MR. DENNEY: "Then there is still the human factor. We often had considerable difficulty with the human factor. The fluctuation there is very considerable. The quota of the Luftwaffe in the distribution of manpower was constantly lowered. The foreigners run away. They do not keep any contract. There are difficulties with Frenchman, Italians, Dutch."
The prisoners of war are partly unruly and fresh. The people are also supposed to be carrying on sabotage. These elements cannot be made more efficient by small means. They are just not handled strictly enough. If a decent foreman would sock one of those unruly guys because the fellow won't work, then the situation would soon change. International Law cannot be observed here. I have assorted myself very strongly, and with the help of Sauer I have represented the point of view very strongly that the prisoners, with the exception of the English and the Americans should be taken away from the military authorities. The soldiers are not in a position, as experience has shown, to cope with these fellows who know all the answers. I shall take very strict measures here and shall put such a prisoner of war before my court martial. If he has committed sabotage or refused to work, I will have him hanged, right in his own factory. I am convinced that that will not be without effect."
Here we have him speaking on the 25th saying that he will have people who refused to work, who are prisoners, not the Americans or the English -- no, he's afraid of them -- the same words that he used telling of what he had done in the 53rd meeting where he had two Russian officers who were working in one of his plants, who escaped or tried to escape, whose plane crashed, and who he ordered to be hanged or shot by the SS. To says at the time, "It was done yesterday. He didn't know which.
"Anyhow, the strongest things occur in the treatment of the workers. It is said that the people collapse, and then one has to find out that they have a furlough of three or four days every eight weeks. That is dirty business of the first order, and treason to the country. Then perhaps a construction battalion arrives and is supposed to be put to work. The commanding officer, perhaps some overfed grade school teacher, declares that the men must drill and must take part in sports. Damn it, the fellows are there to work so that the maximum amount of work will result. One has to act very strictly here.
A construction battalion was ordered to Regensburg. The commanding officer was one of those scholars she said he could not billet the men in peace time conditions, therefore he refused to start to work. Such a guy should be convicted by a court martial and hanged. I would be grateful if the gentlemen would proceed in that manner. As with me in industry, so every stupidity is possible everywhere else. As chief, one has to take up these matters. I know what kind of obstacles become apparent. There is bureaucracy. It is not easy to go against bureaucracy. But we have to cut through that also, and if you gentlemen proceed in the right attitude here, we are already assured of success."
The next occurs on Page 128 of Your Honor's book, which is Page 22 of the German original. I don't have the page of the German translation. It's in the middle of a page and the paragraph in which it is starts out with the word "Gentlemen". However, there are two references to 20 percent in the paragraph just ahead of it. I think Dr. Milch has it. Perhaps he on give it to you.
DR. MILCH(Acting Defense Counsel): I have it; 3200.
MR. DENNEY: He says, "In saying this, I do not even consider the fact that the workshops have first-class personnel; whereas we in the Luftwaffe armament inductry have Russians, French prisoners of war, Dutch, and members of 32 other nations."
The next quotation appears on the bottom of Page 133, which is the last full paragraph on Page 33 of the original speech. The paragraph starts out. "I further ask for support by the Luftwaffe physicians." That is Page 133 of the Document Book. It's the last paragraph on the page, on the very bottom. That is Page 207 in the German book.
"I further ask for support by the Luftwaffe physicians. With all the rabble that we have among the foreign workers, there is of course a lot of skirking. At the moment the Russians -- that is, the Russian prisoners of war -- are feigning a lot of fatigue and illness. The incidence of sickness of one a half to two percent which we have had up to now has at least doubled and in some factories it has been increased to eight, nine and ten percent.
That is, of course, done by previous agreement. There the official physicians must undertake an examination and if the physicians, who have to be very strict, find out that it is not true, then we return the fellows to work by means of the whip. Then the whip serves as a cure."
Field Marshal in the Luftwaffe handling prisoners of war with a whip because they won't work in something they are forbidden to work in by the Geneva and Hague Conventions.
Page 143 of Your Honors' document book; it's the latter half of Page 43 in the original part of the speech and the first part of 49, and the conclusion of the Field Marshal's origin I remarks. It's just ahead of the speech starting by Sauer. Find out where Sauer speaks, then you can go back ahead of it one paragraph. The sentence starts out: "Let everyone consider that if he does not do his duty......." It's before Sauer; the first full paragraph, and then up about three sentences, and then the paragraph before that.
"Let everyone consider that if he does not do his duty, we do not ask whether there is a law; we ask only that he is the responsible one and that we will seize him no matter who he is. We also get this help from the other offices, but from you as comrades of the Luftwaffe, we expect to receive the first help and the strongest help. That is your honor-bound duty. That is the foundation upon which the Luftwaffe stands. That is the justification for existence for you and for us all.
"Please go whereever you are going and knock everybody down who blocks your way. We cover up everything here. We do not ask whether he is allowed to or whether he is not allowed to. For us, there is nothing but this one task. We are fanatics in this sphere, be do not even consider letting anything at at all distract us from that task.
No order exists which could prevent me from fulfilling this task. Nor shall I ever be given such an order. Now, do not let anything hinder you, and get your people to the point that no one hinders them. If there is a little hindrance from below, this is not due to ill-will, but to stupidity. Gentlemen, in the fifth year of war, stupidity is punishable."
And the last quotation occurs on the last page of the speech, which is Page 155 in Your Honors' Document Book, starting out: "Gentlemen, I know not every subordinate can say: for me, the law no longer exists, but he has to have someone who covers up for him, not out of cowardice. But if you act according to the spirit of the old field service regulation, "Abstaining from doing something hurts us more than erring in the choice of the means," and if, moreover, you keep in touch and immediately clarify difficult points, so that something can be done, then we are willing to accept the responsibility, whether this is the law or not. I see only two possibilities for me and for Germany: either we succeed and therby save Germany, or we continue these slipshod methods and then get the fate that we deserve. I refer to fall, while I am doing something that is against the rules but that is right and sensible, and be called to account for it, and if you like, hanged, rather than be hanged because Papa Stalin is here in Berlin, or the Englishmen. I have no desire for that. I would rather die in a different way. But I think we can accomplish this task, too. We are in the fifth year of war. I repeat: The decision will come during the next six weeks. Heil Hitler."
The next document is a Hitler conference of April 9, 1944 which appears in Document Book 3 A at Page 39. This is a memorandum prepared on 9 April 1944: Minutes of the Discussions with Hitler of the 6th and 7th of April. It's on Page 39 of Your Honors' Document Book 3 A. The memorandum is prepared by Speer.
"Suggested to the Fuehrer that, due to lack of builders and equipment, the second big building project should not be set up in German territory, but in close vicinity to the border on suitable soil (preferable on gravel base and with transport facilities) on French , Belgian or Dutch territory.
The Fuehrer agrees to this suggestion if the works could be set up behind a fortified zone. For the suggestion of setting this plant up in French territory speaks mainly the fact that it would be much easier to procure the necessary workers. Nevertheless, the Fuehrer asks an attempt be made to set up the second works in a safer area, namely in the Protectorate. If it should prove impossible there too to get hold of the necessary workers, the Fuehrer himself will contact the Reichsfuehrer SS"--speaking of Himmler--" and will give an order that the required 100,000 men are to be made available by bringing, in Jews from Hungary. Stressing the fact that the building 252-A organization of the (Industriegemainschaft Schlesien Silesia) was a failure, the Fuehrer demands that those works must be built by the Organization Todt exclusively and that the workers should be made available by the Reichsfuehrer So. He wants to hold a meeting shortly in order to discuss details with all the men concerned."
MR. DENNEY: If your Honors plea so, this refers to the construction of some airplane plants.
DR. MILCH (Acting Counsel for the Defendant): May I point out that that document is not complete in our Document Book. We would also like to ask what was the exhibit number of it.
MR. DENNEY: Dr. Milch, I might state at this time that Books 3-A and B were all offered under No. R-124 and bear Exhibits No. 48-A and 48-B. Now as to the compete note made by Speer, Dr. Bergold, Counsel for the Defendant, is at liberty to go over to the Document Room and examine the German original. It has been the custom - that complete translations are not made and the complete document is not offered in view of the great bulk which would thereby be placed before the Court. That procedure has been followed up to this time in this trial and also before the International Tribunal.
DR. MILCH: I ask only because part of the document was read of which I had no copy in German and I had presumed only parts would be road of which I had a copy.
MR. DENNEY: I am extremely sorry. I didn't know you had not a copy.
DR. MILCH: The copy that I have is not complete.
DR. DENNEY: We will endeavor to see if we have the original in German here.
If your Honors please, I would like the record to show that the complete exerpt which was read was shown to the defendant's counsel and that the German translation apparently stopped a few lines short of the exhibit which was read. We will furnish defendant's counsel with a complete translation this evening.
I will direct your Honors' attention to the figure 100,000 Hungarian Jews which appears in the note of this conference. When we go into the Jaegerstab case that figure applying to those nationals will be again called to your Honors' attention.
The next and last meeting of the Central Planning Board with which we are concerned is the 58th Meeting which appears on page 14 and 15 of your Honors' Document Book - Document Book 3 A, pages 14 and 15. That is page 29 in the 254-A German book.
It starts out with Pleiger talking:
"Pleiger: Will you please look at the diagram no. 3, it shows the whole personnel in the pit-coal mines. There you can see at what time we began using foreign labor. That was at the end of 1941. Furthermore, you can see how, consequently, the use of German labor declined and the share of the eastern workers and the Russian Ps/W rose. On the top is added a further large proportion of Italians. But if you take the next diagram on the number of scheduled personnel and the number of actual personnel you can see clearly how steeply the curve drops; the same with lignite. It would be necessary to find here some means of improvement. If you note that 800,000 Russian Ps/W are working at places in Germany where Italians could be used just as well, it would be possible to transfer from among these 800,000 Ps/W about 150-320,000 people to the mines. Italians are of no use in the mines; the Italians cannot stand it, they are physically not strong enough, it won't even work if strong arm methods are used. The Russians, however, are developing excellently, particularly if they are fed in a way. In any case such a solution should be tried. If the situation in the West deteriorates, if we can do no more in Belgium and the North of France we shall be able to overcome the difficulties in Lorraine and Luxembourg only by a very big increase in the direction of labor to the Ruhr region."
"Kehrl: I believe there are 2 possibilities to solve the difficulties. Contrary to Pleiger, I believe that we cannot do entirely without the Italians and especially because we can procure trained Italian miners. We have stopped practically all mining in central Italy because we have no transportation for the material anyhow. As far as the Italians there who worked as miners are concernethey should be transferred and used sensibly in our mining industry, because the physical strain in Germany is not substantially different from that in Italy. We could free at least 20,000 miners. Perhaps one could adjust the proportion between lignite and pit--coal by transferring miners accordingly. Of course, we would then have to x-ray the Ps/W. By an exchange system something could be achieved."
And then go over to page 1468 - Kehrl again:
"Kehrl: Will you please look at page 29 of the report. You can see from it how the reduction which represents a considerable amount, has been worked out. The reductions are: among the Germans 4½%, among the foreigners 5%; and among the recruited.
"Pleiger: These are Bulgarians, Hungarians, Belgians, etc. They do not stay put as a matter of course. It is impossible to make them stay. "K "Kehrl:
They go away their time expires. Among the eastern Ps/W workers one reckons with a lossof 20% of the total, among Did IMMT".......
IMMI - I don't know what that means.
"with a 40% loss.
"Pleiger: Among the eastern workers the loss has increased so much because we received these people from the land. They were with farmers before they were sent to the mines. When they came from the farmers each of them had a package containing sausage, bacon and bread, etc. In this way the farmers thought they would return to them. In fact, the result was staggering in favor of agriculture. The people simply cannot be kept in the mines in the long run. If they have once been on the land, they leave us again. This tendency is to be noted all along the line, in the Ruhr even worse than in the Upper Silesian region.
"Rohland: Is there no possibility of sending all foreign fugitives to educational camps for 2-3 months? About 30 to 40,000 people per month would be involved. These are quite considerable figures. The result of the education is phantastic. I have the firm conviction that these people could be used in the mines.
"Speer: We shall consider that later."
And 1481, Speer speaking:
"Speer: Now, the labor problem in Germany. I believe it is still possible to transfer some from the western territories. The Fuehrer stated only recently he wishes to dissolve these foreign volunteers as he had the impression that the army groups were carting around with them a lot of ballast. Therefore, if we cannot settle this matter ourselves, we shall have to call a meeting with the fuehrer to clear up the coal situation, Keitel and Zieitzler will be invited to attend in order to determine the number of Russians from the rear area territories who can be sent to us.
However, I see another possibility; we might organize another drive to screen out workers for the mines from the Russian Ps/W in the Reich. But this possibility is none too promising.
1483, Speer continues:
"Speer: We have to come to an arrangement with the Reichsfuehrer SS as soon as possible so that Ps/W he picks up are made available for our purposes. The Reichsfuehrer SS gets from 30 to 40,000 men per month. First of all, they have to be divided up. From what classes do these people come anyhow. There certainly is a certain percentage of miners among these people who are picked up. These few thousand men have to go to the mines , automatically. Certainly, some educational work has to be done. The men should be put into the factories as convicts. But they have to return to the factories were they were before. Furthermore, we could perhaps bring the people from agriculture to the mines. A great numer leave, and the people do not go the mines, but do home."
The next document is a Sauckel report which is No. 208-PS, which appears at Page 66 of Your Honors' Document Book 2-B and at Page 112 of the German Document book. The Exhibit No. is 55.
THE PRESIDENT: What is the document number please?
MR. DENNEY: 208-PS. It appears at Page 66 of Document Book 2-B and it is the second item on the second page of the index appearing in Document Book 2-A. The report of Sauckel of 7 July 1944 on the accomplishments of labor employment in the first half of the year. Dated Berlin 7 July 1944. It goes to the highest Reich authorities, the Reich leader of the NSDAP, the highest offices of the army, and all Gauleiters.
"In the annexed I have listed the total results of the manpower which has been placed at the disposal of the German war effort by the German labor employment offices in the first half year of 1944. It deals only with such manpower which was not yet employed in the German war effort.
"Owing to the plan of this year for 4,050,000 laborers, 2,000,000 now workers were to be employed in the first half year. Because of increased difficulties in Italy and in the occupied Western provinces, a million less than the goal was achieved unfortunately. Despite the known difficult situation 1,500,000 people wore able to be mobilized in the first half year, this is solely due to the exertion of all possible energy.
"Since the call of 17 February 1944, Around 62,000 women have reported for "Voluntary honorary service" of which already 52,000 have been employed".
Signed by Sauckel, and the table below indicates the disposal of these two million people, part of which we have seen that they requisitioned as of January 1944. The total for all industries was 1,482,000. There 848,000 citizens, 537,400 foreigners, 96,600 prisoners of war. These in the first group which were employed in agriculture and forestry, 231,000. Of these, 156,000 were foreigners.
In mining, 46,000 of whom 34,000 were foreigners. In the metal industry, 415,000 of whom 250,000 were foreigners. The remaining industry, 790,000 of whom 194,000 were foreigners. The foreigners came from the following territories: from the occupied eastern provinces, 258-A 284,000; the General Government of Poland 52,000; the Protectorates of Bohemia and Poravia, 23,000; France, excluding northern France, 33,000; Belgium, including northern France, 16,000; the Netherlands, 15,000; Italy, 37,000; from the rest of Europe, 77,400 The next document is 3829PS, which appears in Document Book 2-B. It is just after the last document which was offered in evidence.
It is at Page 68 in the English book and Page 114 in the German book. We offer this as Exhibit 56, page 68, in the English document book and page 114 in the German book. It Is a report of Lammers on the Hitler conference dated -If Your Honors please, this appears to be the wrong document. I will withdraw that at this time. It appears on page 75 . It is improperly indexed in Your Honors' book. It appears on page 75, not on page 68.
It is a report by Lammers dated 12 July, 1944 on a conference held 11 July, and the list of those present starts on the preceding page. It is to be noted that the defendant was present. "Participating in the executive conference were the departmental chiefs and representatives indicates in the attached lists of those present. No guarantee can be given for the absolute completeness of the lists, as all participants did not sign.
"Reich Minister Dr. Lammers reported by way of introduction on the various proposals at hand by the Plenipotentiary for Labor Commitment that serve the purpose of bringing about the increase in labor commitment in Germany which is absolutely essential for winning the final victory.
He limited the theme cf the discussions by saying that actually all possibilities were to be examined by which the present deficit of foreign manpower could be covered, for example the question of the reestablishment of an acceptable price and wage scale between the Reich and the extra-German territories. But the primary consideration will have to remain the solution of the question whether and in what form greater compulsion can be exerted to accept work in Germany. In this connection it must be examined how the executive forces, regarding the inadequacy of which the Plenipotentiary for Labor Commitment raises lively objection can be strengthened, on the one hand through an influence on the foreign governments and on the other through building up the indigenous administration (Executive), whether by an increased use of the Wehrmacht, of the police, or of other German agencies. Reichsminister Dr. Lammers then gave the floor to the Plenipotentiary General, for Labor Commitment, Gauleiter Sauckel.
"Gauleiter Sauckel stated that the present deficit in the matter of the half-year program of 2,025,000 foreign workers, to be fulfilled by 30 June of the current year, amounted to 500,000 workers. Of the total of 1,500,000 workers procured up to now, no less than 365,000 were Germans, of whom half were apprentices and women, both of which categories cannot be regarded as workers of full value. Of the 560,000 foreigners who wore put to work, three-quarters came from the East alone. This result is a scandal in contrast to the German people who are incorporated in the labor process to the greatest extent, and it represents the complete bankruptcy of German authority in Italy and France, where hundreds of thousands cf workers were still idling. In executing the labor commitment we did not exert the necessary severity and in particular we were not able to achieve the necessary unity of the German authorities. It would not do for German authorities to interfere irresponsibly with the tasks of the GBA (Plenipotentiary for Labor Commitment). The latter must have much greater freedom of action, as was the case in 1942.
With the present methods of recruitment for voluntary commitment we will not make any progress, for one thing because the volunteers still at hand exposed themselves to danger to life and limb from reprisals by their own fellow countrymen. If, on the other hand, they were forcibly obligated and decdently treated in their work, they did completely satisfactory work. The treatment of the wage and price questions connected with the subject was desirable, but in the present situation no longer so important. If it were not dealt with now, then our labor commitment program would fail, with the consequence that the fighting forces no longer could receive the arms they need.
"State Secretary von Steengracht, Foreign Office, stressed that the Reich Foreign minister from the beginning had favored the same standpoint as the Plenipotentiary General for Labor Commitment. The Foreign Office could, however, do nothing besides urging the foreign governments mere or less intensively to fulfill the German demands, which had been done consistently up to the present. The executive is in the hands of other offices which therefore would new have to express themselves on the subject of the conference.
"The Deputy of the Head of the OKW, General Warliment, referred to a recently issued Fuehrer order, according to which all German forces had to place themselves in the service of the work of acquiring manpower. Wherever the Wehrmacht was, and was not employed exclusively in pressing military duties (as, for example, in the construction of the coastal defenses), it would be available, but it could not actually be assigned for the purposes of the GBA. General Warliment made the following practical suggestions:
"The troops employed in fighting partisans are to take over in addition the task of acquiring manpower in the partisan areas. Everyone who cannot fully prove the purpose of his stay in these areas is to be seized forcibly.
"When large cities, due to the difficulty of providing food, are wholly or partly evacuated, the population suitable for labor commitment is to be put to work with the assistance of the Wehrmacht.
"The seizing of labor recruits among the refugees from the areas near the front should be handled especially intensively with the assistance of the Wehrmacht.
"Gauleiter Sauckel accepted these suggestions with thanks and expressed the expectation that certain successes could there-with already be achieved.
"On behalf of the military commander of Belgium and Northern France. The chief of the Military Administration, Raeder, put up for discussion the possibility of expansion of the Feldgendarmerie, at the time comprising only 70 men, and of the civilian searching service (Fahndungsdienst) consisting of Flemings and *alloons (1100 people). If the Feldgendarmery was strengthened to 200 men appreciable searching results could be accomplished. At the inquiry of Reichsminister Dr. Lammers, General Warlimont agreed for the OKW to his strengthening of the searching service.
"On further inquiry by the Reichsminister Dr. Lammers, whether with the withdrawal of the troops the population suitable for recruiting could not be taken a long. Colonel Saas (Plenipotentiary General for Italy) stated that Fieldmarshal General Kosselring had already decree that the population in a depth of 30 kilometers behind the front area was to be "captured." This measure could, however, not be extended to areas situated farther behind the lines as thereby the sharpest shocks would occur in the whole structure of these areas, especially in regard to the industry not fully employed in production.
"Gauleiter Sauckel was of the opinion that widest circles of the Wehrmacnt saw in the labor recruiting program something disreputable. It has actually occurred that German soldiers had endeavored to protect the population from being taken by the German labor service. Therefore an instruction of the fighting forces on the extraordinary importance of Labor recruiting seemed necessary. In opposition to the much too mild German method, it was part of the Bolchevist conception of war, when occupying territories immediately to have the fighting troops commit the whole population to labor.