Thus the deportation of families was decreed, not to punish a definite insubordination, but to punish failure to appear before the recruiting board.
In order to avoid repeated readings, I shall now present to the Tribunal, under the heading of Document Number RF-744, the ordinance of 1 October 1943, to check failure to perform military service (Official Bulletin of the Reich for 1943, Page 152). I shall read the first two articles:
“Article 1: The chief of the civil administration in Alsace may deny residence in Alsace to deserters and to persons who fail to fulfill their military obligations or those of the compulsory labor service, as well as to members of their families. This prohibition entails, for persons of German origin whom it may affect, transplantation to Reich territory by the Plenipotentiary for the Reich, Reich Commissioner for the Preservation of German Nationality. Measures to be taken in regard to property, seizure, indemnity, et cetera, are prescribed in the ordinance of 2 February 1943, concerning property measures to be applied in the case of persons of German origin transferred from Alsace to Reich territory.
“Paragraph 2: Independently of the preceding measures, criminal proceedings may be instituted under the penal code for violation of the provisions of the penal laws.”
THE PRESIDENT: Exactly what did “souche allemande” mean? How far did it go?
M. FAURE: The term “souche allemande” applies, as indicated in connection with the preceding text, to the following categories of persons: In the first place, persons who were in Alsace and Lorraine before the Treaty of Versailles and who became French by the treaty; persons whose nationality before 1919 was German are considered as of German origin, as well as their children, their grandchildren, and their spouses. This affects the great majority of the population of the three departments.
I continue reading Paragraph 2 of the first article of Document Number RF-744.
“Independently of the foregoing measures, penal prosecutions may be brought for violation of the provisions of the penal laws.”
According to Article 52, Paragraph 2, of the Reich Penal Code, members of the family who bring proof of their genuine efforts to prevent or dissuade the fugitive from committing his act or avoiding the necessity of flight shall not be punishable.