Keen on murdering Jews in occupied Polish territory, the German authorities issued a range of legislation intended to intimidate and terrorise the community so that no Pole dared to help Jews. The most important was the third ordinance of 15 October 1941 on restricting the right to stay in the General Government (GG), which, on pain of death, forbade Jews to leave the residential areas (districts) appointed for them, at the same time imposing the death penalty on every person who provided them with shelter. In practice, the death penalty for aiding Jews was also in force in Polish territory captured by the Third Reich after 22 June 1941 and on the Polish territory incorporated into the Third Reich. During the “resettlements” of Jews from the individual ghettos, posters announcing the death penalty for providing aid were spread far and wide. In some districts of the GG, village headmen were forced, under threat of severe punishment, to sign statements that there were no Jews staying in the individual villages.
Tomasz Domański, Ph.D.