862.00 P.R./141
The Ambassador in Germany (Dodd) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 24.]
Sir:
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3. Repressive Measures against Political Opponents. Goering’s announcement of drastic measures against further revolutionary activity, reported in despatch No. 27 of July 28, has been followed by frequent raids on Communists, severe penalties for Marxists tried for political offenses committed even prior to the Nazi régime, and the enactment of a law modifying penal procedure in Prussian prisons with a view to more severe punishment.
During the past fortnight there have been numerous police raids throughout the country which have invariably led to a wholesale arrest of Communists on the charge of subversive activities. The newspapers have been devoting considerable space to vivid accounts of the Communist danger. Judging by newspaper reports, hundreds of persons must have been arrested. These arrests are not confined to Communists alone but include former Social-Democrats, members of the republican Reichsbanner, and even individuals more to the Right.
An outstanding instance of the severe punishment being meted out by the summary courts to Communists, while Nazi offenders go unpunished, was furnished by the trial of Communist workmen at Altona for the murder of two Nazi storm troopers during the disturbance in that city last summer. It will be recalled that in July, 1932, a Nazi parade in a [Page 253] Communist bailiwick in Altona, resulted in serious disturbances and street fighting in which many were killed and wounded, and that this disturbance, deliberately provoked by the Nazis, served as a pretext for the appointment of a Reich Commissioner for Prussia (see despatch No. 1841 of July 25, 193252). On June 6, a summary court at Altona sentenced four workmen to death and six to penitentiary terms ranging from 3½ to 10 years. The men condemned to death were executed on August 1, following Captain Goering’s refusal to commute the sentence to life imprisonment.
In marked contrast to the execution of these four men was the pardoning of five Nazis who last summer entered the home of an alleged Communist, brutally killing him in the presence of his aged mother (see despatch No. 2261 of March 21, 1933). These Nazis were first sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life terms in the penitentiary. Last March they were released and were given a rousing ovation by the Nazis of their home town.
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Persons who have the misfortune of being confined in a Prussian prison will hereafter be subjected to more severe punishment than heretofore. Goering’s law modifying penal procedure abolished the prison reforms introduced under the Weimar Republic. A sharp distinction will now be made between penal servitude and ordinary imprisonment. The “humanitarian fads” (humanitätsduselei) have been abolished and the standard of living of prisoners will be lowered. In future the death penalty will be inflicted with the axe, unless otherwise specified.
In addition to these unconditional general repressive measures, the policy of taking hostages and indulging in other forms of political reprisals is now extensively applied by the German authorities as a means of intimidating political opponents at home and abroad.
In an endeavor to check the anti-Nazi activities of Social-Democratic émigrés, prominent Social-Democrats in Germany, some of whom were arrested some time ago, were recently transferred to concentration camps and subjected to the routine of forced labor and military drill under Nazi instructors. Herr Loebe, the former President of the Reichstag who commanded the respect even of political opponents because of the impartiality and skill with which he conducted his office, was transferred from Berlin to the concentration camp at Breslau. At the same time, Frau Luedemann, the wife of a former Oberpräsident in Silesia, was taken to the same camp where her husband was also interned (see section 4 of despatch No. 2519 of July 8, 193353) because she made “untrue assertions about conditions in the concentration camp.”
[Page 254]The family of former President Ebert has been especially hard hit by the present policy of reprisals. Friedrich Ebert, former Reichstag deputy and son of the first President of the Reich, who was arrested some time ago, has now been put in a concentration camp. The same fate befell Dr. Jaenecke, son-in-law of the former President and formerly an official in the Foreign Office. Ebert and two other prominent Social-Democrats were taken to the concentration camp at Oranienburg. On their arrival at the camp the authorities released six workmen who had been “misled by Social-Democratic leaders.”
Because some unknown persons destroyed the Hindenburg oak planted by the Nazis in the Tempelhofer Feld on May Day, the Prussian Police ordered by way of reprisal that all Communists interned in concentration camps be deprived of their midday meal for three days.
The Nazi chief of police in Hamburg announced that hereafter Communist leaders already under arrest will be held responsible for acts committed by persons who cannot be immediately identified. For every case of leaflet propaganda, attacks on Nazis or anti-Nazi agitation abroad, at least 10 Communist leaders already in concentration camp will be punished. In cases where offenders are known but cannot be apprehended their relatives will in future be imprisoned.
Because a former Prussian official, now a political émigré, made a speech against the Nazi régime over the wireless station in Luxembourg his brother-in-law living in Germany was imprisoned.
In the concentration camp at Dachau, near Munich, the prisoners were forced to erect a monument to Horst-Wessel, the leader of a Nazi storm detachment in Berlin and composer of the Nazi national anthem bearing his name, who was killed by Communists and later made a national hero.
Aside from intensified punishment as a retaliatory measure, political prisoners are also faced with the grave prospect of being shot “while attempting flight.” Such deaths have become almost a daily occurrence. An outstanding recent case is that of Felix Fechenbach, a newspaper editor who was formerly private secretary to Kurt Eisner, the Bavarian Minister-President assassinated by Count Arco in Munich in 1919.
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8. The New Citizenship Laws. The new Reich citizenship law referred to in despatch No. 18 of July 21, 1933,54 has not yet been promulgated. However, new regulations governing naturalization in the various German States are being formulated, which reflect the spirit of the impending law.
Such regulations, which have already been announced by the Government of the Free State of Baden, show that the Third Reich is in principle [Page 255] opposed to naturalization of non-Germans. Hereafter naturalization is to be regarded as a special privilege. Non-Aryans, that is Jews, will not be admitted to citizenship. If one of the applicant’s forebears, even beyond the grandparents, is known to be of Jewish extraction, the application is to be rejected. Exceptions are possible only if the applicant performed meritorious service for Germany. Aliens who lived in Germany during the war are eligible for citizenship only if they volunteered to serve in the German army or in the army of one of Germany’s allies. Persons who are not members of a religious community must furnish proof that they are not Marxists. Applications of persons married to a non-Aryan are to be rejected on general principles.
The provisions governing the application of the law for the revocation of citizenship, which have now been published in the Reichsgesetzblatt, show that the law is directed against Jews naturalized in Germany since the war and Germans actively opposed to the Nazi régime. It has been estimated that about 15,000 Jews acquired German citizenship during the past fourteen years. The authorities will now examine each of these cases separately to determine whether citizenship should be revoked. Those Jews who were formerly citizens of countries in eastern Europe stand to lose their German citizenship unless they fought on the German side during the war or performed some other meritorious service for their adopted country.
The authorities are not required to state the reason for the revocation of citizenship and their decision can not be contested in a court of law. Persons living in Germany are notified of the revocation of their citizenship by an official notice transmitted through the mail. Persons living abroad are to be notified by the respective diplomatic or consular missions. If notice of revocation is returned undelivered, it must be published in the Reichsanzeiger in order to become effective.
Germans guilty of disloyalty to the Reich—active opposition to the Hitler Government is regarded as such an offense—can be deprived of citizenship and their property confiscated.
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Respectfully yours,