Chapter VII: Front Matter (7)

9. _Insufficient Equipping of clothes and shoes._ The clothing of almost all Eastern Laborers, men and women, must be considered as insufficient. Transports were arriving even in the last days of the month of September whose occupants did not carry any winter clothing with them. The recruiting agents seem to leave the workers in the opinion that there is no winter in Germany and moreover, that the Eastern Laborers would receive everything they need. In view of the coming cold months and of the inadequacy of many quarters a catastrophe must arise on account of the existing lack of clothing and shoes, if a successful remedy is not found immediately. The main difficulties in the supplying of missing equipment, which has already led in our large industrial plant to the loss of 10% of its employees,--lies in the fact that the clothing set aside from the collection of textile goods, does not even come close to covering the demand and that the available booty as well as confiscated goods in occupied territories will not be handed out by the competent management without the delivery of the existing ration cards. Since the Eastern Laborer does not possess the latter this could then only be carried out if the enterprises would requisition the needed clothing for the German workers and would offer those to the Eastern Laborers,--unfortunately however, deducting it from their wages from time to time. The sending of clothing, coats and shoes by the families of Eastern laborers by means of individual shipment can not be carried out without further directives on account of the necessity of delousing the garments at the border, wherefore a measure was proposed after previous negotiations of the Central office with the deputy of the Generalarbeitsfuehrer Kretschman at the GBA under the direction of the Reichs Ministry for the occupied Eastern territories; in accordance with this measure collective addresses will be sent to the occupied territories by the enterprises in collaboration with the censorship office and special collection offices set up there. The success of this action must remain in doubt at present. During the meeting in Weimar it was then announced that from January 1943 on, uniform work clothes will be made of cellulose material which, however, will not be of very good quality and would look baggy after a short wear. Independently of this creation of work clothes, which naturally can not be considered a costume or uniform, the Central Office has made it one of its tasks to help with the action to provide clothes to help decrease to a minimum the expected lowering of performance, loss of morale, increased escapes, and cases of freezing.

10. _Insufficient Supervision of the Eastern Laborers Employed in Agriculture._ According to ruling No. 4 of the Deputy General for Labor of 7 May 1942, the supervision of those Eastern workers and women workers employed in agriculture is delegated to the Reichs Food Administration. Practical supervision in the rural areas by the state, regional and local authorities of the Reichs Peasant Leader must be considered as illusory with respect to the lack of knowledge and to the insufficient knowledge of these people as well as to the fact that the seizing of Eastern Laborers in the midst of all the foreign workers in the rural areas can only be carried out with difficulty. To inform at least the rural superintendent of the principles which govern the treatment of the Eastern laborers, the publication department of the Reichs Food Administration has, in accord with the Reichs Minister for occupied Eastern territories sent out guiding instructions for the present enlightenment campaign during the fall quarter. No objections can so far be made against a strict observance of these guiding instructions since, on account of the shortage of labor in the rural areas during the past months, a pampering of the Eastern workers and women workers was noticed, which was not only a threat towards the temporary transfer of 200,000 agricultural workers into industry but also in respect to the damage of a lack of migration into other areas. To intensify the supervision in the rural enterprises, a policy forming meeting took place in August 1942 with the representatives of the Reichs Food Administration during which among other things the sending of interpreters by the Reichs Ministry for the occupied Eastern Territory to the Reichs Peasant leader was taken into consideration. Since the Reichs Food Administration was only willing to approve in the latter part of September, the taking over of the payment of special supervision with a knowledge of the language, in spite of exemption from payment of contributions on the part of Eastern laborers, and since there is still at the present time no clear settlement of the number and conditions for this it will be necessary to balance the lack of activity of the Reichs Food Administration with an appropriate initiative action on the part of the Central Office of the Reichs Ministry for the occupied Eastern territories.

11. _Insufficient Recreation._ In spite of repeated efforts for a satisfactory and meaningful organization of the recreation period for the Eastern laborer the German Arbeitsfront has still not been able to create and carry out a satisfactory recreational program. While the enterprises have organized excursions in groups because of necessity, the recreational program in the camps have so far lacked a uniform outline. The showing of moving pictures often runs into difficulties since the theaters, which have been created for this purpose, are only accessible to German workers and the Eastern laborer could not enter because of the danger of contamination of lice. The daily radio program in Russian and Ukrainian language which in the beginning was proposed by the Reichsminister of Enlightenment and Propaganda has still not been carried out because of several reasons. The performance of several artists is only possible in exceptional cases among the Eastern races because of the existing travel difficulties. What drawbacks and difficulties are connected with this can be shown in the circumstances under which a Ukrainian group of artists, who are now stationed in the Reich after an agreement was made between Gauleiter Sauckel and the Commissioner General of Kiew, are performing. After this group was barely sufficiently housed in an Eastern Labor Camp near Halle for a period of two weeks, a meeting took place in the RAM in which it was decided upon a suggestion by the representative of the Reichs Ministry, for the occupied Eastern territories, that the National Socialistic Organization should send three organizational trustees, the Reichs Ministry for Enlightenment and Propaganda three propaganda trustees, and the Reichs Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories three political trustees, to Halle. By the combined efforts of these trustees it was finally possible to employ the group of artists, who were made up of three separate groups, in several of the central German States [Gaue], during which the management, even in organizational matters, soon went to the member of the Eastern office who was sent by the Central Office of the Reichs Minister for the Occupied Eastern territory. Until 30/9/42, on which day the Central office in Berlin sponsored an afternoon reception for the 38 Ukrainian artists, the Reichs Minister for Enlightenment and Propaganda had still not decided upon the amount of wages, which had accrued because of the performances, still less who was to pay for it, so that a temporary solution by using an agent who would carry out the bare essential down payment had to be found. Because of this lack of clarity, the wish of the Deputy General for the Arbeitseinsatz to retain the group in the Reich during the winter months can not be supported.

12. _Return under Unworthy Conditions of Eastern laborers and women laborers who are not fit for work._ The carelessness during the enlistment and reception of millions of Eastern laborers and women laborers has resulted in the fact that,--according to a careful estimate,--about five percent of the persons transported into the Reich have proved not to be capable of work. That means nothing less than that about 80 to 100,000 returnees will stream into the occupied Eastern territories in the coming days. The dangers included in this returning process can be seen in the fact that this deals with sick, crippled, mothers-to-be, as well as such persons whom the enterprises are glad to reject and who because of that are not being taken care of. The mood of these returnees is temporarily forced to be anti-German, and nothing has been done, in spite of repeated suggestions in the Reichs Labor Ministry to reconcile the returnees with at least a few favorable impressions of Germany. During the latter part of September 1942, a collecting camp in Berlin-Blankenfelde, which was quartered with Eastern laborers who were destined for return, was inspected upon the instigation of the Central Office by a commission consisting of different authorities, at which time revolting conditions were met. Among other things a shot was fired by the guard at an Eastern laborer who was caring for his natural needs, without the President of the States Employment Office who was present making any protest against it. All of the camp inmates gave an impression of neglect. Since the returning of these 1600 persons as well as a further 4400 returnees from other camps, could not be reconciled politically with respect to the danger of contaminating their native districts with reports of horror, and since the postponement of a necessary re-quartering of the collecting camps could no longer be provided (in the meantime) the chief of the branch offices of the Central Police-Vice-counsel in retirement Miller--Dr. of Law Boywidt and Mrs. Miller were sent at the same time to Brest-Litowsk, to stop the transport at least at this point and to carry out according to the situation a quarantining of the people or, belatedly to take care of them. How necessary this interference was is shown by the fact that this train with returning laborers had stopped at the same place where a train with newly recruited Eastern laborers had stopped. Because of the corpses in the trainload of returning laborers, a catastrophe might have been precipitated had it not been for the mediation of Mrs. Miller. In this train women gave birth to babies who were thrown out of the windows during the journey, people having tuberculosis and venereal diseases rode in the same car, dying people lay in freight cars without straw, and one of the dead was thrown on the railway embankment. The same must have occurred in other returning transports. To end these terrible conditions, it is intended to create special transient camps in the Reich area for returning workers where those who contracted diseases in the Reich will be separated from the chronically sick. They will be sent to an organization caring for the sick. Those finally chosen to return would receive medical and psychological treatment for at least a week. The chief of the Reich health program and his chief of liaison with the GBA, resp., have approved this central office plan of giving aid to returning workers, which aid should also be extended during transport. The directorate of the German Red Cross wants to share in the execution of this plan by making available trained personnel, among other things. The first of these transient camps for returnees could be established at Bad Frankenhausen in Thuringia where, according to the statement of the local mayor, suitable area is available.

To solve these and numerous other problems, as well as the removal of the described difficulties and abuses, two things are advised.

I. _Consultation of the Reich minister with the Fuehrer_ with the purpose of asking him for personal energetic intervention; this conference will have to include among others the following requests as laid down in the note 1 f 5 of 6/7/42:

1. _Treatment by the police._ The Fuehrer should beseech the Reichs Leader of the SS in a personal consultation, to repeal the General Regulations of 20/2/42 including the supplementary Decree of 9/4/42. _that is Section A of the General Regulations_.

Laborers from the former Soviet Russian territory and to replace them and among other things with new regulations which are to be voted upon in conjunction with the GBA (2) and the Reichs Ministry for the occupied Eastern territory.

2. _Direction of people._ The Fuehrer should direct the Chancellor of the party as well as the Reich propaganda office of NSDAP to adjust suitable urgent measures in agreement with the Reich Ministry M.G.A.B. and respectively with the Z.O. to enlighten those party members who are handling the supervision of the relations between Germans and foreigners about the scope of the employment of the Eastern laborers and furthermore to inform the entire German population of the political mission which history has bestowed upon them by the taking in of millions of former Soviet citizens.

3. _The competences of the R.M.fdBO._ The Fuehrer should inform the supreme authorities of the Reich, if possible through the Reich Minister and the chief of the Reichs chancellory that not only those measures of theirs, which concern themselves with occupied Eastern territories but also those that affect the labor from these territories employed in the Reich may only be decided in every action with the Reich ministry for the occupied Eastern territories.

II. Further expansion of the General Office for member Races, so that an extended arm of the R.M.fdBO in the Reich and as a representative of the foreign people from the occupied Eastern territories living here it can quickly perceive its instructed interests. The following would be essential for this.

(1) _Commitment of a special Commissioner._ The appointment of a special commissioner for the Reich ministries provided with specific authority to take care of the interests of the central office, should serve especially two purposes; to take an active influence upon the handling of enlistments inside the occupied eastern territories.

(2) To carry out definite aims of the central Office by cultivating a personal contact with Gauleiter Sauckel.

(3) _Reinforcing of the Branch Officers._ The commissions which serve under the chief of the branch officer and which are employed to inspect the camps, urgently need reinforcements; to be able to work successfully in thousands of camps for this purpose about 50 interpreters are needed besides liaison agents to the country employment offices and those trustees of the Gau who worked in an honorary capacity, the chief of the commissions need a uniform.

(4) _Reinforcing the Sections._ The four sections of the Central Office, (Matters of organization, legal and information service, supervision aid, and psychological training) need to be immediately filled by at least six representatives. On account of the avalanche of problems brought to the Central Office, urgent questions remain otherwise unsolved and hundreds of transactions unsettled in spite of the twelve hour day and sometimes several hours of night work, as well. Of what far reaching importance it is to see to it that a political use is made of the stay of several million Eastern laborers in the Reich. That on 8/9/42 their members already amounted to 1,737,000 is lower as from many other reasons by a glance at the present condition of the German censored figures. In spite of all measures to Germanize and re-Germanize people who are unfortunately confronted by increased war casualties the future of the German people when measured against the breadth of age levels placed on top of each other as characterized by a population pyramid whose outlines deviate from the biologically normal picture of a bell, if one compares the present curve of the future professionals with the similar curves of the Eastern peoples it will be frighteningly apparent that especially during the decisive decades after this war the number of German people of the Harz areas in the East which will be required for a normal administrative development will not be on hand, the willingness and cooperation of members of the Eastern peoples is herewith an unavoidable necessity, wherefore the years commiting an army of millions of Eastern laborers in the Reich are not only seen from the view-point of overcoming the problems concerned but actively must be used to create a reliable propaganda army which after its return home will perhaps one day will be just as decisive for the German fate in the East as the victory of our weapons.

signed: DR. GUTKELCH.

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 089-PS

NATIONAL SOCIALIST GERMAN WORKERS PARTY

The Deputy of the Fuehrer Chief of Staff
Munich 33, Brown House, at present Berlin w8
Wilhelmstr. 64, March 8, 1940
III-DR Kl/Gf

Personal

Chancellory Rosenberg
Receipt Nr 705. 14 Mar 40
To Mr. Reichsleiter Rosenberg
Berlin w 35, Margaretenstr. 17

Concerns: Confessional writing

In the enclosure I am sending you a carbon copy of my letter of today to Reichsleiter Amann for recognition.

signed: M BORMANN

Enclosure

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NATIONAL SOCIALIST GERMAN WORKERS PARTY

The Deputy of the Fuehrer Chief of Staff
Munich 33, Brown House, at present Berlin w8
Wilhelmstr. 64, March 8, 1940
III-DR Kl/Gf

Personal

To Mr. Reichsleiter Amann
Munich, Thierschstr. 11

_Concerns: Confessional writing._

I am referring to the discussion of my expert, party member Dr. Klopfer, with party member Dr. Rienhardt, and inform you once more of the fact that according to a report I have received, only 10% of the over 3000 Protestant periodicals in Germany, such as Sunday papers etc. have ceased publication for reason of paper saving. Party member Dr. Rienhardt has already informed my expert that at present the distribution of any paper whatsoever for such periodicals was barred.

I urge you to see to it in any redistribution of paper to be considered later that the confessional writing, which according to experiences so far gathered, possesses very doubtful value for strengthening the power of resistance of the people toward the external foe, receives still sharper restrictions in favor of literature, politically and ideologically more valuable.

Without doubt the draft of an order "for fulfillment of the organizational duty by the production of writings", presented upon your request, will be a suitable means for this purpose.

signed: M BORMANN

TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 090-PS

18 September 1940
2474-R/Dt.

SECRET

To the Reich Treasurer of the NSDAP
Reich Director F.X. Schwarz,
_Munich 33._

Dear Party Member Schwarz,

Thanks for your helpfulness in regard to the safeguarding of scientific materials in the occupied territories. I deduce from this that you are interested in this work and would therefore like to inform you about several matters.

It took some time until we found by and by the several treasures, and until we could ascertain that a lot had been abducted from Paris into other towns. Thus the treasures of the Rothschilds, robbed together from all parts of the world, are being secured by us not only in Paris but also in the various castles of the Rothschilds (Bordeaux, Deauville and so on). Legal doubts arose and I have discussed them with the Fuehrer. Subsequently he caused a new order to be issued by the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces which I enclose in duplicate. Thus the Seminary (Hohe Schule) will still receive a Polish library of 130,000 volumes. This will include the complete history of the East, probably a large Slavic library and many other items. Together with a lot of scientific material many extremely valuable objects of art have been found in cases at the residence of the Rothschilds. This has been secured and the Fuehrer will decide at a later date as to the final disposal.

In Brussels and Amsterdam we are on the track of valuable objects too. I believe that we shall be able to bring quite some material from there to Germany.

You see that we are industrially endeavoring to exploit the present moment. Such an opportunity will hardly present itself again. I am trying to keep the Staff for Special Purposes down to a minimum. Nevertheless it is unavoidable that a number of experts have to work at various places. And the work takes longer than was anticipated in the beginning.

Once more many thanks. If I should come to Munich in the near future I hope to meet you.

Heil Hitler!

28 January 1941

3581/R/dt
[initials] Sch

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To: The Reich Treasurer of the NSDAP
Reich Director F.X. Schwarz

_Munich 33_

_Subject: Staff for Special Purposes in Paris_

Dear Party Member Schwarz,

About the work of my Staff for Special Purposes in France, Holland and Belgium I can inform you that the major part of the work in France will be finished by the end of February. Then only a few men have to remain in Paris.--However, in Belgium and Holland extensive research work has still to be carried out. I hope nevertheless to wind up the main part of the work there within a measurable space of time. The arrangement and registration of the large art treasures claimed a lot of special work. I had these treasures confiscated simultaneously with the scientific material. The Fuehrer is going to decide what to do with them shortly. As I informed you previously the values involved will come close to a billion dollars according to expert estimates.

I told you already verbally that the largest Jewish library of the world, consisting of 350,000 volumes, will be placed in the institution which is going to be opened at Frankfurt on the Main within a short time. Another 200,000 volumes will be added from Holland.

The library of the IInd International about the history of the social movements cannot be transferred for the moment to Germany due to lack of space. Two will have to take charge of it in Amsterdam where scientific work can start immediately. This library consists of 130,000 volumes.

The account of the expenditures up till now will be submitted to your deputy by the administrative branch of my office. However, I have to request that you put another amount of 100,000 Reichsmark at my disposal so that I can complete the work satisfactorily. At the same time I propose once more that you have parts of those sums reimbursed--be it from the Reich Marshal or from the Fuehrer's funds for cultural purposes. There is no doubt that I also have collected treasures which will not benefit the Seminary directly.

Once more I want to express my deepest thanks for letting us have the Schrenck-Notzing-Palais in Munich for our institution. Prof. Harder, the future director of this institution, is extremely pleased with it and will soon get in touch with your deputy.

A depiction of the situation regarding the branch offices of the Seminary in the various cities is just being completed and will be submitted to you within a short time.

Once more many thanks for your generous support.

Heil Hitler
Yours
[in pencil] Sch

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[SYNOPSIS]
Letter of 22 May 1941, 4592/4863/R/Ma
To the Reich Treasurer of the NSDAP, Reich Director Schwarz,
Munich 33.
Written by Rosenberg

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Letter of 9 May 1941, K IV/te. 4363 H. [Initialed] Sch

To the Deputy of the Fuehrer for the supervision of the complete mental and doctrinal [Weltanschaulich] education of the NSDAP Mr. Reich Director Alfred Rosenberg, Berlin W 35, 17 Margareten Str.

Written and signed by the Reich Treasurer of the Party Schwarz.

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