1939 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART 1, PAGE 2077
Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor concerning the Administration of the Occupied Polish Territories, October 12, 1939
In order to restore and maintain public order and public life in the occupied Polish territories, I decree:
Section 1.
The territories occupied by German troops shall be subject to the authority of the Governor General of the occupied Polish territories, except in so far as they are incorporated within the German Reich.
Section 2.
(1) I appoint Reich Minister Dr. Frank as Governor General of the occupied Polish territories.
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(2) As Deputy Governor General I appoint Reich Minister Dr. Seyss-Inquart.
Section 3.
(1) The Governor General shall be directly responsible to me.
(2) All branches of the administration shall be directed by the Governor General.
Section 4.
The laws at present in force shall remain in force, except in so far as they are in conflict with the taking over of the administration by the German Reich.
Section 5.
(1) The Cabinet Council for Reich Defense, the Commissioner for the Four-Year Plan, and the Governor General may legislate by decree.
(2) The decrees shall be promulgated in the Verordnungsblatt fuer die besetzten polnischen Gebiete.
Section 6.
The Chairman of the Cabinet Council for Reich Defense and Commissioner for the Four-Year Plan, and also the supreme Reich authorities, may make the arrangements required for the planning of German life and the German economic sphere with respect to the territories eubject to the authority of the Governor General.
Section 7. 1 2
(1) The cost of administration shall be borne by the occupied territory.
(2) The Governor General shall draft a budget. The budget shall require the approval of the Reich Minister of Finance.
Section 8.
(1) The central authority for the occupied Polish territories shall be the Reich Minister of the Interior.
(2) The administrative decrees required for the implementing and supplementing of the present decree shall be issued by the Reich Minister of the Interior.
Section 9.
(1) The present decree shall come into force as soon as and to the extent to which I withdraw the order given to the Commander in Chief of the Army for the exercise of military administration.
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(2) Authority for the exercise of executive power shall be the subject of special provisions.
Berlin, October 12, 1939.
ADOLF HITLER, Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor GOERING, Field Marshal General, President of the Council of Ministers for the Defense of the Reich and Commissioner of the Four-Year Plan FRICK, Minister of the Interior
R. HESS, Deputy of the Fuehrer KEITEL, Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces
von BRAUCHITSCH, Commander-in-Chief of the Army
von RIBBENTROP, Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs
graf SCHWERIN von KROSIGK, Reich Minister
of Finance
DR. LAMMERS, Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery.
Decree appointing a governor general (Frank) to govern occupied Poland, in coordination with Reich authorities
Authors
Adolf Hitler (Fuehrer, Reich Chancellor, Supeme Commander of Wehrmacht)
Adolf Hitler
Austrian nationalized German politician, leader of the National Socialist party and dictator of Germany (1889-1945)
- Born: 1889-01-01 1889-04-20 (Braunau am Inn) (country: Austria-Hungary; located in the administrative territorial entity: Archduchy of Austria above the Enns; statement is subject of: Adolf-Hitler-Geburtshaus)
- Died: 1945-04-30 (Berlin Führerbunker) (country: Nazi Germany; located in the administrative territorial entity: Berlin; statement is subject of: death of Adolf Hitler)
- Country of citizenship: Cisleithania (period: 1889-04-20 through 1918-11-11); First Republic of Austria (period: 1919-01-01 through 1925-04-30); Nazi Germany (end cause: death of Adolf Hitler; period: 1933-01-30 through 1945-04-30); Republic of German-Austria (period: 1918-01-01 through 1919-01-01)
- Occupation: painter (statement is subject of: paintings by Adolf Hitler); political writer; politician (reason for preferred rank: generally used form); soldier
- Member of political party: German Workers' Party (period: 1919-09-12 through 1921-07-11); Nazi Party (series ordinal: 556)
- Member of: Nazi Party
- Participant in: Aktion T4; Beer Hall Putsch; The Holocaust; ethnic cleansing
- Significant person: Albert Speer; Benito Mussolini; Eva Braun; Joseph Stalin
Hermann Goering (Reich Marshal; Commander in Chief, Luftwaffe; Commissioner for Four-Year Plan)
Hermann Göring
German Nazi politician, military leader and convicted war criminal (1893–1946)
- Born: 1893-01-12 (Rosenheim)
- Died: 1945-01-01 1946-10-15 (Nuremberg Court Prison Nuremberg) (reason for deprecated rank: error in referenced source or sources; reason for preferred rank: most precise value)
- Country of citizenship: German Empire; Nazi Germany
- Occupation: aircraft pilot; art collector; politician; war criminal
- Member of political party: Nazi Party (period: 1922-11-01 through 1923-11-23, 1928-04-01 through 1945-04-29)
- Member of: Sturmabteilung
- Participant in: Beer Hall Putsch; Nazi plunder; genocide; war crime
- Significant person: Alma Hedin (role: friend)
Wilhelm Frick (Minister of the Interior; chief of Nazi delegation, Reichstag; admin. Plenipotentiary)
Wilhelm Frick
German Nazi official (1877-1946)
- Born: 1877-03-12 (Alsenz)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: diplomat; lawyer; politician
- Member of political party: German Völkisch Freedom Party; National Socialist Freedom Movement; Nazi Party
- Member of: AGV München; Thule Society
- Participant in: Aryanization; Beer Hall Putsch; International Military Tribunal (role: defendant)
- Position held: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (period: 1943-08-24 through 1945-05-04; replaces: Konstantin von Neurath); Reichsminister des Innern (period: 1933-01-30 through 1943-08-20; replaced by: Heinrich Himmler; replaces: Franz Bracht); member of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany; member of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
Rudolf Hess (Deputy to the Fuehrer; minister without portfolio)
Rudolf Hess
German Nazi leader (1894-1987)
- Born: 1894-04-26 (Alexandria)
- Died: 1987-08-17 (Spandau Prison) (located in the administrative territorial entity: West Berlin)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: aircraft pilot; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Member of: Thule Society
- Participant in: Beer Hall Putsch
- Military rank: lieutenant
Wilhelm Keitel (Field Marshal, Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces)
Wilhelm Keitel
German field marshal
- Born: 1882-09-22 (Helmscherode) (country: German Empire; located in the administrative territorial entity: Duchy of Brunswick)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg) (country: Allied-occupied Germany)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: military officer; military personnel; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Military rank: general field marshal
- Military branch: artillery
- VIAF ID: https://viaf.org/viaf/74027425
Walther Brauchitsch, von (commander in chief of the army, 1938-41)
Walther von Brauchitsch
German field marshal (1881-1948)
- Born: 1881-10-04 (Berlin)
- Died: 1948-10-18 (Hamburg)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: military personnel
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Military rank: general field marshal
- Military branch: Imperial German Army
- Position held: commander-in-chief (period: 1938-01-01 through 1941-01-01)
Joachim Ribbentrop, von (Minister for Foreign Affairs (1938-45))
Joachim von Ribbentrop
German Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany (1893–1946)
- Born: 1893-04-30 (Wesel)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: diplomat; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Member of: Schutzstaffel; Travellers Club
- Participant in: International Military Tribunal (role: defendant)
- Military rank: Oberleutnant
Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk (Graf; Reich Minister of Finance)
Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
German nobleman, jurist, and senior Nazi government official (1887-1977)
- Born: 1887-08-22 (Rathmannsdorf)
- Died: 1977-04-03 1977-03-04 (Essen)
- Country of citizenship: German Empire; Germany; Nazi Germany; Weimar Republic
- Occupation: diplomat; economist; jurist; military personnel
- Member of political party: Nazi Party (since: 1937-01-30)
- Participant in: Aryanization; Ministries Trial (role: defendant); Nuremberg Medical Trial (date: 1947-02-06; role: affiant)
- Significant person: Karl Brandt (role: acquaintance)
- Position held: Chancellor of Germany (period: 1945-05-01 through 1945-05-23; replaced by: Konrad Adenauer; replaces: Joseph Goebbels); Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs (period: 1945-05-02 through 1945-05-23; replaces: Arthur Seyss-Inquart); German Foreign Minister (period: 1945-05-02 through 1945-05-23; replaced by: Georg Dertinger; replaces: Arthur Seyss-Inquart); Leading Minister (period: 1945-05-01 through 1945-05-23)
Hans H. Lammers (Dr., Chief of Reich Chancellery)
Hans H. Lammers
German jurist, Nazi politician, and Head of the Reich Chancellery (1879-1962)
- Born: 1879-05-27 (Lubliniec)
- Died: 1962-01-04 (Düsseldorf)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: judge; jurist; lawyer; politician
- Member of political party: German National People's Party (until: 1932-01-01); Nazi Party
- Member of: Schutzstaffel
- Participant in: Ministries Trial (role: defendant); Nuremberg Medical Trial (role: affiant, witness)
- Significant person: Adolf Hitler (role: superior); Karl Brandt (role: colleague)
Date: 12 October 1939
Literal Title: 1939 Reichsgesetzblatt . . . Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor concerning the Administration of the Occupied Polish Territories, October 12, 1939
Defendants: Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Hermann Wilhelm Goering, Rudolf Hess, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim Ribbentrop, von, Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Total Pages: 2
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: PS-3561
HLSL Item No.: 450490
Notes:Brauchitsch's name is mis-spelled as Branchitsch in the document. Seyss-Inquart was appointed deputy governor general.