Nacht und Nebel
Encyclopedia
Nacht und Nebel was a directive of Adolf Hitler
on 7 December 1941 signed and implemented by Armed Forces High Command
Chief Wilhelm Keitel
, resulting in the kidnapping
and forced disappearance
of many political activists and resistance 'helpers' throughout Nazi Germany
's occupied territories, principally in Western Europe. Anyone guilty of endangering the "security or state of readiness" of German forces and who was not to be summarily executed simply vanished into the "night and fog" of Germany. It was a specific punishment for opponents of the Nazis in occupied countries and intended to intimidate local populations into submission by denying families and friends of the missing all knowledge of what had happened to them. To this day, it is not known how many people were seized as a result of this order.
The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg held that the disappearances committed as part of the Nacht und Nebel program were war crimes which violated both the Hague Conventions and customary international law.
s from both Germany and occupied Europe. Most of the early prisoners were of two sorts: they were either prisoners of personal conviction (belief), political prisoners whom the Nazis deemed in need of "re-education" to Nazi ideals, or resistance
leaders in occupied western Europe. Up until the time of the "Night and Fog" decree, prisoners from Western Europe were handled by German soldiers in approximately the same way other countries did: according to national agreements and procedures such as the Geneva Convention. Hitler and his upper level staff, however, made a critical decision not to have to conform to what they considered unnecessary rules.
On 7 December 1941, SS Reichsführer
Heinrich Himmler
issued the following instructions to the Gestapo
:
On 12 December, Keitel issued a directive which explained Hitler's orders:
He further expanded on this principle in a February 1942 letter stating that any prisoners not executed within eight days were
The Night and Fog prisoners were mostly from France
, Belgium
, the Netherlands
, and Norway
. They were usually arrested in the middle of the night and quickly taken to prisons hundreds of miles away for questioning, eventually arriving at concentration camps such as Natzweiler or Gross-Rosen
, if they survived. Until 30 April 1944, at least 6,639 persons were captured under the Nacht und Nebel orders. Some 340 of them may have been executed. The 1955 film Night and Fog
uses the term to illustrate one aspect of the concentration camp system as it was transformed into a system of labour and death camps.
in Paris, Waldheim
near Dresden
, Leipzig
, Potsdam
, Lübeck
and Stettin. The deportees were sometimes herded 80 at a time with standing room only into slow moving, dirty cattle trucks with little or no food or water on journeys lasting up to five days to their next unknown destination.
An average day for the prisoners was to be awakened at 5:00am and made to work a twelve hour day with only a twenty minute break for a scant meal. When the Allies
liberated Paris and Brussels
, the SS decided on revenge while they still could and many of the Nacht und Nebel prisoners were moved to concentration camps such as Ravensbrück concentration camp
for women, Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
, Buchenwald concentration camp
, Schloss Hartheim
, or Flossenbürg concentration camp
.
At the camps, the prisoners were forced to stand for hours in freezing and wet conditions at 5:00 every morning, standing strictly to attention, before being put to work all day. They were kept in cold and starving conditions many with dysentery or other illnesses and the weakest were often beaten to death, shot, guillotined, or hanged, while the others were subjected to torture by the Germans. When the inmates were totally exhausted, after having worked for 12 hours a day, or if they were too ill or too weak to work, they were then transferred to the Revier
("Krankenrevier", sick barrack) or other places for extermination. If a camp did not have a gas chamber
of its own, the so-called Muselmänner, or prisoners who were too sick to work, were often killed or transferred to other concentration camps for extermination.
and the Propaganda Ministry with its formidable domestic information control, there can be little doubt from diaries and periodicals of the time that information about the harshness and cruelty became progressively known to the German public.
Soldiers brought back information, families on rare occasion heard from or about loved ones, and allied news sources and the BBC
were able to get through sporadically. Although captured archives from the SD
contain numerous orders stamped with "NN" (for Nacht und Nebel), it has never been determined exactly how many people disappeared as a result of the decree. Keitel later testified at the Nuremberg Trials
that of all the illegal orders he'd carried out, the Night and Fog Decree was "the worst of all." In part because of his role in carrying out this decree, Keitel was hanged in 1946.
Within the occupied territories, communistic elements and other circles hostile to Germany have increased their efforts against the German State and the occupying powers since the Russian campaign started. The amount and the danger of these machinations oblige us to take severe measures as a deterrent. First of all the following directives are to be applied:
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
on 7 December 1941 signed and implemented by Armed Forces High Command
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...
Chief Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...
, resulting in the kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
and forced disappearance
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
of many political activists and resistance 'helpers' throughout Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's occupied territories, principally in Western Europe. Anyone guilty of endangering the "security or state of readiness" of German forces and who was not to be summarily executed simply vanished into the "night and fog" of Germany. It was a specific punishment for opponents of the Nazis in occupied countries and intended to intimidate local populations into submission by denying families and friends of the missing all knowledge of what had happened to them. To this day, it is not known how many people were seized as a result of this order.
The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg held that the disappearances committed as part of the Nacht und Nebel program were war crimes which violated both the Hague Conventions and customary international law.
Background
Even before the Holocaust gained momentum, the Nazis had begun rounding up political prisonerPolitical prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s from both Germany and occupied Europe. Most of the early prisoners were of two sorts: they were either prisoners of personal conviction (belief), political prisoners whom the Nazis deemed in need of "re-education" to Nazi ideals, or resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
leaders in occupied western Europe. Up until the time of the "Night and Fog" decree, prisoners from Western Europe were handled by German soldiers in approximately the same way other countries did: according to national agreements and procedures such as the Geneva Convention. Hitler and his upper level staff, however, made a critical decision not to have to conform to what they considered unnecessary rules.
On 7 December 1941, SS Reichsführer
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
issued the following instructions to the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
:
On 12 December, Keitel issued a directive which explained Hitler's orders:
He further expanded on this principle in a February 1942 letter stating that any prisoners not executed within eight days were
The Night and Fog prisoners were mostly from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. They were usually arrested in the middle of the night and quickly taken to prisons hundreds of miles away for questioning, eventually arriving at concentration camps such as Natzweiler or Gross-Rosen
Gross-Rosen concentration camp
KL Gross-Rosen was a German concentration camp, located in Gross-Rosen, Lower Silesia . It was located directly on the rail line between Jauer and Striegau .-The camp:...
, if they survived. Until 30 April 1944, at least 6,639 persons were captured under the Nacht und Nebel orders. Some 340 of them may have been executed. The 1955 film Night and Fog
Night and Fog (film)
Night and Fog is a 1955 French documentary short film. Directed by Alain Resnais, it was made ten years after the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. The documentary features the abandoned grounds of Auschwitz and Majdanek while describing the lives of prisoners in the camps. Night and Fog was...
uses the term to illustrate one aspect of the concentration camp system as it was transformed into a system of labour and death camps.
Rationale
The reasons for Nacht und Nebel were many:- Distinct complaints by other governments or humanitarian organizations against the German government were made far more difficult because the exact cause of internment or death, indeed whether or not the event had even occurred, was obscured. It kept the Nazis from being held accountable.
- It allowed an across-the-board, silent vetoVetoA veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
of international treaties and conventions: one cannot apply the limits and terms of humane treatment in war if one cannot locate the victim or discern his fate. - Additionally, it lessened the moral qualms and confrontations of the German public as well as that of servicemen, in an agreed and/or ignorant silence.
Treatment of prisoners
The Nacht und Nebel prisoners' hair was shaved and the women were given a convict costume of a thin cotton dress, wooden sandals and a triangular black headcloth. The prisoners were often moved apparently at random from prison to prison such as Fresnes PrisonFresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
in Paris, Waldheim
Waldheim
- Places :* Waldheim, Saskatchewan, a town in Saskatchewan, Canada* Waldheim, Saxony, a town in Saxony, Germany* Waldheim , a suburban district of Hanover, Germany...
near Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
and Stettin. The deportees were sometimes herded 80 at a time with standing room only into slow moving, dirty cattle trucks with little or no food or water on journeys lasting up to five days to their next unknown destination.
An average day for the prisoners was to be awakened at 5:00am and made to work a twelve hour day with only a twenty minute break for a scant meal. When the Allies
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
liberated Paris and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, the SS decided on revenge while they still could and many of the Nacht und Nebel prisoners were moved to concentration camps such as Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....
for women, Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
, Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
, Schloss Hartheim
Schloss Hartheim
Schloss Hartheim, located at Alkoven in Upper Austria, some 14 km. from Linz, Austria, became notorious as one of the Nazi Euthanasia killing centers, where the killing program Action T4 took place.The castle was built by Jakob von Aspen in 1600...
, or Flossenbürg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
.
At the camps, the prisoners were forced to stand for hours in freezing and wet conditions at 5:00 every morning, standing strictly to attention, before being put to work all day. They were kept in cold and starving conditions many with dysentery or other illnesses and the weakest were often beaten to death, shot, guillotined, or hanged, while the others were subjected to torture by the Germans. When the inmates were totally exhausted, after having worked for 12 hours a day, or if they were too ill or too weak to work, they were then transferred to the Revier
Revier
A revier in the language of Nazi camps was a barrack for sick concentration camp inmates. Most of the medical personnel were inmates themselves. The conditions in reviers varied drastically depending on the type of the camp.The German word Revier literally translates as a defined area or territory...
("Krankenrevier", sick barrack) or other places for extermination. If a camp did not have a gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
of its own, the so-called Muselmänner, or prisoners who were too sick to work, were often killed or transferred to other concentration camps for extermination.
Results
The result, even early in the war, was the facilitating of execution of political prisoners, especially Soviet military prisoners, who in early 1942 outnumbered the Jews in number of deaths even at Auschwitz. As the transports grew and Hitler's troops moved across Europe, that ratio changed dramatically. The Night and Fog Decree was carried out surreptitiously, but it set the background for orders that would follow. As the war continued, so did the openness of such decrees and orders. It is probably correct to surmise, from various writings, that in the beginning the German public knew only a little of the insidious plans Hitler had for a "New European Order". As the years passed, despite the best attempts of GoebbelsGoebbels
Goebbels, alternatively Göbbels, is a common surname in the western areas of Germany. It is probably derived from the Old Low German word gibbler, meaning brewer...
and the Propaganda Ministry with its formidable domestic information control, there can be little doubt from diaries and periodicals of the time that information about the harshness and cruelty became progressively known to the German public.
Soldiers brought back information, families on rare occasion heard from or about loved ones, and allied news sources and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
were able to get through sporadically. Although captured archives from the SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
contain numerous orders stamped with "NN" (for Nacht und Nebel), it has never been determined exactly how many people disappeared as a result of the decree. Keitel later testified at the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
that of all the illegal orders he'd carried out, the Night and Fog Decree was "the worst of all." In part because of his role in carrying out this decree, Keitel was hanged in 1946.
Text of the decrees
Directives for the prosecution of offences committed within the occupied territories against the German State or the occupying power, of 7 December 1941.Within the occupied territories, communistic elements and other circles hostile to Germany have increased their efforts against the German State and the occupying powers since the Russian campaign started. The amount and the danger of these machinations oblige us to take severe measures as a deterrent. First of all the following directives are to be applied:
- I. Within the occupied territories, the adequate punishment for offences committed against the German State or the occupying power which endanger their security or a state of readiness is on principle the death penalty.
- II. The offences listed in paragraph I as a rule are to be dealt with in the occupied countries only if it is probable that sentence of death will be passed upon the offender, at least the principal offender, and if the trial and the execution can be completed in a very short time. Otherwise the offenders, at least the principal offenders, are to be taken to Germany.
- III. Prisoners taken to Germany are subject to military procedure only if particular military interests require this. In case German or foreign authorities inquire about such prisoners, they are to be told that they have been arrested but that the proceedings do not allow any further information.
- IV. The Commanders in the occupied territories and the Court authorities within the framework of their jurisdiction, are personally responsible for the observance of this decree.
- V. The Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces determines in which occupied territories this decree is to be applied. He is authorized to explain and to issue executive orders and supplements. The Reich Minister of Justice will issue executive orders within his own jurisdiction.
Notable prisoners
- Trygve BratteliTrygve Bratteliwas a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party and Prime Minister of Norway in 1971–1972 and 1973–1976.-Early life and career:...
(Norwegian resistance, later Prime Minister) - Henriette RoosenburgHenriette RoosenburgHenriette Roosenburg was a Dutch journalist and political prisoner, perhaps best known for her memoir The Walls Came Tumbling Down, about her attempts to return to the Netherlands from Germany after being released from prison at the end of World War II...
- Noor Inayat KhanNoor Inayat KhanAssistant Section Officer Noor Inayat Khan / Nora Baker, GC, MBE , usually known as Noor Inayat Khan was of Indian Muslim origin...
- Henriette Bie LorentzenHenriette Bie LorentzenHenriette Bie Lorentzen , born Anna Henriette Wegner Haagaas, was a Norwegian humanist, peace activist, feminist, editor, one of the founders of the Nansen Academy, resistance member during World War II and survivor from the Ravensbrück concentration camp.She earned the degree Magister in history...
- Andrée de JonghAndrée de JonghCountess Andrée de Jongh was a member of the Belgian Resistance during World War II. She organized the Comet Line for escaped Allied soldiers...
("Dédée") (Belgian Resistance) - Elsie MaréchalElsie MaréchalElsie Maréchal was an English woman who became active in the Belgian Resistance helping Allied airmen to escape from the German forces. Having been betrayed, she was sentenced to death and subjected to the 'Nacht und Nebel' policy designed to make such opponents of the Nazis 'disappear'...
(Belgian Resistance) - Nadine Dumon (Belgian Resistance)
- Mary LindellMary LindellMary Lindell , also known as the Comtesse de Milleville, the Comtesse de Moncy and Marie-Claire was a British-born nurse who lived in France and worked independently against the Nazis during World War II. During the First World War, she served as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment and...
(Comtesse de Milleville) - Virginia d'Albert-LakeVirginia d'Albert-LakeVirginia d'Albert-Lake is notable for her work as a member of the anti-Nazi French Resistance during World War II. The Nazis captured d'Albert-Lake in accordance with their Nacht und Nebel program while she was leading an Allied airman to safety....
(American) - Maurice Orcher (Jewish, Belgian Resistance)
- Xavier, Duke of ParmaXavier, Duke of ParmaXavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, known before 1974 as Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma was the head of the ducal House of Bourbon-Parma, pretender to the defunct throne of Parma, and Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain under the name Javier I.-Early life:Xavier...
- Pim Boellaard (Dutch Resistance)
See also
- Night and Fog (film)Night and Fog (film)Night and Fog is a 1955 French documentary short film. Directed by Alain Resnais, it was made ten years after the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. The documentary features the abandoned grounds of Auschwitz and Majdanek while describing the lives of prisoners in the camps. Night and Fog was...
- The Natzweiler-StruthofNatzweiler-StruthofNatzweiler-Struthof was a German concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller in France, and the town of Schirmeck, about 50 km south west from the city of Strasbourg....
concentration campNazi concentration campsNazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
in France - List of Nazi-German concentration camps
- Belgian ResistanceBelgian resistanceBelgian resistance during World War II to the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany took different forms. "The Belgian Resistance" was the common name for the Netwerk van de weerstand - Réseau de Résistance or Resistance Network , a group of partisans fighting the Nazis...
- French ResistanceFrench ResistanceThe French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
- Norwegian resistance movementNorwegian resistance movementThe Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
- Forced disappearanceForced disappearanceIn international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
- IBM and the HolocaustIBM and the HolocaustIBM and the Holocaust is a book by investigative journalist Edwin Black which details the business dealings of the American-based multinational corporation International Business Machines and its German and other European subsidiaries with the government of Adolf Hitler during the 1930s and the...
- Black jailsBlack jailsBlack jails are a network of extralegal detention centers established by Chinese security forces across the People's Republic of China in recent years. They are used mainly to detain, without trial, petitioners , who travel to seek redress for grievances unresolved at the local level...
(China) - Extraordinary renditionExtraordinary renditionExtraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
(US)