The German authorities in Poland have ordered Jews to declare all property owned inside or outside Poland by March 1 and have forbidden Jews to travel on railways, according to the Krakauer Zeitung, official Nazi organ in the occupied territory, copies of which reached Paris today.
At the same time the exiled Polish Government reported that the Germans have formally proclaimed the Lodz area an integral part of the Reich, indicating that all Jews would be driven out, as has been done in Poznan and Pomerania.
The property registration order, issued by Governor-General Hans Frank, applies not only to Polish nationals, but to “stateless” Jews living in Nazi Poland and to persons married to Jews. It was indicated that the measure was a prelude to confiscation of Jewish property.
The order provides for imprisonment, an unlimited monetary fine and, in certain cases, hard labor for non-compliance. Property which must be declared is listed in the decree as follows:
All accounts in local and foreign banks; all other possessions held in local and foreign banks; all inheritance claims against persons in Nazi Poland or abroad; all stocks, bonds and other valuable papers; all real estate and mortgages on real estate; all merchandise, stating its quantity and its present value; all transportation property, including automobiles, wagons and horses; all cash; all jewelry and valuables including marriage rings, watches, earrings and silverware; all valuable household goods, including paintings, rugs, even when they are in warehouses awaiting transportation; all wearing apparel, including men’s and women’s clothing, furs and similar personal belongings.
Another issue of the Krakauer Zeitung reports that Governor-General Frank, at a meeting in Cracow of Gestapo leaders from Warsaw, Cracow and Radom, emphasised the necessity of “liquidating” the Jews in small-trading enterprises, which they are still permitted by law to conduct. Dr. Frank outlined measures to this end which the paper does not disclose and received assurances from the Gestapo men that his orders would be carried out “as devotedly as hitherto.”
The order forbidding Jews to ride in trains was issued, it was officially explained, for sanitary reasons and to deter Jews in small-trading. Violation will result in trial before a special court and punishment by imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
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