Hauling Secrets

Hidden among the pages of the Deutschland Erwacht I found was a mysterious leaflet printed in German and English.

The Safe Conduct Pass, or “passierschien”, was produced by the Psychological Warfare Branch of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, designed to look as official as possible, and eventually dropped into German territory to inform German soldiers of the decent treatment they’d recieve if they surrendered. It has been called “the most effective leaflet of the war”. This version of the leaflet, one of 10,456,000 printed, was dropped from November 1944 to January 1945. The front reads, in German and in English:

SAFE CONDUCT. The German soldier who carries this safe conduct is using it as a sign of his genuine wish to give himself up. He is to be disarmed, to be well looked after, to receive food and medical attention as required and to be removed from the danger zone as soon as possible. (Signed) Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force “

On the back:

The BASIC PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW REGARDING PRISONERS OF WAR (According to the Hague Convention, 1907, and the Geneva Convention, 1929)

1. From the moment of surrender, German soldiers are regarded as P.O.W.s and come under the protection of the Geneva Convention. Accordingly, their military honor is fully respected.
2. P.O.W.s must be taken to assembly points as soon as possible, which are far enough from the danger zone to safeguard their personal security.
3. P.O.W.s receive the same rations, qualitatively and quantitatively, as members of the Allied armies, and, if sick or wounded, are treated in the same hospitals as Allied troops.
4. Decorations and valuables are to be left with the P.O.W.s. Money may be taken only be officers of the assembly points and receipts must be given.
5. Sleeping quarters, accommodation, bunks and other installations in P.O.W. camps must be equal to those of Allied garrison troops.
6. According to the Geneva Convention, P.O.W.s must not become subject of reprisals nor be exposed to public curiosity. After the end of the war they must be sent home as soon as possible.

Soldiers in the meaning of the Hague Convention (IV, 1907) are: All armed persons, who wear uniforms or any insignias which can be recognized from a distance.

The diagonal overprint reads, “Also valid for the Volkssturm” (the territorial army to defend the homefront in WWII).

This leaflet was so effective that the Germans issued a parody of it, with the text on the front changed:

The German soldier who carries this safe conduct is using it as a sign of his genuine wish to go into captivity for the next ten years, to betray his fatherland, to return home a broken old man and very probably never see his parents, wife and children again. (Signed) Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force.

Ouch. On the backside, replacing the Geneva Conventions, is a message to the Allied Forces:

DEAR FRIENDS: We are returning your age old dodge, after having made the necessary rectifications, with sincerest thanks. It was highly amusing, and we must commend you on your efforts. But please refrain from molesting us further in this direction. It should be obvious to you that the ideals for which 90 million Germans have fought (according to Churchill) “like lions” for over five years cannot be so very rotten that we could be lured into surrender through mere ham and eggs. Hoping that we can rely on your sagacity to comprehend, we remain as of old, with Heil Hitler! Hard times, what?

History has shown just how tempting those “ham and eggs” (or the Geneva Conventions) were to many German soldiers, and how hard those times really were for Hitler and the German Army. At that point, the Red Army had driven the last German troops from Soviet territory and began entering Central Europe, and the western allies were also rapidly advancing into Germany. A few more months and Hitler would be dead, the war officially over.

[Special thanks to Sergeant Major Herbert A. Friedman, whose excellent article at Psywarrior.com’s Allied ‘Passierschien’ Safe Conduct Passes of WWII page provided everything I needed to identify this document.]