Teleprint.
High Command Of The Armed Forces. 12th September, 1944.
(Operations Staff).
Orders For Defences In The Southeast
1. I order the construction of a frontier defensive position in the Districts Carinthia and Styria, on the territory of the German Reich, along the following approximate line:
Tolmein (joining the Blue Line here)-north of Laibach-course of Save River to northwest of Gurkfeld-thence northeast to west of Varazdin.
2. Construction will be carried out by a call up of civilian labour, and responsibility will be delegated as follows:
(a) To the High Commissioner Of The Operation Area, Adriatic Sea Coast, and to the District Leader Of District Carinthia, District Leader Dr Rainer.
(b) To the District Leader of District Styria, District Leader Uberreither, each in their respective Districts.
3. The purely military tasks involved in this construction are the responsibility of the Chief Of Army Equipment And The Replacement Army, acting in accordance with Directives from the High Command Of The Armed Forces (Operations Staff). Under him, Deputy General XVIII Corps will cooperate with Districts Carinthia and Styria, and will be responsible for the execution of military tasks.
4. Military tasks:
(a) Protection against bandits of personnel involved in planning and construction, as well as of the fortifications themselves, by means of security forces drawn from each area of command.
(b) Tactical siting of positions, based on current reconnaissance. For this, Deputy General XVIII Corps, in direct agreement with Commander In Chief Southwest, will define the points at which the positions link up with one another.
(c) Establishment of priorities for construction in individual sectors.
(d) Decision on the form of construction, based on tactical and technical operational experience, and the means available. The Reconnaissance and Engineering Staffs required to carry out tasks (b) to (d) will be formed by Deputy General XVIII Corps in his own area. Any necessary additional requests will be submitted, to a limited extent, through the Chief Of Army Equipment And The Replacement Army to the High Command Of The Armed Forces (Operation Staff).
5. The construction itself will be carried out so that, wherever strong tank attacks can be made, a continuous antitank obstacle will be presented, as well as an articulated continuous defensive position in depth. Preparations will also be made for a no-man's-land on the enemy side of the position.
6. All military authorities and forces employed in constructing the position remain under the orders of their military superiors. For the actual construction work they will be bound by the instructions of the District Leaders.
7. The procurement and employment of civilian labour is the responsibility of the District Leaders. They will also undertake the accommodation and provisioning of this labour, including that of the Todt Organisation detachments engaged.
8. Employment Of The Todt Organisation In The Area Of Construction:
So far as detachments of the Todt Organisation are available for construction, they will be employed on the basis of agreements reached directly between the District Leaders and the Todt Organisation, so that the Todt Organisation supplies the necessary building equipment and undertakes the technical supervision of the construction. The District Leaders will remain responsible for the construction, but the respective local authorities of the Todt Organisation will be attached to them as a Technical Department.
9. Supplies and building materials of all kinds will be provided in accordance with orders from the High Command Of The Armed Forces (General Of Engineers And Fortifications).
10. The District Leaders will report to me as soon as possible, through the Head Of The Reich Chancery, their plans for organising the construction, and for the labour to be raised. The Chief Of Army Equipment And The Replacement Army will report to me on the 1st and 15th of each month on the progress and state of the work.
Adolf Hitler.