English Translation

56 copy. The Reichskriegsminister Berlin, dén 25. Januar 1938 and Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht Az. 1 n 56.11 J (Ia) No. 217/38 go Betr.: Incidents between the Wermacht and the SS. To the Oberkommando des Heeres, the Ober Kommando der Kriegsmarine, the Reichsluftsministerium. Public court proceedings on incidents between Wermocht and SS are undesirable. They damage the reputation of both and undermine the people's confidence in the unity of the empire. I have therefore agreed with the Reichsführer-ił the accompanying "Guidelines for the treatment of incidents between Wehrmacht and Ss". These guidelines must be applied in the future. I expect that the responsible superiors, while fully respecting the interests of the Wehrmacht, will endeavour to reach an out-of-court settlement in all cases of conflict. Furthermore, I expect no soldier to be guilty of a misconduct against members of the SS or against the SS as a whole. On the contrary, I attach particular importance to the fact that the relationship with the SS as well as with the other divisions of the movement is a consciously comradely one. Failures in this regard do not only damage the reputation of the Wehrmacht, but also mean a serious violation of my explicit will. I would ask you to take this into account in the assessment of disciplinary penalties. e fact that in the future the SS will no longer be able to file criminal applications and thereby avoid judicial penalties is already a significant mitigating measure.