Volume 2  –  document 235

At Hermann Göring’s request, on 10 January 1939 the Reich Minister of the Interior stipulates that no one be denounced on account of having previous contact with Jews1BArch, R 58/276. This document has been translated from German.

Letter (confidential) from the Reich Minister of the Interior (I c 672/38/5u12), signed Frick, to the Reichsstatthalter (including Austria) and state governments outside Prussia (including Austria), dated 10 January 1939

Re: the Jewish question and denunciation.

During the discussion of the measures he has planned and ordered for the effective legal exclusion of Jews from the German economy and the utilization of Jewish assets for the goals of the Four-Year Plan,2See also Doc. 29, 26 April 1938, and Doc. 42, 14 June 1938. one matter that Field Marshal Göring, as Plenipotentiary for the Four-Year Plan, has mentioned is how it has recently been observed that German Volksgenossen have been denounced because they once bought from Jewish shops, lived with Jews, or otherwise had a business relationship with Jews.

For all that it is necessary to properly enlighten the people with regard to the urgency of a general exclusion of Jews from the German economy, the spying on and denouncing of such cases that are often long past creates a situation that is disagreeable from every angle. For Field Marshal Göring, this situation is particularly liable to place obstacles in the way of the consistent and steady exertion required of all Germans in carrying out productive and essential tasks for the German nation as an absolute prerequisite for the implementation of the Four-Year Plan. He therefore wishes that every effort is made to put a stop to this dreadful state of affairs.

I hereby inform you of this matter, with the request that this order be followed and secondary authorities, communities, and associations be informed respectively. This circular decree is not to be published.

This document is part of:
German Reich 1938–August 1939 (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2019)