The Administration in Wartime by
Dr. Wilhelm Frick
Reichsminister of the Interior, Freiburg, 1940
Lecture given by Dr. Frick on 7 March 1940 before the University of Freiburg, Breisgau. Pages 13-17.
* * * The organization of the nonmilitary national defense
fits organically into the entire structure of the national socialist government and administration. This state of affairs is not exceptional, but a necessary and planned [sinnvoll] part of the national socialist order. Thus, the conversion of our administration and economy to wartime conditions has been accomplished very quickly and without any friction—avoiding the otherwise very dangerous changes (of the entire structure of the state).
The planned preparation (of the administration) for the possibility of a war has already been carried out during the peace. For this purpose, the Fùehrer appointed a Plenipotentiary General for the Reich Administration and a Plenipotentiary General for the Economy. The plenipotentiary for administration was placed in charge of the coordination of the nonmilitary administration, with the exception of the administration of economics. Therefore, the following agencies were subordinated to him : the Reich ministry of the interior, the Reich ministry of justice, the Reich ministry of education, the Reich ministry of church, the Reich agency for planning. The plenipotentiary general for economy was placed in charge of the economic administration with the exception of the armament industry. It became his duty to make use of all economic forces in the interest of the defense of the Reich, and to guarantee the security of the economic existence of the German people. He took charge of the Reich ministry of economics, of the Reich ministry of nutrition, of the Reich ministry of labor, of the Reich forestry agency, and the Reich commissioner for price policy. The plenipotentiary for administration and the plenipotentiary for economics have the right to make decree laws in mutual agreement and with the agreement nf the high command of the German armed forces, such decree laws can deviate from existing laws. In order to simplify the legislation for the purpose of war, a "three man college" was created.
The jurisdiction of the plenipotentiary for economy was restricted after the outbreak of war. This restriction was the result of the competition in jurisdiction between the plenipotentiary for economy and the commissioner for the four-year plan. During
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the time of peace, the commissioner for the four-year plan had the duty of bringing the economy of the Reich to a peak by using the existing raw materials and by decreasing the dependency of the German economy on foreign countries as much as possible ; on the other hand, the plenipotentiary for economy had the special task of the economic preparation for war. After the outbreak of the war, the job of the commissioner of the four-year plan had to be extended as a purely wartime economic measure. Under these circumstances, a clear demarcation of the jurisdiction and competency was urgent. This was done upon the suggestion of the plenipotentiary for economy in the following way: The commissioner of the four-year plan, General Field Marshal Goering, took over the direction of the entire war economy, the activities of the plenipotentiary for economy were restricted to economic policy and to financing the war in line with the duties of the Reich ministry of economics and the Reich Bank. In order to guarantee the coordination of the various economic agencies of the four-year plan, these agencies were amalgamated into a General Council under the chairmanship of General Field Marshal Goering. Its members are the state secretaries of the agencies working in the . field of war economy, the chief of the military office for economy, and a representative of the deputy of the Fuehrer.
It is the chief duty of this general council to coordinate the work of the various agencies, receive and examine the reports on the various war machines which mig*ht become necessary. It is a working community which clears the most important questions and makes the policy for their solution. However, the execution of the various measures, especially the drafting of the necessary decrees, remains the job of the proper agencies.
The plenipotentiary for the Reich administration, the commissioner of the four-year plan, and the plenipotentiary for economy direct the administration and the economy which are under their jurisdiction. Since the Fuehrer was occupied, after the outbreak of the war, with urgent military and political duties, it became necessary to create an organ which would relieve him and take over the concentrated direction of administration and economy in line with the needs of the defense of the Reich. The military leadership remained, of course, in the hands of the armed forces. For this purpose the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich was formed from the Reich defense council. Within the organization of our state, the position of the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich is characterized by the fact that for the duration of the war, it became the highest permanent organ
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of the Reich with comprehensive jurisdiction, responsible only to the Fuehrer.
The composition of the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich shows the real concentration of power in it. General Field Marshal Goering is the chairman and also the supreme director of the war economy and commissioner for the four-year plan. He is joined by the plenipotentiary general for the Reich administration, who directs the entire civilian administration with the exception of the economic administration, and the plenipotentiary general for economy. The chief of the high command of the armed forces is the liaison man to the armed forces. It is primarily his duty to coordinate the measures for civilian defense in the area of administration and economy with the genuine military measures for the defense of the Reich. The deputy of the Fuehrer represents the party, thus guaranteeing the unity between party and state also within the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich. The Reich minister and chief of the Reich chancellory is in charge of the business management of the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich.
In order to perform its duties, the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich has the power to issue decree laws. This power is restricted only so far as the Fuehrer may order the passing of a law by the Reich cabinet or the Reichstag. Otherwise the legislative power of ministerial council for the defense of the Reich is without restriction, it has the power to regulate everything by decree. The circumscription of the duties as laid down in the introductory remark on the decree about the formation of the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich shows the goals and the laws passed by the Reich cabinet and the Reichstag, the decrees of the cooperation of the Fuehrer. Numerous basic decrees have already been issued by the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich, for example, the decree about the appointment of commissioners for the Reich defense of 1 September 1939, the decree about measures concerning the law of public officials of 1 September 1939, the decree on war economy of 1 September 1939, the decree concerning personal damages of 1 September 1939. By various decrees of the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich, laws have been technically changed or even abolished.
No further explanation is necessary for the fact that the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich has the power to give directives in individual cases—this power is not expressly mentioned in the decree about the formation of the ministerial coun-
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cil for the defense of the Reich. However, this power is a result of the duties and the position of the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich.
It was a result of the concentration of the power to give directives, a power which is in the hands of the individual members of the ministerial council for the defense of the Reich, especially the commissioner for the four-year plan and the plenipotentiaries for the administration and the economy of the Reich and also of the deputy of the Fuehrer.
The ministerial council for the defense of the Reich, the highest legislative and executive organ in wartime next to the Fuehrer, created a subordinate organ for the purpose of the defense of the Reich, the commissioners for the Reich defense, who have their headquarters at the seat of the individual corps area.