12 Dec.
45
22,000 and 24,000 respectively, of which
many were metal workers.
"After that the action slackened somewhat, but in October 1942
another peak 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 labor 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 took place on 10
and 11 November, the number 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."
A document found in the OKH files furnishes further evidence of the
seizure of workers in Holland; and I refer to Document Number 3003-PS,
which is Exhibit USA-196. This document is a partial translation of the
text of a lecture, delivered by one Lieutenant Haupt of the German
Wehrmacht, concerning the situation of the war economy in the
Netherlands. I wish to quote from Page 1 of the English text, starting
with the fourth line of Paragraph l — quoting that directly, which
reads as follows:
"There had been some difficulties
with the Arbeitseinsatz, that is, during the man-catching action,
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 uniform exemption
procedure in advance, because for security reasons the time for the
action had not been previously announced. Certificates of exemption,
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 were
apprehended or did not dare to go into the streets. In any case it
proved to be a great loss to us."
I might say to the Tribunal, that the hordes of people displaced in
Germany today indicate, to a very considerable extent, the length to
which the conspirators' labor program succeeded. The