Chief of Civil Administration ( German : 'Chef der Zivilverwaltung, CdZ' ) was an office introduced in Nazi Germany , operational during World War II . Its task was to administer civil issues according to occupation law, with the primary purpose being the support of the military command in the operational areas of the German Army . CdZ would pass his authority to a corresponding civil government after the territory in question became in the rear of the operating armed forces.
4-596: The Civil Administration Area of Lorraine (CdZ=Chef der Zivilverwaltung) (English: Territory of the Chief of Civil Administration of Lorraine ) was an administrative division of the Gau Westmark from 1940 to 1945. After the outbreak of the Second World War and the defeat of France in 1940, the département of Moselle, renamed "CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen", was added to the Gau Westmark on 30 November 1940. In Nazi Germany ,
8-608: A "CdZ-Gebiet" was the name for a new German territory, under civil administration. This territory was under the authority of Josef Bürckel , Reichskommissar and Gauleiter . The "CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen" was in the southern part of Gau Westmark . It corresponds exactly to the current département of Moselle . The capital of CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen was Metz . It comprised the subdistricts ("Kreise") of : 49°02′N 6°39′E / 49.033°N 6.650°E / 49.033; 6.650 Chief of Civil Administration According to German law, all executive powers in
12-803: The deployment areas passed to the Wehrmacht armed forces. Overstrained and incapable to construct a civil administration, the German Army High Command willingly put these tasks to the CdZ. In the capacity as Reichsstatthalter governor, the office was under the authority of the Reich Ministry of the Interior, but operationally CdZ was under the commander-in-chief of the German Army and ultimately of Adolf Hitler as supreme commander. Hitler generally interfered in
16-558: The domestic policies of the occupied territories, giving unrestricted powers to Sicherheitsdienst and SS squadrons under the command of Heinrich Himmler . Several administrative divisions under the authority of a Chief of Civil Administration were officially designated as CdZ-Gebiete (CdZ Areas, Chief of Civil Administration Territories): After the Battle of France , from 1940, CdZ officials were appointed in those western occupied territories that were not (yet) officially annexed by
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