English Translation

183 The conclusions of Nazi law, thoroughly verified in the past few years in the territory of the old empire, were applied in all areas, which the Germans reserved for their own decision-making, especially when prosecuting only the supposed enemies of their domain, where the effects of the activities of the Nazi authorities were the hardest. The jurisdiction of the German judiciary against the Protectorate was exclusive. In doubt, the German court always decided. If the German authority, whether the court or the police department took up any matter, the Protectors' court had to refer it to the German authorities. In addition, the Reich Protector had the right to order that any matter, even without legal basis, be removed from the Protectorate Court; even the matter decided could have been abolished by the protector and the matter referred to the German Court for a new decision. (508) The fact that Czechs are actually Reich citizens, as well as Germans or Austrians, we learned only in prison and that it was worse for us, Bohemia, before the trial... ..remembers former prisoner B. Bartoníček read his indictment first and learned from it that he was supposed to be a citizen of the Reich. (509) 2.4.2.4 Courts On the first day of the occupation, the chief commander of the German army von Brauchitsch introduced, among others, the regulation on the use of criminal law in the territories of Bohemia and Moravia of 15 March 1939. the validity of general German criminal law for all persons not only with German nationality but also for "other persons" (i.e. other residents of the rest of the Czech Republic) if they committed an act "against the German Reich" or "German defence power" and it was a "generally dangerous crime and offense" including "dangerous use of shredders" or a "looping on road by car traps." Those persons were then subject to the powers of "consultation courts" and, according to the court's view, the case could have been referred to the civil criminal authorities (the "criminal prosecution authorities of general jurisdiction"). (510) Another regulation of the same day, March 15, 1939, allowed commanders of military groups to establish in Bohemia and Moravia "special courts" according to Reich's regulation from March 21st