p. 772). The said ordinance states that the restoration of the administration
in the eastern territories annexed to the Reich has been completed and that
the necessary legislation has been passed. In Article 1 it then establishes the
Haupttreuhandstelle Ost as a body of the Plenipotentiary for the Four-Year Plan,
with its authority specified in the subsequent provisions of the ordinance.
Article 2. The Haupttreuhandstelle Ost has the following tasks:
a) to manage the assets of the former Polish State in accordance with
the ordinance of 15 January 1940 (RGBL¹⁹³⁷ I, p. 174) and other public
and legal public [assets]. As regards the administration of the assets
of counties, municipalities, provinces, etc., the division of competence
made together with the Minister of Internal Affairs is applicable.
(Ordinance of the Plenipotentiary for the Four-Year Plan of 2 March
1940, V.P. 3238 (1));
b) to seize and manage the assets of citizens of the former Polish State.
The method and scope of determining and awarding compensation
for lost assets shall be regulated with a separate ordinance;
c) to settle the debts and claims that arose in the annexed eastern territories
before 1 October 1939. Payment of those requires consent of the
Minister of the National Economy and the Minister of Finance;
d) to settle the property disputes and settlements that have arisen due
to the incorporation of the eastern territories into the Reich;
e) to define contentious issues in relation to foreign state creditors.
Article 3. Requisitions and appointed administration.
Within its scope of activities, the Haupttreuhandstelle Ost has the exclusive
right to make requisitions (Beschlagnahmen) and to nominate and dismiss
appointed administrators.
Nomination of appointed administrators by other authorities must be
approved by the Haupttreuhandstelle Ost.
Appointed administrators are granted a vote of approval by the
Haupttreuhandstelle Ost. Until further notice, appointed administrators are
subject to the provisions of the Ordinance of the Army Commander-in-Chief
on the establishment of appointed administrators for enterprises, industrial
plants, and real estate in the occupied, formerly Polish territories of
1937 Abbreviation for Reichsgesetzblatt (German) Reich Legal Bulletin.
