"At the time of the Berlin conference, the following points were fixed, which we can take as a point of departure for the conference of to-day. There is no doubt that the country of Norway was utilized for the execution of the tasks of the Wehrmacht during the last seven months, in such a way that a new drain or stripping of the country without certain compensation is no longer possible. If we wish to accomplish the future tasks of the Wehrmacht, I consider it from the beginning as being my evident duty in my capacity as Reichs Kommissar to see, first of all, my task in this purpose, to mobilize all the economic and material forces of the country for the interest of the Wehrmacht, and not to appeal to the resources of the Reich as long as I am in a position to organize the same resources in the country." and now I shall cite the terms of the reply of Dr. Landfried, which you will find a little lower down in the document:
"I am very grateful to be able to verify that you have succeeded here in Norway in mobilizing the economic forces of Norway for German needs, and] that in a way which was not possible to attain in all the other occupied countries. I must thank you especially in the name of the Minister of Economy who succeeded in stimulating the Norwegians to accomplish every possible carrying out of their task." are quite characteristic, which are used in this document. The Kommissar of the Reich, or Reich Kommissar, says, "From the very beginning, my duty to mobilize all the economic and material forces of the country for the interest of the Wehrmacht," and Dr. Landfried says, "We succeeded in mobilizing the economic forces of Norway in a way which it was not possible to attain in all the other occupied territories."
Thus, Dr. Landfried doesn't say that the Germans had, in Norway, a particular notion or concept of occupation and that in other countries they were going to go about it in another way. He said it was not possible to do as well in other countries. The only limitation he recognizes is in the opportunity, but in no wise a limitation of law. The idea of a legal limitation never comes to his mind, any more than it comes to the mind of any of the 40 persons present.
Here we are not talking about an opinion or initiative of a regional administrative authority, but rather of the official doctrine of the Reichs Cabinet of the High Command, since 40 high officials were present at this conference, and especially the representatives of the Ministry of Economy.
means on the mobilization of the resources of the occupied countries necessarily extend to the labor of the inhabitants. I said yesterday that the Germans ensured, from the very beginning, the two keys of production. By that very fact, they have had within their power the capital, which was labor. It depended on their decision whether labor worked or should not work, whether there should be or should not be unemployment. This explains in a general way the action the Germans took only after a certain time, the brutal measures such as displacement and the mobilization of workers. occupied countries stocks and raw materials, the Germans had every interest in utilizing labor in the region where they were, at least for a great part. This labor permitted then to produce for their benefit, with the wealth of the country, finished products which they seized. Besides the ethical advantage of safeguarding appearances, they avoided the initial transportation of raw materials. The considerations or difficulties of transportation were always very important in the German war economy. countries were impoverished in their raw materials and truly ruined, at that moment the Germans no longer had any interest in permitting labor to work. there. They would have had to furnish theraw materials themselves, and consequently that would involve double transportation, that of raw material in one direction and that of the finished products in the other direction. At that moment it became more advantageous for them to export workmen. the economic situation of Germany at that time, and with political considerations. On the relation of this country, that is to say, the use of labor, I shall read to the Tribunal a few sentences of a document which I offer under the number 4. It is a document which is a continuation of the one which I have just read. The note which you will find in the document book reproduces the sentence which concerns articles which appeared in the newspaper Pariser Zeitung on July 7, 1942. I offer at the same time to the Tribunal a photostatic copy, which has been authenticated, of the page of the newspaper, from the collection from the Bibliotheque Nationale.
This article is signed by Dr. Michel, who was the Chief of the Economic Administration in France. Its title is "Years of Directed Economy in France". It concerns an article written with a propaganda purpose, since it appeared in a German newspaper which was published in Paris, and naturally I wish to point out to the Tribunal that we shall accept in no wise the whole of the ideas which are presented in this article, but we should like to stress several sentences of Dr. Michel as revealing the same sort of procedure about which I spoke a short time ago, which consisted of utilizing labor first on the spot, as long as there was raw material, and then exporting this labor to Germany.
I quote: -
THE PRESIDENT: Have you given the Tribunal a number?
M. FAURE: No. 4. I quote:
"The third phase is characterized by the transfer of orders from the Reich to France in order to utilize the productive force of French industry."
THE PRESIDENT: You were reading from "Afin D'Utiliser", weren't you?
M. FAURE: Yes, "Afin D'Utiliser", in the other book, in the text.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well; I understand. You read another sentence, other than that which is set out in this book.
M. FAURE: Yes, it is a mistake in my brief. I begin:
"In order to utilize the productive force of such industry, the Reich began by transferring to France its orders for industrial articles which were of use to the war effort. One figure alone is adequate to show success of the transfer of German orders. The value of the transactions made up to this day are expressed in a figure surpassing hundreds of billions of francs. A new blood circulates, flows in the veins of such economy, which works to the very limit of its capacities." like to read the following sentence:
"As the covering of raw materials tended to grow slim as the war was prolonged, they began to hire French labor which was available."
Dr. Michel uses here very elegant formulas or ways of expressing himself, which cover the real intent, that is to say, the beginning of the transfer of workmen at the very moment when raw material, which the Germans had appropriated from the beginning of occupation, had begun to be exhausted.
exposition is the following: that the Germans have always considered labor, human labor, as a material thing in their service. This consideration existed even before the initial imposition of forced, or compulsory, labor, of which we will speak to you presently. For Germans the work of others has always been compulsory and for their profit. On the other hand, I should like to mention now that it has been estimated that even after the end of the war - This is the last point that I would like to emphasize, but it shows the amplitude and the seriousness of the German conception and of the German projects. I shall quote in relation to this a document, which will bear the No. 5 in our document book. Here is the document, which I file with the Tribunal, a work edited in French in Berlin in 1943 by Doctor Dadieu entitled "Work for Europe." Socialist Party. It begins with an introduction, or preface, by the defendant Sauckel, whose signature is reproduced through printing. I shall cite to the Tribunal a paragraph from this work, which is the last page of my brief. This is Document No. 5 and this sentence is found on page 23. I quote:
"A great percentage of foreign workers will remain even after victory on our territory to finish afterwards, after having been readapted to construction work, what the war had prevented them from finishing, and to carry out those projects which up to now had remained as projects." great prudence and with the intention to seduce, we find nevertheless this central admission by the Germans, that they intended to keep even after the war the laborers of other countries, to insure the greatness of Germany, without any limitation. Hence this concerns a policy of perpetual exploitation. Mr. Herzog will present the brief relating to forced labor in France.
MR. HERZOG: Mr. President and your Honors: to the idea of the State, by the contempt in which it holds individuals and personal rights, contains a conception of work, which agrees with the principles of its general philosophy. Work is not, for it, one of the formers of the manifestation of individual personalities, it is a duty imposed by the community on its members.
"The relationship of labour", according to National-Socialist ideas; a German writer has said, "is not a simple judicial relationship between the worker and his employer, it is a living phenomenon in which the worker becomes a cog in the National-Socialist machine for collective production". The conception of compulsory labour is thus, for National-Socialism, necessarily complementary to the conception of work itself. people. German Labour Service was instituted by a law of 26 June 1935 which bears Hitler's signature and that of the defendant FRICK, Minister of the Interior. This law was published in the Reich Official Gazette, Part I, page 769. I submit it to the Tribunal as Document No. 6. labour service. Decrees were promulgated to that effect by the Defendant GOERING in his capacity as delegate of the Four Year Plan. I do not stress this point which arises from the conspiracy entered into by the accused to commit their crime against peace, and of which my American colleagues have already informed the Tribunal. I merely point out that the mobilization of workers was applicable to foreigners resident in German territory, because I find in this fact the proof that the principle of compulsory recruitment of foreign workers existed prior to the war. industry, the compulsory recruitment of foreign workers is the putting into practice of a concerted policy. I lay before the Tribunal a document which proves this.
It is document 382, which I offer as Exhibit No. 7. This is a memorandum of the High Command of the German Armies of 1st October 1938; the memorandum, drawn up in anticipation of the invasion of Czecho-Slovakia, contains a classification of violations punishable under International Law; the explanation which the High Command of the Armed Forces thinks it possible to give, appears in connection with each violation. The document appears in the form of a list in four columns; in the first is a statement of the violations of International Law; the second gives a concrete example; the third contains the point of view of International Law under two headings, on the one hand the provisions of International Law, and, on the other hand, the conclusions which can be drawn from them. The fourth column is reserved for the explanation of the Propaganda Ministry. I submit this document to the Tribunal and I read the passage which deals with the forced labour of civilian and prisoners of war which is found on page 6 of the German original, page 7 of the French translation, the document which is referred to in my document book as No.7.
I read at the bottom of page 7, of the French translation:
"The use of prisoners of war and civilians in war works, constructions of roads, country construction, and the sending of munitions: Soldiers and civilians are commanded to construct roads and to load munitions." concerning the treatment of war prisoners, and the works which are directly in relation to war measures, being forced to work, contrary to international law: the war prisoners and civilians who are used on highway construction and in the loading of munitions.
In the last column: "The use of these measures may be based on war needs or by declaring that the enemy has acted in the same way first. with National-Socialist doctrine, one of the elements of the policy of German domination. Hitler himself recognized this on several occasions. I quote in this connection his speech of 9 November 1941 which was printed in the Voelkischer Beobachter of 10 November 1941, No.314, page 4, which I submit to the Tribunal under No. 8. I read the extract of this discourse, columns 1 and 2 and the first paragraph below, in the original.
THE PRESIDENT: Exhibit No. 8, is it not?
MR. HERZOG: Yes, your Honor.
"The territory which now works for us contains more than 250,000,000 men, but the territory which works indirectly for us includes now more than 350,000,000. In the measure in which it concerns German territory, the domain which we have taken under our administration, it is not doubtful that we shall succeed in harnassing the very last man to this work." manner. It constitutes the putting into practice of the political principles as applied to all the territories occupied by Germany. These principles, the concrete development of which in other departments of German criminal activity will be pointed out to you by my colleagues, are materially of two kinds; employment of all active forces of the occupied territories, domination over and extermination of all their non-productive forces. These are the two justificatory reasons which the defendants have given for the establishment of the recruitment of foreign workers. There are many documents to this effect; I confine myself to the most explicit. of the necessity for associating the enslaved peoples with the German war effort is found, in the first place, in the exposition of the motives of the decree of 21 March 1942.
DR. STAHMER (Counsel for Goering): Mr. President, I should like to point out that the translation into German is faulty. Whole sentences are omitted. This is apparently the result of the fact that the Prosecutor is speaking too rapidly.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you go a little more slowly?
MR. HERZOG: Yes.
account of the necessity for associating the enslaved peoples with the German war effort is found, in the first place, in the exposition of the motives of the decree of 21 March 1942, appointing the defendant Sauckel as plenipotentiary for the employment of labour. The Decree was published in the Reich Official Gazette 1942, Part 1, page 179. I submit it and will read its complete text to the Tribunal, which is Document No. 9.
"The decree of the Fuehrer concerning the creation of a plenipotentiary for the employment of labor, dated March 21, 1941. To assure to the whole of the war economy, and in particular the armament industry, necessary labor, it is important to establish a direction which unified, answering the needs of the war economy for the use of available labor, including foreigners, hired and war prisoners, as well as the mobilization of all labor, skilled and unemployed, in the Great German Reich, including the Protectorate as well as the general government of the occupied regions.
This mission will be accomplished by Reichsleiter and Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel in the capacity of general plenipotentiary for the employment of labor in the framework of the Four-Year-Plan. In this capacity he is directly responsible to the Four-Year Plan." theme. At the Congress of Gauleiter and Reichsleiter, held February 5 and 6 1943 at Posen, he expressed himself in plain terms: he justified compulsory recruitment by National-Socialist philosophy and by the necessity of associating all the European peoples in the struggle carried on by Germany. His speech constitutes document 1739 PS. I submit it under No. 6 and 10 and I request the Court to take judicial notice of it and to accept the following passages in evidence against the defendant Sauckel. The following passages--first page 5 of the German text, fourth paragraph--are found in the first page of the French translation:
"The remarkable violence of the war has forced me to immobilize in the name of the Fuehrer the numerous foreigners for labor in the domain of the German war economy, and to force them to give considerable production. The purpose of this utilization is to insure in the labor domain the material means necessary to war in the struggle for life and liberty, in the first place, of our people, and also for the preservation of our Western culture for those peoples who are quite different from the parasitical Jews and bureaucrats, who lead a life which will consist of work and effort and who possess honest will and force. Such is the enormous difference between, on the one hand, the work which was demanded at one period by the power and Jewish authority in the Treaty of Versailles and the Young Plans, which took the form of slavery and tributary efforts, and, on the other hand, the utilization of labor which, in my capacity as a National Socialist I have the honor to prefer and to carry out, and which represents a participation in the struggle by Germany for the liberty of Germany and for the liberty of friendly nations."
object the maintenance of the level of German industrial production. There was also the conscious desire to weaken the human potential of the occupied countries. National-Socialism and to the leaders of Germany; it constituted one of the bases of the policy of domination of the invaded territories. I lay before the Court the proof that the National-Socialist conspirators envisaged the destruction by work of whole ethnical groups. A discussion which took place on 14 September 1942 between Goebbels and Thierack is significant. It constitutes Document 682 P.S., which I file with the Tribunal under the No. 11, from which I take the following passage:
"Concerning the extermination of the associates, Doctor Goebbels is of the opinion the following groups must be exterminated: Jews and nomads, without any discrimination; Poles who have three or four years of legal penalty to carry out; Czechoslovakians and Germans who have been condemned to death or forced labor for life or have been placed in protective custody for life." the disappearance of which was desired by the defendants; it also led to the employment of foreign manual labour in the German war industry up to the extreme limit of the individual strength. I will revert to this aspect of the policy of forced labour when I lay before the Tribunal the treatment of foreign workers in Germany, the cruelty of which they were the object. The reprisals aimed at them sprang from this main conception of National Socialism, that the human strength of the occupied countries must be employed without other limitation than that of their extermination, which is the final motive. recruitment of foreign workers; they have followed a consistent policy of putting their principle into practice, applying in it the same concrete manner in the various occupied territories. To do this they resorted to identical methods of recruitment; they set up everywhere the same recruitment administration and promulgated the same orders. In the first place, it was a question of inciting the foreign workers to work in their own countries for the army of occupation and the services connected with it.
The German military and civil authorities organized workyards in order to carry out on the spot work useful to their war policy. The workyards or shops of the Todt organization, which were under the direction of the defendant Speer, after the death of their founder, and those of the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, and the N.S.K.K. organization, employed numerous foreign workers in all areas of Western Europe. deportation of foreign workers to the munition factories of the Reich. The most varied means have been used to this end. They have been built up into a recruiting policy which can be analysed as follows: In the beginning, this policy took on the cloak of legality. The use of labour took the form of requisition as under the terms of Article 52 of the Appendix to the fourth Hague Convention; it was also effected by means of voluntary recruitment of workers, to whom the German recruiting offices offered labour contracts. effected by the National Socialist authorities were a deliberate misinterpretation of the letter and spirit of the international convention by virtue of which they were carried out. I shall show that the voluntary character of the recruitment of certain foreign workers was entirely fictitious; in reality their work contracts were made under the will.
The Defendants lost no time in flinging aside their mask of legality.
They compelled the prisoners of war to do work forbidden by international conventions.
I shall show how the fruition their recruitment plans.
They did not hesitate to resort to violent methods.
Thus they established the compulsory labor service in the areas which they occupied.
Sometimes they commanders or Reich Commissars.
This is the case with Belgium and Holland.
Sometimes they forced the authorities in fact, legislative measures.
This is particularly the case with France and Norway.
Sometimes they simply took direct action, that is, providing a written order for this.
This happened in Denmark.
territories a part of the labor service of the Reich. It happened Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of Thuringia.
On March 21, 1942, Labor by a decree of the Fuehrer.
This decree is counter-signed Chancery, and by the Defendant Keitel.
The responsibility of the latter is proved by his counter-signature.
The Defendant Keitel has associated himself, by Sauckel's choice, with the policy of methods.
I have already read this decree to the Tribunal. I Defendant Goering.
The latter bears a direct responsibility in appointment of the Defendant Sauckel.
This decree, dated March 27, 180.
I file it with the Tribunal under the number 12.
recruitment of labor. He transmits their powers to Sauckel's reinforced by decrees of Hitler and Goering.
These decrees gave full significance to the Defendant Sauckel's title of Plenipotentiary.
to executive tasks. The importance of the political part which by my American colleague, Mr. Dodd.
I submit them in support of May 25, 1942.
It was published in the Reichsgesetzblatt 1942, Part I, page 347.
He delegates to Sauckel part of the powers relating to labor held by the Minister of Labor.
I submit it to Hitler's decree of September 30, 1942, gave Sauckel considerable occupied by the German armed forces.
It made it possible for the personal representatives, to whom he gave his orders direct.
The Sauckel's department were in fact introduced into the Headquarters Staffs of the military commands.
The interrogation of General von to be good enough to remember.
General von Falkenhausen was Section of the French Delegation.
I submit his evidence to the "Q Can the witness tell us what were the limits between his own powers and the powers of the Arbeitseinsatz?
"A Up to a certain moment there existed in my department this way.
I don't remember, but Raeder, who is also in prison-
Falkenhausen. He is very well informed about the dates and can "Q Before the question of labor was entirely entrusted to Sauckel's organization, did there exist in the General Staff or in its services an officer who was in charge of this question?
Afterwards was there a delegate from Sauckel's service in this department?
"A Until Sauckel came into power there was, in my service, Raeder, who directed the Bureau of Labor in my office.
This labor "Q What took place when this change happened?
"A After this change the office continued to exist, but the orders were given directly by Sauckel to the Arbeitseinsatz by passing through my intermediary, or by passing through my hands."
THE PRESIDENT: Would this be a convenient time to break off for ten minutes? will sit tomorrow, Saturday, until 1 o'clock.
(Whereupon, a recess was taken from 1120 to 1130 hours).
MR. HERZOG: I have just reminded the Tribunal of the legislative framework on which the activity of the Defendant Sauckel was exercised. This framework was reinforced by the varied decrees of the defendant. The first document attests that Sauckel deliberately assumed the responsibility of the general policy of recruiting of foreign workers -- the decree of the 22nd of August, 1942, which appeared in the Reichsgesetzblatt, 1942, Part I, page 332. This decree poses the principle of forced recruiting and makes the necessary provisions for all the human potential of the occupied territories to be put in the service of the German war machine. in the war of Germany against their Fatherland. It is not only a violation of international law, it is a crime against the rights of peoples. I submit the decree to the Tribunal under Number 17 and I shall read it.
"Ordinance Number 10 of the General Delegate for the Utilization of Labor Relative to the Employment of Labor in the Occupied Territories under date of 22 August, 1942.
"In order to mobilize the labor of the occupied territories in the new organization of the utilization of labor on the European plan, it is necessary to assure a maximum return as well as a useful and rational distribution of this force, in order to satisfy the labor needs of the Reich and of the occupied territories. By virtue of the full powers which are conferred upon me, I order:
"First: By virtue of the decree of the Fuehrer, under date of 21 March 1942, relative to the General Delegate for the utilization of labor and of the ordinance of the Charge D'Admission for the Four Year Plan, under date of 27 March, 1942, relative to the application of this decree, I likewise have competency to employ, as it may be necessary, the labor of occupied territories, as well as all the necessary measures to augment their efficiency.
The German services being competent to utilize the labor and the policy of salaries, as the people under me will utilize the labor and will take all necessary measures to agument the efficiency according to my directives."
"Second: This ordinance extends to all the occupied territories, all the territories occupied during the war by the Wehrmacht, if they are under a German administration.
"Third: The labor available in the occupied territories must be utilized in the first place; for the satisfaction of the primeneeds, the warneeds of German. This labor must be utilized in the occupied territories in the following order:
"(a) For the necessary needs of the army, of the services of occupation and of the civilian services.
"(b) For the German armament needs.
"(c) For the food needs and the agricultural needs.
"(d) For industrial needs other than these of armament, in which Germany is interested.
"(e) For the industrial needs concerning the population of the territory in question." to insure the responsibility of the treatment of foreign workers. It is an agreement concluded on June 2, 1943, with the Chief of the German Labor Front. I shall not read this document to the Tribunal. The document has been discussed by Mr. Dodd. I recall that it was published in the Reichsgesetzblatt in1942, Part I, page 588. I submit it in support of my declaration under Number 18. to pursue, under the control of the latter, the policy of recruitment of compulsory labor, the Defendant Sauckel has consequently carried out his task in virtue of the responsibilities which he had assumed.
I request that the Tribunal bear this in mind. ment of foreign workers involves the responsibility of all German Ministers responsible for the economic and social life of the Reich. An interMinisterial Office, or at any rate inter-administrative, the Central Office for the Four-Year-Plan, has proceeded to formulate the program for the recruitment of foreign workers. the meetings of the General Office. General Milch presided at the meetings, in the name of the Defendant Goering. and I shall submit to the Tribunal certain statements made by them. The Defendant Funk also took part. He therefore knew of, and approved, the program for thedeportation of workers. He even collaborated in its formulation. As proof thereof I produce two documents inculpating Funk. to a meeting of the Central Office of the Plan. It is Document 674, which I submit to the Tribunal under Number 19. I road:
"Sir: In the name of the Central Office of the Flan, I invite you to a meeting concerning the question of the utilizationof labor. It will take place on Wednesday, the 16th of February, 1944, at 10 o'clock in themeeting room of the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Aviation, Leibziger Strasse, in Berlin. In the adjoining annex, I transmit to you some statistics on the subject of the development of the utilization of labor. These statistics will serve as a basis for the discussion at the meeting." to be represented by Under-Secretary of State Kayler. He received the minutes of the meeting on March 7, 1944 and under this date he wrote to General Milch, in order to excuse his frequent absences from the meetings of the Office. I submit this document to the Tribunal. It is Document 675, which I submit under Number 20.