction

3. Cooperation and Conflict between the Judiciary and the Police in the Criminal Prosecution of “Non-German” Offenders

C. Civil Law

I. Discriminatory Elements in Substantive Law

II. Discriminatory Elements in Jurisdiction and in Procedural Law

III. Summary

Conclusion

Appendixes

Appendix 1: The Reich Structure (State and Party)

Appendix 2: The Wannsee Protocol of January 20, 1942 (English Version and Original German Version)

Appendix 3: Area and Population of the Eastern Regions and the General Government

Appendix 4: Poster Showing the Execution of Polish Defendants on June 4 and 9, 1942, in Pozna

Appendix 5: The Command and Administrative Structure of Police Forces in the General Government

Appendix 6: Maps

German Administration of Europe, 1942

Greater Germany, 1944

Annexed Eastern Territories and General Government

Notes

Glossary of Traditional German Legal Terms and National Socialist Legal Terminology

Bibliography

Unpublished Sources

Sources Published before 1981

Additions to the Bibliography (1993)

Index

Illustrations

About the Author

Copyright

Preface to the English-Language Edition

The number of studies, conferences, and articles and the amount of research conducted in the United States and in other countries about the Holocaust is seemingly boundless. But this book is not a book
about
the Holocaust; it points the way
to
the Holocaust. It explains the history, legal status, and treatment of “non-Germans” (
Fremdvölkische,
or aliens), in the Third Reich from 1933 to 1945; it describes the judicial theories and the administrative systems and court decisions concerning the treatment of “non-Germans” in the spheres of civil law, penal law, police law, fiscal law, the social and cultural sectors, and the like. This treatment was based on the principle of “special law” (
Sonderrecht
), or on “racial” or “ethnic” inequality. This meant nothing other than the misuse—even the dissolution—of the general law by extralegal or contralegal means or by retreating into secret directives of the administration or into single police actions.