Seal
To department III with the request to inform the postal department.
Copy
IV D 4—103/42 g
Berlin, 4 August 1942
Extract from the Nacht und Nebel Decree for official use in concentration camps
By decree of the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces dated 12 December 1941 regarding the prosecution of punishable offenses against the Reich or the occupation forces in the occupied areas (called in short Nacht und Nebel Decree), it has been directed by virtue of a Fuehrer order, that persons who, in the occupied territories, take action against the Reich or the occupation forces, shall be removed to the Reich for deterrent purposes. Here they are to be transferred to a Special Court. Should this not be possible for any reason, these persons will be placed in a concentration camp under sentence of protective custody. Protective custody as a rule lasts until the end of the war.
As it is the purpose of this decree to leave the relatives, friends, and acquaintances in uncertainty regarding the fate of the prisoners; they are not allowed to have any means of communication with the outside world. They may therefore neither write, nor receive letters, parcels, or visits. Nor will any kind of information regarding the prisoners be given to any agency outside.
In cases of death, the relatives are not to be informed until further notice. There has not yet been a final ruling on this question.
These regulations apply to all prisoners regarding whom it is stated in the detention particulars or in the detention certificates of the Reich Security Main Office that they come under the Nacht und Nebel Decree. Furthermore, all prisoners come under it who are described as “Porto” or “Continent” prisoners.