Orders to military commanders for the occupation of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg

Berlin, 20 Nov. 1939
The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
OKW/WFA No. 213/39 g.k. Chefs. (Top Secret, Chief Matter)
Department L (I)
8 Copies, Copy
Chief matter By officers only
TOP SECRET
Directive No. 8, for the conduct of the war.
1. The state of alert, to make the continuation of the initiated concentration of troops possible at any moment, must be maintained, for the time being. Only this will make it possible to exploit favorable weather conditions immediately.
The various components of the Armed Forces will make arrangements enabling them to stop the attack even if the order for such action is received by the High Command as late as D-l at 2300 hours. The keyword
"Rhein" (—start attack) or
"Elbe" (—withhold attack)
will be passed on to the High Commands at the latest by this time.
The High Commands of the Army and the Air Forces are requested after having determined the day for attack, to notify Department L of the High Command of the Armed Forces immediately with regard to the mutually agreed hour of the commencement of the attack.
2. Contrary to previous orders, all measures intended against the Netherlands are to be carried out without special orders at the start of the general attack.
The reaction of the Dutch Armed Forces cannot be foreseen.
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The entering of our troops will take the character of a friendly occupation wherever no opposition is encountered.
3. The Land-operations are to be carried out on the basis of the assemble directive of 29 October. The following is added to complete this directive:
a. All measures have to be taken to move the emphasis of the operation quickly from Army Group B to Army Group A if greater and quicker successes than at Army Group B should be obtained there as the present disposition of enemy's forces that would indicate.
b. The Dutch area, including the coastal West-Frisian Islands, without Texel for the time being, is to be seized as far as the Grebbe-Haas Line, until further notice.
4. The Navy is authorized to take blockage measures for submarines against the Belgian and, contrary to previous orders, also against Dutch harbors and waterways, in the night before the attack and from the time of the start of the blockade activities and the time of the land attack must also be kept as short as possible in the case of the use of submarines.
Combat actions against Dutch naval forces are only authorized, if they adopt a hostile attitude.
The Navy is charged with the coastal artillery defense of the coastal regions to be occupied, against attacks from the sea. Preparations have to be made accordingly.
5. The tasks of the Air Force remain unchanged. They have been supplemented by special orders, issued orally by the Fuehrer, concerning the landing from the air and the support of the army by the seizure of the bridges west of Maastricht.
The 7th Air-borne Division will only be committed for landing activities from the air after the seizure of bridges across the Albert Canal has been secured. The fastest means of transmission of this message between the High Command of the Army and the High Command of the Air Force must be guaranteed.
Localities, especially great open town, and the industries are not to be attacked either in the Dutch or the Belgian-Luxembourg area, without (urgent) military reasons.
6. The closing of the frontiers, a. The border and news traffic across the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg frontiers is to be kept at its present volume until the beginning of the attack in the orders to that effect to the military and civilian authorities are not to participate in the preparations for the closing of the border until the start of the attack.
b. The Reieh-Border is to be closed towards the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg for all non-military border and news
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traffic at the start of the attack. The Commander-in-Chief issues the orders to that effect to the military and civilian authorities concerned. The Highest Reich Authorities concerned, will be informed by the OKW (High Command of the Armed Forces) at the beginning of the attack that the measures for the closing of the borders will be issued immediately by the Commander-inChief of the Army, even for the Dutch Border outside of the operational territory.
c. At first, restrictions in the border and news traffic will not be ordered after the start of the attack on the other Reich-Borders towards the neutral countries. Further prepared measures for the surveillance of personal and news traffic will be taken, if necessary.
By order
Distribution: Signed: Keitel
High Command of the Army*—1st Copy.
High Command of the Navy—2nd Copy R. d. L. [Reichs-Ministry of the Air] and the High Command of the Air Force—3rd Copy.
. attested : von Trotha [ ?]
Captain
High Command of the Armed Forces:
Chief WFA—4th Copy.
L—5-8th Copy.
Distribution:
Copies .
K 1st Copy
IV 2nd Copy
II 2nd Copy for information
[in handwriting] Acknowledged 21 October [initials illegible]