"I was able to gain some knowledge
on the public and private collections, as well as clerical property,
in Cracow and Warsaw. It is true that we cannot hope too much to
enrich ourselves from the acquisition of great art works of paintings
and sculptures, with the exception of the Veit-Stoß altar, and
the plates of Hans von Kulnback in the Church of Maria in Cracow . .
. . and several other works from the National Museum in Warsaw."
Slave Labor Policy
Article 6 (b) of the Charter provides that the
"ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other
purpose, of civilian population of or in occupied territory"
shall be a War Crime. The laws relating to forced labor by the
inhabitants of occupied territories are found in Article 52 of the
Hague Convention, which provides:
"Requisition in kind and
services shall not be demanded from municipalities or inhabitants
except for the needs of the army of occupation. They shall be in
proportion to the resources of the country, and of such a nature as
not to involve the inhabitants in the obligation of taking part in
military operations against their own country."
The policy of the German occupation authorities was
in flagrant violation of the terms of this convention. Some idea of
this policy may be gathered from the statement made by Hitler in a
speech on 9 November 1941:
"The territory which now works
for us contains more than 250,000,000 men, but the territory which
works indirectly for us includes now more than 350,000,000. In the
measure in which it concerns German territory, the domain which we
have taken under our administration, it is not doubtful that we shall
succeed in harnessing the very last man to this work."
The actual results achieved were not so complete as
this, but the German occupation authorities did succeed in forcing
many of the inhabitants of the occupied territories to work for the
German war effort, and in deporting at least 5,000,000 persons to
Germany to serve German industry and agriculture.
In the early stages of the war, manpower in the
occupied territories was under the control of various occupation
authorities, and the procedure varied from country to country. In all
the occupied territories compulsory labor service was promptly
instituted. Inhabitants of the occupied countries were conscripted
and compelled to work in local occupations, to assist the German war
economy. In many cases they were forced to work on German
fortifications and military installations. As local supplies of raw
materials and local