Chapter X (1)

THE SLAVE LABOR PROGRAM,
THE ILLEGAL USE OF PRISONERS
OF WAR, AND THE SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY
OF SAUCKEL AND SPEER THEREFOR

In general terms, the basic elements of the Nazi foreign labor policy consisted of mass deportation and mass enslavement. It was a policy of underfeeding and overworking foreign laborers, of subjecting them to every form of degradation and brutality. It was a policy which compelled foreign workers and prisoners of war to manufacture armaments and to engage in other operations of war directed against their own countries. It was, in short, a policy which constituted a flagrant violation of the laws of war and the laws of humanity.

Fritz Sauckel and Albert Speer are principally responsible for the formulation of this policy and for its execution. Sauckel, the Nazi’s Plenipotentiary General for Manpower, directed the recruitment, deportation, and allocation of foreign civilian labor. Sanctioning and directing the use of force as a means of recruitment, he was responsible for the mistreatment of the enslaved millions. Speer—as Reichsminister for Armaments and Munitions, Director of the Organization Todt, and member of the Central Planning Board—bears responsibility for the determination of the numbers of foreign slaves required by the German war machine, for the decision to recruit by force, and for the use and brutal treatment of foreign civilians and prisoners of war in the manufacture of armaments and munitions, in the construction of fortifications, and in active military operations.

Hermann Goering, as Plenipotentiary General for the Four Year Plan, is also responsible for all the crimes involved in the Nazi slave labor program. In addition, Alfred Rosenberg as Reichsminister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, Hans Frank as Governor-General of the Government-General of Poland, Artur Seyss-Inquart as Reichskommissar for the Occupied Netherlands, and Wilhelm Keitel as chief of the OKW share responsibility for the recruitment by force and terror and for the deportation to Germany of the citizens of the areas overrun or subjugated by the _Wehrmacht_.

1. PLANNING FOR THE USE OF SLAVE LABOR

The use of vast numbers of foreign workers was planned before Germany went to war and was an integral part of the conspiracy for waging aggressive war. On 23 May 1939 a meeting was held in Hitler’s study at the Reichs Chancellery. Goering, Raeder, and Keitel were present. According to the minutes of this meeting, (_L-79_) Hitler stated that he intended to attack Poland at the first suitable opportunity. He further stated:

“* * * If fate brings us into contact with the West, the
possession of extensive areas in the East will be advantageous.
We shall be able to rely upon record harvests, even less in time
of war than in peace.

“The population of non-German areas will perform no military
service, and will be available as a source of labor”. (_L-79_)

The slave labor program was designed to achieve two purposes. The primary purpose was to satisfy the labor requirements of the Nazi war machine by compelling foreign workers, in effect, to make war against their own countries and its allies. The secondary purpose was to destroy or weaken peoples deemed inferior by the Nazi racialists, or deemed potentially hostile by the Nazi planners of world supremacy. These purposes were expressed by the conspirators themselves. In Sauckel’s Labor Mobilization Program (_016-PS_) which he sent to Rosenberg on 20 April 1942, Sauckel declared:

“* * * The aim of this new, gigantic labor mobilization is to
use all the rich and tremendous sources, conquered and secured
for us by our fighting Armed Forces under the leadership of
Adolf Hitler, for the armament of the Armed Forces and also for
the nutrition of the Homeland. The raw materials as well as the
fertility of the conquered territories and their human labor
power are to be used completely and conscientiously to the
profit of Germany and their allies.” (_016-PS_)

The theory of the “master race,” which underlay the conspirators’ labor policy in the East, was expressed in the following words by Erich Koch, Reichskommissar for the Ukraine, at a meeting of the National Socialist Party on 5 March 1943 in Kiev:

“1. We are the master race and must govern hard but just * * *.

“2. I will draw the very last out of this country. I did not
come to spread bliss. I have come to help the Fuehrer. The
population must work, work, and work again * * * for some people
are getting excited, that the population may not get enough to
eat. The population cannot demand that, one has only to remember
what our heroes were deprived of in Stalingrad * * *. We
definitely did not come here to give out manna. We have come
here to create the basis for victory.

“3. We are a master race, which must remember that the lowliest
German worker is racially and biologically a thousand times more
valuable than the population here”. (_1130-PS_)

And in a speech delivered to a group of SS Generals on 4 October 1943 at Posen, Himmler stated:

“* * * What happens to a Russian, to a Czech, does not interest
me in the slightest. What the nations can offer in the way of
good blood of our type, we will take, if necessary by kidnapping
their children and raising them here with us. Whether nations
live in prosperity or starve to death interests me only in so
far as we need them as slaves for our _Kultur_: otherwise, it is
of no interest to me. Whether 10,000 Russian females fall down
from exhaustion while digging an anti-tank ditch interests me
only in so far as the anti-tank ditch for Germany is finished *
* *.” (_1919-PS_)

A Top Secret memorandum prepared for the Ministry of the Occupied Eastern Territories on 12 June 1944, and approved by Rosenberg, contains the following plans:

“The Army Group ‘Center’ has the intention to apprehend
40-50,000 youths at the ages of 10 to 14 who are in the Army
territory and to transport them to the Reich * * *.”

“It is intended to allot these juveniles primarily to the German
trades as apprentices to be used as skilled workers after 2
years’ training. This is to be arranged through the Organization
Todt which is especially equipped for such a task through its
technical and other set-ups. This action is being greatly
welcomed by the German trade since it represents a decisive
measure for the alleviation of the shortage of apprentices.”

* * * * * *

“1. This action is not only aimed at preventing a direct
reinforcement of the enemy’s military strength, but also at a
reduction of his biological potentialities as viewed from the
perspective of the future. These ideas have been voiced not only
by the Reichsfuehrer of the SS but also by the Fuehrer.
Corresponding orders were given during last year’s withdrawals
in the southern sector * * *.”(_031-PS_)

Rosenberg’s approval is at the end of the document:

“regarding the above—Obergruppenfuehrer Berger received the
memorandum on June 14. Consequently the Reichsminister has
approved the Action.” (_031-PS_)

2. EXECUTION OF THE SLAVE LABOR PROGRAM

The purposes of the slave labor program, namely, the strengthening of the Nazi war machine and the destruction or weakening of peoples deemed inferior, were achieved by the impressment and deportation of millions of persons into Germany for forced labor, by the separation of husbands from their wives and children from their parents, and by the imposition of conditions so inhuman that countless numbers perished.

A. _Poland._

Poland was the first victim. Frank, as Governor of the Government-General of Poland, announced that under his program 1,000,000 workers were to be sent to Germany, and recommended that police surround Polish villages and seize the inhabitants for deportation. These intentions appear in the following letter from Frank to Goering, dated 25 January 1940 (_1375-PS_):

“1. In view of the present requirements of the Reich for the
defense industry, it is at present fundamentally impossible to
carry on a long term economic policy in the
General-Gouvernement. Rather, it is necessary so to steer the
economy of the General Gouvernement that it will, in the
shortest possible time, accomplish results representing the
maximum that can be gotten out of the economic strength of the
General-Gouvernement for the immediate strengthening of our
capacity for defense.

“2. In particular the following performances are expected of the
total economy of the General-Gouvernement * * *.”

“(g) Supply and transportation of at least 1 million male and
female agricultural and industrial workers to the Reich—among
them at least 7,500,000 [sic] agricultural workers of which at
least 50% must be women—in order to guarantee agricultural
production in the Reich and as a replacement

The methods by which these workers were to be supplied were outlined by Frank in his diary entry for Friday, 10 May 1940 (_2233-A-PS_):

“* * * Then the Governor-General deals with the problem of the
_Compulsory Labor Service_ of the Poles. Upon the demands from
the Reich it has now been decreed that compulsion may be
exercised in view of the fact that sufficient manpower was not
voluntarily available for service inside the German Reich. This
compulsion means the possibility of arrest of male and female
Poles. Because of these measures a certain disquietude had
developed which, according to individual reports, was spreading
very much, and which might produce difficulties everywhere.
General Fieldmarshal Goering some time ago pointed out in his
long speech the necessity to deport into the Reich a million
workers. The supply so far was 160,000. However, great
difficulties had to be overcome. Therefore it would be advisable
to consult the district and town chiefs in the execution of the
compulsion, so that one could be sure from the start that this
action would be reasonably successful. The arrest of young Poles
when leaving church service or the cinema would bring about an
increasing nervousness of the Poles. Generally speaking, he had
no objections at all if the rubbish, capable of work yet often
loitering about, would be snatched from the streets. The best
method for this, however, would be the organization of a raid,
and it would be absolutely justifiable to stop a Pole in the
street and to question him what he was doing, where he was
working etc.” (_2233-A-PS_)

Another entry in the diary of Frank, for 16 March 1940, contains the following discourse on methods:

“* * * The Governor-General remarks that he had long
negotiations in Berlin with representatives of the Reich
Ministry for Finance and the Reich Ministry for Food. One has
made the urgent demand there that _Polish farm workers_ should
be sent to the Reich in greater numbers. He has made the
statement in Berlin that he, if it is demanded from him, can
naturally exercise force in such a manner that he has the police
surround a village and get the men and women, in question, out
by force, and then send them to Germany. But one can also work
differently, besides these police measures, by retaining the
unemployment compensation of those workers in question.”
(_2233-B-PS_)

The instruments of force and terror used to carry out this program reached into many phases of Polish life. German labor authorities raided churches and theatres, seized those present, and shipped them to Germany. These facts appear in a memorandum to Himmler dated 17 April 1943, written by Dr. Lammers, chief of the Reichs Chancellery, with regard to the situation in the Government General of Poland:

“* * * As things were, the utilization of manpower had to be
enforced by means of more or less forceful methods, such as the
instances when certain groups appointed by the Labor Offices,
caught Church and Movie-goers here and there and transported
them into the Reich. That such methods not only undermine the
people’s willingness to work and the people’s confidence to such
a degree that it cannot be checked even with terror, is just as
clear as the consequences brought about by a strengthening of
the political resistance movement”. (_2220-PS_)

Polish farmland was confiscated with the aid of the SS, distributed to German inhabitants, or held in trust for the German community. The farm owners were thereupon employed as laborers or transported to Germany against their will. A report of the SS entitled “Achievement of Confiscations of Polish Agricultural Enterprises with the Purpose to Transfer the Poles to the old Reich and to Employ Them as Agricultural Workers,” contains these disclosures:

“* * * It is possible without difficulty to accomplish the
confiscation of small agricultural enterprises in the villages
in which larger agricultural enterprises have been already
confiscated and are under the management of the East German
Corporation for agricultural development. * * * _The former
owners of Polish farms, together with their families will be
transferred to the old Reich by the employment agencies for
employment as farm workers._ In this way many hundreds of Polish
agricultural workers can be placed at the disposal of
agriculture in the old Reich in the shortest and simplest
manner. This way the most pressing shortage is removed that is
now in a very disagreeable manner felt especially in the
root-crop districts.” (_1352-PS_)

Pursuant to the directions of Sauckel, his agents and the SS deported Polish men to Germany without their families, thereby accomplishing the basic purposes of the program: supplying labor for the German war effort and weakening the reproductive potential of the Polish people. Thus, in a letter from Sauckel to the Presidents of the “Landes” Employment Offices, dated 26 November 1942, it is stated that:

“In agreement with the Chief of the Security Police and the SD,
Jews who are still in employment are, from now on, to be
evacuated from the territory of the Reich and are to be replaced
by Poles, who are being deported from the General-Gouvernement.”

* * * * * *

“The Poles who are to be evacuated as a result of this measure
will be put into concentration camps and put to work where they
are criminal or asocial elements. The remaining Poles where they
are suitable for labor, will be transported—without
family—into the Reich, particularly to Berlin; there they will
be put at the disposal of the labor allocation offices to work
in armament factories instead of the Jews who are to be
replaced.” (_L-61_)

The Nazi campaign of force, terror, and abduction was described in a letter to Frank written by the Chairman of the Ukrainian Main Committee, at Cracow, in February 1943. The letter states:

“The general nervousness is still more enhanced by the wrong
methods of finding labor which have been used more and more
frequently in recent months.

“The wild and ruthless man-hunt as exercised everywhere in towns
and country, in streets, squares, stations, even in churches, at
night in houses, has badly shaken the feeling of security of the
inhabitants. Everybody is exposed to the danger, to be seized
anywhere and at any time by members of the police, suddenly and
unexpectedly and to be brought into an assembly camp. None of
his relatives knows what has happened to him, only months later
one or the other gives news of his fate by a postcard.”
(_1526-PS_)

And in enclosure 5 of the letter it is related that:

“In November of last year an inspection of all males of the age
groups 1910 to 1920 was ordered in the area of Zaleschozyki
(district of Czortkow). After the men had appeared for
inspection, all those who were chosen were arrested at once,
loaded into trains and sent to the Reich. Such recruiting of
laborers for the Reich also took place in other areas of this
district. Following some interventions the action was then
stopped”. (_1526-PS_)

The resistance of the Polish people to this Nazi enslavement program and the necessity for increased force were described by Sauckel’s deputy Timm at a meeting of the Central Planning Board, Hitler’s wartime planning agency, which was composed of Speer, Field Marshal Milch, and State Secretary Koerner. The Central Planning Board was the highest level economic planning agency, and exercised production controls by allocating raw materials and labor to industrial users. Timm’s statement, which was made at the 36th conference of the Board, is as follows:

“* * * Especially in Poland the situation at the moment is
extraordinarily serious. It is well known that vehement battle
occurred just because of these actions. The resistance against
the administration established by us, is very strong. Quite a
number of our men have been exposed to increased dangers, and it
was just in the last two or three weeks that some of them were
shot dead, e.g. the Head of the Labor Office of Warsaw who was
shot in his office, and yesterday another man again. This is how
matters stand presently, and the recruiting itself even if done
with the best will remains extremely difficult unless police
reinforcements are at hand.” (_R-124_)

B. _The Occupied Eastern Territories._

Deportation and enslavement of civilians reached unprecedented levels in the Occupied Eastern Territories as a direct result of labor demands made by Sauckel on Rosenberg, Reichsminister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, on Rosenberg’s subordinates, and on the Armed Forces. On 5 October 1942, for example, Sauckel wrote to Rosenberg stating that 2,000,000 more foreign laborers were required, and that the majority of these would have to be drafted from the recently occupied Eastern Territories and especially from the Ukraine. The letter, (_017-PS_) reads as follows:

“The Fuehrer has worked out new and most urgent plans for the
armament which require the quick mobilization of two more
million foreign labor forces. The Fuehrer therefore has granted
me, for the execution of my decree of 21 March 1942, new powers
for my new duties, and has especially authorized me to take
whatever measures I think are necessary in the Reich, the
Protectorate, the General-Gouvernement, as well as in the
occupied territories, in order to assure at all costs an orderly
mobilization of labor for the German armament industry. The
additional required labor forces will have to be drafted for the
majority from the recently occupied Eastern Territories,
especially from the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Therefore, the
Reichskommissariat Ukraine must furnish:

“225,000 labor forces by 31 December 1942 and 225,000 more by 1
May 1943.

“I ask you to inform Reichskommissar Gauleiter party fellow
member Koch about the new situation and requirements and
especially to see to it that he will support personally in any
possible way the execution of this new requirement.

“I have the intention to visit Party member Koch shortly and I
would be grateful to you if you could inform me as to where and
when I could meet him for a personal discussion.

“Right now though, I ask that the procurement be taken up at
once with every possible pressure and the commitment of all
powers especially also of the experts of the labor offices. All
the directives which had limited temporarily the procurement of
Eastern laborers are annulled. The Reichs procurement for the
next months must be given priority over all other measures.

“I do not ignore the difficulties which exist for the execution
of this new requirement, but I am convinced that with the
ruthless commitment of all resources, and with the full
cooperation of all those interested, the execution of the new
demands can be accomplished for the fixed date. I have already
communicated the new demands to the Reichskommissar Ukraine via
mail. In reference to our long distance phone call of today I
will send you the text of the Fuehrer’s decree at the beginning
of next week.” (_017-PS_)

Again on 17 March 1943 Sauckel wrote Rosenberg, demanding the importation of another 1,000,000 men and women from the Eastern territories within the following four months (_019-PS_). Sauckel said:

“After a protracted illness my Deputy for Labor Supply in the
occupied Eastern Territories, State Councillor Peukert, is going
there to regulate the labor supply both for Germany and the
territories themselves.

“I ask you sincerely, dear party member Rosenberg, to assist him
to your utmost on account of the pressing urgency of Peukert’s
mission. Already now I may thank you for the hitherto good
reception accorded to Peukert. He himself has been charged by me
with the absolute and completely unreserved cooperation with all
bureaus of the Eastern Territories.

“Especially the labor supply for the German agriculture, and
likewise for the most urgent armament production programs
ordered by the Fuehrer make the fastest importation of
approximately 1 million women and men from the Eastern
Territories within the next four months a must. Starting 15
March the daily shipment must have reached 5,000 female and male
workers respectively, while beginning of April this number has
to be stepped up to 10,000. This is a requisite of the most
urgent programs, and the spring tillage, and other agricultural
tasks are not to suffer for the detriment of the nutrition and
of the armed forces.

“I have foreseen the allotment of the draft quotas for the
individual territories in agreement with your experts for the
labor supply as follows:—

“Daily quota starting 15 March 1943:

_People_ “From General Commissariat White Ruthenia 500 “Economic Inspection Center 500 “Reichs Commissariat Ukraine 3,000 “Economic Inspection South 1,000 ——— Total 5,000

“Starting 1 April 1943 the daily quota is to be doubled
corresponding to the doubling of the entire quota.

“I hope to visit personally the Eastern Territories towards the
end of the month, and ask you once more for your kind support.”
(_019-PS_)

Sauckel travelled to Kauen in Lithuania to press his demands. A synopsis of a report of the City Commissioner of Kauen and minutes of a meeting in which Sauckel participated, reveal that:

“In a lecture which the Plenipotentiary for the
_Arbeitseinsatz_, Gauleiter Sauckel made on 18 July 1943 in
Kauen and in an official conference following it, between
Gauleiter Sauckel and the General Commissar, the pool of labor
in the Reich was again brought up urgently: Gauleiter Sauckel
again demanded that Lithuanian labor be furnished in greater
volume for the purposes of the Reich.” (_204-PS_)

Sauckel also visited Riga, Latvia, to assert his demands. The purpose of this visit is described in a letter from the Reich Commissar for the Ostland to the Commissioner General in Riga, dated 3 May 1943. The letter states, in part:

“In reference to the basic statements of the Plenipotentiary
General for manpower, Gauleiter Sauckel on the occasion of his
visit to Riga on 21 April 1943, and in view of the critical
situation and in disregard of all contrary considerations, it
was decided that a total of 183,000 workers have to be supplied
from the Ostland for the Reich territory. This task must
absolutely be accomplished within the next four months and at
the latest must be completed by the end of August.” (_2280-PS_)

Sauckel asked the German Army for assistance in the recruitment and deportation of civilian labor from the Eastern Territories. A secret organization order of the Army Group South, dated 17 August 1943, is to the following effect:

“The Plenipotentiary General for Labor Employment ordered the
recruitment and employment of all born during two years for the
whole, newly occupied Eastern territory in Decree Az. VI A
5780.28 (Inclosure 1), copy of which is inclosed. The Reich
Minister for Armament and Munition approved this order.

“According to this order by the Plenipotentiary General for
Labor Employment (BGA) you have to recruit and to transport to
the Reich immediately all labor forces in your territory born
during 1926 and 1927. The decree relative labor duty and labor
employment in the theater of operations of the newly occupied
Eastern territory of the 6 February 1943 and the executive
orders therefore are the authority for the execution of this
measure. Enlistment must be completed by 30 Sept. 43 at the
latest.” (_3010-PS_)

Clearly, the demands made by Sauckel did result in the deportation of civilians from the occupied Eastern territories. Speer has stated in a record of conferences with Hitler on 10, 11, and 12 August 1942 that:

“Gauleiter Sauckel promises to make Russian labor available for
the fulfillment of the iron and coal program and reports
that—if required—he can supply a further million Russian
laborers for the German armament industry up to and including
October 1942. So far, he has already supplied 1 million for
industry and 700,000 for agriculture. In this connection the
Fuehrer states that the problem of providing labor can be solved
in all cases and to any extent; he authorizes Gauleiter Sauckel
to take all measures required.

“He would agree to any necessary compulsion (_zwangsmassnahmen_)
in the East as well as in the West if this question could not be
solved on a voluntary basis.” (_R-124_)

3. VIOLENT METHODS OF DEPORTATION FOR SLAVE LABOR

In order to meet these demands, the Nazi conspirators made terror, violence, and arson the staple instruments of their policy of enslavement. Twenty days after Sauckel’s demands of 5 October 1942, a high official in Rosenberg’s Ministry by the name of Braeutigam, in a Top Secret memorandum dated 25 October 1942 described measures taken to meet these demands:

“* * * We now experienced the grotesque picture of having to
recruit millions of laborers from the Occupied Eastern
Territories, after prisoners of war have died of hunger like
flies, in order to fill the gaps that have formed within
Germany. Now the food question no longer existed. In the
prevailing limitless abuse of the Slavic humanity ‘recruiting’
methods were used which probably have their origin in the
blackest periods of the slave trade. A regular manhunt was
inaugurated. Without consideration of health or age the people
were shipped to Germany where it turned out immediately that
more than 100,000 had to be sent back because of serious
illnesses and other incapabilities for work.” (_294-PS_)

Rosenberg on 21 December 1942 wrote to Sauckel, the instigator of these brutalities, as follows:

“The reports I have received show, that the increase of the
guerilla bands in the occupied Eastern Regions is largely due to
the fact that the methods used for procuring laborers in these
regions are felt to be forced measures of mass deportations, so
that the endangered persons prefer to escape their fate by
withdrawing into the woods or going to the guerilla bands.”
(_018-PS_)

An attachment to Rosenberg’s letter, consisting of parts excerpted from letters of residents of the Occupied Eastern territories by Nazi censors, relates that:

“At our place, new things have happened. People are being taken
to Germany. On Dec. 5, some people from the Kowkuski district
were scheduled to go, but they didn’t want to and the village
was set afire. They threatened to do the same thing in
Borowytschi, as not all who were scheduled to depart wanted to
go. Thereupon 3 truck loads of Germans arrived and set fire to
their houses. In Wrasnytschi 12 houses and in Borowytschi 3
houses were burned.

“On Oct. 1 a new conscription of labor forces took place. From
what has happened, I will describe the most important to you.
You can not imagine the bestiality. You probably remember what
we were told about the Soviets during the rule of the Poles. At
that time we did not believe it and now it seems just as
incredible. The order came to supply 25 workers, but no one
reported. All had fled. Then the German militia came and began
to ignite the houses of those who had fled. The fire became very
violent, since it had not rained for 2 months. In addition the
grain stacks were in the farm yards. You can imagine what took
place. The people who had hurried to the scene were forbidden to
extinguish the flames, beaten and arrested, so that 7 homesteads
burned down. The policemen meanwhile ignited other houses. The
people fell on their knees and kiss their hands, but the
policemen beat them with rubber truncheons and threaten to burn
down the whole village. I don’t know how this would have ended
if I Sapurkany had not intervened. He promised that there would
be laborers by morning. During the fire the militia went through
the adjoining villages, seized the laborers and brought them
under arrest. Wherever they did not find any laborers, they
detained the parents, until the children appeared. That is how
they raged throughout the night in Bielosirka. The workers which
had not yet appeared till then, were to be shot. All schools
were closed and the married teachers were sent to work here,
while the unmarried ones go to work in Germany. They are now
catching humans like the dog-catchers used to catch dogs. They
are already hunting for one week and have not yet enough. The
imprisoned workers are locked in at the schoolhouse. They cannot
even go out to perform their natural functions, but have to do
it like pigs in the same room. People from many villages went on
a certain day to a pilgrimage to the monastery Potschaew. They
were all arrested, locked in, and will be sent to work. Among
them there are lame, blind and aged people”. (_018-PS_)

Rosenberg, nevertheless, countenanced the use of force in order to furnish slave labor to Germany and admitted his responsibility for the “unusual and hard measures” that were employed. The transcript of an interrogation of Rosenberg under oath on 6 October 1945, contains the following admissions:

“* * * Q. You recognized, did you not, that the quotas set by
Sauckel could not be filled by voluntary labor, and you didn’t
disapprove of the impressment of forced labor; isn’t that right?

“A. I regretted that the demands of Sauckel were so urgent that
they could not be met by a continuation of voluntary recruitment
and thus I submitted to the necessity of forced impressment.”

* * * * * *

“Q. The letters that we have already seen between you and
Sauckel, do not indicate, do they, any disagreement on your part
with the principle of recruiting labor against their will; they
indicate, as I remember, that you were opposed to the treatment
that was later accorded these workers; that you did not oppose
their initial impressment.

“A. That is right. In those letters I mostly discussed the
possibility of finding the least harsh methods of handling the
matter; whereas, in no way, I placed myself in opposition to the
orders that he was carrying out for the Fuehrer.”

Moreover, in a letter dated 21 December 1942 Rosenberg stated:

“* * * Even if I do not close my eyes to the necessity that the
numbers demanded by the Reichs Minister for weapons and
ammunition as well as by the agricultural economy justify
unusual and hard measures, I have to ask, due to the
responsibility for the occupied Eastern Territories which lies
upon me, that in the accomplishment of the ordered tasks such
measures be excluded, the toleration and prosecution of which
will some day be held against me, and my collaborators.”
(_018-PS_)

Arson was used as a terror device in the Ukraine to enforce conscription measures. One instance is reported in a document from an official of the Rosenberg Ministry dated 29 June 1944, enclosing a copy of a letter from Paul Raab, a district commissioner in the territory of Wassilkow, to Rosenberg. Raab’s letter reads as follows:

“According to a charge by the Supreme Command of the Armed
Forces I burned down a few houses in the territory of
Wassilkow/Ukr. belonging to insubordinate people ordered for
work-duty (_Arbeitseinsatzpflichtigen_). This accusation is
true.”

* * * * * *

“During the year 1942, the conscription of workers was
accomplished by way of propaganda. Only very rarely was force
necessary. Only in August 1942, measures had to be taken against
2 families in the villages Glewenka and Salisny-Chutter, each of
which were to supply one person for labor. Both were requested
in June for the first time, but didn’t obey although requested
repeatedly. They had to be brought up by force, but succeeded
twice to escape from the collecting camp, or when being on
transport. Before the second arrest, the fathers of both of the
men were taken into custody, to be kept as hostages and to be
released only when their sons would show up. When, after the
second escape, rearrest of both the fathers and boys was
ordered, the police patrols ordered to do so, found the houses
to be empty.”

* * * * * *

“That time I decided to take measures to show the increasingly
rebellious Ukrainian youth that our orders have to be followed.
I ordered the burning down of the houses of the fugitives.”

* * * * * *

“After the initial successes, a passive resistance of the
population started, which finally forced me to start again on
making arrests, confiscations, and transfers to labor camps.
After a while a transport of people, obliged to work, overran
the police in the railroad station in Wassilkow and escaped. I
saw again the necessity for strict measures. A few ring leaders,
which of course escaped before they were found in Plissezkoje
and in Mitnitza. After repeated attempts to get hold of them,
their houses were burned down.”

* * * * * *

“My actions against fugitive people obliged to work
(_Arbeitseinsatzpflichtige_), were always reported to district
commissioner Doehrer, in office in Wassilkow, and to the
general-commissioner (_Generalkommissar_) in Kiev. Both of them
know the circumstances and agreed with my measures, because of
their success.” (_254-PS_)

The village of Biloserka in the Ukraine was also the victim of arson as has already been related in the quotation from the enclosure to Rosenberg’s letter of 21 December 1942 to Sauckel (_018-PS_). Additional proof of resort to arson in this village is furnished by other correspondence originating within the Rosenberg Ministry and dated 12 November 1943:

“But even if Mueller had been present at the burning of houses
in connection with the national conscription in Biloserka, this
should by no means lead to the relief of Mueller from office. It
is mentioned specifically in a directive of the Commissioner
General in Lusk of 21 Sept 1942, referring to the extreme
urgency of the national conscription.

‘Estates of those who refuse to work are to be burned, their
relatives are to be arrested as hostages and to be brought to
forced labor camps.’” (_290-PS_)

The SS was directed to participate in the abduction of slave laborers, and in the case of raids on villages or burning of villages, to turn the entire population over for slave labor in Germany. A secret SS order dated 19 March 1943 (_3012-PS_) states:

“The activity of the labor offices, resp. of recruiting
commissions, is to be supported to the greatest extent possible.
It will not be possible always to refrain from using force.
During a conference with the Chief of the Labor Commitment
Staffs, an agreement was reached stating that whatever prisoners
can be released, they should be put at the disposal of the
Commissioner of the Labor Office. When searching (_Uberholung_)
villages, resp., when it has become necessary to burn down
villages, the whole population will be put at the disposal of
the Commissioner by force.” (_3012-PS_)

From Shitomir, where Sauckel appealed for more workers for the Reich, the Commissioner General reported on the brutality of the conspirators’ program, which he described as a program of coercion and slavery. This is revealed in a secret report of a conference between the Commissioner General of Shitomir and Rosenberg in Winniza on 17 June 1943 (_265-PS_). The report is dated 30 June 1943 and is signed by Leyser. It reads as follows:

“The symptoms created by the recruiting of workers are, no
doubt, well known to the Reichs Minister through reports and his
own observations. Therefore, I shall not report them. It is
certain that a recruitment of labor, in this sense of the word,
can hardly be spoken of. In most cases, it is nowadays a matter
of actual conscription by force.”

* * * * * *

“But as the Chief Plenipotentiary for the mobilization of labor
explained to us the gravity of the situation, we had no other
device. I consequently have authorized the commissioners of the
areas to apply the severest measures in order to achieve the
imposed quota. The deterioration of morale in conjunction with
this does not necessitate any further proof. It is nevertheless
essential to win the war on this front too. The problem of labor
mobilization cannot be handled with gloves.” (_265-PS_)

These recruitment measures enslaved so many citizens of occupied countries that entire areas were depopulated. Thus, a report from the Chief of Main Office III with the High Command in Minsk, dated 28 June 1943, to Ministerialdirektor Riecke, a top official in the Rosenberg Ministry states:

“The recruitment of labor for the Reich, however necessary, had
disastrous effects. The recruitment measures in the last months
and weeks were absolute manhunts, which have an irreparable
political and economic effect. From White Ruthenia, approx.
50,000 people have been obtained for the Reich so far. Another
130,000 are to be obtained. Considering the 2.4 million total
population these figures are impossible. * * *

“Due to the sweeping drives (_Grossaktionen_) of the SS and
police in November 1942, about 115,000 hectar farmland is not
used, as the population is not there and the villages have been
razed. * * *” (_3000-PS_)

The conspirators’ policy, of permanently weakening the enemy through the enslavement of labor and breaking up of families, was applied in the Occupied Eastern Territories after Rosenberg’s approval of a plan for the apprehension and deportation of 40,000 to 50,000 youths of the ages from 10 to 14. The stated purpose of this plan, approved by Rosenberg, was to prevent a reinforcement of the enemy’s military strength and to reduce the enemy’s biological potentialities. (_031-PS_)

Further evidence of the Nazi conspirators’ plan to weaken their enemies in utter disregard of the rules of International Law is contained in a secret order issued by a rear-area Military Commandant, to the District Commissar at Kasatin on 25 December 1943. The order provided in part that:

“1. The able-bodied male population between 15 and 65 years of
age and the cattle are to be shipped back from the district East
of the line Belilowka-Berditschen-Shitomir (places excluded).”
(_1702-PS_)

The program of enslavement and its accompanying measures of brutality were not limited to Poland and the Eastern Occupied Territories, but extended to Western Europe as well. Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Belgians, and Italians all came to know the Nazi slavemasters. In France these slavemasters intensified their program in the early part of 1943 pursuant to instructions which Speer telephoned to Sauckel from Hitler’s headquarters at eight in the evening of 4 January 1943. These instructions are found in a note for the files signed by Sauckel, dated 5 January 1943, which states:

“1. On 4 January 1943 at 8 p. m. Minister Speer telephones from
the Fuehrer’s headquarters and communicates that on the basis of
the Fuehrer’s decision, it is no longer necessary to give
special consideration to Frenchmen in the further recruiting of
specialists and helpers in France. The recruiting can proceed
with emphasis and sharpened measures.” (_556-13-PS_)

To overcome the resistance to his enslavement program, Sauckel improvised new impressment measures which were applied in both France and Italy by his own agents and which he himself labelled as grotesque. At a meeting of the Central Planning Board on 1 March 1944 Sauckel stated:

“The most abominable point made by my adversaries is their claim
that no executive had been provided within these areas in order
to recruit in a sensible manner the Frenchmen, Belgians and
Italians and to dispatch them to work. Thereupon I even
proceeded to employ and train a whole batch of French male and
female agents who for good pay just as was done in olden times
for “shanghaiing” went hunting for men and made them drunk by
using liquor as well as words, in order to dispatch them to
Germany.

“Moreover, I charged some able men with founding a special labor
supply executive of our own, and this they did by training and
arming with the help of the Higher SS and Police Fuehrer, a
number of natives, but I still have to ask the Munitions
Ministry for arms for the use of these men. For during the last
year alone several dozens of very able labor executive officers
have been shot dead. All these means I have to apply, grotesque
as it sounds, to refute the allegation there was no executive to
bring labor to Germany from these countries.” (_R-124_)

As in France, the slave hunt in Holland was accompanied by terror and abduction. The “Statement of the Netherlands Government in view of the Prosecution and Punishment of the German Major War Criminals”, (_1726-PS_) contains the following account of the deportation of Netherlands workmen to Germany:

“Many big and reasonably large business concerns, especially in
the metal industry, were visited by German commissions who
appointed workmen for deportation. This combing out of the
concerns was called the “Sauckel-action”, so named after its
leader, who was charged with the appointment of foreign workmen
in Germany.

“The employers had to cancel the contracts with the appointed
workmen temporarily, and the latter were forced to register at
the labour offices, which then took care of the deportation
under supervision of German ‘_Fachberater_.’

“Workmen who refused (relatively few) were prosecuted by the
_Sicherheitsdeinst_ (SD). If captured by this service, they were
mostly lodged for some time in one of the infamous prisoners
camps in the Netherlands and eventually put to work in Germany.

“In this prosecution the _Sicherheitsdienst_ was supported by
the German Police Service, which was connected with the labour
offices, and was composed of members of the N.S.B. and the like.

“At the end of April 1942 the deportation of working labourers
started on a grand scale. Consequently in the months of May and
June the number of deportees amounted to not less than 22,000,
resp. 24,000 of which many were metal workers.

“After that the action slackened somewhat, but in October 1942
another top was reached (2,600). After the big concerns, the
smaller ones had, in their turn, to give up their personnel.

“This changed in November 1944. The Germans then started a
ruthless campaign for manpower, passing by the labour offices.
Without warning, they lined off whole quarters of the towns,
seized people in the streets or in the houses and deported them.

“In Rotterdam and Schiedam where these raids (razzia’s) took
place on 10 and 11 November, the amount of people thus deported
was estimated at 50,000 and 5,000 respectively.

“In other places where the raids were held later, the numbers
were much lower, because one was forewarned by the events. The
exact figures are not known as they have never been published by
the occupants.

“The people thus seized were put to work partly in the
Netherlands, partly in Germany * * *.” (_1726-PS_)

A document found in the OKH files furnishes further evidence of the seizure of workers in Holland. This document contains the partial text of a lecture delivered by a Lieutenant Haupt of the German _Wehrmacht_ concerning the situation of the war economy in the Netherlands:

“There had been some difficulties with the _Arbeitseinsatz_,
i.e., during the man-catching action (_Menchenfang Aktion_)
which became very noticeable because it was unorganized and
unprepared. People were arrested in the streets and taken out of
their homes. It has been impossible to carry out a unified
release procedure in advance, because for security reasons, the
time for the action had not been previously announced.
Certificates of release, furthermore, were to some extent not
recognized by the officials who carried out the action. Not only
workers who had become available through the stoppage of
industry but also those who were employed in our installations
producing things for our immediate need. They were apprehended
or did not dare to go into the streets. In any case it proved to
be a great loss to us. * * *” (_3003-PS_)

4. RESULTS OF THE SLAVE LABOR PROGRAM

The hordes of displaced persons in Germany today reflect the extent to which the Nazi conspirators’ labor program succeeded. The best available Allied and German data reveal that as of January 1945 approximately 4,795,000 foreign civilian workers had been put to work for the German war effort in the old Reich, among them slave laborers of more than 14 different nationalities. An affidavit executed by Edward L. Deuss, an economic analyst, contains the following statistical summation:

“_APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF FOREIGNERS PUT TO WORK FOR THE GERMAN WAR EFFORT
IN THE OLD REICH_”
[Status January 1945]

Nationality │ Workers │ P/W’s │ Politicals │ Total │ │ │ │ Russians │ 1,900,000│ 600,000│ 11,000│ 2,500,000 │ 764,000│ 750,000│ │ 1,525,000 Poles │ 851,000│ 60,000│ │ 911,000 Italians │ 227,000│ 400,000│ │ 627,000 Dutch │ 274,000│ │ 2,300│ 277,000 Belgians │ 183,000│ 63,000│ 8,900│ 254,000 Yugoslavs │ 230,000│ │ │ 230,000 Czechoslovaks │ 140,000│ │ │ 140,000 Balts │ 130,000│ │ │ 130,000 Greeks │ 15,000│ │ │ 15,000 Luxembourgers │ 14,000│ │ 1,000│ 15,000 Hungarians │ 10,000│ │ │ 10,000 Rumanians │ 5,000│ │ │ 5,000 Bulgarians │ 2,000│ │ │ 2,000 Others │ 50,000│ │ │ 50,000 │ ————│ ————│ ————│ ———— Totals │ 4,795,000│ 1,873,000│ 23,200│ 6,691,000

“Note: Of the estimated 6,691,000 approximately 2,000,000
civilian foreigners and 245,000 prisoners of war were employed
directly in the manufacture of armaments and munitions (end
products or components) on the 31 December 1944, according to
Speer Ministry tabulations. The highest number of prisoners of
war so employed was 400,000 in June 1944, the decrease to
December 1944 being accounted for in part by a change in status
from prisoners to civilian workers. A figure of 2,070,000
Russians uncovered in the American, British and French zones,
given in ‘Displaced Persons Report No. 43,’ of the Combined
Displaced Persons’ Executive, c/o G-5 Division, USFET, 30
September 1945, was increased by 430,000 to allow for Russians
estimated to have been found on German territory conquered by
the Red Army.”

* * * * * *

“The designation ‘Politicals’ at the head of the third column in
the table should be taken to mean persons who upon being
uncovered in Germany by the Allied forces asserted that they
were arrested in their native countries for subversive
activities against the Nazis, and were transported to Germany
for incarceration. The figures do not include racial or
religious deportees, nor persons imprisoned for crimes allegedly
committed in Germany * * *.” (_2520-PS_)

Only a small proportion of the foreign workers brought to Germany were volunteers. At the 1 March 1944 meeting of the Central Planning Board, Sauckel made clear the vast scale of slavery. He stated:

“* * * Out of five million foreign workers who arrived in
Germany, not even 200,000 came voluntarily.” (_R-124_)

5. CONDITIONS OF DEPORTATION AND SLAVE LABOR

The Nazi conspirators were not satisfied to tear 5,000,000 persons from their families, their homes, and their country. They insisted that these 5,000,000 wretches, while being deported to Germany or after their arrival, be degraded, beaten, and permitted to die for want of food, clothing, and adequate shelter. Conditions of deportation are vividly described in a report to Rosenberg concerning treatment of Ukrainian labor (_054-PS_):

“The starosts esp. village elders are frequently corruptible,
they continue to have the skilled workers, whom they drafted,
dragged from their beds at night to be locked up in cellars
until they are shipped. Since the male and female workers often
are not given any time to pack their luggage, etc., many skilled
workers arrive at the Collecting Center for Skilled Workers with
equipment entirely insufficient (without shoes, only two
dresses, no eating and drinking utensils, no blankets, etc.). In
particularly extreme cases new arrivals therefore have to be
sent back again immediately to get the things most necessary for
them. If people do not come along at once, threatening and
beating of skilled workers by the above-mentioned militia is a
daily occurrence and is reported from most of the communities.
In some cases women were beaten until they could no longer
march. One bad case in particular was reported by me to the
commander of the civil police here (Colonel Samek) for severe
punishment (place Sozolinkow, district Dergatschi). The
encroachments of the starosts and the militia are of a
particularly grave nature because they usually justify
themselves by claiming that all that is done in the name of the
German Armed Forces. In reality the latter have conducted
themselves throughout in a highly understanding manner toward
the skilled workers and the Ukrainian population. The same,
however, can not be said of some of the administrative agencies.
To illustrate this be it mentioned, that a woman once arrived
being dressed with barely more than a shirt.”

* * * * * *

“* * * On the basis of reported incidents, attention must be
called to the fact that it is irresponsible to keep workers
locked in the cars for many hours so that they cannot even take
care of the calls of nature. It is evident that the people of a
transport must be given an opportunity from time to time in
order to get drinking water, to wash, and in order to relieve
themselves. Cars have been showed in which people had made holes
so that they could take care of the calls of nature. When
nearing bigger stations persons should, if possible, relieve
themselves far from these stations.”

* * * * * *

“The following abuses were reported from the delousing stations:

“In the women’s and girls’ shower rooms, services were partly
performed by men or men would mingle around or even helped with
the soaping; and vice versa, there were female personnel in the
men’s shower rooms; men also for some time were taking
photographs in the women’s shower rooms. Since mainly Ukrainian
peasants were transported in the last months, as far as the
female portion of these are concerned, they were mostly of a
high moral standard and used to strict decency, they must have
considered such a treatment as a national degradation. The
above-mentioned abuses have been, according to our knowledge,
settled by the intervention of the transport commanders. The
reports of the photographing were made from Halle; the reports
about the former were made from Kiewerce. Such incidents in
complete disregard of the honor and respect of the Greater
German Reich may still occur again here or there.” (_054-PS_)

Sick and infirm citizens of the occupied countries were taken indiscriminately with the rest. Those who managed to survive the trip into Germany, but who arrived too sick to work, were returned like cattle, together with those who fell ill at work, because they were of no further use to the Germans. The return trip took place under the same conditions as the initial journey, and without any kind of medical supervision. Death came to many, and their corpses were unceremoniously dumped out of the cars with no provision for burial. Thus, the report continues:

“* * * Very depressing for the morale of the skilled workers and
the population is the effect of those persons shipped back from
Germany for having become disabled or not having been fit for
labor commitment from the very beginning. Several times already
transports of skilled workers on their way to Germany have
crossed returning transports of such disabled persons and have
stood on the tracks alongside of each other for a longer period
of time. Those returning transports are insufficiently cared
for. Nothing but sick, injured of weak people, mostly 50-60 to a
car, are usually escorted by 3-4 men. There is neither
sufficient care or food. The returnees made frequently
unfavourable—but surely exaggerated—statements relative to
their treatment in Germany and on the way. As a result of all
this and of what the people could see with their own eyes, a
psychosis of fear was evoked among the specialist workers resp.
the whole transport to Germany. Several transport leaders of the
62d and the 63d in particular reported thereto in detail. In one
case the leader of the transport of skilled workers observed
with own eyes how a person who died of hunger was unloaded from
a returning transport on the side track. (1st Lt. Hofman of the
63rd transport Station Darniza). Another time it was reported
that 3 dead had to be deposited by the side of the tracks on the
way and had to be left behind unburied by the escort. It is also
regrettable that these disabled persons arrive here without any
identification. According to the reports of the transport
commanders one gets the impression that these persons unable to
work are assembled, penned into the wagons and are sent off
provided only by a few men escort, and without special care for
food and medical or other attendance. The Labor Office at the
place of arrival as well as the transport commanders confirm
this impression.” (_054-PS_)

Mothers in childbirth shared cars with those infected with tuberculosis or venereal diseases. Babies when born were hurled out of windows. Dying persons lay on the bare floors of freight cars without even the small comfort of straw. These conditions are revealed in an interdepartmental report prepared by Dr. Gutkelch in Rosenberg’s Ministry, dated 30 September 1942, from which the following quotation is taken: