Chapter LVI: Section 60: , Penal Code. Costs: Section 465, Code of Criminal Procedure (2)

Jews are not entitled to lodge a plea for appeal, revision, and complaint (nullity plea and appeal under the still valid parts of Austrian law) against the decisions of the courts.

Jews cannot apply for a judicial decision against penal measures inflicted by the police.

Article 2

Jews cannot make use of the legal rights provided against decisions made by the administrative authorities.

Article 3

Insofar as legal right has already been exercised or an application for legal decision has been requested when this law comes into effect, they are considered to be withdrawn.

Article 4

Jews are not entitled to take an oath.

Article 5

The regulation concerning perjury and false oath applies to untrue statements of Jews not made under oath, if a person entitled to take an oath could have been sworn to this statement. In the same manner the regulations concerning the making of a false declaration in lieu of oath are to be applied to the untrue declaration of a Jew, if the declaration was the substitute for a declaration in lieu of oath or a statement with reference to such a declaration.

Article 6

The regulations do not apply to Jews who are citizens of a foreign nation.

Article 7

The supreme authorities of the Reich are authorized to issue regulations for the execution within their jurisdiction.

[Typed] signed: DR. SCHLEGELBERGER

344531

5. Letter from Reich Leader SS to Lammers, 25 August 1942

13/9 RK. 12020 B 27 August 1942 [Initial] FI [Ficker]

The Reich Leader SS and Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior

20/9 S IV B 4 b--Ref. No. 1268/42 Please quote above reference and date in reply. [Handwritten] Submitted last to RM 11853 tz 1b

Berlin SW 11, 25 August 1942
Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 8
Tel. 12 00 40

1508/7

_Urgent Letter_

To the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery

Berlin [Initial] L [Lammers] 30 August

Subject: Limitation of legal rights for Jews

Reference: Urgent letter of the Reich Minister for Popular
Enlightenment and Propaganda sent to you on 21
August 1942--R 1400/13 August 1942, 122--1,9.

Considering the fact that up to now, the competent authorities disagree and that moreover a number of further questions must be regarded as not clarified, I consider the suggestions which have been made up to now as not yet arrived at a stage when they could be submitted to the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich, and for this reason I have asked the Reich Minister of Justice to arrange for a discussion for the clarification of these essential questions.

BY ORDER:

[Typed] Signed: SUHR

Certified:

[Illegible signature]
Employee of the Chancery
Resubmitted because of RM 11850 (marked red), Office 13/19

[Stamp]

The Reich Leader SS [Initial] F [Frick] Sept. 12 and Chief of the German Police

6. Letter from Martin Bormann to the Reich Ministry of Justice,
9 September 1942

_National Socialist German Labor Party_

Party Chancellery

The Chief of the Party Chancellery

Fuehrer Headquarters
9 September 1942.
III C-Do. 2425/0/1

_Copy_

To the Minister of Justice Berlin W 8 Wilhelmstr. 65

Subject: Limitation of legal appeal for Jews. RM 11405 B

Reference: Your letter of 13 August 1942--III a _2_ 1706.42--.

The limitation for legal appeal for Jews proposed by you extends in the sphere of court decisions only to the legal appeal in a limited sense--that is to say to appeal, revision, and complaint. This regulation does not represent a comprehensive solution of the problem, since the Jews will still be given the possibility of making use of legal aids [Rechtsbehelfen] in a wider sense.

The considerations which are decisive for your draft also apply to almost all cases of “legal aids.” In criminal cases this applies above all to objections against penal rulings and to pleas for resumption of proceedings. In the sphere of civil law it would apply, e.g., to reminders of cost and execution matters, objections to execution orders and judgments by default, as well as to nullity and restitutions suits.

Also, a limitation of the admissibility of suits protesting against executions and suits filed by a third party will have to be taken into consideration, as in these cases, too, the result will be a legal aid against a judicial decision. I think it necessary to include all those cases too into the regulation.

I further request you to include into the draft a regulation declaring inadmissible the declining of a judge by a Jew.

I have no objections against the provisions of the draft relative to the disqualification of Jews to take an oath.

Heil Hitler!

[Typed] Signed: M. BORMANN

Certified copy:
[Signed] DOSER

7. Letter from the General Plenipotentiary for the Administration of the Reich to a number of leading Reich authorities, 29 September 1942

_Copy_

RK. 136 2 B 29 Sept. 1942 [Initial] FI [Ficker] The General Plenipotentiary for the Administration of the Reich GBV. 788/42 2425 [Handwritten] Last submitted RK 12853 B

Berlin, 29 September 1942
[Stamp] See document of 8.10.

_Urgent Letter_

To the:

Head of the Party Chancellery
The Reich Minister of Justice
The Reich Minister for People’s Enlightenment and
Propaganda
The Foreign Office
The Reich Minister of Finance

[Handwritten] Submitted with RK 442 B. attached October 2

Subject: Ordinance concerning legal restrictions to be imposed on
Jews

On the basis of a discussion of 25 September 1942 between the officials in charge, a new draft of an ordinance concerning the restrictions imposed on Jews in the proceedings before the administrative agencies or courts has been drawn up under the title, “Ordinance concerning Legal Restrictions to be Imposed on Jews.” Please let me know as soon as possible your opinion about the enclosed new formulation.

If no reply has been received by 14 October, your consent will be taken for granted.

This copy is forwarded for your information and with the request that you take a decision by 14 October.

As deputy:
[Signed] _Stuckart_

Justice 1 To the other supreme Reich authorities

8. Draft of proposed decree enclosed with the letter of the General
Plenipotentiary for Reich Administration of 25 September 1942

Appendix to GBV 788/42--2425 25 September 1942

Draft of an Ordinance concerning Legal Restrictions to be imposed on Jews of..............1942.

The Council of the Ministers for Reich Defense ordains with the force of law:

Article 1

(1) Jews will have no right of appeal [Rechtsmittel] from the decisions of administrative agencies and courts, nor other legal means [Rechtsbehelfen] to attack the same. Should, at the time when the present ordinance takes effect, an appeal already be lodged, it will be treated as withdrawn.

(2) Other applications from Jews to the administrative agencies or courts are admissible only insofar as the administrative agency or court would be of the opinion that the consideration of the application would be in the common interest.

Article 2

Jews cannot testify under oath.

Article 3

(1) The regulations concerning perjury apply to the untrue, unsworn testimony of a Jew when the testimony could have been sworn to if it had been made by a person capable of taking an oath.

(2) Similarly, the provisions concerning false assurances in lieu of affidavits apply to a statement made by a Jew, if such a statement was intended to replace an assurance in lieu of affidavit, or a deposition made with reference to such an assurance.

(3) The Jew shall be warned that any such untrue deposition or false statement will be punished according to those provisions.

Article 4

Statements of a Jewish party to the proceedings with respect to the question whether a witness or expert should be put on oath, will be disregarded.

Article 5

In the sentencing of Jews the provisions concerning the deprivation of civil rights will not apply.

Article 6

Jews cannot challenge German judges on grounds of partiality.

Article 7

At the death of a Jew his fortune escheats to the Reich.

Article 8

The Reich Minister of the Interior in agreement with the supreme Reich authorities in interest will issue the necessary legal and administrative provisions for the implementation and amendment of the present ordinance. He will hereby determine how far this ordinance is to apply to Jews of foreign nationality.

Article 9

This ordinance will take effect on the seventh day after its promulgation. It also will apply in the Incorporated Eastern Territories. In the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia it will apply within the limits of the German administration and the German jurisdiction.

Berlin

The President of the Council of
Ministers for Reich Defense

The Plenipotentiary General
for Reich Administration

The Reich Minister and Chief of
the Reich Chancellery

9. Letter from the General Plenipotentiary for Reich Administration to
the Reich Chancellery, 3 April 1943

The General Plenipotentiary for Reich Administration GBV 262/43 1508/10 2425

[Handwritten notes] RK 4482 E
RK 13672B 52 M
2 Enclosures

Berlin, 3 April 1943

To the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery
for Under Secretary Kritzinger

Subject: Ordinance concerning legal restrictions to be imposed on
Jews

With reference to today’s conference between Under Secretary Kritzinger and Under Secretary Dr. Stuckart, I am forwarding herewith in duplicate--

(1) the draft of the ordinance concerning the legal restrictions to be imposed on the Jews.

(2) the copy of the letter of the Chief of the Security Police and SD of 8 March 1943 (II A 2 No. 22 III/43 176--).[373]

BY ORDER:

[Signature illegible] Justice 1 344545

10. Letter from Kaltenbrunner, Chief of the Security Police and the SD,
to Frick, 8 March 1943

The Chief of the Security Police and the SD Copy II A 2 No. 22 III/43-176

Berlin SW 11, 8 March 1943
Prinz Albrecht-Strasse 8

_Urgent letter_

To the Reich Minister of the Interior, Party member Dr. Frick Berlin NW 7 Unter den Linden 72

My dear Reich Minister:

Upon request I have been informed by Department I that you have stopped the passing of the ordinance concerning the legal restrictions to be imposed on Jews, as in view of the development of the Jewish question, you no longer consider this ordinance necessary.[374] May I therefore point out the following views taken by the Security Police, which are in favor of an immediate passing of the ordinance:

1. Previous evacuations of Jews have been restricted to Jews who were not married to non-Jews. In consequence, the numbers of Jews who have remained in the interior is quite considerable. As the ordinance would also include these Jews as well, the measures it plans are not objectless.

2. The provision of article 7 of the ordinance according to which at the death of a Jew his fortune escheats in its entirety to the Reich results in the accumulation of considerably less work for the State Police. At the present time the procedure used by the State Police in handling the confiscation of such Jewish inheritances must frequently be modified to suit each special case. If the decree were decided on these separate procedures would no longer need to be carried out. The ordinance would therefore bring about an effective reduction in present administrative activity.

3. The provision according to which the application of criminal law against Jews is transferred from the judicial authorities to the police, is based on an agreement between the Reich Leader SS and the Reich Minister of Justice Dr. Thierack. This agreement has been approved by the Fuehrer. For if it is to be put into practice it must be embodied in the form of a law, as the present competence of justice, which is based on criminal procedure, can only be modified by a legal provision.

If the ordinance which is planned does not come into force, this provision as it is planned must then be set down in an independent law which, however, is undesirable.

I beg you to consider the above-mentioned views and to examine whether in spite of them an immediate passing of the ordinance does not seem indicated.

Heil Hitler!

Yours obediently,
[Typed] signed: DR. KALTENBRUNNER

344547

11. Note of the Reich Chancellery, 6 April 1943, 1508/11

(14./4.) _To RK. 13672 B_, 4482 E

Fuehrer Headquarters
[Handwritten] 1508/11 6 April 1943

1. _Note_--Under Secretary Stuckart asked me over the telephone to obtain the opinion of the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery as to the draft of the ordinance which had been sent him with the accompanying letter of 3 April. As Under Secretary Stuckart informed me, the Reich Minister of the Interior himself has his doubts as to whether the ordinance is still necessary. When Stuckart approached the Party Chancellery on the question, Reichsleiter Bormann suggested that he should obtain the opinion of the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery.

On 5 April I discussed the affair with Under Secretary Klopfer. The latter is of the same opinion as myself, that with the exception perhaps of articles 6 and 7 of the draft, the ordinance can be dispensed with. As regards article 7 of the draft, Under Secretary Klopfer took my point of view that the possibility must be considered of directing the heritage of deceased Jews either in part or in its totality to their non-Jewish relatives.

The Reich Minister, to whom I reported on 6 April, is of the opinion that we should decline as far as possible from a settlement of the matter by an ordinance.

In order to help on the affair I came to an agreement with Under Secretary Klopfer and suggested to Under Secretary Stuckart that the question of the further consideration of the draft should be raised at a discussion in which, in addition to myself and him, Under Secretary Klopfer and Under Secretary Rothenberger and the Chief of the Security Police Kaltenbrunner should take part. Under Secretary Stuckart agreed to this and suggested that the conference should take place on Wednesday, 14 April, 11 o’clock.

2. RKabR. Dr. Ficker with the request for his consideration.

3. Resubmit 14 April (in Berlin).

[Initial] F [Ficker]
8 April

344549 [Initial] KR [Kritzinger]

12. Note of the Reich Chancellery, 21 April 1943

Reich Chancellery 4611 E [Handwritten] 1508/12
for files Rk. 4748 E Berlin, 21 April 1943

1. NOTE--The Under Secretary conference, suggested by us, about the draft on a _decree concerning the limitation of the legal right of Jews_, which was at that time completed in the Reich Ministry of the Interior took place today at the office of Under Secretary Stuckart. Under Secretary Rothenberger, Under Secretary Klopfer, SS Gruppenfuehrer Kaltenbrunner, and I were present as well as Under Secretary Stuckart.

The discussion showed that only articles 6 and 7 of the provisions of the draft of the order are considered necessary in which connection article 7 is to be supplemented by a regulation which makes possible, in the case of a confiscation of property, a settlement in favor of non-Jewish heirs and legal dependents.

It was furthermore considered suitable to have the regulation issued as a supplementary ordinance to the Reich citizens’ law.

The regulation accordingly would approximately take the form as shown in appendix II.

[Enclosure] Appendix II.

2. To the Reich Minister with request for consideration.

[Initial] L [Lammers] 28 April

3. RK ab R. Dr. Ficker, respectfully.

[Initial] KR [Kritzinger]

Justice 1 s.Rk 5761
344550

13. Draft of a decree concerning the Reich Citizenship Law, enclosed
with the note of the Reich Chancellery of 21 April 1943

[Handwritten] Supplement to the Reich Citizenship Law and
Appendix II

_Decree Concerning the Limitation of the Legal Rights of the Jews_

[Handwritten] 1508/13 dated................1943

(_Abbreviated Form_)

Article 1

1. Punishable offenses of Jews will be punished by the police.

2. The decree concerning the administration of penal justice against Poles and Jews of 4 December 1941 (Reich Legal Gazette I, p. 759) no longer applies to Jews.

Article 2

On the death of a Jew, his property is forfeited to the Reich.

[Handwritten] Hardship clause in favor of non-Jewish heirs and legal dependents.

Article 4

The Reich Minister of the Interior, in agreement with the top Reich authorities concerned, issues the legal and administrative regulations which are necessary for the execution and supplementing of this ordinance. In this case he determines how far this order applies to Jews of foreign nationality.

Article 5

This ordinance will come into force on the seventh day after its promulgation. It will also apply to the Incorporated Eastern Territories. In the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia it will apply to the sphere of German administration and German jurisdiction.

Article 2 also applies to Jews who are subjects of the Protectorate.

Berlin,............1943 344551

The President of the Ministerial Council
for the Defense of the Reich

The Plenipotentiary General for the
Reich Administration

The Reich Minister and Chief of
the Reich Chancellery

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NG-1656
PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 535

DRAFT OF PROPOSED MEMORANDUM TO HITLER FROM MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, APRIL 1943, INITIALED BY DEFENDANT ROTHENBERGER AND MINISTERIAL DIRECTOR VOLLMER, CONCERNING IMMINENT PROSECUTION OF A JEWESS FOR SELLING HER MOTHER MILK TO A GERMAN PEDIATRICIAN

The Reich Minister of Justice

Information for the Fuehrer

(1943 No.)

After the birth of her child, a full-blooded Jewess sold her mother milk [Muttermilch] to a pediatrician and concealed that she was a Jewess. With this milk babies of German blood were fed in a nursing home for children. The accused will be charged with deception [Betrug]. The buyers of the milk have suffered damage, for mother’s milk from a Jewess cannot be regarded as food for German children. The impudent behavior of the accused is an insult as well. Relevant charges, however, have not been applied for, so that the parents, who are unaware of the true facts, need not subsequently be worried.

I shall discuss with the Reich health leader the racial hygienic aspect of the case.

Berlin,..............April 1943

(Referent: Ministerialrat Dr. Malzan) To the Under Secretary

[Initial] R [Rothenberger]

[Initial] V [Vollmer] 19 April

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NG-351
PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 132

SECRET JUDGMENT OF FIRST SENATE OF PEOPLE’S COURT CONCERNING TWO POLES, 21 MAY 1943, AND DIRECTIVE OF MINISTRY OF JUSTICE TO DEFENDANT LAUTZ CONCERNING THE MANNER OF CARRYING OUT THE EXECUTION OF ONE OF THE DEFENDANTS

9 J 190/420 Copy
1 H 110/43

SECRET!

In the Name of the German People

In the case against--

1. the porter Paul Stefanowicz, from Berlin, born 5 January 1922 in Olyka (District of Rovno),

2. the laborer Franz Lenczewski, from Berlin, born 1 August 1924 in Sandec (Government General), Poland, at present in custody pending trial for treasonable intent, et cetera, the People’s Court, First Senate, on the basis of the session of 21 May 1943, in which the following participated as judges:

People’s Court Senior Judge Laemmle, President
District Court President Dr. Schlemann,
SA Gruppenfuehrer Haas,
SA Brigadefuehrer Hohm,
SA Gruppenfuehrer Koeglmaier,

as representative of the Chief Reich Prosecutor [the defendant Lautz]:

Local Court Judge Dr. Pilz,

found:

As Poles, the defendants harmed the interests of the Reich by leaving their places of work in Berlin in August 1942 and going to the Reich border, with the intention of remaining in Switzerland until the end of the war.

The defendant _Stefanowicz_ is therefore condemned to death.

The defendant _Lenczewski_, since he acted under the influence of Stefanowicz, who is mentally greatly superior to him, will receive a sentence of 8 years in a penal camp, and the period of custody for investigation will be included in this term.

_Findings_

Both defendants are ethnic Poles, were formerly Polish citizens, and on 1 September 1939 resided in the former Republic of Poland.

Both defendants reported for work and were assigned to work in Berlin; Lenczewski in April 1941 in a chocolate factory, Stefanowicz in January 1942 at the Neukoelln hospital.

Of the two defendants, Stefanowicz makes a much more intelligent and bold impression. He belongs to the Polish intelligentsia, which is the stronghold of the Polish spirit of resistance. Consequently in March 1942 shortly after he began his work, he left his place of work and attempted to flee to Denmark. He was arrested in Flensburg, however, and after 2 months in a labor reformatory camp he was returned to his place of work in Berlin. There he was noted for his anti-German attitude. According to his own statement, the nurses threatened that his attitude would bring him into the concentration camp one of these days. It was Stefanowicz who persuaded the codefendant Lenczewski, who is nearly 2 years younger and was at the time the deed was committed barely 18 years old, to leave his place of work and escape with him to Switzerland in order to live a more comfortable life there. They agreed to escape on 2 August 1942.

On that day they left Berlin and went via Augsburg and Innsbruck to Landeck/Tyrol. From there they went on foot toward the Swiss border, with the intention of crossing the border secretly. In the mountains, however, they suffered from bad weather, and on 6 August 1942 they were arrested by a customs patrol in See (Tyrol), very close to the Reich border.

The prosecution assumes that the defendants had the intention of joining the Polish Legion. Both defendants, however, have denied this from the beginning and maintain that they merely wanted to get better working conditions in Switzerland. The assumption of the prosecution is doubtless supported by the fact that members of the former Polish State who wanted to join the legion have frequently been arrested at the border under similar circumstances. On the other hand, no evidence has been presented that the defendants were in contact with such circles. As for their personality, neither of them gives an impression of a fighter but rather an effeminate one, and the fact that they merely wanted to go to Switzerland in order to live a better life there, could not be disproved.

Nevertheless, as Poles, both of them have harmed the interests of the German Reich by their conduct. For they were assigned to work in the Reich, and in total warfare any loss in this regard harms the interests of the Reich. They were aware of this fact, especially since they intended to remain in Switzerland permanently and thus to deprive the Reich of their work for the entire duration of the war (crime under art. 1, par. 3 of the Regulation on Administration of the Penal Law against Poles and Jews in the Incorporated Eastern Territories of 4 December 1941 (Reichsgesetzblatt 1, p. 759)).

The law provides the death penalty for this offense, as a rule. Only in less severe cases can a prison sentence be imposed. The case of the defendant Stefanowicz is not a less severe case. As already emphasized, he belongs to the Polish intelligentsia, which is the stronghold of the spirit of resistance. From the very beginning he failed to adapt himself to the order prevailing in the Reich and once before made an unsuccessful attempt to escape to Denmark. He is also responsible for the fate of his codefendant Lenczewski, to whom he is mentally far superior. He was therefore given the death sentence. On the other hand, in the case of the defendant Lenczewski, who did not make a very independent impression during the trial, who was very young at the time the deed was committed, and who succumbed to the influence of his mentally superior friend, a sentence of 8 years in a penal camp was considered sufficient. The period of custody for investigation was included in this term.

Under the law, the defendants have to bear the costs of the trial, since they have been convicted.

[Signed] LAEMMLE [Signed] DR. SCHLEMANN

25 May 1943

_Carbon copy_

The Reich Minister of Justice Berlin, 7 August 1943 IV g 10a 4910 c/43 g

Urgent--Secret

The Chief Reich Prosecutor with the People’s Court, Berlin

personally or to his deputy in office

Reference GJ 190/42g 30 July 1943

Enclosures:
1 volume
1 folder
1 decree of 5 August 1943 (fair copy)
1 certified copy of the decree

Referring to the proceedings against Paul Stefanowicz who was sentenced to death on 21 May 1943 by the People’s Court, I send you a fair copy and certified copy of the decree of 5 August 1943[375] with the request to take the necessary steps with the greatest possible speed. The executioner Reichhart is to be entrusted with the carrying out of the execution. As to the delivery of the body to an institute according to article 39 of the Reich Ordinance of 19 February 1939, the Anatomical Institute of Munich University is to be taken into consideration.

Please refrain from publicity, either through the press or through posters.

BY ORDER

[Typed] DR. VOLLMER[376]

PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NG-457
PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 201

OPINION AND SENTENCE OF THE NUERNBERG SPECIAL COURT, WITH DEFENDANT OESCHEY AS PRESIDING JUDGE, 29 OCTOBER 1943, BY WHICH TWO FOREIGN WORKERS WERE CONDEMNED TO DEATH[377]

Beg. f. H.V. Sg No. 256/1943

[Stamp]
The sentence is effective and must be executed.
Nuernberg, 3 November 1943
The Chief Registrar
of the Office of the District Court
Criminal Division

[Signed] RAMSENTHALER
Chief Court Clerk

_Sentence_

In the Name of the German People

The Special Court

for the area of the Nuernberg District Court of Appeal at the Nuernberg-Fuerth District Court in the criminal case against Kaminska, Sofie, farm laborer in Uffenheim and 1 other person charged with a crime under part I, section 4 No. 1 of the Penal Ordinance for Poles and Jews, at a public session on 29 October 1943 attended by--

Presiding judge--District Court President Oeschey;
Associate judges--Local Court Judge Dr. Pfaff and
District Court Judge Dr. Gros;
Public Prosecutor for the Special Court;
Public Prosecutor Markl, and as registrar of the office.

Court Clerk Kastner rules as follows:

Kaminska, Sofie; nee Uba, born on 1 September 1907 at Czenstocice, widow, Polish farm laborer,

Wdowen Wasyl, born on 20 February 1923 at Zatwanica, single, Ukrainian farm laborer,

both last residing in Uffenheim, both under arrest pending trial are guilty: Kaminska slapped a German soldier, threatened him with a hoe, and threw a stone after him; furthermore offered resistance to a policeman when she was being arrested. Wdowen tried by force to prevent Kaminska’s arrest.

They are therefore sentenced to death; Kaminska under articles II, III, and XIV of the Penal Ordinance for Poles; Wdowen is sentenced as a public enemy.

_Findings_

The defendant Kaminska, who belongs to the Polish ethnic group and who on 1 September 1939 was residing in the territory of the former Polish State, attended elementary school and after having finished school worked as a laborer on several farms in Poland. She was married in 1929 and since then had three children. Her husband was killed in action during the Polish campaign in October 1939. At the middle of December 1939 she came to Germany being committed to work there. She was first employed for over a year by a farmer in Weidenheim, then for a year by the farmer Landshuter at Unternzenn, and since 15 March 1942 she has been employed by the farmer Gundel at Uffenheim. Leo Gundel is 60 years old and fragile; his daughter manages the farm. At Weidenheim the defendant Kaminska met the codefendant Wdowen who belongs to the Ukrainian ethnic group. Wdowen never attended school, he can neither read nor write, nor had he learned a trade. Until he came to Germany in March 1940 for labor commitment he worked as a farm laborer for his parents and for other farmers in the territory of the former Polish state. In Germany he was first employed by a farmer in Weidenheim, and in March 1942 he was transferred to Gundel together with Kaminska. Wdowen started a love affair with the defendant Kaminska in Weidenheim. The child born in June 1942 is a result of that relationship. The defendant took the child to her mother in Wussiowa in March 1943.

On 1 July 1942 the two defendants entered Gundel’s home and demanded money from the daughter, Marie, for the journey which the defendant Kaminska had made to Poland to take her child to her mother. When the daughter refused the request, they turned to old Gundel who was also present in the room. When he, too, refused to pay any money to Kaminska both defendants became more and more insistent; the defendant Wdowen even gave the farmer a push. In his distress, Gundel called for the help of the army private Anton Wanner, who used to work on the farm as a laborer and who happened to be spending his leave there. Wanner was in uniform. He came into the living room and told the defendants to leave immediately. The defendant Kaminska at once attacked the soldier, slapping his face once. Thereupon, Wanner slapped her face. Now a fight resulted during which his infantry assault badge fell to the ground. Wanner, feeling himself threatened, drew his bayonet and yelled at Wdowen, “Get out, you bully.” The defendant Kaminska by this time ran out of the room and took a hoe which was leaning near the staircase. She did not get a chance of attacking him as the soldier quickly closed the door.

Shortly afterward Wanner was riding on his bicycle along the road to Uffenheim to go to the police station. When he was passing the two defendants who were walking in the same direction, the defendant Kaminska threw a stone weighing half a pound after the soldier without, however, hitting him.

The next day police sergeant Dirmann went to Gundel’s farm, but the defendant Kaminska was working in the fields. There, the police official told her to follow him. The defendant Kaminska followed him unwillingly and hesitatingly. The codefendant Wdowen ran after the police official, although the latter had forbidden him to follow them. On the way Dirmann twice slapped Wdowen’s face to force him to turn back. Despite this he followed the two to the prison cell. When Dirmann wanted to put Kaminska in the cell she began screaming. Wdowen rushed up to them and embraced Kaminska with both hands so that the police official was prevented from arresting Kaminska. Only after several other people who were called in by the police official came to his aid, he succeeded in overpowering the two defendants and putting Kaminska in the cell.

The defendant Kaminska states that she learned before 1 July 1942 at the employment office that the farmer Gundel had to pay her travel expenses both ways. On 1 July 1942, she made only these demands. Besides, she only slapped the soldier after he had slapped her face. She had not purposely torn off his infantry assault medal. It was true she had fetched the hoe but she had not raised it to assault the soldier but only to intimidate him.

The defendant further admits having picked up a stone on the way to Uffenheim and having thrown it after the soldier; she merely mentioned as an excuse that she had been so angry that she had picked up a stone and thrown it at Wanner.

Regarding her arrest by police sergeant Dirmann, the defendant says she had offered resistance because she had been afraid that the police official would throw her into a cellar; she had not known before what the official really wanted from her.

The defendant Wdowen denies having struck or attacked the old man Gundel and the soldier in the living room. He had only received a blow on the nose from Wanner when Wanner had said something to him and to Kaminska which he could not understand. He had not seized or held him.

Concerning the arrest of Kaminska, Wdowen states that he had “already thought” that Kaminska was to be arrested by the police official; he had also kept “running after them,” although he had been forbidden to do so, and he did not let himself be intimidated by the slappings. Outside the cell he had intended to tear Kaminska away from the police official because he had felt sorry for her. The excuses which the defendants have put forward are irrelevant; for the rest, the afore-mentioned facts have been confirmed by the witnesses Gundel and Wurm. The soldier Wanner has been reported missing since the fighting in Tunisia. The witness, police sergeant Wurm testified, however, that Wanner had made definite and clear statements. The court is therefore convinced that the defendant Kaminska hit the soldier first; she was not authorized to do so in any way. When the witness Miss Gundel had told her that she would first make inquiries at the employment office as to whether the demands for payment of travel expenses were justified, the defendant Kaminska should have been satisfied. If despite that she continued to insist on her imagined demand and together with Wdowen behaved insolently towards Miss Gundel and her father, it was absolutely understandable that old Gundel called the soldier Wanner for help. The defendant Kaminska should have complied immediately with Wanner’s demand to leave the room. She cannot claim that she did not understand his demand. If instead of immediately leaving the farmer’s living room, she slapped the soldier’s face then this constituted a bodily maltreatment and thereby an assault and battery.

As the codefendant Wdowen, too, according to the credible statements which the soldier Wanner had made to the police sergeant Wurm, either gripped the soldier or at any rate took sides with Kaminska, so that Wanner had to fear a joint attack, it was understandable that he drew his bayonet in his defense. If the defendant Kaminska had to run out of the house to get a hoe and with it had walked towards the front door where the soldier was standing, Wanner had to fear the possibility of an attack on his life, although it was not established at the trial whether the defendant had already lifted the hoe to hit him. This behavior must be regarded as a threat within the meaning of article 241 of the Criminal (Penal) Code.

The defendant admits that after the incident in Gundel’s room, “some time later” on the way to Uffenheim she, in her anger, picked up a stone weighing a half pound and threw it after the soldier Wanner who was sitting on a bicycle, however, without hitting him.

The facts thus established prove that the defendant has committed a crime within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 1 of the Law against Violent Criminals of 5 December 1939. For this the death sentence is imposed on a person who, among other things, when committing a serious act of violence uses cutting or thrusting weapons or with such a weapon threatens the body or life of another person.

An act of violence within the meaning of that provision is constituted by a violent attack on a person which, according to design or execution or in view of the consequences for the person who is being attacked, endangers the security afforded by law to a high degree, and which therefore is particularly rejected and detested by the national community which is engaged in a fight for its right of existence, according to the verdict of the Reich Supreme Court of 26 January 1942, Second Criminal Senate, January 1942.

In the present case, the basic punishable deed is a threat within the meaning of article 241 of the Criminal (Penal) Code.

The defendant by throwing, in her anger, such a heavy stone after the soldier did not merely make a purposeless gesture. The court is convinced that it is evident from the over-all attitude of the defendant Kaminska, which she had previously displayed toward the soldier, that she meant to hit Wanner. A stone weighing half a pound when being thrown by someone in a condition which the defendant herself described as anger may kill a human being. Thus, a stone of that weight must be considered equal to a cutting or thrusting weapon; it must be considered as an object equal to a weapon within the meaning of the law against violent criminals. The defendant dared attack a German soldier, she took up an offensive position which would have caused grave injury if the soldier had not evaded the stone which was thrown at him. The defendant was about to endanger gravely the life and health of a German national. The German nation which is engaged in a grim defensive struggle rightly expects the most severe methods to be taken against such alien elements. The crime of the defendant, by design, and execution, as well as a considerable violation of the security afforded by law, constitutes a serious crime of violence within the meaning of the law against violent criminals. The fact that the criminal is a Pole is of particular significance.

From the name of the law it is concluded that it can only be applied against persons who are to be regarded as violent criminals. The defendant had not been provoked to the violent action. After she had failed to hit him with the hoe, she tried to hit the soldier on the road. The over-all behavior of the Polish woman, also toward the farmer, proves that the crime is not alien to her nature. She thereby characterizes herself as a Polish violent criminal. The defendant cannot dispute that she resisted with all her strength when a police official wanted to put her in a cell. Her excuse that she had not known what the official wanted from her cannot be believed. She knew in what manner she had acted toward the Germans on the previous day. She therefore had to expect the police official who moreover was in uniform to try and arrest her. The court has no doubt that she, as well as Wdowen who admitted having assumed that Kaminska was to be “picked up” because of her behavior on the day before, knew that she would now be arrested. By her violent resistance outside the cell, she therefore violated article 113 of the Criminal (Penal) Code.

According to the opinion of the medical expert, which the Court shares, the defendant shows no symptoms which could justify doubts as to her responsibility for the crime.

As the defendant on 1 September 1939 was a resident in the territory of the former Polish State, she had to be found guilty in application of articles II, III, and XIV of the Penal Ordinance for Poles, of a crime of assault and battery in conjunction with a crime of threat, a crime under article 1, paragraph 1 of the Law against Violent Criminals, and of a crime of offering resistance to the police.

The defendant was further charged with intentionally having torn off the infantry assault badge of the soldier Wanner. That could not be proved during the trial. The witness, Miss Gundel, testifies that after the defendant Kaminska had slapped the soldier’s face, a fight ensued and that afterward the soldier’s infantry assault medal was missing. In view of this evidence there is, at any rate, a possibility that the badge might have loosened in the course of the fight. A particular acquittal was not necessary, however, as the attitude of the defendants must be regarded as one action.

Although the old feeble farmer Gundel was not physically injured by the thrust of the defendant Wdowen, he did rightly feel the action of the Ukrainian to be an offense to his honor as a German. The defendant Wdowen, by holding Kaminska with both hands when the Polish woman was about to be put into a cell so that the police official was unable to do so for the moment, and by allowing himself to be removed only after the intervention of other persons, offered forceful resistance to an official who was lawfully doing his duty.

By his action, he also tried to free the codefendant Kaminska from the hold of the official in whose custody she was.

His act, therefore, constitutes an attempt to free a prisoner in conjunction with resistance to the police under articles 120, 43, 113, 73 of the Penal Code.

That, however, does not exhaust the entire unlawful character of his deed.

The defendant Wdowen knows very well that the German economy, on account of wartime conditions, is dependent on foreign labor, in particular on labor from the eastern territories. He speculated that his offenses would be overlooked in order not to lose him as a worker. The defendant also knew that because of the drafts into the armed forces the security organs in the Reich have been reduced and that Germany is deprived of the population fit for military service so that the rural population is largely helpless against the insolent and obstinate behavior and against attacks, which occur more and more on the part of such elements from the East. The defendant Wdowen, therefore, committed the offense taking advantage of the extraordinary wartime conditions. His action is therefore particularly despicable and demands that the ordinary limit of punishment be exceeded.

The defendant therefore had to be sentenced for a crime under article 4 of the Decree against Public Enemies in conjunction with resistance toward the police and an attempt to free a prisoner.

Under article III, paragraph 2 of the Penal Ordinance for Poles, the death sentence must be passed if the law provides for it. The defendant Kaminska, therefore, under the law against violent criminals is deserving of the death penalty.

The death penalty has to be pronounced as the only just atonement because the security afforded by law within the German living space must be protected against Polish criminality with the utmost severity. The defendant Wdowen, if only by his behavior toward the feeble old farmer Gundel proved that he is an insolent aggressive fellow inasmuch as he kept following the police official, although he had been chastized twice. It is to be concluded that he was waiting for a favorable moment to free the codefendant Kaminska by force, and finally by attempting to prevent by force the police official from the execution of his official duties and the latter having to call for assistance, he topped his provocative, dangerous behavior. Every security organ enjoys the special protection of the Reich. He who impedes in such a provocative manner the security organs, which are stationed at home, and which on account of their numerical minority are particularly overburdened during the war, must expect the Reich to react with utmost severity. That applies, in particular, to the foreign workers from the East who work in the Reich. In view of that, the court has assumed a particularly grave case within the meaning of paragraph 4 of the Decree against Public Enemies, and has not attached any decisive importance to the circumstances alone that the defendant Wdowen has had no previous convictions and has hitherto not attracted any unfavorable attention during his stay in Germany. Therefore, the defendant Wdowen had to be sentenced to death under the penal law of article 4 of the Decree against Public Enemies.

Costs: Paragraph 465, Code of Criminal Procedure.

[Signed] OESCHEY[378]
DR. GROS[379]
PFAFF[380]

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 664-PS
PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 348

CIRCULAR LETTER OF HIMMLER TO THE SUPREME REICH AUTHORITIES, 10 MARCH 1944, NOTING THAT “THE ACCOMPLISHED EVACUATION AND ISOLATION” OF JEWS AND GYPSIES HAD MADE MEANINGLESS THE PREVIOUS MANNER OF PUBLISHING SPECIAL DIRECTIVES CONCERNING THEM

Berlin, 10 March 1944

The Reich Leader SS Minister of Interior Affairs S. Pol. IV D 2 c--927/44 g-24

[Initial] TH [Thierack]
[Stamp] Reich Ministry of Justice
17 March 1944
Dept. VII

_SECRET_

To the Supreme Reich Authorities

Subject: Posted prohibitions concerning Poles, Jews, and gypsies

The separately published decrees and rules governing the livelihood of Poles, Jews, and gypsies within the jurisdiction of the Reich, have frequently led to a summary equalization of these groups in the public eye as far as sale-and-utilization prohibitions, public announcements in the press, etc., are concerned. This attitude does not correspond with the differentiated political position to be granted to these groups now, and in the future.

As far as Jews and gypsies are concerned the accomplished evacuation and isolation of these groups by the Chief of the Security Police and the SD has made the publication of special directives (concerning the all inclusive prohibition of participation in many livelihoods) in the previous manner meaningless. Therefore, corresponding public directives may be eliminated.

The decrees and regulations which have been decided upon to govern the livelihood of the Poles will remain as before. For political practical reasons it is hereby recommended to maintain a certain amount of restraint in the public directives of these regulations, be it in posters, signboards, on press releases, etc.

I wish that the subordinate officers be informed of the necessary directives.

[Typed] Signed: H. HIMMLER
Certified: [Illegible signature]
SS Sturmbannführer

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NG-900
PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 453

LETTER FROM THE CHIEF OF SECURITY POLICE AND SD TO MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, 3 MAY 1944, ENTITLED “REQUESTS MADE BY THE COURTS FOR INFORMATION ON JEWS,” AND INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUMS LEADING TO DISPATCHING OF A LETTER DRAFTED BY DEFENDANT ALTSTOETTER

The Chief of the Security Police and the Security Service

IVA b (I) a 4647/43

Please state this business number,
the date and the subject in
correspondence

Berlin SW-11, 3 May 1944
Prinz Albrechtstr. 8
Local Phone: 120040
Long distance: 126421

[Stamp] Reich Ministry of Justice

5 May 1944
Dept. VII-VI

[Initial] TH [Thierack]

[Initials] KLE [Klemm]

To the Reich Minister of Justice Berlin

Subject: Requests made by the courts for information on Jews

Reference: None

In a number of proceedings for the checking of descent, the District Court Vienna requested information about the whereabouts of Jews, in some cases it requested this information from the central office for the regulation of the Jewish problem in Bohemia and Moravia at Prague, and in some cases directly from here. These Jews were at some time either evacuated to the East or were sent to Theresienstadt. Although my local office drew the attention of the District Court Vienna several times to the fact that such requests, as well as applications for the admission of such Jews as witnesses before courts or for hereditary biological examinations cannot be granted on account of reasons stated by the Security Police, the District Court Vienna renews its applications continuously.

Besides the fact that the Jews for years had time and opportunity to clarify their position with regard to descent, the proceedings for the checking of the descent demanded by the Jews or their families are according to experience in general made only in order to conceal their descent so that they would not be subject to the measures of the Security Police intended for them, or to those which have already been carried out. For this reason and in the interest of urgent dispatch of work important to the war effort the granting of applications of this kind has to be refused for the time being.

Therefore, I request to direct the District Court Vienna not to submit any such applications in future. I would be grateful to be informed about the steps taken from there.

As deputy:
[illegible signature]

The Reich Minister of Justice Berlin, 3 June 1944

VIb 2 1124/44

Dispatched 14 June 1944, [initial] B

[Stamp] Office

8 June 1944
H/Frl. [illegible]

1. To the President of the Court of Appeal, _Vienna_

Subject: Handling of cases concerning descent of Jews or Jewish
persons of mixed race

No previous correspondence.

The Chief of the Security Police and the Security Service pointed out that in cases concerning descent of Jews and Jewish persons of mixed race the office of the police are frequently asked for information on the place of abode of deported Jews by the courts especially by the District Court Vienna, or that their admission, as witnesses or for the purpose of examination for hereditary biological expert opinions is requested. These requests cannot be granted for reasons of the Security Police.

Even if the hearing (_and examination_)[381] of the Jews (_be an important piece of evidence for the clarifying of the question of descent_) in many cases help to frustrate the intentions (_of the Jews_) to conceal their descent, reasons of the security police demand to desist therefrom (_from this piece of evidence_).

In the near future I intend to issue in a decree detailed regulations for the handling of cases concerning the descent of Jews and Jewish persons of mixed race. Already now I request to inform the District Court Vienna (_and other courts, in your district, which according to your judgment, Mr. President of the Appellate Court, should be informed_) of the following:

(insert)[382]

As deputy:

2. To the Chief of the Security Police and the Security Service

Subject: Requests for information on Jews made by the courts.

Reply to the letter of 3 May 1944--IV A-4-b (I) a-4647/43

1 enclosure (copy of 1)

[Stamp] Dispatched: 14 June 1944
3475/2 [Initial] B

In the enclosure I submit a copy of my letter to the president of the Appellate Court Vienna for your information.

BY ORDER

[Initial] AL [Altstoetter]

3. Ministerial Counsellor Rexroth

With the request to settle the arrangement of the report with the Minister

The settlement of the arrangement of the report was not possible on 3 June 1944

_Before dispatch_

Mr. Minister is informed
[Illegible initials]

[To the] Minister [of Justice] with request to permit the dispatch of the above letter signed by me. The arrangement of the report could be settled in connection with the report on the decree concerning a general order on the handling of cases concerning the descent of Jews and Jewish persons of mixed race. It is intended to put into the draft of this official decree, the directives in the above letter sent to the president of the Appellate Court Vienna for information to all presidents of the appellate courts and general public prosecutors.

[Signed] ALTSTOETTER, 3 June
[Initial] R [Rexroth] 3 June

[Insert]

(In cases of Jews who were deported to Theresienstadt or to other places, a hearing as witnesses or a hereditary biological examination is impossible for reasons of the Security Police, because persons to accompany them and means of transportation are not available. If the residents registration office or another police office gives the information that a Jew has been deported, all other inquiries as to his place of abode as well as applications for his appearance [before court], questioning and examination are superfluous. On the contrary, it has to be assumed that the Jew is not obtainable for the taking of evidence.

If in an individual case it is in the interest of the public to make an exception and to render possible the taking of evidence by special allocation of persons to accompany and means of transportation for the Jew a report has to be submitted to me in which the importance of the case is explained. In all cases offices must refrain from direct application to the police offices, especially also to the central office for the regulation of the Jewish problem in Bohemia and Moravia at Prague, for information on the place of abode of deported Jews and their admission, hearing or examination.)

[Initial] R [Rexroth] 3 June

EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT
SCHLEGELBERGER[383]

_DIRECT EXAMINATION_

* * * * * * *

DR. KUBUSCHOK (counsel for defendant Schlegelberger): Since the Jewish question is of particular importance for several points in the indictment, I would ask you first of all to tell us what your personal attitude to the Jewish question was.

DEFENDANT SCHLEGELBERGER: As far as I am concerned, there is and there was no Jewish question. This is my attitude: all races were created by God. It is arrogant for one race to place itself above another race and try to have that race exterminated. If a state deems it necessary to defend itself against being inundated and does so within the frame of a social problem, then it can and must be done by applying normal, decent means.

During the Goebbels campaign in 1938 I was abroad. When I heard about those events I said to my family: “We must be ashamed of being Germans.” That was my view at that time and that is my view today. The only person with whom I am united in faithful friendship until today because we went to school together is a full Jew. I succeeded in saving his life all through that era. He again holds his former office as a judge. My physician too is half-Jewish. That attitude of mine naturally meant that on many occasions I was faced with inner conflicts. I ask you to consider that the Jewish problem was regarded as the central problem of the National Socialist State and the entire life in Germany was to be placed in line with that. Concerning that question Hitler and his followers worked in an entirely uncompromising manner; that an expert administrator could not bypass that basic attitude is a matter of fact. I shall have an opportunity to demonstrate what my personal attitude was toward those questions and how it always evidenced itself in an effort to put a check on the wishes of party policy, to make improvements and to exercise as far as possible a moderating influence on the practical application of those matters.

Q. What were the manifestations of your attitude to the Jewish question in your office?