Other war crimes -- The "Night and Fog Decree"

[Lucius Felix Silla]

The following document may be of interest, and I think should satisfy LFS' request for a document relating specifically to the Nacht und Nebel decree by name, as well as putting paid to his assertion on another thread that the term did not appear until after the war. (Sorry I don't have the German text in front of me, but I see no need to doubt the accuracy of the translation):

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 1932-PS
Source: Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Vol.IV. USGPO, Washington, 1946, pp. 579-580
Letter from Office of Chief of Department D of WVHA,
Concerning Handling of Prisoners Who Fall Under Night and Fog Decree

7 June 1943

SS Main Economic Administrative office
[ SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt]

Oranienburg 7 June 1943

Office group D, Concentrations Camps
D I/ 1 Az: 14 c 2 / Ot / S.-Secret diary No. 743/ 43

Subject : Treatment of prisoners who fall under the night and fog decree. [ NN-Erlass] .

Reference : Reich Security Main Office [Reichssicherheitshauptamt] IV c 2 General No. 103/ 42 g -issued 5 May, 1943

Annexes : None

SECRET

To the Camp commanders of the Concentrations Camps

Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwalde, Mauthausen, Flossenburg, Neumarkt, Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen, Natzweiler, Stu., Ravenbruck, Herz., Riga, Lublin and the Civilian Camp Bergen-Belsen.
[Da., Sah., Bu., Mau., Flo., Neu., Au., Gr.-Ro., Natz., Stu., Rav., Herz., Ri., Lub., und Zil Bergen-Belsen.]

I send the following decree of the Reich Security Main Office [Reichssicherheitshauptamt] regarding treatment of Night and Fog [NN] prisoners for acknowledgement and strictest observation.

The purpose of the NN decree is the elimination of all anti-German forces in the occupied territories and their being brought into the Reich.

The relatives and the population are to be kept in uncertainty about the fate of these persons. In order to achieve this, the NN decree further provides that prisoners of this kind should be placed under prohibitions to write, to receive mail and parcels, to talk, or that information should be given about them. In this regard it is irrelevant whether it is the question of a NN-prisoner of the old or new type. By NN-prisoners of the old type are understood those whom the military courts have handed over to the disposing agencies for shipment to the Reich, while the so-called New-Type NN-prisoners have been brought directly by the arresting agencies of the Security-Police and of the SD to the concentration camps (KL) in the Reich without the participation of military courts.

The Agencies of the security police and of the SD in question are instructed to submit to the Reich security Main Office and to the concentration camp in charge questionnaires on all prisoners who fall under the NN-decree. This questionnaire should contain detailed personal data, data on racial origin, the reason for arrest, the former place of custody and other incriminating elements. These questionnaires are to be marked by a seal "Night and Fog" [ Nacht und Nebel] .

Upon the reports of the agencies of the Security Police and of the SD a collective order for protective custody will be issued here with the questionnaires attached and the agencies will be further instructed to transfer the arrestees to a concentration camp.

Insofar as Germanic NN-prisoners are concerned, they will be transferred from here to the concentration camp of Natzweiler exclusively in all other cases the NN-prisoners will be shipped to a concentration camp depending on the location of the transferring agency of the Security Police and of the SD with consideration of the echelon division and of capacity of the concentration camp.

The camp commanders of concentration camps in which there are already NN-prisoners have to order immediately that the prisoners should be investigated according to racial points of view and that the Germanic NN-prisoners should be transferred to the concentration camp of Natzweiler. Compliance with this order is to be reported on individual questionnaires for each prisoner. The camp commander of the concentration camp of Natzweiler has to take care that the NN-prisoners are to be kept separated from the other prisoners.

In other respects the directives of the RSHA-Referat ND 4-which have been sent together with the secret letter No. 551/ 42, dated 18 Aug. 1942, are referred to.

Furthermore it is pointed out again as has been ordered already in the circular decree, issued 2 Feb. 1943, secret diary No. 111/ 43 -that death notices of NN-prisoners are to be submitted exclusively to the agency particular transferring agency of the Security Police and of the SD, to the RSHA and to this agency, in order to exclude divulgence of the place of custody of an NN-prisoner. Hereby the decrees regulating the procedure in cases of death, particularly any notification of the relatives are cancelled. The effects of deceased Night and Fog prisoners are to be sent in their entirety to the transferring agency in charge which will guard it until further notice.

The chief of the central office
[signature illegible]
SS Lt. Colonel


Document compiled by Dr S D Stein
Last update 02/02/99
[email protected]
©S D Stein

http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/nacht1.htm

I have so far been unable to locate primary documentary evidence of the fact, but several secondary sources state that the "Nacht und Nebel" Decree was placed into effect only in the occupied territories in the West - and that some 7,000 victims, mostly French, fell victim to its "Nacht und Nebel" provisions and were deported to Germany. This of course does not include those who were summarily executed pursuant to the command in Section 1 of the Decree.

Although I am not a native German speaker, I think (hope) that I have at least a rudimentary command of that language and, as a native English (or rather American) a somewhat better command of English. So with some trepidation and with respect, I have to strongly disagree with Andreas' selections of translations of the German idiom "Nacht und Nebel" into English. I think none of them really fit.

Neither "Cloak & Dagger" nor "covert ops." nor even "Disappearances" conveys the the sense of one mysteriously and secretly disappearing into the fog of the night, so that no one - friends, relatives or loved ones - has any idea of what has happened to the person or his (her) ultimate fate. This was a tactic of Nazi terror subsequently and notoriously aped by the Chileans and the Argentinians, and, I understand of several other repressive régimes.

Here is an analysis of the phrase (together with my rough and ready attempts at translation shown in brackets) taken from an extremely helpful web-site for one interested in German idiom, which can be found at:

http://www.redensarten-index.de/info.html

Redensarten Suchergebnis [Results of Idiom Search]

Einen Eintrag gefunden mit der Suchbedingung "genauer Text" [One entry found with the search requirement "specific text".]

Redensart [Idiom]: bei Nacht und Nebel

Erläuterung: [synonym]: im Verborgenen / Geheimen [hidden, secret.]

Beispiele [Examples]:

"Wer sich bei Nacht und Nebel davonmacht und niemanden über seine Abwesenheit informiert, ist gegen einen Einbruch nicht gefeit" [Whoever makes himself disappear through Nacht und Nebel and informs no one of his absence is not immune from burglary.]

"Kinder und Jugendliche beiderlei Geschlechts werden ohne Angabe von Gründen ihren Elternhäusern entrissen, bei Nacht und Nebel entführt, verhört und dabei mit unvorstellbarer Grausamkeit gefoltert"; [Children and youths of both sexes shall be snatched away from the houses of their parents, without any statement of the grounds therefor, and abducted, interrogated, and tortured with unimaginable cruelty.]

"Nur zwei Wochen ertrugen sie es miteinander, dann packte er in einer Nacht-und-Nebel-Aktion seine Sachen und verschwand"; [For only two weeks did they tolerate it together, then he packed up his things in a Nacht und Nebel operation and disappeared.]

"In einer Nacht-und Nebel-Aktion, von der die Öffentlichkeit erst im Nachhinein erfuhr, wurden die Bilder aus Donaueschingen abtransportiert"
[The paintings from Donaueschingen were transported away in a Nacht und Nebel operation, which first became publicly known later.]

Idiomatic translation can be extremely difficult, for so often the nuances derived from the cultural, historical and even geographical background applicable to one language may not exist in case of another. But in the instant case, IMHO (and obviously in the opinion of all other translators of the phrase I am familiar with) "Night and Fog" is the best we can come up with in English.

And BTW, the exact translation "Noche y Niebla" is that customary in Spanish, and "Nuit et Broulliard" in French - a French documentary film dealing with this exact subject and bearing this precise title having been produced by Alain Resnais in the mid-1950s.

Regards, Kaschner

Unfortunately You are entirely wrong. In german original documents appears only the acronym "NN" which is translated by historians for habitude , but without any support, by fantasious expression "Nacht und Nebel"= Night and Fog. This habitude was well explicated by historian Walter Gorlitz in his work on Keitel (see french edition, fayard-paris, 1963, p.247). The original NN decree was dated 7.12.1941 and issued by Keitel, but unfortunately never was found. At the IMT was produced in evidence one document relying on this decree, but dated 12.12.1941 (i'm sorry i can't produces the IMT exact source). Others documents cited and produced show that effectively one decree NN was emanated.

But the acronym NN, which is a current expression in administrative language both german and italian, signify "Nomen Nescio" (a latin expression which signify "name unknowed") or "Nomen Notetur" (another latin brocard which signify "name to be censured"). See J.Grimm/W. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, 1889 under article N.

All others speculations are pure fantasy.

Best Regards

LFS

[simsalabim]

Mr Silla,

Are you suggesting that in the letter of the WVHA, from which I quote:

I send the following decree of the Reich Security Main Office [Reichssicherheitshauptamt] regarding treatment of Night and Fog [NN] prisoners for acknowledgement and strictest observation.

The purpose of the NN decree is the elimination of all anti-German forces in the occupied territories and their being brought into the Reich.

the letters NN, and the words 'Night and Fog' are added by the translator?

[xcalibur]

Mr Silla,

Are you suggesting that in the letter of the WVHA, from which I quote:

I send the following decree of the Reich Security Main Office [Reichssicherheitshauptamt] regarding treatment of Night and Fog [NN] prisoners for acknowledgement and strictest observation.

The purpose of the NN decree is the elimination of all anti-German forces in the occupied territories and their being brought into the Reich.

the letters NN, and the words 'Night and Fog' are added by the translator?

If he is, he's being disingenuous. If one reads the judgment against Field Mashal Keitel one can see that the words "Nacht und Nebel" are rendered in quotations. There is also other language used such as "the so-called Nacht und Nebel Decree". This would seem to indicate that the original decree was not called by that appellation but that phrase came into common parlance sometime after it was issued. Perhaps a bit of gallows humor. It also indicates that the Allies were aware of that fact and did not make an attempt to conceal it.

[Lucius Felix Silla]

Mr Silla,

Are you suggesting that in the letter of the WVHA, from which I quote:

I send the following decree of the Reich Security Main Office [Reichssicherheitshauptamt] regarding treatment of Night and Fog [NN] prisoners for acknowledgement and strictest observation.

The purpose of the NN decree is the elimination of all anti-German forces in the occupied territories and their being brought into the Reich.

the letters NN, and the words 'Night and Fog' are added by the translator?

Yes. Note that the acronym NN was placed in parenthesis. This fact suggests that in the original document, the NN acronym was readable, and translator arbitrarily have applied on his initiative the words "Nacht und Nabel" for NN.

The IMT/NMT documents and their translations must be taken with the most caution.

Best Regards

LFS

[simsalabim]

The IMT/NMT documents and their translations must be taken with the most caution.

This is a conclusion I entirely leave to you.

[Lucius Felix Silla]

Mr Silla,

Are you suggesting that in the letter of the WVHA, from which I quote:

I send the following decree of the Reich Security Main Office [Reichssicherheitshauptamt] regarding treatment of Night and Fog [NN] prisoners for acknowledgement and strictest observation.

The purpose of the NN decree is the elimination of all anti-German forces in the occupied territories and their being brought into the Reich.

the letters NN, and the words 'Night and Fog' are added by the translator?

If he is, he's being disingenuous. If one reads the judgment against Field Mashal Keitel one can see that the words "Nacht und Nebel" are rendered in quotations. There is also other language used such as "the so-called Nacht und Nebel Decree". This would seem to indicate that the original decree was not called by that appellation but that phrase came into common parlance sometime after it was issued. Perhaps a bit of gallows humor. It also indicates that the Allies were aware of that fact and did not make an attempt to conceal it.

Why conceal this? The original purpose of this decree have nothing of particular sinister or criminal. He indicates an harsh treatement to people NN, i.e. without specific personal identity or documents. This species of treatement i think was applied by all nations on war and sometimes by some nations also in period of peace as measure against illegal immigration.

Now, we have much documents on warcrimes commited by germans on eastern front and sometimes also on western front. I don't want discuss here if these acts are simply a species of retaliation agaist other illegal procedures (partisan warfare et cetera) or more simply a carachteristic of NS policy. Also we have much documents, which suggests a tragic horrible fate for thousands of innocent people as Jews Tzigans and others categories.

Also i don't want discuss here the validity of the so called "tu quoque" argument, which suggests that also allied are guilty of warcrimes or crimes against innocent people.

I want simply suggests that in this specific case we have one erroneous translation and consequently one imaginary background of the NN decree.

Best Regards

LFS

[simsalabim]

Why conceal this? The original purpose of this decree have nothing of particular sinister or criminal. He indicates an harsh treatement to people NN, i.e. without specific personal identity or documents. This species of treatement i think was applied by all nations on war and sometimes by some nations also in period of peace as measure against illegal immigration.

Really.

Hitler's original order can be found here:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/411207a.html
or if you want the source:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/nightfog.htm

What was this order about? I quote from
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~shaked/Holoca ... ec11b.html

*1941 - Night and Fog" decree

Major changes in the concentration camp system were brought about as a result of World War II. During the war, the organization & scale of the camp system expanded rapidly & the purpose of the camps evolved beyond imprisonment toward forced labor & outright murder.

Floods of prisoners in larger numbers, deported from German-occupied countries swamped the camps. Entire groups were often sent to the camps, an example being all of the members of underground resistance organizations who were rounded up in a sweep across Europe due to the 1941 "Night and Fog" decree. The only way to handle all of these new prisoners was to open up hundred of new camps in occupied Europe, which the Nazis did.

*The origin and the goal of the "Nacht und Nebel Erlass," also known as "Keitel Erlass."
It was a cryptonym for a secret decree, instigated by Hitler, issued on December 7, 1941, and signed by Wilhelm Keitel, Field Marshall and Chief of Staff of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, contemptuously referred to in certain army circles as "Lakeitel" (lackey), and passed on by him to the appropriate quarters for implementation.

It arose out of worry about the growing resistance movements in the western, German-occupied countries, especially after the German attack on the Soviet Union (22 June 1941). Its main goal was to deter the conquered peoples from underground activities, and it provided the methods of handling "persons dangerous to German security."

Now the military courts could impose death penalty for resistance activities without a unanimous decision, as once required. The entire proceedings against someone, including the execution, were to be done in eight days. The "culprits," if not condemned to death, were to be transferred to Germany. Those arrested under the provisions of Nacht und Nebel decree were to vanish without trace, as if fog and night swallowed them. They were not allowed to write to anyone, to receive mail or parcels, or to have visitors. Their families would not be told about their fate; it was to remain for ever a mystery. As Keitel put it: Effective and lasting intimidation can only be achieved by capital punishment or by means which leave the population in the dark about the fate of the culprit.

This decree applied to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. Its methods were to strike terror in the hearts of the actual and potential opponents of the Nazis. Keitel ordered and justified brutal methods on many occasions, before and after he signed the "Nacht-und-Nebel-Erlass." Thus, he proclaimed on Dec. 16, 1942 that it was ... the duty of the troops to use every method without restriction, even against women and children provided it ensures success. Any act of mercy is a crime against the German people. The draconian provisions of the original decree were made worse later on. After June 25, 1943, even if the military court released such a prisoner, she or he would be handed over to the Gestapo to be detained in the "preventive custody" (Schutzhaft), most likely a concentration camp.

In February 1942 special courts were set up to conduct the ‘Night and Fog’ trials in the Reich: in Cologne, for persons arrested in France: in Dortmund (later Essen, for Belgium & the Netherlands; in Kiel, for Norway; & in Berlin, for all other areas to which the order applied. The "Nacht und Nebel" provisions, while a constituent part of the Nazi murderous plans, should not be confused with the Final Solution.

The only way to handle all of these new prisoners was to open up hundred of new camps in occupied Europe, which the Nazis did. (Encyclopedia of the Holocaust," Israel Gutman, Editor in Chief, Macmillan, 1990, Vol. 3, p. 1030)

Now, this a great measure against illegal immigration isn't it? Hardly for the intelligent reader.

Next the Nomen Nescio thing. (NN is just a harmless reference to someone you don't know).

On this site about a Belgian resistance group:
http://users.pandora.be/amarcord/selys/zwarte01.html

the reader can find, right to the picture of Keitel, a piece of paper describing the belongings of the Belgian prisoner Emile Reniers in KZ Mauthausen, with the name of the prisoner and the mark NN.

Now, why register someone with a name, with the mark NN and state that
'there's no specific identity or documents'?

From the above it can only be concluded that NN means Nacht und Nebel, and from my research of the primary documents of the IMT, all (judges, witnesses, defendants) parties were talking about Nacht und Nebel and Nacht und Nebel simply means to let someone 'disappear', one of the most terrible things a state can do.

For our American audience, events similar are described in the movie 'Missing'.

[Lucius Felix Silla]

Why conceal this? The original purpose of this decree have nothing of particular sinister or criminal. He indicates an harsh treatement to people NN, i.e. without specific personal identity or documents. This species of treatement i think was applied by all nations on war and sometimes by some nations also in period of peace as measure against illegal immigration.

Really.

Hitler's original order can be found here:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/411207a.html
or if you want the source:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/nightfog.htm

What was this order about? I quote from
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~shaked/Holoca ... ec11b.html

*1941 - Night and Fog" decree

Major changes in the concentration camp system were brought about as a result of World War II. During the war, the organization & scale of the camp system expanded rapidly & the purpose of the camps evolved beyond imprisonment toward forced labor & outright murder.

Floods of prisoners in larger numbers, deported from German-occupied countries swamped the camps. Entire groups were often sent to the camps, an example being all of the members of underground resistance organizations who were rounded up in a sweep across Europe due to the 1941 "Night and Fog" decree. The only way to handle all of these new prisoners was to open up hundred of new camps in occupied Europe, which the Nazis did.

*The origin and the goal of the "Nacht und Nebel Erlass," also known as "Keitel Erlass."
It was a cryptonym for a secret decree, instigated by Hitler, issued on December 7, 1941, and signed by Wilhelm Keitel, Field Marshall and Chief of Staff of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, contemptuously referred to in certain army circles as "Lakeitel" (lackey), and passed on by him to the appropriate quarters for implementation.

It arose out of worry about the growing resistance movements in the western, German-occupied countries, especially after the German attack on the Soviet Union (22 June 1941). Its main goal was to deter the conquered peoples from underground activities, and it provided the methods of handling "persons dangerous to German security."

Now the military courts could impose death penalty for resistance activities without a unanimous decision, as once required. The entire proceedings against someone, including the execution, were to be done in eight days. The "culprits," if not condemned to death, were to be transferred to Germany. Those arrested under the provisions of Nacht und Nebel decree were to vanish without trace, as if fog and night swallowed them. They were not allowed to write to anyone, to receive mail or parcels, or to have visitors. Their families would not be told about their fate; it was to remain for ever a mystery. As Keitel put it: Effective and lasting intimidation can only be achieved by capital punishment or by means which leave the population in the dark about the fate of the culprit.

This decree applied to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. Its methods were to strike terror in the hearts of the actual and potential opponents of the Nazis. Keitel ordered and justified brutal methods on many occasions, before and after he signed the "Nacht-und-Nebel-Erlass." Thus, he proclaimed on Dec. 16, 1942 that it was ... the duty of the troops to use every method without restriction, even against women and children provided it ensures success. Any act of mercy is a crime against the German people. The draconian provisions of the original decree were made worse later on. After June 25, 1943, even if the military court released such a prisoner, she or he would be handed over to the Gestapo to be detained in the "preventive custody" (Schutzhaft), most likely a concentration camp.

In February 1942 special courts were set up to conduct the ‘Night and Fog’ trials in the Reich: in Cologne, for persons arrested in France: in Dortmund (later Essen, for Belgium & the Netherlands; in Kiel, for Norway; & in Berlin, for all other areas to which the order applied. The "Nacht und Nebel" provisions, while a constituent part of the Nazi murderous plans, should not be confused with the Final Solution.

The only way to handle all of these new prisoners was to open up hundred of new camps in occupied Europe, which the Nazis did. (Encyclopedia of the Holocaust," Israel Gutman, Editor in Chief, Macmillan, 1990, Vol. 3, p. 1030)

Now, this a great measure against illegal immigration isn't it? Hardly for the intelligent reader.

Next the Nomen Nescio thing. (NN is just a harmless reference to someone you don't know).

On this site about a Belgian resistance group:
http://users.pandora.be/amarcord/selys/zwarte01.html

the reader can find, right to the picture of Keitel, a piece of paper describing the belongings of the Belgian prisoner Emile Reniers in KZ Mauthausen, with the name of the prisoner and the mark NN.

Now, why register someone with a name, with the mark NN and state that
'there's no specific identity or documents'?

From the above it can only be concluded that NN means Nacht und Nebel, and from my research of the primary documents of the IMT, all (judges, witnesses, defendants) parties were talking about Nacht und Nebel and Nacht und Nebel simply means to let someone 'disappear', one of the most terrible things a state can do.

For our American audience, events similar are described in the movie 'Missing'.

You confirms exactly what i have written.

1) The first two links are pertinents to a translation of one document dated 12.12.1941 which is, as i have already suggested, the circular of application of original Keitel decree wich contains a section on NN, which unfortunately is missed. That this was the original document (which is in german language i think) is really Your opinion and opinion of author of this title : HITLER ON PUNISHMENT OF OFFENDERS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORY, DECEMBER 7, 1941
"Night-and-Fog Decree" (Nacht-und-Nebel Erlass). .
Whe one reads with attention this document, WHERE WORDS NN OR NACHT UND NEBEL ARE ABSENT, can only agree that is a general directive against movements of resistance, a rather common practice in occupied territories. This involves a series of punishment: from death to
transfer to concentration camp (also release in free is possible).

2) The second link was an explication which confirms that the ultimate scope of this decree was the internment of suspected people in KL. NN read in both ways: Name unknowed and Name to be omitted, Name to be not knowned. For this was impossible to known where people, assumed to be a partisan or a suspect collaborator of partisan/resistential movement.
As for my parallel with some countries which have special camps to assembly all immigrants illegals or without documents, this was a practice, obviously mutatis mutandis, applied also Italy respect to africans immigrants (Morocco and Algerian). In Usa a similar practice of segregation was applied, i'm not wrong, to cubans immigrants in 60's. Obviously isn't my intention to paragone USA government to NS! Mine is only a paradox. But currently those species of camps are visibles in IRAQ for security reasons-

3) As for the document showed a little of logic is sometimes necessary.
NN was stamped on the document because or the name in the document (which was from Natzweiler KL) is not sure , i.e the real is unknowed or because the inmate was classified as NN ("Nomen Notetur") id est the name can't be revealeted in order to obstacle a liberation or a communication with the inmate. These harsh measures - i have already written this - are surely odious but sometimes necessary in wartime.

Best Regards

LFS

[simsalabim]

mr Silla wrote earlier:

Why conceal this? The original purpose of this decree have nothing of particular sinister or criminal. He indicates an harsh treatement to people NN, i.e. without specific personal identity or documents. This species of treatement i think was applied by all nations on war and sometimes by some nations also in period of peace as measure against illegal immigration.

Perhaps mr Silla is kind enough to read mr Karschners post and my quotes again. The intention of the Nacht und Nebel-order was quite sinister indeed: disappearances as a way of terror.

This has absolutely nothing to do with measures like you mentioned :

As for my parallel with some countries which have special camps to assembly all immigrants illegals or without documents, this was a practice, obviously mutatis mutandis, applied also Italy respect to africans immigrants (Morocco and Algerian). In Usa a similar practice of segregation was applied, i'm not wrong, to cubans immigrants in 60's. Obviously isn't my intention to paragone USA government to NS! Mine is only a paradox. But currently those species of camps are visibles in IRAQ for security reasons-

next,

3) As for the document showed a little of logic is sometimes necessary.
NN was stamped on the document because or the name in the document (which was from Natzweiler KL) is not sure , i.e the real is unknowed or because the inmate was classified as NN ("Nomen Notetur") id est the name can't be revealeted in order to obstacle a liberation or a communication with the inmate.

What a lot of baloney! Also it sheds a grim light on statements like:

These harsh measures - i have already written this - are surely odious but sometimes necessary in wartime.

Again..really? In your world perhaps.

[David Thompson]

LFS described the “Night and Fog Decree” this way:

Why conceal this? The original purpose of this decree have nothing of particular sinister or criminal. He indicates an harsh treatement to people NN, i.e. without specific personal identity or documents. This species of treatement i think was applied by all nations on war and sometimes by some nations also in period of peace as measure against illegal immigration.

and

1) The first two links are pertinents to a translation of one document dated 12.12.1941 which is, as i have already suggested, the circular of application of original Keitel decree wich contains a section on NN, which unfortunately is missed. That this was the original document (which is in german language i think) is really Your opinion and opinion of author of this title : HITLER ON PUNISHMENT OF OFFENDERS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORY, DECEMBER 7, 1941
"Night-and-Fog Decree" (Nacht-und-Nebel Erlass). .
Whe one reads with attention this document, WHERE WORDS NN OR NACHT UND NEBEL ARE ABSENT, can only agree that is a general directive against movements of resistance, a rather common practice in occupied territories. This involves a series of punishment: from death to
transfer to concentration camp (also release in free is possible).

2) The second link was an explication which confirms that the ultimate scope of this decree was the internment of suspected people in KL. NN read in both ways: Name unknowed and Name to be omitted, Name to be not knowned. For this was impossible to known where people, assumed to be a partisan or a suspect collaborator of partisan/resistential movement.
As for my parallel with some countries which have special camps to assembly all immigrants illegals or without documents, this was a practice, obviously mutatis mutandis, applied also Italy respect to africans immigrants (Morocco and Algerian). In Usa a similar practice of segregation was applied, i'm not wrong, to cubans immigrants in 60's. Obviously isn't my intention to paragone USA government to NS! Mine is only a paradox. But currently those species of camps are visibles in IRAQ for security reasons-

Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, testifying before the International Military Tribunal on 4 Apr 1946, described the Night and Fog Decree this way (at IMT proceedings, vol. 10, pp. 542-55):

542
4 April 46

* * * * *

DR. NELTE: We come now to the second individual fact, "Nacht und Nebel." The Prosecution charges you of having participated in the Nacht und Nebel decree of 12 December 1941, Document Number L-90 ...

KEITEL: May I say one more thing regarding the other question?

DR. NELTE: Please, if it appears to be necessary. In the communication of 2 February 1942 we find the words, "In the annex are transmitted: 1) A decree of the Fuehrer of 7 December 1941..." You wanted to say something more; if it is important, please. Do you have Document Number L-90?

KEITEL: L-90, yes.

DR. NELTE: What was the cause for this order, so terrible in its consequences?

KEITEL: I must state that it is perfectly clear to me that the connection of my name with this so-called "Nacht und Nebel" order is a serious charge against me, even though it can be seen from the documents that it is a Fuehrer order. Consequently I should like to state how this order came about. Since the beginning of the Eastern campaign and in the late autumn of 1941 until the spring of 1942, the resistance movements, sabotage and everything connected with it increased enormously in all the occupied territories. From the military angle it meant that the security troops were tied down, having to be kept on the spot by the unrest. That is how I saw it from the military point of view at that time. And day by day, through the daily reports we could picture the sequence of events in the individual occupation sectors. It was impossible to handle this summarily; rather, Hitler demanded that he be informed of each individual occurrence, and he was very displeased if such matters were concealed from him in the reports by military authorities. He got to know about them all the same.

543

4 April 46

In this connection, he said to me that it was very displeasing to him and very unfavorable to establishing peace that, owing to this, death sentences by court-martial against saboteurs and their accomplices were increasing; that he did not wish this to occur, since from his point of view it made appeasement and relations with the population only more difficult. He said at that time that a state of peace could be achieved only if this were reduced and if, instead of death sentences -- to shorten it -- in case a death sentence could not be expected and carried out in the shortest time possible, as stated here in the decree, the suspect or guilty persons concerned -- if one may use the word "guilty" -- should be deported to Germany without the knowledge of their families and be interned or imprisoned instead of lengthy court-martial proceedings with many witnesses.

I expressed the greatest misgivings in this matter and know very well that I said at that time that I feared results exactly opposite to those apparently hoped for. I then had serious discussions with the legal adviser of the Wehrmacht, who, had similar scruples, because there was an elimination of ordinary legal procedures. I tried again to prevent this order from being issued or to have it modified. My efforts were in vain. The threat was made to me that the Minister of Justice would be commissioned to issue a corresponding decree, should the Wehrmacht not be able to do so. Now may I refer to details only insofar as these ways were provided in this order, L-90, of preventing arbitrary application, and these were primarily as follows:

The general principles of the order provided expressly that such deportation or abduction into Reich territory should take place only after regular court-martial proceedings, and that in every case the officer in charge of jurisdiction, that is, the divisional commander must deal with the matter together with his legal adviser, in the legal way, on the basis of preliminary proceedings.

I must say that I believed then that every arbitrary and excessive application of these principles was avoided by this provision. You will perhaps agree with me that the words in the order, "It is the will of the Fuehrer after long consideration..." put in for that purpose, were not said without reason and not without the hope that the addressed military commander would also recognize from this that this was a method of which we did not approve and did not consider to be right.

Finally we introduced a reviewing procedure into the order so that through the higher channels of appeal, that is, the Military Commander in France and the Supreme Command or Commander of the Army, it would be possible to try the case legally by appeal proceedings if the verdict seemed open to question, at least, within the meaning of the decree. I learned here for the first time of the

544

4 April 46

full and monstrous tragedy, namely, that this order, which was intended only for the Wehrmacht and for the sole purpose of determining whether an offender who faced a sentence in jail could be made to disappear by means of this Nacht und Nebel procedure, was obviously applied universally by the police, as testified by witnesses whom I have heard here, and according to the Indictment which I also heard, and so the horrible fact of the existence of whole camps full of people deported through the Nacht und Nebel procedure has been proved. In my opinion, the Wehrmacht, at least I and the military commanders of the occupied territories who were connected with this order, did not know of this. At any rate it was never reported to me. Therefore this order, which in itself was undoubtedly very dangerous and disregarded certain requirements of law such as we understood it, was able to develop into that formidable affair of which the Prosecution have spoken.

The intention was to take those who were to be deported from their home country to Germany, because Hitler was of the opinion that penal servitude in wartime would not be considered by the persons concerned as dishonorable in cases where it was a question of actions by so-called patriots. It would be regarded as a short detention which would end whenthe war was over.

These reflections have already been made in part in the note. If you have any further questions, please put them.

DR. NELTE: The order for the carrying out of this Nacht und Nebel decree states that the Gestapo was to effect the transportation to Germany. You stated that the people who came to Germany were to be turned over to the Minister of Justice, that is, to normal police custody. You will understand that, by the connection with the Gestapo, certain suspicions are raised that it was known from the start what happened to these people. Can you say anything in elucidation of that matter?

KEITEL: Yes. The order that was given at that time was that these people should be turned over to the German authorities of justice. This letter signed "by order" and then the signature, was issued 8 weeks later than the decree itself by the Amt Ausland Abwehr as I can see from my official correspondence. It indicates the conferences, that is, the agreements, which had to be reached at that time, regarding the method by which these people were to be taken from their native countries to Germany. They were apparently conducted by this Amt Abwehr, which evidently ordered police detachments as escorts. That can be seen from it.

I might mention in this connection -- I must have seen it -- that it did not seem objectionable at that time, because I could have, and

545

4 April 46

I had, no reason to assume that these people were being turned over to the Gestapo, frankly speaking, to be liquidated, but that the Gestapo was simply being used as the medium in charge of the transportation to Germany. I should like to emphasize that particularly, so that there can be no doubt that it was not our idea to do away with the people as was later done in that Nacht und Nebel camp.

On 6 Apr 1946 the British prosector Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe revisited the subject with Keitel (at IMT proceedings vol. 10, pp. 625-27):

625

6 April 46

* * * * *

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Defendant, do you remember on the 2d of October 1945 writing a letter to Colonel Amen, explaining your position? It was after your interrogations, and in your own time you wrote a letter explaining your point of view. Do you remember that?

KEITEL: Yes, I think I did write a letter; but I no longer remember the contents. It referred to the interrogations, however.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Yes.

KEITEL: And I think it contained a request that I be given a further opportunity of thinking things over, as the questions put to me took me by surprise and I was often unable to remember the answers.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: I want to remind you of one passage and ask you whether it correctly expresses your view:

"In carrying out these thankless and difficult tasks, I had to fulfill my duty under the hardest exigencies of war, often acting against the inner voice of my conscience and against my own convictions. The fulfillment of urgent tasks assigned by Hitler, to whom I was directly responsible, demanded complete self-abnegation."

Do you remember that?

626

6 April 46

KEITEL: Yes.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Well, now, I just want you to tell the Tribunal, what were the worst matters in your view in which you often acted against the inner voice of your conscience? Just tell us some of the worst matters in which you acted against the inner voice of your conscience.

KEITEL: I found myself in such a situation quite frequently, but the decisive questions which conflicted most violently with my conscience and my convictions were those which were contrary to the training which I had undergone during my 37 years as an officer in the German Army. That was a blow at my most intimate personal principles.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: I wanted it to come from you, Defendant. Can you tell the Tribunal the three worst things you had to do which were against the inner voice of your conscience? What do you pick out as the three worst things you had to do?

KEITEL: Perhaps, to start with the last, the orders given for the conduct of the war in the East, insofar as they were contrary to the acknowledged usage of war; then something which particularly concerns the British Delegation, the question of the 50 R.A.F. officers, the question which weighed particularly heavy on my mind, that of the terror-fliers and, worst of all, the Nacht und Nebel Decree and the actual consequences it entailed at a later stage and about which I did not know. Those were the worst struggles which I had with myself.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: We will take the Nacht und Nebel. My Lord, this document and a good many to which I shall refer are in the British Document Book Number 7, Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl, and it occurs on Page 279. It is L-90, Exhibit USA-503.

[Turning to the defendant.] Defendant, I will give you the German document book.
It is 279 of the British document book, and 289...

KEITEL: Number 731?

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: It is Page 289, I do not know which volume it is; Part 2, I think it is.

You see, the purpose of the decree is set out a few lines from the start, where they say that in all cases where the death penalty is not pronounced and not carried out within a week,

". . . the accused are in the future to be deported to Germany secretly, and further proceedings in connection with the offenses will take place here. The deterrent effect of these measures lies in: (a) the complete disappearance of the accused;

627

6 April 46

(b) the fact that no information may be given as to their whereabouts or their fate."

Both these purposes, you will agree, were extremely cruel and brutal, were they not?

KEITEL: I said both at the time and yesterday, that I personally thought that to deport individuals secretly was very much more cruel than to impose a sentence of death. I have ...

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Would you turn to Page 281 -- 291 of yours -- 281 of the English Book?

KEITEL: Yes, I have it.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: You say that this is your covering letter:

"The Fuehrer is of the opinion:" -- Line 4 -- "In the case of offenses such as these, punishment by imprisonment, or even penal servitude for life, will be considered a sign of weakness. Effective and lasting intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures which keep the culprit's relatives and the population generally uncertain as to his fate."

You will agree that there again these sentences of the Fuehrer which you are here transmitting were cruel and brutal, were they not?

KEITEL: Yes.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Now, what I ...

KEITEL: May I add something?

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Certainly, as shortly as you can.

KEITEL: I made a statement yesterday on this subject and I drew your attention particularly to the words: "It is the Fuehrer's long considered will," which were intended to convey to the generals who were receiving these orders what was written between the lines.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: But, you know, Defendant, that that was by no means the end of this series of orders, was it? This order was unsuccessful despite its cruelty and brutality in achieving its purpose, was it not? This order, the Nacht und Nebel Order, in that form was unsuccessful in achieving its purpose; it did not stop what it was designed to stop? Is that right?

KEITEL: No, it did not cease.

Compare and contrast.

[walterkaschner]

The following testimony of Wilhelm Keitel himself at the Nuremberg IMT proceedings may be of interest (Keitel is being examined by his own defense counsel, Dr. Nelte):

DR. NELTE: We come now to the second individual fact, "Nacht und Nebel." The Prosecution charges you of having participated in the Nacht und Nebel decree of 12 December 1941, Document Number L-90 ...
********
Do you have Document Number L-90?

KEITEL: L-90, yes.

DR. NELTE: What was the cause for this order, so terrible in its consequences?

KEITEL: I must state that it is perfectly clear to me that the connection of my name with this so-called "Nacht und Nebel" order is a serious charge against me, even though it can be seen from the documents that it is a Fuehrer order. Consequently I should like to state how this order came about. Since the beginning of the Eastern campaign and in the late autumn of 1941 until the spring of 1942, the resistance movements, sabotage and everything connected with it increased enormously in all the occupied territories. From the military angle it meant that the security troops were tied down, having to be kept on the spot by the unrest. That is how I saw it from the military point of view at that time. And day by day, through the daily reports we could picture the sequence of events in the individual occupation sectors. It was impossible to handle this summarily; rather, Hitler demanded that he be informed of each individual occurrence, and he was very displeased if such matters were concealed from him in the reports by military authorities. He got to know about them all the same.

543

4 April 46

In this connection, he said to me that it was very displeasing to him and very unfavorable to establishing peace that, owing to this, death sentences by court-martial against saboteurs and their accomplices were increasing; that he did not wish this to occur, since from his point of view it made appeasement and relations with the population only more difficult. He said at that time that a state of peace could be achieved only if this were reduced and if, instead of death sentences -- to shorten it -- in case a death sentence could not be expected and carried out in the shortest time possible, as stated here in the decree, the suspect or guilty persons concerned -- if one may use the word "guilty" -- should be deported to Germany without the knowledge of their families and be interned or imprisoned instead of lengthy court-martial proceedings with many witnesses.

I expressed the greatest misgivings in this matter and know very well that I said at that time that I feared results exactly opposite to those apparently hoped for. I then had serious discussions with the legal adviser of the Wehrmacht, who, had similar scruples, because there was an elimination of ordinary legal procedures. I tried again to prevent this order from being issued or to have it modified. My efforts were in vain. The threat was made to me that the Minister of Justice would be commissioned to issue a corresponding decree, should the Wehrmacht not be able to do so. Now may I refer to details only insofar as these ways were provided in this order, L-90, of preventing arbitrary application, and these were primarily as follows:

The general principles of the order provided expressly that such deportation or abduction into Reich territory should take place only after regular court-martial proceedings, and that in every case the officer in charge of jurisdiction, that is, the divisional commander must deal with the matter together with his legal adviser, in the legal way, on the basis of preliminary proceedings.

I must say that I believed then that every arbitrary and excessive application of these principles was avoided by this provision. You will perhaps agree with me that the words in the order, "It is the will of the Fuehrer after long consideration..." put in for that purpose, were not said without reason and not without the hope that the addressed military commander would also recognize from this that this was a method of which we did not approve and did not consider to be right.

Finally we introduced a reviewing procedure into the order so that through the higher channels of appeal, that is, the Military Commander in France and the Supreme Command or Commander of the Army, it would be possible to try the case legally by appeal proceedings if the verdict seemed open to question, at least, within the meaning of the decree. I learned here for the first time of the

544

4 April 46

full and monstrous tragedy, namely, that this order, which was intended only for the Wehrmacht and for the sole purpose of determining whether an offender who faced a sentence in jail could be made to disappear by means of this Nacht und Nebel procedure, was obviously applied universally by the police, as testified by witnesses whom I have heard here, and according to the Indictment which I also heard, and so the horrible fact of the existence of whole camps full of people deported through the Nacht und Nebel procedure has been proved.

In my opinion, the Wehrmacht, at least I and the military commanders of the occupied territories who were connected with this order, did not know of this. At any rate it was never reported to me. Therefore this order, which in itself was undoubtedly very dangerous and disregarded certain requirements of law such as we understood it, was able to develop into that formidable affair of which the Prosecution have spoken.

The intention was to take those who were to be deported from their home country to Germany, because Hitler was of the opinion that penal servitude in wartime would not be considered by the persons concerned as dishonorable in cases where it was a question of actions by so-called patriots. It would be regarded as a short detention which would end whenthe war was over.

These reflections have already been made in part in the note. If you have any further questions, please put them.

DR. NELTE: The order for the carrying out of this Nacht und Nebel decree states that the Gestapo was to effect the transportation to Germany. You stated that the people who came to Germany were to be turned over to the Minister of Justice, that is, to normal police custody. You will understand that, by the connection with the Gestapo, certain suspicions are raised that it was known from the start what happened to these people. Can you say anything in elucidation of that matter?

KEITEL: Yes. The order that was given at that time was that these people should be turned over to the German authorities of justice. This letter signed "by order" and then the signature, was issued 8 weeks later than the decree itself by the Amt Ausland Abwehr as I can see from my official correspondence. It indicates the conferences, that is, the agreements, which had to be reached at that time, regarding the method by which these people were to be taken from their native countries to Germany. They were apparently conducted by this Amt Abwehr, which evidently ordered police detachments as escorts. That can be seen from it.

I might mention in this connection -- I must have seen it -- that it did not seem objectionable at that time, because I could have, and

545

4 April 46

I had, no reason to assume that these people were being turned over to the Gestapo, frankly speaking, to be liquidated, but that the Gestapo was simply being used as the medium in charge of the transportation to Germany. I should like to emphasize that particularly, so that there can be no doubt that it was not our idea to do away with the people as was later done in that Nacht und Nebel camp. [ All Emphasis added.]

The numerical references at the left margin are to the pages in the transcript of Keitel's testimony in Vol. 10 of the Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, which can be found at:

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/proc/04-04-46.htm

I'm sorry the above quote is so lengthy, but I did not wish to be accused of quoting out of context. Putting aside any question as to the bias of Keitel's self-serving testimony, he knew precisely and full well what the term "Nacht und Nebel" Decree referred to. He signed it himself.

The fact that the decree itself did not contain the words "Nacht und Nebel" signifies nothing whatsoever. Of course it didn't. It was not customary in German officialdom to employ idiomatic and semi- slang terminology in official decrees no more than it's customary in any other bureaucracy that I'm aware of. But it's what the Germans themselves so commonly called it as to even invade the province of German officialdom.

Obviously the picturesque and highly descriptive term was in common idiomatic usage in Germany to designate a mysterious disappearance into the fog of night, leaving no trace behind. See the examples in my above post taken from the Redensarten web site. Keitel's use of the term translated into English as "Nacht und Nebel procedure" is particularly enlightening, as the German term Keitel presumably used was "Nacht und Nebel Aktion", which corresponds precisely to the idiom dealt with in my prior post.

If Mr. Silla really believes that "NN" was an abreviation for "Nomen Natio" or "Nomen Notitur" I would like to speak to him about the possibility of his purchasing a large bridge over the East River connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn, in which my client has an important financial interest. ;-)

[walterkaschner]

Oh, dear, I see that our Moderator's last post has rendered mine redundant. I was interrupted in the midst of mine by an urgent call for drinks and dinner, which lasted with good conversation until the wee hours, and I didn't notice the intervening post. Please excuse.

Regards, Kaschner

[walterkaschner]

One last thought which suddenly struck me, before I'm out of here for a week's vacation:

Wasn't "Nacht und Nebel" a central part of Alberich's incantation when he puts on his helmet in Wagner's Ring of the Niebelungen so as to enable him to slowly and mysteriously disappear into a column of fog?

I am far from a Wagner enthusiast, and can't locate the libretto, but seem to dredge up this recollection from the deep recesses of my memory. If I'm right, doesn't this demonstrate that the phrase has a time honored place in German idiom?

Help!

Regards, Kaschner

[simsalabim]

One last thought which suddenly struck me, before I'm out of here for a week's vacation:

Wasn't "Nacht und Nebel" a central part of Alberich's incantation when he puts on his helmet in Wagner's Ring of the Niebelungen so as to enable him to slowly and mysteriously disappear into a column of fog?

I am far from a Wagner enthusiast, and can't locate the libretto, but seem to dredge up this recollection from the deep recesses of my memory. If I'm right, doesn't this demonstrate that the phrase has a time honored place in German idiom?

Help!

Regards, Kaschner

Indeed, it's from Rheingold:

ALBERICH
Was hier und da? Her das Geschmeid'!
Er will ihm wieder an das Ohr fahren; vor Schreck lässt Mime ein metallenes Gewirke, das er krampfhaft in den Händen hielt, sich entfallen. Alberich hebt es hastig auf und prüft es genau.
Schau, du Schelm! Alles geschmiedet
und fertig gefügt, wie ich's befahl!
So wollte der Tropf schlau mich betrügen?
Für sich behalten das hehre Geschmeid',
das meine List ihn zu schmieden gelehrt?
Kenn' ich dich dummen Dieb?
Er setzt das Gewirk als "Tarnhelm" auf den Kopf
Dem Haupt fügt sich der Helm:
ob sich der Zauber auch zeigt?
sehr leise
"Nacht und Nebel - niemand gleich!"
seine Gestalt verschwindet; statt ihrer gewahrt man eine Nebelsäule
Siehst du mich, Bruder?

http://www.impresario.ch/libretto/libwagrhe.htm

[Lucius Felix Silla]

LFS described the “Night and Fog Decree” this way:

Why conceal this? The original purpose of this decree have nothing of particular sinister or criminal. He indicates an harsh treatement to people NN, i.e. without specific personal identity or documents. This species of treatement i think was applied by all nations on war and sometimes by some nations also in period of peace as measure against illegal immigration.

and

1) The first two links are pertinents to a translation of one document dated 12.12.1941 which is, as i have already suggested, the circular of application of original Keitel decree wich contains a section on NN, which unfortunately is missed. That this was the original document (which is in german language i think) is really Your opinion and opinion of author of this title : HITLER ON PUNISHMENT OF OFFENDERS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORY, DECEMBER 7, 1941
"Night-and-Fog Decree" (Nacht-und-Nebel Erlass). .
Whe one reads with attention this document, WHERE WORDS NN OR NACHT UND NEBEL ARE ABSENT, can only agree that is a general directive against movements of resistance, a rather common practice in occupied territories. This involves a series of punishment: from death to
transfer to concentration camp (also release in free is possible).

2) The second link was an explication which confirms that the ultimate scope of this decree was the internment of suspected people in KL. NN read in both ways: Name unknowed and Name to be omitted, Name to be not knowned. For this was impossible to known where people, assumed to be a partisan or a suspect collaborator of partisan/resistential movement.
As for my parallel with some countries which have special camps to assembly all immigrants illegals or without documents, this was a practice, obviously mutatis mutandis, applied also Italy respect to africans immigrants (Morocco and Algerian). In Usa a similar practice of segregation was applied, i'm not wrong, to cubans immigrants in 60's. Obviously isn't my intention to paragone USA government to NS! Mine is only a paradox. But currently those species of camps are visibles in IRAQ for security reasons-

Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, testifying before the International Military Tribunal on 4 Apr 1946, described the Night and Fog Decree this way (at IMT proceedings, vol. 10, pp. 542-55):

542
4 April 46

* * * * *

DR. NELTE: We come now to the second individual fact, "Nacht und Nebel." The Prosecution charges you of having participated in the Nacht und Nebel decree of 12 December 1941, Document Number L-90 ...

KEITEL: May I say one more thing regarding the other question?

DR. NELTE: Please, if it appears to be necessary. In the communication of 2 February 1942 we find the words, "In the annex are transmitted: 1) A decree of the Fuehrer of 7 December 1941..." You wanted to say something more; if it is important, please. Do you have Document Number L-90?

KEITEL: L-90, yes.

DR. NELTE: What was the cause for this order, so terrible in its consequences?

KEITEL: I must state that it is perfectly clear to me that the connection of my name with this so-called "Nacht und Nebel" order is a serious charge against me, even though it can be seen from the documents that it is a Fuehrer order. Consequently I should like to state how this order came about. Since the beginning of the Eastern campaign and in the late autumn of 1941 until the spring of 1942, the resistance movements, sabotage and everything connected with it increased enormously in all the occupied territories. From the military angle it meant that the security troops were tied down, having to be kept on the spot by the unrest. That is how I saw it from the military point of view at that time. And day by day, through the daily reports we could picture the sequence of events in the individual occupation sectors. It was impossible to handle this summarily; rather, Hitler demanded that he be informed of each individual occurrence, and he was very displeased if such matters were concealed from him in the reports by military authorities. He got to know about them all the same.

543

4 April 46

In this connection, he said to me that it was very displeasing to him and very unfavorable to establishing peace that, owing to this, death sentences by court-martial against saboteurs and their accomplices were increasing; that he did not wish this to occur, since from his point of view it made appeasement and relations with the population only more difficult. He said at that time that a state of peace could be achieved only if this were reduced and if, instead of death sentences -- to shorten it -- in case a death sentence could not be expected and carried out in the shortest time possible, as stated here in the decree, the suspect or guilty persons concerned -- if one may use the word "guilty" -- should be deported to Germany without the knowledge of their families and be interned or imprisoned instead of lengthy court-martial proceedings with many witnesses.

I expressed the greatest misgivings in this matter and know very well that I said at that time that I feared results exactly opposite to those apparently hoped for. I then had serious discussions with the legal adviser of the Wehrmacht, who, had similar scruples, because there was an elimination of ordinary legal procedures. I tried again to prevent this order from being issued or to have it modified. My efforts were in vain. The threat was made to me that the Minister of Justice would be commissioned to issue a corresponding decree, should the Wehrmacht not be able to do so. Now may I refer to details only insofar as these ways were provided in this order, L-90, of preventing arbitrary application, and these were primarily as follows:

The general principles of the order provided expressly that such deportation or abduction into Reich territory should take place only after regular court-martial proceedings, and that in every case the officer in charge of jurisdiction, that is, the divisional commander must deal with the matter together with his legal adviser, in the legal way, on the basis of preliminary proceedings.

I must say that I believed then that every arbitrary and excessive application of these principles was avoided by this provision. You will perhaps agree with me that the words in the order, "It is the will of the Fuehrer after long consideration..." put in for that purpose, were not said without reason and not without the hope that the addressed military commander would also recognize from this that this was a method of which we did not approve and did not consider to be right.

Finally we introduced a reviewing procedure into the order so that through the higher channels of appeal, that is, the Military Commander in France and the Supreme Command or Commander of the Army, it would be possible to try the case legally by appeal proceedings if the verdict seemed open to question, at least, within the meaning of the decree. I learned here for the first time of the

544

4 April 46

full and monstrous tragedy, namely, that this order, which was intended only for the Wehrmacht and for the sole purpose of determining whether an offender who faced a sentence in jail could be made to disappear by means of this Nacht und Nebel procedure, was obviously applied universally by the police, as testified by witnesses whom I have heard here, and according to the Indictment which I also heard, and so the horrible fact of the existence of whole camps full of people deported through the Nacht und Nebel procedure has been proved. In my opinion, the Wehrmacht, at least I and the military commanders of the occupied territories who were connected with this order, did not know of this. At any rate it was never reported to me. Therefore this order, which in itself was undoubtedly very dangerous and disregarded certain requirements of law such as we understood it, was able to develop into that formidable affair of which the Prosecution have spoken.

The intention was to take those who were to be deported from their home country to Germany, because Hitler was of the opinion that penal servitude in wartime would not be considered by the persons concerned as dishonorable in cases where it was a question of actions by so-called patriots. It would be regarded as a short detention which would end whenthe war was over.

These reflections have already been made in part in the note. If you have any further questions, please put them.

DR. NELTE: The order for the carrying out of this Nacht und Nebel decree states that the Gestapo was to effect the transportation to Germany. You stated that the people who came to Germany were to be turned over to the Minister of Justice, that is, to normal police custody. You will understand that, by the connection with the Gestapo, certain suspicions are raised that it was known from the start what happened to these people. Can you say anything in elucidation of that matter?

KEITEL: Yes. The order that was given at that time was that these people should be turned over to the German authorities of justice. This letter signed "by order" and then the signature, was issued 8 weeks later than the decree itself by the Amt Ausland Abwehr as I can see from my official correspondence. It indicates the conferences, that is, the agreements, which had to be reached at that time, regarding the method by which these people were to be taken from their native countries to Germany. They were apparently conducted by this Amt Abwehr, which evidently ordered police detachments as escorts. That can be seen from it.

I might mention in this connection -- I must have seen it -- that it did not seem objectionable at that time, because I could have, and

545

4 April 46

I had, no reason to assume that these people were being turned over to the Gestapo, frankly speaking, to be liquidated, but that the Gestapo was simply being used as the medium in charge of the transportation to Germany. I should like to emphasize that particularly, so that there can be no doubt that it was not our idea to do away with the people as was later done in that Nacht und Nebel camp.

On 6 Apr 1946 the British prosector Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe revisited the subject with Keitel (at IMT proceedings vol. 10, pp. 625-27):

625

6 April 46

* * * * *

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Defendant, do you remember on the 2d of October 1945 writing a letter to Colonel Amen, explaining your position? It was after your interrogations, and in your own time you wrote a letter explaining your point of view. Do you remember that?

KEITEL: Yes, I think I did write a letter; but I no longer remember the contents. It referred to the interrogations, however.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Yes.

KEITEL: And I think it contained a request that I be given a further opportunity of thinking things over, as the questions put to me took me by surprise and I was often unable to remember the answers.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: I want to remind you of one passage and ask you whether it correctly expresses your view:

"In carrying out these thankless and difficult tasks, I had to fulfill my duty under the hardest exigencies of war, often acting against the inner voice of my conscience and against my own convictions. The fulfillment of urgent tasks assigned by Hitler, to whom I was directly responsible, demanded complete self-abnegation."

Do you remember that?

626

6 April 46

KEITEL: Yes.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Well, now, I just want you to tell the Tribunal, what were the worst matters in your view in which you often acted against the inner voice of your conscience? Just tell us some of the worst matters in which you acted against the inner voice of your conscience.

KEITEL: I found myself in such a situation quite frequently, but the decisive questions which conflicted most violently with my conscience and my convictions were those which were contrary to the training which I had undergone during my 37 years as an officer in the German Army. That was a blow at my most intimate personal principles.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: I wanted it to come from you, Defendant. Can you tell the Tribunal the three worst things you had to do which were against the inner voice of your conscience? What do you pick out as the three worst things you had to do?

KEITEL: Perhaps, to start with the last, the orders given for the conduct of the war in the East, insofar as they were contrary to the acknowledged usage of war; then something which particularly concerns the British Delegation, the question of the 50 R.A.F. officers, the question which weighed particularly heavy on my mind, that of the terror-fliers and, worst of all, the Nacht und Nebel Decree and the actual consequences it entailed at a later stage and about which I did not know. Those were the worst struggles which I had with myself.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: We will take the Nacht und Nebel. My Lord, this document and a good many to which I shall refer are in the British Document Book Number 7, Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl, and it occurs on Page 279. It is L-90, Exhibit USA-503.

[Turning to the defendant.] Defendant, I will give you the German document book.
It is 279 of the British document book, and 289...

KEITEL: Number 731?

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: It is Page 289, I do not know which volume it is; Part 2, I think it is.

You see, the purpose of the decree is set out a few lines from the start, where they say that in all cases where the death penalty is not pronounced and not carried out within a week,

". . . the accused are in the future to be deported to Germany secretly, and further proceedings in connection with the offenses will take place here. The deterrent effect of these measures lies in: (a) the complete disappearance of the accused;

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(b) the fact that no information may be given as to their whereabouts or their fate."

Both these purposes, you will agree, were extremely cruel and brutal, were they not?

KEITEL: I said both at the time and yesterday, that I personally thought that to deport individuals secretly was very much more cruel than to impose a sentence of death. I have ...

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Would you turn to Page 281 -- 291 of yours -- 281 of the English Book?

KEITEL: Yes, I have it.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: You say that this is your covering letter:

"The Fuehrer is of the opinion:" -- Line 4 -- "In the case of offenses such as these, punishment by imprisonment, or even penal servitude for life, will be considered a sign of weakness. Effective and lasting intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures which keep the culprit's relatives and the population generally uncertain as to his fate."

You will agree that there again these sentences of the Fuehrer which you are here transmitting were cruel and brutal, were they not?

KEITEL: Yes.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Now, what I ...

KEITEL: May I add something?

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Certainly, as shortly as you can.

KEITEL: I made a statement yesterday on this subject and I drew your attention particularly to the words: "It is the Fuehrer's long considered will," which were intended to convey to the generals who were receiving these orders what was written between the lines.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: But, you know, Defendant, that that was by no means the end of this series of orders, was it? This order was unsuccessful despite its cruelty and brutality in achieving its purpose, was it not? This order, the Nacht und Nebel Order, in that form was unsuccessful in achieving its purpose; it did not stop what it was designed to stop? Is that right?

KEITEL: No, it did not cease.

Compare and contrast.

Again i don't see none evidence about NN= Nacht und Nebel. I must repeat that the Keitel decree was dated 7th december 1941. The documents always show (L-90 in IMT classification) pertains to one decree by Hitler dated 12.12.1941.

Here two links which show that acronym NN signify nomen nescio or nomen notetur.

http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camena ... atina.html
http://www.susning.nu/N.N.

I think that with a certain degree of patience one can found other sources.

I never have denied that people under NN rules was deported to KL.
Quite the contrary. The deportation to KL don't signify automatically death.

I have only suggests that people of unknown identity or for those who's name can't be revelated to parents (and so isolated or deprived of any right to receive letters or send letters) for security reasons are a special category called NN.

Best Regards

LFS