The directors of the labor offices and the Reich Trustee for Labor of the economic territory of Westphalia-Lower Rhine as a rule do not prefer the necessary charges for criminal prosecution, in accordance with the decree concerning the restrictions for changing the place of work, dated 1 September 1939—Reich Law Gazette I, page 1685—and in accordance with the decree concerning the fixing of wages, dated 25 June 1938—Reich Law Gazette I, page 691.
Upon inquiry, the Reich Trustee for Labor for the economic territory of Westphalia-Lower Rhine has informed me that “in accordance with an agreement between the Reich Minister for Labor and the Reich Leader SS and Chief of the German Police, breach of work contracts by Poles are to be punished by the Secret State Police with protective custody or concentration camps. The meaning of this step”—so writes this Reich trustee—“is that in the case of Poles the strictest measures are to be taken at once in order to create a deterrent effect. For this reason we made it a point in my office to transfer the cases involving breach of work contract by Polish civilian workers to the Gestapo (Secret State Police) for further action. Only in those cases where the Polish workers involved were already under arrest on charges of vagrancy, vagabonding, etc., and investigated, have I in those cases known to me, preferred charges for breach of work contract, so that all the punishable offenses of the Pole could be adjudicated in one court trial.”
In one individual case, concerning a member of Protectorate, the Reich Labor Trustee for the economic districts of Westphalia and Lower-Rhine refrained from demanding legal action stating, as a reason, that “all foreigners including the Czechs” were exempt from criminal action where this question is concerned.
Contrary to the opinion of the above-named authority, the Reich Trustee for Public Service, who had been informed of the attitude fundamentally taken by the Reich Labor Trustee for the economic districts of Westphalia and Lower-Rhine, has strictly upheld the charges he had preferred against members of the Protectorate who had broken their contracts. In the case in question, the demand for punitive action was based upon the recommendation of the Reich Minister for Transportation to the Reich Trustee for Public Service, dated 24 June 1940 and 13 August 1940 respectively—51.533 Pldaa. According to a statement by the Reich Trustee of Public Service, entered into the criminal record files, the Reich Minister of Labor stated at that time in reply to the report of the Reich Trustee for Public Service referring to a regulation dated 17 July 1940—III b 15062/40, that he had no objections, if he—the Reich Trustee—should prefer charges in accordance with the wishes of the Reich Minister of Transportation. On the other hand the competent office of the Reich Protector thinks it more advisable, not to punish workers from the Protectorate employed within the Reich proper for breach of work contract or to punish them only very mildly as otherwise great difficulties would be encountered in the further recruitment of Czech workers from the Protectorate for jobs in the Reich proper. At any rate, I have dealt with the criminal procedure against workers from the Protectorate for breach of work contract in a special report to the Protectorate also taking up the question concerning the competence of the German courts in the Protectorate for passing sentence in case of breach of contract, committed in the Reich proper.
According to this there seems to be a difference of opinion within the Reich Ministry of Labor as to the question in which cases the competent authorities should prefer charges against foreigners who have broken their contracts. In order to get uniform action on matters concerning punitive regulations it seems desirable to have the Reich Minister of Labor effect a settlement that negotiations between the Ministries concerned and the Reich Protector will result in an agreement to follow one standard rule in preferring charges against members of the Protectorate.
Polish civilian workers leaving their working place and their place of residence without permission have at times—when no charges had been preferred against them—been prosecuted and punished according to the viewpoint of article 2 of the ordinance [VO], concerning the treatment of foreigners of 5 September 1939—Reich Law Gazette I, page 1667. This procedure is not without objection, because the Poles concerned were not in the Reich proper on 6 September 1939 when this decree took effect, and it is not known whether they had been informed of this regulation according to article 1 of the ordinance.
VI. Criminal Proceedings against “Zivilpolen” [Polish Civilians][495]
With regard to criminal proceedings against the so-called Zivilpolen—as has been pointed out by me before—an uncertainty has developed which can no longer be tolerated. One cause for the uncertainty regarding criminal proceedings is found in the fact that some matters are handled by the State police independently, and the other is that sentences passed by the regular courts are not based on uniform standards. It may happen that the regular court may sentence a criminal to 2 to 3 years of imprisonment—concurrently or separately—while the State police may pronounce the death sentence for the same crime. In order to overcome these intolerable conditions I have issued directives to the senior public prosecutors and to the public prosecutors of the district and have therein called attention to the following aspects:
Civilian Poles are under the jurisdiction of the regular courts because no special provisions are made for them. However, it is not sufficient, firmly to advocate this principle, but the real effect of jurisdiction can only be secured by consequent and energetic action according to this principle, and by administering justice with the speed and severity called for by the situation. In this way it was made possible in the criminal case Bugajny (IIIg 23 5023/40) for the regular jurisdiction to become effective and to do justice to the case. The State police had decided not to hand the case over to the office of the public prosecutor and, with the objective of having the State police deal with the case, reported it to the Security Main Office. I learned about this case from a newspaper report, and I asked the senior public prosecutor to procure a legal warrant of arrest, to put the accused into a court prison, and then through investigations of his own to ascertain the facts of the case, and to prefer charges as soon as possible. The Pole was thereupon condemned to death for criminal violence and forthwith executed without intervention of the State police.
The result obtained in this case must, however, not mislead us, and make us forget that as a rule successful action depends on two other conditions.