English Translation

Copy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wehrmacht Plenipotentiary at the Imperial Protector and Commander in the Military District of Bohemia and Moravia Abbot I c No. 723/43 g.Az. l Betr.: Czech troops in the Red Army. Prague, 10 May 1943. Secret To the Reichsprotektor in Bohemia and Moravia, e.g. of the State Secretary K.H. Frank, Mr. State Secretary, the High Command of the Wehrmacht and the High command of the army made the following decisions at the request of W BV: 1.) W BV Prague is authorised to provide to the Reichsprotektor, for the purpose of informing the public, reports on the fighting with Czech legionaries and extracts from prisoners' receptions. 2.) The Czech prisoners of war are transferred to Prague and are at the disposal of the Reichsprotektor for interrogation. A representative of the Wehrmacht is to be drawn. The prisoners of War remain in Wehrmascht custody. 3.) OKW intends to evaluate the new material gained by W BV and Reichsprotector for propaganda purposes abroad. 4.) Enemy information about a successful defense of the Czech legionaries and the considerable losses of the German attackers to humans and tanks are freely invented. At the beginning of March 43 the German troops in the area around Kharkov were under attack, the Soviet forces including the Czech units were thrown back. Three Czech prisoners were made, including a lieutenant, who is to be regarded as defectors.