A Proclamation: Here's what Axis victory would mean to you

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

HERE'S WHAT AXIS VICTORY WOULD MEAN TO YOU
A Proclamation
To the People of the United States of America, Occupied by the German Army
DECREE
To safeguard the property of the United States and to prevent acts against the security of the American people and the German Occupation forces
By virtue of authority vested in me by My Fuehrer and All-Mightiest Commander of the Army, I decree:
I. All powers of state in the United States rest in the hands of the Army of Occupation.
II. The occupying forces have taken command of all government offices, the courts, the police, all transport, banks, industrial plants, farms, universities, schools, hospitals and churches. All executives, white collar workers and laborers, insofar as they are retained by the Germans, who disregard German orders will be executed.
III. All products of farms and industry, raw materials, gold and silver, jewels and art objects may be requisitioned by the military authorities, who will decide how they may be used in the public interest. This order includes all foodstuffs above the normal requirements.
IV. Anyone caught trying to destroy farm or industrial products, buildings, plants, public utilities, or posters put up by the German authorities will be shot.
V. Anyone attempting sabotage, changing his residence to escape work, or refusing to go wherever he is sent to work will be put to death.
[sections VI-VII omitted: length limit]
VIII. All political activities must cease as of this date. Political parties, labor unions, religious and charitable organizations are hereby outlawed. Any attempt to evade this section will subject the offender to extreme penalties.
IX. All public meetings of whatever character are forbidden. Violations will be dealt with by military court.
[image: drawing of a German officer in uniform holding a pistol, a fallen figure behind him]
Believing that few Americans realize just what an Axis victory would mean to our way of life, the Editor asked a man familiar with the type of decree issued by the German military in conquered territory, to draw up a specimen draft of what we might expect if we were whipped.
Don't laugh. It could happen here.
Every section of this "Decree" is a true copy of a regulation imposed by the Nazis in either Occupied France, Belgium, Norway, Czechoslovakia or Poland. The ponderous official language used in German military edicts has been translated into idiomatic English, without pulling any punches
[section X omitted: length limit]
XI. Anyone trying to leave the United States without permission will be deported to German concentration camps or shot.
[section XII omitted: length limit]
XIII. Jews will be dealt with in accordance with regulations in force wherever German authority extends. A future order will deal with methods for deportation of the negro population.
XIV. Weapons of all kinds, broadcasting equipment, short wave radios, cameras, anti-German literature, letters and pictures must be turned in as of this day to the local military authorities. Failure to comply with this order will bring the death penalty.
The death penalty will also be invoked against all persons who listen to foreign radio broadcasts, pick up or distribute unauthorized leaflets, or read newspapers and books under the ban of the German military authorities.
[sections XV-XVI omitted: length limit]
XVII. Disrespect for any flag displayed with the permission of the Occupation Authorities is absolutely forbidden. Flags not in sympathy with the German cause must be turned in to the authorities at once, or destroyed. Non-compliance with this order will result in sentence to a concentration camp, or death.
WASHINGTON, August 25, 1944
HEAD OF THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
VON MULLER
Lieutenant General
GIVE OUR FIGHTING MEN THE STUFF AND IT WON'T HAPPEN HERE
—Reprinted from The American Legion Magazine for April, 1942

Sections VI, VII, X, XII, XV and XVI of the printed decree are omitted from this transcription only because of the 4,000-character field limit; they are legible on the sheet. All other text is verbatim.