Bilingual broadside in English and German, 20.75 x 20, headed "Military Government—Germany, Supreme Commander's Area of Control, Proclamation No. 1," issued in areas of Allied occupation beginning in 1944. Signed at the conclusion of the English section in fountain pen, "Dwight D. Eisenhower." In full: "To the People of Germany: I, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, do hereby proclaim as follows:
The Allied Forces serving under my command have now entered Germany. We come as conquerors, but not as oppressors. In the area of Germany occupied by the forces under my command, we shall obliterate Nazi-ism and German Militarism. We shall overthrow the Nazi rule, dissolve the Nazi Party and abolish the cruel, oppressive and discriminatory laws and institutions which the Party has created. We shall eradicate that German Militarism which has so often disrupted the peace of the world. Military and Party leaders, the Gestapo and others suspected of crimes and atrocities will be tried and, if guilty, punished as they deserve.
Supreme legislative, judicial and executive authority and powers within the occupied territory are vested in me as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces and as Military Governor, and the Military Government is established to exercise these powers under my direction. All persons in the occupied territory will obey immediately and without question all the enactments and orders of the Military Government. Military Government Courts will be established for the punishment of offenders. Resistance to the Allied Forces will be ruthlessly stamped out. Other serious offenses will be dealt with severely.
All German courts and educational institutions within the occupied territory are suspended. The Volksgerichtshof, the Sondergerichte, the SS Police Courts and other special courts are deprived of authority throughout the occupied territory. Re-opening of the criminal and civil courts and educational institutions will be authorized when conditions permit.
All officials are charged with the duty of remaining at their posts until further orders, and obeying and enforcing all orders or directions of Military Government or the Allied Authorities addressed to the German Government or the German people. This applies also to officials, employees and workers of all public undertakings and utilities and to all other persons engaged in essential work." In fine condition, with intersecting folds.
This historic document represents the first official declaration of Allied military authority over occupied Germany near the end of World War II. First distributed in 1944 as Allied forces entered German territory, it laid the groundwork for the dismantling of the Nazi regime, the imposition of military governance—a de facto rule established not by law or treaty, but by physical fact of military occupation—and the assertion of Allied control over all aspects of civil, judicial, and administrative life. The proclamation signaled a clear intent to eradicate Nazism and militarism, prosecute war criminals, and reestablish a lawful, democratic order under strict Allied oversight, marking the beginning of a transformative occupation that would shape postwar Germany.
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