“Section 6. In the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia the provisions of sections 1, 2, * * * and 5 of this decree are valid also for persons who are not nationals of the German state.”
The “decree on the extension of the application of criminal law of 6 May 1940” provided in part:
[Article I, section 4] “German criminal law will be applied to the following crimes committed by a foreigner abroad, independently of the laws of the place of commitment:
“1. Crimes committed while holding a German governmental office, as a German soldier or as member of the Reich Labor Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst) or committed against a holder of a German office of the State or the Party, against a German soldier or a member of the Reich Labor Service, while on duty or relating to his duty;
“2. Actions constituting treason or high treason against Germany; * * *.”
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[Article II] “Paragraph 153. * * * A crime committed by a foreigner abroad will be prosecuted by the public prosecutor only if so demanded by the Reich Ministry of Justice. The public prosecutor may abstain from the prosecution of a crime if the same crime has already been punished abroad and if the punishment has been carried out and the sentence to be expected in Germany would, after deducting the time served abroad, not be heavy.”
The act of 25 November 1941, supra, concerning the confiscation of Jewish property was made applicable in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and in the Incorporated Eastern Territories.[622] Of greatest significance in this category was the law against Poles and Jews already cited in another connection. The thirteenth regulation under the Reich Citizenship Law of 1 July 1943, supra, was also made applicable within the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia “where German administration and German courts have jurisdiction”. It was also made applicable to Jews “who are citizens of the Protectorate”. (Sec. 4.)
Thus far we have taken note of the substantive criminal law and its extension to occupied and annexed territories, but these laws were not self-executing. For the accomplishment of the ends of aggressive war, the elimination of political opposition and the extermination of Jews in all of Europe, it was deemed necessary to harness the Ministry of Justice and the entire court system for the enforcement of the penal laws in accordance with National Socialist ideology.
By decree of 21 March 1933 Special Courts were established within the district of every court of appeal. Their jurisdiction was rapidly extended. It included the trial of cases arising under the decree relating to the defense against insidious attacks against the government of the national revolution.