Editing Nacht und Nebel (section)

==Background==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S72707, Heinrich Himmler.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Heinrich Himmler]] issued orders for ''Nacht und Nebel'' in 1941.]]
Even before the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] gained momentum {{circa | 1941}}, the Nazis had begun rounding up [[political prisoner]]s - both within Germany and in [[German-occupied Europe|occupied Europe]]. Most of the early prisoners were of two sorts: they were either political prisoners of personal conviction or of the belief, whom the Nazis deemed in need of "re-education" to Nazi ideals, or resistance leaders in occupied western Europe.<ref>Spielvogel (1992). ''Hitler and Nazi Germany: A History'', pp. 82–120, pp. 232–264.</ref>

Up until the issuing of the ''Nacht und Nebel'' decree in December 1941, prisoners from Western Europe were handled by German soldiers in approximately the same way as by other countries: according to international agreements and procedures such as the [[Geneva Conventions]].<ref>Dülffer (2009). ''Nazi Germany 1933–1945: Faith and Annihilation'', pp. 160–163.</ref> However, the [[German AB-Aktion in Poland|AB-Aktion]] ({{langx |de| Außerordentliche Befriedungsaktion | translation = Extraordinary Operation of Pacification}}) in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German-occupied Poland]] (carried out from 1940 onwards) presaged and paralleled the activities of  {{lang | de | Nacht und Nebel}}, operating with similar methods.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Biegański
 |first1               = Witold
 |editor-last1         = Biegański
 |editor-first1        = Witold
 |editor-last2         = Okęcki
 |editor-first2        = Stanisław
 |year                 = 1987
 |orig-date            = 1977
 |title                = Polish Resistance Movement in Poland and Abroad, 1939-1945
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=YwNnAAAAMAAJ
 |publisher            = PWN--Polish Scientific Publishers
 |page                 = 48
 |isbn                 = 9788301068608
 |access-date          = 12 May 2023
 |quote                = The Nazi operation against the Polish intelligentsia was code-named 'Nacht und Nebel' on the Polish lands incorporated in the Reich, and 'AB' in the GG area.
}}
</ref>

Hitler and his upper-level staff made a critical decision not to conform to what they considered unnecessary rules, and in the process, abandoned "all chivalry towards the opponent" and removed "every traditional restraint on warfare".<ref>Walter Görlitz, "Keitel, Jodl, and Warlimont," cited in Barnett ed., (2003). ''Hitler's Generals'', p. 152.</ref> During the [[Nuremberg trials|Nuremberg trial]] of the [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|High Command of the ''Wehrmacht'']] (OKW) in 1945-1946, the head of the legal department in the OKW, Ministerial Director and General Dr.  [[Rudolf Lehmann (military judge)|Rudolf Lehmann]], testified that Hitler had literally demanded that opponents of the regime, who could not be immediately given a short trial should be brought across the border to Germany in the "Night and Fog" and remain isolated there.<ref>Rainer Huhle, "Nacht und Nebel – Mythos und Bedeutung," ''Zeitschrift für Menschenrechte'' 8, no. 1 (2014): 120. Original citation from the German document holdings: 4 NT, vol. XI, S. 218; s.a. Lehmanns Aussage als Zeuge im »Juristenprozess«, NT, vol. III, S. 805.</ref>

On 7 December 1941, ''[[Reichsführer-SS]]'' [[Heinrich Himmler]] issued the following instructions to the [[Gestapo]]:

{{blockquote|After lengthy consideration, it is the will of the Führer that the measures taken against those who are guilty of offenses against the Reich or against the occupation forces in occupied areas should be altered. The ''Führer'' is of the opinion that, in such cases, penal servitude or even a hard labor sentence for life will be regarded as a sign of weakness. An effective and lasting deterrent can be achieved only by the death penalty or by taking measures which will leave the family and the population uncertain as to the fate of the offender. Deportation to Germany serves this purpose.<ref>Crankshaw (1956). ''Gestapo: Instrument of Tyranny'', p. 215.</ref>}}

At the Armed Forces High Command, {{lang | de | [[Generalfeldmarschall]]}} [[Wilhelm Keitel]] had also received a so-called "Führer's decree" from Hitler on 7 December 1941, and while this order was not documented in writing, Keitel immediately passed it on to the appropriate authorities in the form of "guidelines" and likewise issued a secret decree containing more detailed instructions for its implementation.<ref name="Rainer Huhle 2014">Rainer Huhle, "Nacht und Nebel – Mythos und Bedeutung," (2014): 121.</ref> Essentially, the decree was about how to more effectively combat the increasing resistance actions in the territories occupied by Germany in Western Europe after the June 1941 beginning of [[Operation Barbarossa|the Axis war against the Soviet Union]]. The "Night and Fog" decree originally concerned only nationals of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Norway.<ref name="Rainer Huhle 2014"/> However, eventually some of those imprisoned under the {{lang |de | Nacht und Nebel Erlass}} came from Poland, Hungary, Greece, Yugoslavia, Slovakia, and Italy.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Lepage
 |first1               = Jean-Denis G.G.
 |date                 = 24 December 2013
 |chapter              = Gross-Rosen
 |title                = An Illustrated Dictionary of the Third Reich
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=dp-dAgAAQBAJ
 |publication-place    = Jefferson, North Carolina
 |publisher            = McFarland
 |page                 = 67
 |isbn                 = 9780786473724
 |access-date          = 12 May 2023
 |quote                = The [Gross-Rosen] camp soon grew in size, and inmates included mostly Jews from all over Europe, but also political prisoners, Russian POWs, and Nacht und Nebel Erlaß (q.v.) prisoners from Poland, Hungary, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Yugoslavia, Slovalia, and Italy,
}}
</ref>

On 12 December, Keitel issued a directive explaining Hitler's orders:

{{blockquote|Efficient and enduring intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures by which the relatives of the criminals do not know the fate of the criminal.}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H30220, Wilhelm Keitel.jpg|left|thumb|254x254px|[[Wilhelm Keitel]] expanded the repressive ''Nacht und Nebel'' program to countries under [[military occupation]].]]

Three months later Keitel further expanded on this principle in a February 1942 letter stating that any prisoners not executed within eight days were to be handed over to the Gestapo<ref>''Nürnberger Dokumente'', PS-1733, NOKW-2579, NG-226. Cited in Bracher (1970). ''The German Dictatorship: The Origins, Structure, and Effects of National Socialism'', p. 418.</ref> and:

{{blockquote|to be transported to Germany secretly, and further treatment of the offenders will take place here; these measures will have a deterrent effect because - A. The prisoners will vanish without a trace. B. No information may be given as to their whereabouts or their fate.}}

[[Reinhard Heydrich]]'s ''[[Sicherheitsdienst]]'' (Security Service; SD) was given the responsibility to oversee and carry out the ''Nacht und Nebel'' decree.{{sfn|Bracher|1970|p=418}} The SD was mainly an [[intelligence agency|information-gathering agency]], while the Gestapo operated as the main executive agency of the political police system.{{sfn|Weale|2012|pp=140–144}} The decree aimed to intimidate local populations into submission, by denying friends and families of seized persons any knowledge of their whereabouts or their fate. The prisoners were secretly transported to Germany and vanished without a trace. In 1945, abandoned SD records were found to include merely names and the initials "NN" (''Nacht und Nebel''); even the sites of graves were unrecorded. The Nazis even coined a new term for those who "vanished" in accordance with this decree; they were ''vernebelt''—"transformed into mist".<ref>Conot (2000). ''Justice at Nuremberg'', p. 300.</ref> To this day, it is not known how many people disappeared as a result of this decree.<ref>Manchester (2003). ''The Arms of Krupp, 1587–1968'', p. 519.</ref> The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg held that the disappearances committed as part of the ''Nacht und Nebel'' program were [[war crime]]s which violated both the [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|Hague Conventions]] and [[customary international law]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.yjil.org/docs/pub/35-1-finucane-enforced-disappearance.pdf |title=Enforced Disappearance as a Crime Under International Law: A Neglected Origin in the Laws of War |access-date=2013-08-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140722001023/http://www.yjil.org/docs/pub/35-1-finucane-enforced-disappearance.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-22 }}</ref>

Himmler immediately communicated Keitel's directive to various SS stations, and within six months, [[Richard Glücks]] sent the decree to the commanders of concentration camps.<ref>Mayer (2012). ''Why Did the Heavens Not Darken?: The "Final Solution" in History'', pp. 337-338.</ref> The ''Nacht und Nebel'' prisoners were mostly from [[France]], [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Denmark]], the [[Netherlands]], and [[Norway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007465|title= Night and Fog Decree|work= ushmm.org|access-date= 22 January 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120509193355/http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007465|archive-date= 2012-05-09|url-status= dead}}</ref> They were usually arrested in the middle of the night and quickly taken to prisons hundreds of kilometres away for questioning, eventually arriving at concentration camps such as [[Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp|Natzweiler]], [[Esterwegen concentration camp|Esterwegen]], or [[Gross-Rosen concentration camp|Gross-Rosen]], if they survived.<ref>{{cite web |title= The Night and Fog Decree| url=http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/nacht.htm }}</ref><ref>Kogon (2006). ''The Theory and Practice of Hell: The German Concentration Camps and the System behind Them'', pp. 204–205.</ref>

Natzweiler concentration camp, in particular, became an isolation camp for political prisoners from northern and western Europe under the decree's mandate.<ref>Overy (2006). ''The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia'', p. 605.</ref> When the concentration camps in the east and west of German-occupied Europe were dissolved in the face of the advancing [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] armies and their inmates evacuated - often on cruel death-marches - centrally located camps such as [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] and [[Mauthausen concentration camp|Mauthausen]] at the end of World War II filled with thousands of NN prisoners, whose special status was largely lost in the chaos of the last months before the liberation.<ref>Rainer Huhle, "Nacht und Nebel – Mythos und Bedeutung," (2014): 125–126.</ref>

Up to 30 April 1944, at least 6,639 persons had been arrested under ''Nacht und Nebel'' orders.<ref>
Lothar Gruchmann: "Nacht- und Nebel-"Justiz... In: VfZ 29 (1981), S. 395.</ref> Some 340 of them may have been executed. The 1956 film [[Night and Fog (1956 film)|''Night and Fog'']], directed by [[Alain Resnais]], uses the term to illustrate one aspect of the concentration-camp system as it morphed into a system of labour- and death-camps.