English Translation

36 Although their willingness was different from place to place, several thousand persons were provided throughout the country (it is estimated about 6,000). After a few days the prisons were crowded and the Germans stopped the operation. Only at this point did the Gestapo enter the scene to listen to the detainees and decide their next fate. Most of them were released after signing the promise that they would not participate in any subversive events, except for German refugees who were immediately deported to concentration camps. (25) The fact that Aktion Gitter did not resemble typical Gestapo events indicates the improvisation of German power at the beginning of the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. Their surprising but also shameful cooperation can be partially explained by the agreement on mutual assistance of the Czechoslovak and German police in suppressing the communist activity of January 1939. The Czech authorities on the eve of the occupation were to request a telegram of the Reich Ministry of the Interior to appeal to the January Treaty. (26) Stabilization measures may include, in particular, bans on unauthorised intervention in the administration, federal life and economy, (27) restrictions on dispositions with certain property values (28) and regulations to prevent undesirable fluctuations in production and the market. (29) The unification measures that adapted everyday life in the Protectorate to the Reichs conditions were the introduction of the right-hand drive (30) and the official language of the Czech and German language, although in this case it was no longer just a technical matter, but a step towards Germanisation of the occupied territory. (31) Along with the suppression of any resistance of the population and its pacification, the looting policy of the occupying power went hand in hand. The disadvantageous ratio of the mark to the crown (1:10) (32) has been established, and our full junk and excellent course (One Mark = 10 crowns) gives an opportunity to buy. The Germans in the true sense literally eat what they come for, they wave fifth over nine, they eat and vomit. Oranges alternate with oil sardines, cheese and cakes. It is also a consequence that the Germans are already experiencing a supply crisis compared to us....The Germans do not know the price of money at all because of the conversion. The German comes to the butcher's shop and asks for a sausage mark. They are terribly surprised that he gets 20. On the market buys a German goose that is worth 60 crowns. The saleswoman, because she does not know German, shows 6x10 fingers, the German thinks 60 marks