12 Dec.
45
Page 26, Paragraph 1 of the English text of Document
Number 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 percent."
Moreover, our
Document Number 2520-PS, which is in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-197,
records that, according to Speer Ministry tabulations, as of 31 December
1944, approximately 2 million civilian foreign workers were employed
directly in the manufacture of armaments and munitions (finished
products or parts). 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 Number
R-124. We quoted it this morning, the statement being that of 5 million
foreign workers only 200,000, or less than 200,000, came voluntarily.
The Defendants Sauckel, Speer, and Keitel succeeded in forcing foreign
labor 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 Number 556(2)-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-194. This is a
Hitler order dated the 8th of 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 be
assigned and give the fullest extent of their productive capacities to
this task. The previous allotment of workers originating from these
countries is insufficient. In order to increase it I order the
introduction of compulsory labor 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 labor draft should in the
future depend on the possession of a certificate of employment.
Refusal to accept an assigned job, as well as leaving 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 GBA" —
Deputy General for Arbeitseinsatz — "in agreement with the
military commander, as well as the Reich Commissioner, will issue the
appropriate decrees."
Indeed, the Defendant Sauckel boasted to Hitler concerning the
contribution of the forced labor program to the construction of the
Atlantic Wall by the Defendant Speer's Organization Todt. And we refer
to Document 407(VIII)-PS, which is Exhibit Number USA-210. This document
is a letter from the Defendant Sauckel to Hitler,