NIGHT AND FOG DECREE

 

NIGHT AND FOG DECREE 

"NACHT UND NEBEL" (NIGHT AND FOG) was the code name given to a secret decree of December 07, 1941, issued by Adolf Hitler and signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the German Armed Forces High Command. It allowed German Authorities to abduct individuals alleged to be "endangering German Security" by night so that they effectively vanished in the Concentration Camps without a trace. It called for imprisonment, execution, disappearance, security forces to act with utter brutality, the complete extermination of "gangs", and immunity for Hitler's men from prosecution for any act committed. The people captured are tried by special courts and killed with death sentences. 

The was directed against persons in occupied territories engaging in activities intended to undermine the security of German troops. Upon capture, they were to be brought to Germany "by night and fog" for trial by special courts. This circumvented military procedures and various conventions governing the treatment of prisoners. The code name stemmed from Germany's most acclaimed poet and playwright, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), who used the phrase to describe clandestine actions often concealed by fog and the darkness of night.

During the summer of 1941, a large number of German troops withdrew from occupied France to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Entry of the Soviet Union into the war generated increased Communist resistance activity throughout German-occupied Europe, including France. Consequently, the number of efforts aimed against occupation units, particularly acts of sabotage to destroy communication lines, steadily increased. In response, German counter-intelligence redoubled its efforts, capturing large numbers of resistance members and saboteurs. This increased trials by overburdened military courts. In addition to many death sentences, these courts also handed down many prison sentences.

Hitler dictated that military courts would continue to adjudge offenses found sufficiently grave to impose capital punishment without lengthy proceedings. To deter local resistance, the decree forbade these prisoners to have contact with loved ones and family members in their homeland. Keitel stated that "efficient intimidation can only be achieved by capital punishment or by measures by which the relatives of the criminal and the population do not know the prisoners' fate." The decree replaced the policy of long prison sentences, and taking of hostages to suppress underground activities. German authorities applied the decree principally in German-occupied western Europe: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. They arrested 7,000 individuals, 5,000 of them in France. After capture, interrogation, and, frequently, torture, Night and Fog prisoners might face special courts (Sondergerichte) which awarded death and prison sentences. After acquittal or the termination of the sentence, German authorities often transferred these prisoners directly to concentration camps, typically to Gross-Rosen and Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camps. Once registered in the concentration camp, "Night and Fog" prisoners wore uniform jackets marked with the acronym "N.N." to identify their status. The death rate among "N.N" prisoners was very high.

On July 30, 1944, Hitler issued the "Terror and Sabotage" decree that expanded and extended the provisions of the "Night and Fog" decree. Now, German authorities would treat all violent acts perpetrated by non-German citizens in the occupied territories as acts of terror. They would transfer real and perceived offenders who were not summarily executed to the custody of the Security Police and Security Service (Sicherheitspolizei und SD). Within a month, Keitel extended the decree to cover all persons endangering German interests by any means, even if their actions did not endanger troop security or war preparedness. Further, new regulations could be made by the agreement of armed forces commanders and the SS leadership. In short, any offence by any person in the occupied territories could be dealt with under these decrees.