WH—181st copy
WR—182nd copy
Special Staff W—183rd copy
Stock kept at L IV—184th-200th copy
[ITEM 42] [Typescript]
200 copies, 153rd copy
Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
L. No. 2385/38 Most Secret IV A
Subject: Occupation of the Sudeten-German area.
Berlin, 30.9.38
[STAMP]
Office of the Armed Forces Adjutant
attached to the Fuehrer & Reich Chancellor
Rec. 3 Oct 1938
Enclosures: Reg. No. 267138
Dispatched—
Clerk
1. By order of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the occupation of the Sudeten-German areas by the Armed Forces will be executed in a manner which will allow a changeover to military operations at any time.
For the advance of the troops to coincide with the withdrawal of the Czechs, particularly in the fortified zones, and on account of the possibility of local resistance, it is necessary for the march in to be arranged in a way suited to the conduct of military operations.
2. The military occupation also necessitates the settling of economic conditions in the Sudeten-German area. Assimilation can only be brought about gradually. For this transition period the rate of exchange has been fixed at 100 Czech crowns to 10.00 Reichmarks so as to enable the retail trade to function. It is a pre-condition of this temporary settlement, however, that, until a final settlement is made with regard to economics and currency, and in order to avoid placing the Sudeten-German population at a disadvantage, only those things are bought in the open market which come in the category of goods which fill the immediate needs of life. Any exploitation of the present economic situation is a serious offense.
3. For the above stated reasons, travel into the Sudetenland from the old Reich will be confined to those officials and authorities who have been given specific tasks in the Sudeten-German area. It is requested that all civil authorities and all organizations of the Party be instructed without delay that it is essential to obtain the previous approval of the military authorities charged with the exercise of executive power (C-in-C of the Army, Army HQ) for the transfer of departments and units of any kind into the Sudeten-German area which is under military authorities.