"Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich (222 page)

9.
Frank at a meeting of department heads, January 19, 1940, quoted from “Report 1939–45” by the deputy head of the Department of Economics in the Warsaw District, spring 1945 (BA Ostdok. 13 GG, IX a/5, 35).

10.
According to the “Report 1939–45” (ibid., 25), the war economy in the General Government foundered on conflicting goals of economic policy, supply shortages, red tape (lack of “the open-handedness necessary for warfare”), and a lack of self-discipline on the part of personnel. Concerning the economic policy in the General Government, see the highly critical report by Justus Schmitt, head of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Czenstochau (Cz
stochowa) (Institute for Western Studies, Pozna
, reproduced in
Doc. Occ
. 6:350 ff.), who attributed the failures to the tearing apart of the economic area, a flawed food and price policy, bad working conditions, and the general misery to which the population had been reduced. See the quarterly reports of the Armaments Commando (
Rüstungskommando
), Kraków, of July 1 and September 30, 1942, and October 1 and December 31, 1942, which include details of the woeful supply, energy, and transport situation and the undernourishment of the population (ZS, Versch. 3, 504, 577 ff., 594, 601 ff.); cf. also situation report of the Office for Price Control in the Warsaw District for March 1941, April 4, 1942, ZS, Akte Auerswald 365e; and the moving report “Erfahrungsbericht 1939–45” (BA Ostdok. 13 GG, IX a/5, 35).

11.
Decree on Seizure of the Assets of the Former Polish State within the General Government, November 15, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 37). The expropriated asset had to be reported to the the trustee company offices (First Administrative Regulation of March 16, 1940,
VBl.GG
2 [1940]: no. 21/40; also Nuremberg doc., NG-2043); in accordance with his wish to place the entire assets of the state, in particular real estate, under the control of the administration of the General Government (conference of August 4, 1940, “Diensttagebuch 1940 II”), Frank issued a decree on September 24, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 313 f.), that stipulated that all confiscated assets of the Polish state were the
property
of the General Government (by contrast, in the Eastern Territories the formal transfer of title of confiscated Polish assets was never pronounced, although in practice these assets were treated as property of the Reich). A decree issued by the Reich Ministry of the Interior on May 8, 1942, declared that the German municipalities of the General Government were the rightful owners of Polish municipal assets (Nuremberg doc., NG-2043). Cf. also decree of August 31, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 265 ff.), which coupled a pronouncement that the assets of the enemy states had to be registered with a restraining order.

12.
VBl.GG
1 (1940): 27 f.; a trustee was appointed for the confiscated assets.

13.
Cf. administrative act of the General Government of February 8, 1941, regarding the setting up of two commissions: one to work out legal guidelines for the seizures in the General Government and the other to establish basic principles for compensation (ZS, Polen 256, 19).

14.
German Superior Court (
Deutsches Obergericht
) Kraków,
DR
(1942) (A): 1463 f.

15.
Decree on Real Estate Transactions in the General Government, March 27, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 115). Franke, “Staatsverwaltung,”
Das GG
(1941), November 1941, Folge 13/14, 7 ff. Decree on the Acquisition of Commercial Enterprises in the General Government, April 23, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 171 ff.).

16.
Decree of January 20, 1943 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 45). Concerning the dissolution of Polish enterprises and industries, cf. Madajczyk,
Polityka
, 1:560 ff.

17.
Reichsführer
-SS/RKF to chief of the Security Police, October 11, 1939 (Nuremberg doc., NO-5026).

18.
Cf. administrative act of the General Government of February 8, 1941 (ZS, Polen, 256, 9). The formulation of the draft was relatively constitutional, since it followed an ordered process; he planned temporary or permanent expropriation “in the public interest” as a rule for “appropriate compensation.” The person affected had a right of appeal (draft with exchange of letters between Krüger and Pers. Stab RFSS [Brandt], October 1942 to January 1943, IfZ, Ma 300, 3965–4004).

19.
Sec. 1 of the draft contains the following terse formulation: “Assets can be expropriated for the benefit of the General Government.” In the justification it was stated that the seizure order of January 24, 1940, was of little use, since the title of the previous owner did not lapse; no compensation should be paid except in cases of “extreme economic hardship.” And even in such cases the redress should consist only in providing a more advantageous workplace. The new expropriation order was intended to be as “comprehensive as possible,” in the sense of “uniform control” (by which Krüger meant the police, for authority in the matter lay with the RFSS/RKF, the expropriations being “planning instruments of economic and settlement policy”; IfZ).

20.
German Superior Court (
Deutsches Obergericht
) Kraków,
DR
(1942) (A): 1463 f.

21.
Agreement between the Main Trustee Office East (HTO) and the government of the General Government, October 10, 1942 (BA R 2/5100).

22.
Cf. Seizure Order for Real Estate for the Benefit of the General Government (
Anordnungsblatt für die Stadt Kielce
, December 21, 1943; Institute for Western Studies, Pozna
).

23.
“Report on the Development of the General Government” of July 1, 1940, 2:75 ff. (BA R 52 II/249).

24.
According to the “Report 1939–45” (BA Ostdok. 13 GG IX a/5), seizures were made only where “German interests demanded … a dictatorial intervention in the power of control.” Instructions had been given to “spare Polish assets … and these had been followed to the letter” (p. 135).

25.
For a detailed account of the confiscation of Jewish property in the General Government, see Arndt, “Entziehung und Verbringung jüdischen Vermögens (Ausland und Deutschland)” (1963), expert report, 92 ff. (104 ff., 108 ff., 111–13).

26.
“Report on the Development of the General Government,” July 1, 1940, 2:116 ff. (BA R 52 II/249).

27.
Decree on Compulsory Registration of Jewish Assets, January 24, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 28); the decree of August 1, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 246 f.), introduced general controls on gold and precious metals in the General Government (prohibition of transfer abroad) and compulsory registration of such assets held abroad. It stipulated that Jews were obliged to place all their assets on deposit at a single bank by December 31, 1939. Cash amounts in excess of 2,000 złoty had to be paid into an account immediately on receipt. A maximum of 250 złoty per week could be withdrawn from frozen accounts. Permission had to be obtained for transactions involving frozen accounts. The decree of September 12, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 539; for Galicia, the decree of August 28, 1941,
VBl.GG
[1941]: 514), introduced compulsory registration for precious metals—a de facto trading ban for Jews. According to a directive issued by the head of the Foreign Exchange Control Department in the office of the governor general on March 1, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 141), Jews had to obtain permission from the Foreign Exchange Control Office in Kraków to purchase gold and other precious metals; a foreign exchange decree for the General Government issued on November 15, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 51), introduced—among other things—exchange controls (compulsory authorization for purchase and disposal of foreign currency and for import and export of means of payment, etc.). The Second Foreign Exchange Decree of February 28, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 88 ff.), included penalty clauses; cf. also Decree on the Granting of Immunity for Violations of Foreign Exchange Regulations of April 23, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 151 f.), which aimed to prevent hoarding of foreign currency and other assets as a result of the general erosion of the currency; details of foreign exchange controls are given in instructions 1, 2, and 3, issued on November 20, 1939, by the head of the Foreign Exchange Control Department (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 53 ff., 55). In view of the general anti-Jewish policy, it was taken as read that authorization to purchase gold, precious metals, and foreign currency would not be granted to Jews.

28.
Jews’ accounts were blocked by instructions 4 and 5, issued by the head of the Foreign Exchange Control Department in the office of the governor general on November 20, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 57 f.); cf. also Arndt, “Entziehung und Verbringung jüdischen Vermögens.” Sec. 8 of the Decree on the Seizure of Private Property in the General Government, issued on January 24, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 27 f.); seizures were the responsibility of the
Kreishauptleute
(or, as the case may be, the
Stadthauptleute
); cf. also a decree issued by the governor general on September 2, 1941 (ZS, Polen 256, 186); cf. also a corresponding proclamation of the
Stadthauptmann
in Kraków, February 15, 1940 (Main Commission Warsaw, Plakatsammlung III, 24/t, doc. 24/t/34).

29.
“Report on the Development of the General Government,” July 1, 1940, 2:222 f. (BA R 22/249).

30.
Real estate was also confiscated if it was managed by Jews; they were treated as the owners—cf. the seizure by the Central Office of the
Haupttreuhandstelle
Ost (Main Trustee Office East) of a property whose Swedish owner had appointed a Jewish woman as manager (Mitteilungsblatt HTO, December 12, 1942, no. 5, Nuremberg doc., NO-5937).

31.
“Report 4/62” of the deputy head of the Department of Economics in the Warsaw District, spring 1945 (BA Ostdok. 13 GG IX a/5, 49 ff.). According to this report, 1,000 firms in the Warsaw District and 14,000 properties with annual rental incomes of approx. 88 million złoty were seized and used for the purposes mentioned. The Poles are said to have welcomed the seizures.

32.
VBl.GG
1 (1940): 27 f.

33.
Budget discussion on January 26, 1943, in Warsaw; comments in Frank, “Diary.”

34.
See also “Die Treuhandverwaltung des Grundbesitzes im General Government,” no date (probably 1942), Institute for Western Studies, Pozna
. On November 15, 1939, Treuhandstelle für das GG was opened as a main trustee office in Kraków (Arndt, “Entziehung und Verbringung jüdischen Vermögens,” 104).