Chapter I

Article 1

1. Unless heavier punishment is sanctioned under the authority of a law previously established, imprisonment not to exceed two years shall be imposed upon anybody deliberately making false or grievous statements, fit to injure the welfare or the prestige of the government of the Reich, the National Socialist Workers Party or its agencies. If such statements are made or circulated in public, imprisonment for not less than 3 months shall be imposed.

2. Anyone committing the offense insolently and carelessly shall be punished with imprisonment not to exceed 3 months or with a fine.

3. If the offense is directed solely against the prestige of the NSDAP or its affiliated agencies, the offender shall be prosecuted only with the consent of the Fuehrer's deputy or of agencies authorized by him to initiate the prosecution.

Article 2

1. Anyone who makes or circulates statements proving a malicious, baiting or low-minded attitude towards leading personalities of the State or the NSDAP, or towards orders issued by them or towards institutions created by them--fit to undermine the confidence of the people in its political leadership--shall be punished with imprisonment.

2. Statements of this kind which are not made in public shall warrant the same punishment--provided the offender figures on his statements being eventually circulated in public.

3. The offender shall be prosecuted only by the order of the Reich Minister for Justice; in case the offense was committed against a leading personality of the NSDAP, the Reich Minister for Justice shall issue the order in agreement with the Fuehrer's Deputy.

4. The Reich Minister for Justice in agreement with the Fuehrer's Deputy shall determine who is to be regarded as a leading personality as specified in (1).

Article 3

1. Anyone who commits or threatens to commit a punishable act, or who is wearing the uniform or an insignia of the NSDAP, or carries it on his person without being a member of the NSDAP or its affiliated agencies and therefore being entitled to do so, will be punished with forced labor or in minor instances with imprisonment not to exceed 6 months.

2. Anyone who commits the offense with the intention to stir up unrest or to sow fear or terror in the population, or to create difficulties for the German Reich with a foreign power, shall be punished with forced labor not to exceed 3 years or with forced labor for life or in particularly grave cases with death.

3. According to this law, a German national may be punished also if he has committed the offense in a foreign country.

Article 4

1. Anyone who for the sake of a material advantage or for political ends poses as a member of the NSDAP or its agencies, shall be punished with imprisonment not to exceed 1 year plus a fine or either one.

2. The offender shall be prosecuted only in agreement with the Fuehrer or with those authorized by him.

Article 5

1. Anyone who manufactures, holds in stock, sells or otherwise brings on the market Party uniforms, parts of Party uniforms, textiles, flags or insignias of the NSDAP, its affiliated agencies or organizations, without the permission of the treasurer of the Reich, shall be punished with imprisonment not to exceed 2 years.

2. Anyone who has in his possession Party uniforms and insignias without being a member of the NSDAP or its affiliated organizations, or without being entitled to possess them for any other reason, shall be punished with imprisonment not to exceed 1 year. Anyone who wears any of the above mentioned items, shall be punished with imprisonment not to exceed 1 month.

3. To be put on a par with Party uniforms, parts of Party uniforms and insignia are those uniforms, parts of uniforms and insignias which can easily be confused with them.

4. The uniforms, parts of uniforms, textiles, flags or insignias in question shall be confiscated. In case no particular person can be prosecuted or condemned, the confiscation shall take place all the same--provided conditions justify it.

5. The confiscated items shall be turned over to the Reich Treasurer of the NSDAP or to those agencies appointed by him, for future use.

6. The prosecution of the offense and the confiscation (#4, section 2) can only be undertaken in agreement with the Fuehrer's Deputy or agencies authorized by him to handle this matter.

Article 6

According to the rules set forth in this law, anyone who has obtained membership of the Party through false pretenses is not a member of the NSDAP, its affiliated agencies or organizations.

Article 7

The Fuehrer's Deputy, in agreement with the Reich Minister for Justice and of the Interior, shall issue the necessary regulations for the execution and completion of Articles 1 to 6.