Archive/File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-02/tgmwc-02-18.06
Last-Modified: 1999/09/16

THE PRESIDENT: Can you tell us who the Polish Central
Committee were; or, I mean, how they were founded?

MR. DODD: Well, so far as we are aware, it was a committee
apparently set up by the Nazi State when it occupied Poland,
to work in some sort of co-operation with it during the days
of the occupation. We do not know the names of the members,
and we have not any more specific information.

THE PRESIDENT : Is it a captured document?

MR. DODD : It is a captured document, yes, sir. All of the
documents that I am presenting in connection with this case
are, excepting the Netherlands  Government's report and one
or two other official reports, the Dois affidavit and such
other matters. That particular document, it has just been
called to my attention, was captured by the United States
Third Army.

Particularly harsh and brutal treatment was reserved for
workers imported from the conquered Eastern territories. As
we have illustrated, they did indeed

                                                  [Page 325]

live in bondage, and they were subjected to almost every
form of degradation, quartered in stables with animals,
denied the right of free worship, and the ordinary pleasures
of human society.

Illustrative of this treatment is Document EC-68, Exhibit
USA 205. This Document, EC-68, bears the title "Directives
on the Treatment of Foreign Farmworkers of Polish
Nationality", issued by the Minister for Finance and Economy
of Baden, Germany, on 6th March, 1941. We do not know his
name, nor have we been able to ascertain it.

Quoting from the English text of this document from the
beginning:-

   "The agencies of the Reich Food Administration, State
   Peasant Association of Baden, have received the result
   of the negotiations with the Higher S.S. and Police
   Officers in Stuttgart on 14th February, 1941, with great
   satisfaction. Appropriate memoranda have already been
   turned over to the District Peasants Associations.
   Below, I promulgate the individual regulations, as they
   have been laid down during the conference, and how they
   are now to be applied accordingly:
   
   1. Fundamentally, farmworkers of Polish nationality no
   longer have the right to complain, and thus no
   complaints may be accepted any more by any official
   agency.
   
   2. The farmworkers of Polish nationality may not leave
   the localities in which they are employed, and have a
   curfew from 1st October to 31st March from 2000 hours to
   0600 hours, and from 1st April to 30th September from
   2100 hours to 0500 hours.
   
   3. The use of bicycles is strictly prohibited.
   Exceptions are possible for riding to the place of work
   in the field if a relative of the employer or the
   employer himself is present.
   
   4. The visit to churches, regardless of faith, is
   strictly prohibited, even when there is no service in
   progress. Individual spiritual care by clergymen outside
   of the church is permitted.
   
   5. Visits to theatres, motion pictures, or other
   cultural entertainment are strictly prohibited for
   farmworkers of Polish nationality.
   
   6. The visit to restaurants is strictly prohibited to
   farmworkers of Polish nationality, except for one
   restaurant in the village, which will be selected by the
   Rural Councillor's office (Landratsamt), and then only
   one day per week. The day to visit the restaurant will
   also be determined by the Landratsamt. This regulation
   does not change the curfew regulation mentioned above
   under No. 2.
   
   7. Sexual intercourse with women and girls is strictly
   prohibited, and wherever it is established, it must be
   reported.
   
   8. Gatherings of farmworkers of Polish nationality after
   work is prohibited, whether it is on other farms, in the
   stables, or in the living quarters of the Poles.
   
   9. The use of railroads, buses or other public
   conveyances by farmworkers of Polish nationality is
   prohibited.
   
   10. Permits to leave the village may only be granted in
   very exceptional cases, by the local police authority
   (Mayor's office). However, in no case may it be granted
   if the applicant wants to visit a public agency on his
   own, whether it is a labour office or the District
   Peasants Association or whether he wants to change his
   place of employment.
   
                                                  [Page 326]
   
   11. Arbitrary change of employment is strictly
   prohibited. The farmworkers of Polish nationality have
   to work daily so long as the interests of the enterprise
   demand it, and as it is demanded by the employer. There
   are no time limits to the working time.
   
   12. Every employer has the right to give corporal
   punishment to farmworkers of Polish nationality, if
   instructions and good words fail: The employer may not
   be held accountable in any such case by an official
   agency.
   
   13. Farmworkers of Polish nationality should, if
   possible, be removed from the community of the home, and
   they can be quartered in stables, etc. No remorse
   whatever should restrict such action.
   
   14.Report to the authorities is compulsory in all cases,
   when crimes have been committed by farmworkers of Polish
   nationality, such as sabotage of the enterprise or
   slowing down work, for instance, unwillingness to work,
   or impertinent behaviour; it is compulsory even in minor
   cases. An employer who loses his Pole through the latter
   having to serve a long prison sentence because of such a
   compulsory report, will receive another Pole from the
   competent labour office on preferential request.
   
   15. In all other cases, only the State Police are still
   competent.
   
   For the employer himself, severe punishment is
   contemplated if it is established that the necessary
   distance from farmworkers of Polish nationality has not
   been kept. The same applies to women and girls. Extra
   rations are strictly prohibited. Non-compliance with the
   Reich tariffs for farmworkers of Polish nationality will
   be punished by the competent labour office by the
   removal of the workers."

The women of the conquered territories were led away against
their will to serve as domestics, and the defendant Sauckel
described this programme in his own words, which appear in
Document 016-PS, already offered in evidence as Exhibit USA
168, and particularly Page 7, fourth paragraph of the
English text; in the German text it appears on Page 10,
Paragraph 1, and I quote directly:-

   "In order to relieve considerably the German housewife,
   especially the mother with many children, and the
   extremely busy farmwoman, and in order to avoid any
   further danger to their health, the Fuehrer also charges
   me with the procurement of 400,000-500,000 selected,
   healthy and strong girls from the territories of the
   East, for Germany."

Once captured, once forced to become labourers in Germany,
or workers in Germany, these Eastern women, by order of the
slavemaster, defendant Sauckel, were bound to the household
to which they were assigned, permitted at the most three
hours of freedom a week, and denied the right to return to
their homes.

I now refer to Document 3044 (b)-PS. That is Exhibit USA
2o6. The document is a decree issued by the defendant
Sauckel containing instructions for housewives concerning
Eastern household workers, and I ask that the Court take
judicial notice of the original decree which appears on
Pages 592 and 593 of the second volume of a publication of
the Zentralverlag of the N.S.D.A.P., entitled "
Verfuegungen, Anordnungen und Bekanntgaben", and I quote
from the first paragraph of the English translation of a
portion of the decree as follows:

                                                  [Page 327]

   "There is no claim for free time. Female domestic
   workers from the East may, on principle, leave the
   household only to take care of domestic tasks.
   
   As a reward for good work, however, they may be given
   the opportunity to stay outside the home without work
   for three hours once a week. This leave must end with
   the onset of darkness, at the latest at 2000 hours.
   
   It is prohibited to enter restaurants, movies, or other
   theatres, and similar establishments provided for
   German, or foreign workers. Attending church is also
   prohibited. Special events may be arranged for Eastern
   domestics in urban homes by the German Workers' Front,
   for Eastern domestics in rural homes by the Reich Food
   Administration with the German Women's League. Outside
   the home, the Eastern domestic must always carry her
   work card as a personal pass. Vacations, return to
   homes, are not granted as yet. The recruiting of Eastern
   domestics is for an indefinite period."

Always over these enslaved workers was the shadow of the
Gestapo, and the torture of the concentration camps. Like
other major programmes of the Nazi conspirators, the black-
shirted guards of the S.S., and Himmler's methods of dealing
with people were the instruments employed for enforcement.

On the subject of the slave labourers, a secret order dated
2oth February,1942, issued by Reichsfuehrer S.S. Himmler to
S.D. and Security Police Officers concerning Eastern
workers, spells out the violence which was applied against
them. I offer this order in evidence. It is our Document
3040-PS, which is Exhibit USA 207, and I ask this Court to
take judicial notice of the original order, which is
published in the "Allgemeine Erlassammlung," Part II,
Section 2-A, III, small letter "f", Pages 15 to 24. I wish
to quote from Page 3 of the English text starting with
Paragraph III, in the German text it appears in Section 2-A,
III, "f", at Page 19 of the publication as follows:-

   "III. Combating violations against discipline. - (1)
   According to the equal status of labourers from the
   original Soviet Russian territory with prisoners of war,
   a strict discipline must be exercised in the quarters
   and at the working place. Violations against discipline,
   including work refusal and loafing at work, will be
   fought exclusively by the Secret State Police. The
   smaller cases will be settled by the leader of the guard
   according to instruction of the State Police
   administration offices, with measures as provided for in
   the enclosure. To break acute resistance, the guards
   shall be permitted to use also physical compulsion
   against the labourers. But this may be done only for a
   cogent cause. The manpower should always be informed
   about the fact that they will be treated decently when
   conducting themselves with discipline and accomplishing
   good work. In severe cases, that is in such cases where
   the measures at the disposal of the leader of the guard
   do not suffice, the State police office has to act with
   its means. Accordingly, they will be treated, as a rule,
   only with strict measures, that is, with transfer to a
   concentration camp, or with special treatment. The
   transfer to a concentration camp is to be done in the
   usual manner. In especially severe cases special
   treatment is to be requested at the Reich Security Main
   Office, stating personal data, and the exact facts.

                                                  [Page 328]

   Special treatment is hanging. It should not take place
   in the immediate vicinity of the camp. A certain number
   of labourers from the original Soviet Russian territory
   should attend the special treatment; they are then
   warned of the circumstances which lead to this
   treatment. Should special treatment be required within
   the camp for exceptional reasons of camp discipline,
   this is also to be requested."

And I turn now to Page 4 of the original text, Paragraph VI;
in the German text it appears at Section 2-A, VI, "f", on
Page 20.

   "VI. Sexual intercourse. - Sexual intercourse is
   forbidden to labourers of the original Soviet Russian
   territory. By means of their closely confined quarters
   they have no opportunity for it. For every case of
   sexual intercourse with men or women of the German race,
   special treatment is to be requested for male labour
   from the original Soviet Russian territory, and, for
   female labour, transfer to a concentration camp."

And finally from Page 5 of the same document, Paragraph
VIII, and in the German text it appears at Section 2-A,
VIII, "f", at Page 21:-

   "VIII. Search. - Fugitive workers from the original
   Soviet Russian territory are to be announced primarily
   in the German search book. Furthermore, search measures
   are to be decreed locally. When caught the fugitive must
   receive special treatment."

We have said to this Tribunal more than once that the
primary purpose of the entire slave labour programme was, of
course, to compel the people of the occupied country to work
for German war economy. The decree by which defendant
Sauckel was appointed Plenipotentiary General for manpower
reveals that the purpose of the appointment was to
facilitate acquisition of the manpower required for German
war industries, and in particular the armaments industry, by
centralising under Sauckel responsibility for the
recruitment and allocation of foreign labour and prisoners
of war in these industries. I refer to the document bearing
our Number 1666-PS, Exhibit USA 208. This document is a
decree signed by Hitler, Lammers, and the defendant Keitel,
and it is dated 21st March, 1942, appointing the defendant
Sauckel the Plenipotentiary General for the utilisation of
labour. I ask that the Court take judicial notice of the
original decree, which is published at Page 179, Part I, of
the 194z Reichsgesetzblatt; referring to the English text
starting at Paragraph 1, as follows, and quoting directly:-

   "In order to secure the manpower requisite for war
   industries as a whole, and particularly for armaments,
   it is necessary that the utilisation of all available
   manpower, including that of workers recruited abroad,
   and of prisoners of war, should be subject to a uniform
   control, directed in a manner appropriate to the
   requirements of war industry, and further that all still
   incompletely utilised manpower in the Greater German
   Reich, including the Protectorate, and in the Government
   General, and in the occupied territories should be
   mobilised. Reichsstatthalter and Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel
   will carry out this task within the framework of the
   Four Year Plan, as Plenipotentiary General, for the
   utilisation of labour. In that capacity he will be
   directly responsible to the Commissioner for the Four
   Year Plan. Section III (Wages) and Section V
   (Utilisation of Labour) of the Reich Labour Ministry,
   together with their subordinate authorities, will be
   placed at the disposal of the Plenipotentiary General
   for the accomplishment of his task."

                                                  [Page 329]

Sauckel's success can be measured from a letter which he
himself wrote to Hitler on 15th April, 1943, and which
contained his report on the one year of his activities. We
refer to the Document 407-PS, VI, which will be Exhibit USA
209. I wish to quote from Paragraphs 6 and 9 on Page 1 of
the English text; in the German text it appears at Page 2,
Paragraphs 1 and 2:-

   "After one year's activity as Plenipotentiary for the
   Direction of Labour, I can report that 3,638,056 new
   foreign workers were given to the German war economy
   from 1st April of last year to 31st March of this year.
   The 3,638,056 are distributed amongst the following
   branches of the German war economy. Armament-
   1,568,801."

Still further evidence of this steady use of this enslaved
foreign labour is found again in a report of the Central
Planning Board, to which we have referred so many times this
morning and yesterday. Another meeting of this Central
Planning Board was held on 16th February, 1944, and I refer
to our Document R-124, which contains the minutes of this
meeting of the Central Planning Board, and which has been
already offered in evidence as Exhibit USA 179, and I want
to refer particularly to Page 26, Paragraph 1 of the English
text of Document R-124. It is at Page 16, in Paragraph 2, of
the German text:-

   "The armament industry employs foreign workmen to a
   large extent; according to the latest figures-40 per
   cent."

Moreover, our Document 2520-PS, which is in evidence as
Exhibit USA 197, records that, according to Speer Ministry
tabulations, as Of 31st December, 1944, approximately two
million civilian foreign workers were employed directly in
the manufacture of armaments and munitions (end products or
components). That the bulk of these workers had been forced
to come to Germany against their will is made clear by
Sauckel's statement which I previously quoted from Paragraph
3 of Page 11 of Document R-124. We quoted it this morning,
the statement being that of five million foreign workers
only two hundred thousand or less came voluntarily.

The defendants Sauckel, Speer and Keitel succeeded in the
enforcement of foreign labour to construct military
fortifications. Thus, citizens of France, Holland and
Belgium were compelled against their will to engage in the
construction of the "Atlantic Wall", and we refer to our
Document 556-PS-2, which is Exhibit USA 194. This is a
Hitler order dated 8th September, 1942, and it is initialled
by the defendant Keitel.

Quoting the order directly:-

   "The extensive coastal fortifications which I have
   ordered to be erected in the area of Army Group West
   make it necessary that in the occupied territory all
   available workers should be committed and should give
   the fullest extent of their productive capacities. The
   previous allotment of domestic workers is insufficient.
   In order to increase it I order the introduction of
   compulsory labour and the prohibition of changing the
   place of employment without permission of the
   authorities in the occupied territories. Furthermore,
   the distribution of food and clothing ration cards to
   those subject to labour draft should in the future
   depend on the possession of a certificate of employment.
   Refusal to accept an assigned job, as well as abandoning
   the place of work without the consent of the authorities
   in charge, will result in the withdrawal of the food and
   clothing ration cards. The G.B.A. (Deputy General for
   Arbeitseinsatz) in agreement with the military
   commander, as well as the Reich Commissar, will issue
   the corresponding decrees for execution."

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