English Translation

It is important that items of the vital needs of the population be removed, while the People's Penal Code takes into account the use of the war permit when committing the crime as a criminal offence, and the penal framework is also very wide-ranging. In particularly serious cases, both regulations are threatened with the death penalty; in addition, according to the People's Penitentiary Regulation, there is only prison (including life imprisonment) and prison under the War Management Regulation. According to these provisions - even in the Protektora already in a variety of railway theft cases - the courts often recognized the death penalty (e.g. in the case of large gang thefts at railway stations). In this legal situation, no need for the creation of a special material criminal law against railway thefts has been recognised in addition to the already existing special case of the transport theft in accordance with § 243 No. St G B. It appears that the above provisions of the Wartime Economic and People's Harms Regulation from the right-wing point of view are sufficient to ensure an effective fight against these offences as well. However, the Minister of Justice of the Reich has issued a decree to the President of the Oberlandesgericht and Prosecutors-General of l8.9. In the case of goods thefts on the Reichsbahn pointed out the applicability of the Volksschädlingverordnung in such cases, since the acts were mostly carried out using blackout and by which the lack of supervisory staff was facilitated as a result of the war. It has asked the law enforcement authorities to intervene in such proceedings with Nachdruek and with the greatest speed and, so far as no particular mitigating grounds for imprisonment appear sufficient, in particular in the case of repetition, to work towards the imposition of the most severe penalty. This decree has been communicated to the Reichsbahndirektionen etc. with the decree of the Reich Transport Minister of 5.12.19942 - 52.5o2 Pa - enclosed in copy. M E is also no need for the Protectorate, 78111 ./. Jaiste