I. The Führer Adolf Hitler is dead! An irresponsible gang of Party leaders, far behind the lines, has tried to exploit this situation to stab the hard-pressed army in the back and seize power for its own ends. II. In this hour of supreme danger, the Reich government, to maintain law and order, has proclaimed a state of martial law, and has entrusted to me both supreme command of the armed forces and executive power in the Reich. III. Accordingly I issue the following orders: 1) I herewith transfer the Executive Power, with the right of delegation, to the territorial commanders — the commanders of the Home Army in the internal territory of the Reich — in the occupied Western territories to the Commander-in-Chief West — in Italy to the Commander-in-Chief South-West — in the occupied Eastern territories to the Commanders-in-Chief of the Army Groups and the Armed Forces Commander Eastern Districts for their respective commands — in Denmark and Norway to the Armed Forces Commanders. 2) The following persons and authorities are subordinated to the holders of the Executive Power: a) all governmental boards and commissions in the respective districts; all units of the Armed Forces including the Waffen-SS, the Reichs Labour Service, and the Organisation Todt; b) all public authorities of the Reich, and the entire police force — regular, security, and administrative police; c) all officials of the various branches of the NSDAP and its associated organisations; d) the traffic and transportation systems and the public utilities. 3) The entire Waffen-SS is to be immediately incorporated into the Army. 4) The holders of the Executive Power are responsible for maintaining law and order and public security. Any resistance to the military executive power is to be ruthlessly suppressed. They are to ensure in particular: a) The security of the communications networks. b) The neutralisation of the SD. IV. In this hour of supreme danger to the Fatherland, the first necessity is the unity of the Wehrmacht and the maintenance of discipline. I therefore order all Army, Navy and Air Force commanders to use all resources available to them to support those given executive power in their difficult task and to ensure that their orders are obeyed by all subordinate agencies. The German soldier is confronted with a historic task. The salvation of Germany will depend on his energy and morale. The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (signed) v. Witzleben Alas, would that it had been so!
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 03:11:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015