Chapter XIII: Section I: Article 1

1. Unless heavier punishment is provided for in other provisions, imprisonment up to 2 years shall be imposed upon anybody deliberately making false or grossly distorted statements, which are apt to debase the welfare of the Reich or the prestige of the Reich government, the NSDAP or its affiliated agencies. Whoever makes or disseminates such statements in public, will be imprisoned for not less than 3 months.

2. Anyone committing the offense with gross neglect shall be punished with imprisonment up to 3 months, or with a fine.

3. If the offense is directed solely against the prestige of the NSDAP or its affiliated agencies, the offender shall be prosecuted only with the consent of the Fuehrer’s Deputy or of agencies authorized by him.

Article 2

1. Whoever makes statements showing a malicious, inciting or low-minded attitude toward leading personalities of the State or the NSDAP, or about orders issued by them or about institutions created by them, which are apt to undermine the confidence of the people in its political leadership--shall be punished with imprisonment.

2. Statements of this kind which are not made in public shall be punished equally if the offender reckons or has to reckon that his statements will eventually circulate in public.

3. The offender shall be prosecuted only by order of the Reich Minister of Justice; in case the offense was committed against a leading personality of the NSDAP, the Reich Minister of Justice will issue the order in agreement with the Fuehrer’s Deputy.

4. The Reich Minister of Justice in agreement with the Fuehrer’s Deputy shall determine who is to be regarded as a leading personality according to paragraph 1.

Article 3

1. Anyone who, when committing or threatening to commit a punishable act, is wearing or is carrying on his person the uniform or an insignia of the NSDAP, without being entitled to do so as a member of the NSDAP or its affiliated agencies, will be punished with hard labor or in minor instances with imprisonment for at least 6 months.

2. Anyone who commits the offense with the intention to bring about disorder or to sow fear or terror among the population, or to create difficulties for the German Reich with a foreign power, shall be punished with hard labor for at least 3 years or with hard labor for life; in particularly grave cases the death penalty may be imposed.

3. According to this law, a German national may be punished also if he committed the offense in a foreign country.

Article 4

1. Anyone who for his material advantage or for political ends poses as a member of the NSDAP or its agencies, shall be punished with imprisonment up to 1 year, plus a fine or both.

2. The offender shall be prosecuted only with the consent of the Fuehrer’s deputy or of agencies authorized by him.

Article 5

1. Anyone who manufactures, holds in stock, sells or otherwise brings on the market official Party uniforms, parts of Party uniforms, uniform cloth, or insignia of the NSDAP, its affiliated agencies or organization, without the permission of the Reich Treasurer of the NSDAP, shall be punished with imprisonment up to 2 years. By a directive to be published in the Reichsgesetzblatt the Reich Treasurer of the NSDAP in agreement with the Reich Minister of Economics will determine for what parts of uniform and uniform cloth a permission is required.

2. Anyone who has in his possession official Party uniforms and insignia without being a member of the NSDAP or its affiliated agencies or organizations, or without being entitled to possess them for any other reason, shall be punished with imprisonment of up to 1 year. Anyone who wears any of the above-mentioned items, shall be punished with imprisonment for at least 1 month.

3. To be put on a par with Party uniforms, parts of uniforms and insignia, are those uniforms, parts of uniforms, and insignia which can easily be taken for them.

4. In addition to the penalty those uniforms, parts of uniforms, uniform cloth, flags, or insignia which are involved in the punishable act shall be confiscated. In case no particular person can be prosecuted or condemned, the confiscation shall take place automatically, provided conditions justify it.

5. The confiscated items shall be turned over to the Reich Treasurer of the NSDAP or to those agencies appointed by him, for future use.

6. The prosecution of the offense and the confiscation (article 4, paragraph 2) can be carried through only in agreement with the Fuehrer’s deputy or agencies authorized by him.

Article 6

According to this law, anyone who has obtained membership of the Party through false pretenses, is not a member of the NSDAP, its affiliated agencies or organizations.

Article 7

The Fuehrer’s deputy, in agreement with the Reich Minister of Justice and the Reich Minister of the Interior, shall issue the regulations necessary for the application and supplementation of articles 1 to 6.

Section II

Article 8

1. The regulations set forth in this law, with the exception of article 5, paragraph 1, apply accordingly to the Reich League for Air Defense [Reichsluftschutzbund], the League of German Sports Fliers [Deutscher Luftsportverband], the Voluntary Labor Service [Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst], and the Technical Emergency Corps [Technische Nothilfe--TeNo].

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