Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression Many of the foregoing documents, it will be noted, consist
of complaints by functionaries of the Rosenberg ministry or
by others concerning the conditions under which foreign
workers were recruited and compelled to live. These
documents establish not only the facts therein recited, but
also show that the Nazi conspirators had knowledge of such
conditions. Notwithstanding their knowledge of these
conditions, however, the Nazi conspirators continued to
countenance and assist in the enslavement of a vast number
of citizens of occupied countries.
Once within Germany, slave laborers were subjected to
treatment of an unusually brutal and degrading nature. The
character of Nazi treatment was in part made plain by the
conspirator's own statements. Sauckel declared on one
occasion:
"All the men must be fed, sheltered and treated in such
a way as to exploit them to the highest possible extent
at the lowest conceivable degree of expenditure." (016-PS)
Force and brutality as instruments of production found a
ready adherent in Speer who, in the presence of Sauckel,
said at a meeting of the Central Planning Board:
"We must also discuss the slackers. Ley has ascertained
that the sicklist decreased to one-fourth or one-fifth
in fac-
[Page 899]
tories where doctors are on the staff who are examining
the sick men. There is nothing to be said against SS
and police taking drastic steps and putting those known
as slackers into concentration camps. There is no
alternative. Let it happen several times and the news
will soon go round." (R-124)
At a later meeting of the Central Planning Board, Field
Marshall Milch agreed that so far as workers were concerned,
"The list of the shirkers should be entrusted to
Himmler's trustworthy hands." (R-124) Milch made
particular reference to foreign workers by stating:
"It is therefore not possible to exploit fully all the
foreigners unless we compel them by piece-work or we
have the possibility of taking measures against
foreigners who are not doing their bit." (R-124)
The policy as actually executed was even more Draconian than
the policy as planned by the conspirators. Impressed workers
were underfed and overworked. They were forced to live in
grossly overcrowded camps where they were held as virtual
prisoners and were otherwise denied adequate shelter. They
were denied adequate clothing, adequate medical care and
treatment and, as a result, suffered from many diseases and
ailments. They were generally forced to work long hours up
to and beyond the point of exhaustion. They were beaten and
subjected to inhuman indignities.
An example of this mistreatment is found in the conditions
which prevailed in the Krupp factories. Foreign laborers at
the Krupp Works were given insufficient food to enable them
to perform the work required of them. A memorandum upon
Krupp stationery to Mr. Hupe, director of the Krupp
Locomotive Factory in Essen, dated 14 March 1942, states:
"During the last few days we established that the food
for the Russians employed here is so miserable, that
the people are getting weaker from day to day.
"Investigations showed that single Russians are not
able to place a piece of metal for turning into
position for instance, because of lack of physical
strength. The same conditions exist at all places of
work where Russians are employed." (D-316)
The condition of foreign workers in Krupp workers camps is
described in detail in an affidavit executed in Essen,
Germany, on 15 October 1945 by Dr. Wilhelm Jager, who was
the senior camp doctor. Dr. Jager makes the following
statement:
"*** Conditions in all these camps were extremely
[Page 900]
bad. The camps were greatly overcrowded. In some camps
there were twice as many people in a barrack as health
conditions permitted. At Kramerplatz, the inhabitants
slept in treble-tiered bunks, and in the other camps
they slept in double-tiered bunks. The health
authorities prescribed a minimum space between beds of
50 cm, but the bunks in these camps were separated by a
maximum of 20-30 cm.
"The diet prescribed for the eastern workers was
altogether insufficient. They were given 1,000 calories
a day less than the minimum prescribed for any German.
Moreover, while German workers engaged in the heaviest
work received 5,000 calories a day, the eastern workers
in comparable jobs received only 2,000 calories. The
eastern workers were given only 2 meals a day and their
bread ration. One of these two meals consisted of a
thin, watery soup. I had no assurance that the eastern
workers, in fact, received the minimum which was
prescribed. Subsequently, in 1943, when I undertook to
inspect the food prepared by the cooks, I discovered a
number of instances in which food was withheld from the
workers.
"The plan for food distribution called for a small
quantity of meat per week. Only inferior meats,
rejected by the veterinary such as horse meat or
tuberculin infested was permitted for this purpose.
This meat was usually cooked into a soup.
"The clothing of the eastern workers was likewise
completely inadequate. They worked and slept in the
same clothing in which they had arrived from the east.
Virtually all of them had no overcoats and were
compelled, therefore, to use their blankets as coats in
cold and rainy weather. In view of the shortage of
shoes many workers were forced to go to work in their
bare feet, even in the winter. Wooden shoes were given
to some of the workers, but their quality was such as
to give the workers sore feet. Many workers preferred
to go to work in their bare feet rather than endure the
suffering caused by the wooden shoes. Apart from the
wooden shoes, no clothing of any kind was issued to the
workers until the latter part of 1943, when a single
blue suit was issued to some of them. To my knowledge,
this represented the sole issue of clothing to the
workers from the time of their arrival until the
American forces entered Essen.
"Sanitary conditions were exceedingly bad. At
Kramerplatz, where approximately 1,200 eastern workers
were crowded into the rooms of an old school, the
sanitary conditions were
[Page 901]
atrocious in the extreme. Only 10 childrens' toilets
were available for the 1,200 inhabitants. At
Dechenschule, 15 childrens' toilets were available for
the 400-500 eastern workers. Excretion contaminated the
entire floors of these lavatories. There-were also few
facilities for washing. The supply of bandages,
medicine, surgical instruments, and other medical
supplies at these camps was likewise altogether
insufficient. As a consequence, only the very worst
cases were treated.
"The percentage of eastern workers who were ill was
twice as great as among the Germans. Tuberculosis was
particularly widespread among the eastern workers. The
T. B. rate among them was 4 times the normal rate of (2
percent eastern workers, German .5 percent). At
Dechenschule approximately 2 1/2 percent of the workers
suffered from open T. B. These were all active T. B.
cases. The Tartars and Kirghis suffered most; as soon
as they were overcome by this disease they collapsed
like flies. The cause was bad housing, the poor quality
and insufficient quantity of food, overwork, and
insufficient rest.
The
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Volume
I Chapter X
Conditions of Deportation & Slave Labor
(Part 2 of 4)