Polish Criminal Law Ordinance

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Ordinance on the administration of criminal justice against Poles and Jews in the incorporated Eastern Territories of December 4, 1941

The ordinance on the administration of criminal justice against Poles and Jews in the incorporated eastern regions (RGBl. 1941 I 759 ff), commonly referred to as the Polish Criminal Law Ordinance , was an ordinance of the National Socialist German Reich of December 4, 1941, which was primarily directed against Poles who were classified as “protected members” and judged Jews in the Polish territories that had been incorporated since the beginning of the Second World War , but also applied to a large extent to Polish workers from the East and slave laborers throughout the empire. It was enacted by the Council of Ministers for the Defense of the Reich and provided for an abbreviated judicial procedure that went far beyond the abbreviations of the legal protection of the accused that were generally ordered at the time . At the same time, the substantive criminal law was immensely tightened in general clauses .

At the Nuremberg legal trial in 1947, the ordinance was classified as a war crime . The German Bundestag overturned all judgments based on this in the 1998 Act to Repeal Injustice of National Socialist Judgments (NS-AufhG).

Precursors and coming into being

In the " integrated eastern areas " initially only a § 7 regulated in a decree of October 8, 1939 that the previously applicable law remained in force until further notice, "insofar as it did not contradict the integration into the German Reich". The interpretation of this formulation led to legal uncertainty and the secret situation reports of the security service reported the wish “for an early clarification of the existing questions of doubt”.

This was followed in June 1940 by an “Ordinance on the Introduction of German Criminal Law in the Integrated Eastern Territories” (RBl I, p. 844), which took over the provisions of the “Criminal Code for the German Reich” along with some restrictions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In Article II, however, “special regulations” were listed for Poland: acts of violence against members of German authorities, damage to official institutions, calls for disobedience to orders, arson and planning of such acts or complicity were punished with death.

In November 1940, the Fuehrer's deputy criticized the introduction of German criminal law as a mistake and called for a special criminal law and introductory law for criminal procedure law for Poland. In a note with which the draft of the “Council of Ministers Ordinance on the Administration of Criminal Justice against Poles and Jews” was sent on April 22, 1941, it said:

“The proposals [...] largely take into account the wishes of the Fuehrer's deputy. The draft establishes a draconian special criminal law for Poles and Jews, which formulates very broad offenses and allows the death penalty everywhere. The type of imprisonment is also tightened compared to German criminal law ... "

Only the suggestions of the Fuehrer's deputy to introduce corporal punishment and to authorize the Reichsstatthalter to introduce special criminal law by ordinance instead of formally publishing it in the Reichsgesetzblatt and putting it into effect were rejected.

Form and main content

The Polish Criminal Law Ordinance is not drafted in the "usual administrative style" and also differs in its external form from the usual ordinances. Instead of dividing into paragraphs, numbers are used; Formal requirements such as the suspension of previous ordinances are missing, as is the signature of the Reich Minister of Justice who is actually responsible. What is striking is the open designation of a special law that assigns Poles and Jews a status of inferior right, if not even a “complete legal defeat” outside of any legal system.

The Polish Criminal Law Ordinance precedes the requirement that Poles and Jews have to behave “in accordance with German laws and the orders issued by the German authorities for them” and to refrain from anything “that is detrimental to the sovereignty of the German Reich and the reputation of the German people” .

The following “boundless general clauses” listed under items I to III provide for the death penalty as the standard punishment and take up provisions that were already contained in the “Ordinance on the introduction of German criminal law in the incorporated eastern regions” of June 6, 1940.

According to this, Poles and Jews are punished with death if they “commit an act of violence against a German because of his membership of the German nationality.” The death penalty was also the standard punishment for “anti-German statements”, for “acts of violence” against members of the Wehrmacht , police and authorities , when calling for “disobedience” to ordinances, as well as failing to report if someone becomes aware of such a plan or illegal possession of weapons.

Poles and Jews had to serve imprisonment in the penal camp or as a “tightened penal camp”. Even if the law did not explicitly provide for the death penalty, this could be imposed "if the act shows particularly low convictions or is particularly difficult for other reasons."

The following Sections IV to XII undermined general criminal procedural law by breaking the principle of legality : prosecutors did not have to officially prosecute crimes committed by Germans against Poles and Jews. Preliminary arrests and detention were permitted even if there was an urgent suspicion and without any special reasons for detention. Judgments against Poles and Jews were immediately enforceable, while law enforcement authorities were allowed to appeal against decisions. Judges could not be rejected as biased; Poles and Jews were denied private and accessory suits. Later, the possibility of defense was restricted and, from May 1942, the appointment of a public defender was left to the discretion of the court.

Under Item XII, the courts were empowered by a general clause to deviate from the provisions of the Courts Constitution Act and the Reich Criminal Procedure Law, where "this is appropriate for the rapid and emphatic implementation of the proceedings".

In addition to local courts , special courts were responsible; if necessary, standing dishes could be used.

scope

The Polish Criminal Law Ordinance affected around eight million Poles who were still living in the German territories incorporated into the Reich before 1914 (Danzig, West Prussia, Poznan and Upper Silesia) and a strip of old Polish territory. The provisions of numbers I to IV also applied to all Poles and Jews who lived on the territory of the Polish state up to September 1, 1939 and who had committed a criminal offense in the territory of the German Reich: The ordinance thus also applied to Polish forced laborers throughout the empire. On July 30, 1942, it was also introduced for the Luxembourg CdZ area .

Although the ordinance was expressly directed against Jews, it gained little significance for the persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust . Task forces of the Security Police and SD had already started shooting; the deportations and ghettoization had already started and a first extermination camp was just starting its murderous activity. In addition, the Thirteenth Ordinance on the Reich Citizenship Act of July 1, 1943 removed the remaining Jews from the scope of the Ordinance on the Administration of Criminal Justice against Poles and Jews in the incorporated Eastern Territories . In the special justice files, the decree is almost exclusively referred to as the Poland Criminal Law Ordinance.

Contemporary application of the VO

The then State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Roland Freisler, commented on the ordinance as stipulating a “general duty of obedience” for Poles. Freisler said he was very satisfied that the entire formal and substantive criminal law against Poland had been regulated on almost three pages.

In practice, the law was interpreted extensively beyond its already extensive wording: Contrary to the usual legal terminology, “acts of violence” did not only mean acts of particular gravity, but any criminal act that was committed with the use of force. The act of violence could therefore consist of simple bodily harm or coercion . For example, a defendant who slapped a German criminal secretary was sentenced to death in 1944.

The sex of a Poland with a German translate "the reputation and welfare of the German Reich and the German people" down and was called "because of" anti-German behavior " Rassenschande pursued".

After the Polish Criminal Law Ordinance came into force, the number of death sentences rose sharply. In 1942, there is evidence that 1,129 death sentences were carried out in the incorporated eastern regions. In the same year 61,836 Poles were convicted and more than 45,000 were sent to prison camps. The courts applied the Polish Criminal Law Ordinance , contrary to the criminal law prohibition of retroactive effects, also retrospectively for acts that were sometimes committed long before the ordinance was issued.

Legal processing

Nuremberg legal process

A witness at the legal trial in Nuremberg, 1947

The prosecutor in the Nuremberg legal process pointed out in the closing argument that the purpose of the Polish Criminal Law Ordinance was not to maintain order in the annexed areas, and that there was no military necessity for this. The goals were obviously "extermination and persecution". In its judgment, the court found that this ordinance was a substantive act of war crimes and crimes against humanity .

Repeal of the wrongful judgments

In 1998, the Bundestag overturned convicting criminal court decisions that violated elementary ideas of justice in order to enforce or maintain the Nazi injustice regime through the Law to Repeal National Socialist Injustice Judgments (NS-AufhG) . The regulation on the administration of criminal justice against Poles and Jews in the incorporated eastern regions is expressly stated in the law.

See also

literature

  • Diemut Majer: "Aliens" in the Third Reich. A contribution to the National Socialist law-making and legal practice in administration and justice with special consideration of the incorporated Eastern Territories and the General Government. Boldt, Boppard am Rhein 1981, ISBN 3-7646-1744-6 ( publications of the Federal Archives 28).

Web links

Wikisource: Polish Criminal Law Ordinance  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Decree of the Führer and Reich Chancellor on the structure and administration of the Eastern Territories of October 8, 1939 (RGBl. I, p. 2042)
  2. ↑ Heinz Boberach (Ed.): Messages from the Reich. The secret situation reports of the SS Security Service 1939-1945. Herrsching 1984, ISBN 3-88199-158-1 , Vol. 4, p. 1315.
  3. ^ Ordinance on the introduction of German criminal law in the incorporated eastern areas of June 6, 1940 (RBl I, p. 844)
  4. ↑ Federal Minister of Justice (ed.): In the name of the people. Justice and National Socialism. - Exhibition catalog. Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-8046-8731-8 , p. 227.
  5. ↑ Diemut Majer: "Fremdvölkische" in the Third Reich - a contribution to National Socialist law-making and legal practice in administration and justice with special consideration of the incorporated eastern territories and the Generalgouvernement. Boppard am Rhein 1981, ISBN 3-7646-1744-6 , p. 747.
  6. ↑ Diemut Majer: "Fremdvölkische" in the Third Reich ... p. 748.
  7. ↑ Diemut Majer: "Fremdvölkische" in the Third Reich ... p. 756.
  8. ↑ Diemut Majer: "Fremdvölkische" in the Third Reich ... pp. 771–772.
  9. ^ Jörg Friedrich: acquittal for the Nazi judiciary. Reinbek near Hamburg 1983, ISBN 3-499-15348-3 , p. 394.
  10. ^ A b Hans Wüllenweber: Special Courts in the Third Reich. Frankfurt / Main 1990, ISBN 3-630-61909-6 , p. 24.
  11. ^ André Hohengarten: The National Socialist Jewish Policy in Luxemburg , Saint Paul Luxemburg, 2004, 2nd edition, p. 38.
  12. ^ Journal of German Justice 1942, 25 ff.
  13. ↑ Judgment in: Federal Minister of Justice (Ed.): In the name of the people. Justice and National Socialism. - Exhibition catalog. Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-8046-8731-8 , p. 227.
  14. ↑ Diemut Majer: "Fremdvölkische" in the Third Reich ... p. 758.
  15. ↑ Diemut Majer: "Fremdvölkische" in the Third Reich ... p. 790/791.
  16. ^ Jörg Friedrich: acquittal for the Nazi judiciary. P. 395.
  17. ↑ Johannes Wielgoß: Blessed Franciscek Kęsy and blessed Edward Clinic. In: Helmut Moll (ed.): Witnesses for Christ. The German martyrology of the 20th century. Volume I. 7th, revised and updated edition, Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn et al. 2019, ISBN 978-3-506-78012-6 , pp. 221–224; here: p. 223 (judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Posen of July 31, 1942 in Zwickau ).
  18. ^ Jörg Friedrich: acquittal for the Nazi judiciary. P. 397.