1940 Gestapo Letter re: Dutch Laborers

GESTAPO LETTER ABOUT NAZI PASSPORTS FOR DUTCH LABORERS

1940 GESTAPO CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING A RSHA
DECREE TO SIMPLIFY BORDER CROSSING
PROCEDURES FOR LABORERS FROM HOLLAND

This rare original letter originated at the Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo or Secret State Police) headquarters on Morzinplatz 4 in Wien (Vienna) on 30 August 1940 and was sent to the Reichsstatthalter (the highest Gau level Nazi government civil authority) in Wien, where it arrived on 31 August, according to an official receiving stamp. Copies of the same letter were also sent to Police Headquarters in Wien and the Reichsstatthalter of Gau Niederdonau.

The contents of this two-sided, 8-1/4 x 11-5/8 inch Gestapo letter passed on information received directly from the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA or State Security Headquarters) regarding the simplification of passes needed for Dutch workers to cross the border into Germany.

It stated that Dutch workers without a passport, employed in Germany and/or German Occupied Territories who had ended their employment or who wished to return home for a temporary visit, could be issued a one-time Nazi Fremdenpass. However, this German passport was valid for only one trip and if the person wished to return to Germany they needed to apply for a Dutch passport before returning to the Reichsgebiet.

If voluntary or obligatory travel was undertaken by a group of people from Holland, a collective list could be made and one visa could be issued. Passports and/or visas were to be issued free of charge.

Paragraph 3 of this letter stated that contrary to a Gestapo release dated 6 June 1940, all inquiries regarding Dutch Arbeiter or workers should be addressed to the Central Visa Office in Berlin. However, all requests for visas were still to be made at the applicable Staatspolizei offices. The Gestapo Wien further requested that local police employees be informed of this new RSHA decree from Berlin.

This is very, very rare, absolutely original Gestapo material from the summer of 1940, a few months after Hitler’s German forces occupied the Netherlands.

This original 1940 Gestapo letter is offered
for sale for $175.00 delivered worldwide.

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