The German government, in anticipation of invading the Soviet Union, issued a regulation concerning the conduct of German soldiers in the East. This document is known as the "Barbarossa Decree". It was issued by Wilhelm Keitel.
Keitel signing the instrument of surrender in 1945.
It's text reads:
Fuehrer
Decree, 13 May 1941, on Regulation of Conduct of
Troops in District "Barbarossa" and Handling of Opposition.
SECRET
The Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces
Enclosure to 32/ 41 g. Kdos.Chefs. WR.
1st copy.
Fuehrer headquarters, 13 May 1941
[Initialed] "J 10/ 5"
TOP SECRET
Decree for the conduct of courts-martial in the district
"BARBAROSSA" and for special measures of the troop [written in ink]
The armed forces court-martial serves primarily the purpose
of maintaining discipline.
The great expanse of the Eastern theatre of operations, the
kind of warfare necessitated on that account, and the peculiarity of the
opponent present tasks to the armed forces courts-martial which they can
accomplish during the course of the war and until the first pacification of the
conquered territory-being short staffed-only if the court-martial is limited to
its main task.
This is only possible if the troop itself defends itself
ruthlessly against any threat by the enemy civil population.
Accordingly, the following is decreed for the territory
"Barbarossa" (theater of operation, rear army area and area of the
political administration):
Treatment of punishable offenses of enemy civilians
1. Punishable offenses committed by enemy civilians do not,
until further notice, come any more under the jurisdiction of the
courts-martial and the summary courts-martial.
2. Guerillas are to be killed ruthlessly by the troops in battle
or during pursuit.
3. Also all other attacks of enemy civilians against the
Wehrmacht, its members and employees are to be fought by the troops at the
place of the attack with the most extreme means until annihilation of the
attacker.
4. In cases where measures of this kind were neglected or not
immediately possible, elements suspected of offense will be brought at once
before an officer. He decides whether they are to be shot.
Against villages from which the Wehrmacht was insidiously and
maliciously attacked, collective punitive measures by force will be carried out
immediately under command of an officer with the rank of at least a battalion
commander, if the circumstances do not permit an immediate identification of
individual perpetrators.
5. It is expressly prohibited to hold suspected perpetrators
in order to transfer them to the courts upon reinstitution of their
jurisdiction over civilians.
6. The commanders in chief of the army groups can, in
conjunction with the competent commanders of the air force and the navy,
restore the Wehrmacht jurisdiction over civilians in districts which are
sufficiently pacified.
For the area of the political administration this decree is
issued through the chief of the high command of the Wehrmacht [marginal ink
correction inked out: C-n-C of army in agreement with C-i-C of other branches.]
II
Treatment of punishable offenses of members of the Wehrmacht
and its employees against the native population
1. For offenses committed by members of
the Wehrmacht and its employees against enemy civilians, prosecution is not
compulsory, not even if the offense is at the same time a military crime or
violation.
2. While judging offenses of this kind, it should be
considered in every case, that the breakdown in 1918, the time of suffering of
the German people after that, and the numerous blood sacrifices of the movement
in the battle against national socialism were decidedly due to the Bolshevist
influence, and that no German has forgotten this.
3. The judge examines therefore whether in such cases
disciplinary action is justified or whether it is necessary to take legal
steps. The judge orders the prosecution of offenses against civilians through
court-martial only if it is considered necessary for the maintenance of
discipline or the security of the troops. This applies, for instance, to cases
of serious offenses which are based on sexual acts without restraint, which
derive from a criminal tendency, or which are a sign that the troop threatens
to mutiny. The punishable offenses of destroying senselessly quarters as well
as supplies or other captured goods to the disadvantage of the own troop
should, as a rule, be judged as more leniently.
The order of the inquiry proceedings requires in every
individual case the signature of the judge.
Extreme care must be exercised when judging the authenticity
of the statements of enemy civilians.
III
Responsibility of the troop commanders
The troop commanders are, within the sphere of their
competence, personally responsible for the following :
1. that all officers of the units subordinated to them are
very thoroughly and promptly instructed about the fundamentals of I,
2. that their legal advisors be promptly informed
about these instructions and about the verbal statements with which the political intentions of the leadership had been explained to the
commanders-in-chief,
3. that only such sentences will be
confirmed which are in accord with the political intentions of the leadership.
IV
Protection of secret
After end of camouflage the decree is to be considered only
as secret.
For the chief of the high command of the Wehrmacht-
Signed : KEITEL
Note [in pencil] : This should, if possible, not be passed on
1 June 41.
Certified
The decree essentially licensed German brutality directed at civilians.
The nature of the decree leaves very little excuse for the "good German army" myth that some latter day apologist continue to maintain about the German army during the war. It's now well established that the Heer was fully complicit in atrocities and that regular German soldiers participated in them. The decree shows that these acts were anticipated, and even encouraged, right from the onset. The war against the Soviet Union was intended to be genocidal by its very nature.
Keitel would pay for his complicity in such matters with his life. He was tried in the Nuremberg trials and received the death sentence.
On the same day, the RAF bombed Heligoland, an island of the northern coast of Germany.
Senta Berger, the Austrian actress known to American audiences for her role in Major Dundee, was born. Berger fit into the "bombshell" category of actresses who were highly popular during the 1950s and 1960s, quite a few of which were European. Berger retired early from acting.
