Bullet Decree - “Aktion Kugel” (1944)

The Bullet Decree or "Kugel-Erlass" in German also known as "Aktion Kugel" was a secret decree (Geheimbefehl), issued by the German army. The Bullet Decree stated that escaped and recaptured POW’s were to be handed over to the Gestapo for execution, in direct disobeying of the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention.

The Bullet Decree was based on an order of the German Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, or OKW) dating to the 2nd of March 1944. It stipulated that escaped and recaptured POW’s (officers and nonworking NCOs), with the exception of British and Americans, were to be turned over to the chief of the Security Police and Security Service (SD-Sicherheitsdienst) under the code name "Grade III" (Stufe III).

The same code name was also used for the classification of concentration camps (like Mauthausen and Gusen) which meant that they were the toughest camps for the "incurable political enemies of the Reich".

The bullet decree was later amended to also include British POW’s after the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III on the 25th of March 1944.

Subordinate Gestapo offices were informed of this order by a decree and a telex of from the 6th of March, which also instructed them to maintain strict secrecy. The local Gestapo offices were to inform the International Committee of the Red Cross that these POW’s had escaped and not been recaptured. Escaped and recaptured British and American POW’s were to be kept in detention outside POW camps, and their fate was to be determined on an individual basis by the OKW's chief of POW’s.

The POW’s who fell under the decree were transferred under extraordinary security measures to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. The POW’s were not registered as inmates and were detained in a special block inside the camp. Most starved to death, but others were gassed, shot, or tortured to death by the SS-Schutzstaffel camp personnel in an operation code-named "Bullet Action" (Aktion Kugel).

On the 2nd of February 1945, several hundred POW’s, mostly Soviet officers, made an escape attempt, and 419 reached the area beyond the camp perimeter. Many were too weakened to escape and were quickly finished off. The Nazi authorities initiated a huge manhunt, which was eagerly supported by parts of the local population. Recaptured POW’s were shot on the spot and many were clubbed to death. Only 17 men successfully escaped. Nine of them survived the end of the war by reaching Soviet lines in Czechoslovakia or hiding with Austrian and Czech farmers.

It has been estimated that some 5,040 POW’s (4,300 Russians) fell victim to the Bullet Decree. The original document with the exact date of the Bullet Decree has never been located. Its existence and contents are reproduced literal, however, in excerpts of the 4 March 1945 telex to the SD-Sicherheitsdienst.

Extract of the telexed decree (translated) – Document 1650-PS:

To be transmitted in secret-To be handled as a secret government matter.

DOR. BERLIN NUE 19 507 March 4 1944 1430-WF

To all State Police Directorates except PRAGUE and BRUNN-Inspectors of the Security Police and of the Security Service.

Subject: Measures to be taken against captured escaped prisoners of war who are officers or not working non-commissioned officers, except British and American prisoners of war.

The Supreme Command of the Army has ordered as follows:

1. Every captured escaped prisoner of war who is an officer or a not working non-commissioned officer, except British and American prisoners of war, is to be turned over to the Chief of the Security Police and of the Security Service under the classification "Grade III" regardless of whether the escape occurred during a transport, whether it was a mass escape or an individual one.

2. Since the transfer of the prisoners of war to the security police and security service may not become officially known to the outside under any circumstances other prisoners of war may by no means be informed of the capture. The captured prisoners are to be reported to the Army Information bureau as "escaped and not captured". Their mail is to be handled accordingly. Inquiries of representatives of the Protective Power of the International Red Cross, and of other aid societies will be given the same answer.

3. If escaped British and American prisoners of war who are officers or not working non-commissioned officers, respectively, are captured they are to be detained at first outside the prisoners of war camps and out of sight of prisoners of war; if Army owned buildings are unavailable, they are to be placed in police custody. In every instance the Corps Area Command will request speedily the Supreme Command of the Army (Chief, Prisoner of War Section) for a decision as to whether they are to be turned over to the Chief of the Security Police and of the Security Service.

In reference to this, I order as follows:

1. The State Police Directorates will accept the captured escaped officer prisoners of war from the prisoner of war camp commandants and will transport them to the Concentration Camp Mauthausen following the procedure previously used, unless the circumstances render a special transport imperative. The prisoners of war are to be put in irons on the transport-not on the station if it is subject to view by the public. The camp commandant at Mauthausen is to be notified that the transfer occurs within the scope of the “Aktion Kugel". The State Police Directorates will submit semi-yearly reports on these transfers giving merely the figures, the first report being due on 5 July 1944 (sharp). The report is to be made under the reference "Treatment of Captured Escaped Prisoners of War who are officers within the Scope of the “Aktion Kugel". In the case of special events, reports are to be submitted immediately. The State Police Directorates will maintain exact records.

2. For the sake of secrecy, the Supreme Command of the Armed Force has been requested to inform the prisoner of war camps to turn the captured prisoners over to the local State Police Office and not to send them directly to Mauthausen.

3. Captured escaped British and American officers and not working non-commissioned officers are to be detained in police custody in a city in which a State Police office is located provided the Army has no suitable quarters. In view of the existing crowding of police prisons, the State Police officer will accept captured prisoners only if the Army actually does not dispose of any suitable space. The prisoner of war camp commandants have to be contacted in reference to their quarters immediately after the receipt of this order. In the interest of the secrecy of this order, confinement outside of police jails, e.g. in Labor Education Camps is not permissible.

4. If escaped prisoners of war who are officers and not working non-commissioned officers except British and American prisoners of war are captured by police authorities, reasons of practicability render it unnecessary to return the prisoner to the prisoner of war camp commandant once the facts have been clarified adequately. The prisoner of war camp is to be informed of the capture and is to be requested for a transfer under the classification "Grade III". Captured escaped British and American prisoners of war who are officers and non-commissioned officers are always to be turned over to the Army.

5. The city and county police authorities are not to be informed of this order.

Chief of the Security Police and of the Security Service
IV D5d-B.NR. 61/44 GRS
-For the Chief- (signed) Müller
SS General

Branch Office Aachen
Aachen 6 March 1944

IV D No. 26/44 g Rs

Two extract copies were made of this order
1st Copy to IV A-6 March.
2nd Copy to IV D-2 March.