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A. Yes, I do know about that. As I stated previously, these things
were frequently discussed. I know of several cases in which the leading men
from the plants interested themselves in the care of the foreign workers in
their plants.
Q. Did you ever hear that the foreign workers were
treated worse than the German workers?
A. No, I never heard that. I
must, of course, make a distinction as to housing. The normal German worker
lived in his own residence, with his family, while the foreign worker had to
live away from his family, in barracks. That was not possible in any other way
during wartime. But even German workers who had been conscripted for labor had
to live in barracks.
Q. Were the barracks in which the Germans lived of
the same type as these which housed the foreign workers?
A. I cannot
say under oath whether the barracks were always the same, but to my knowledge
there was a uniform type of barracks in Germany which was used quite generally.
Q. Do you know anything about the sum spent by Farben for the
construction of barracks?
A. Yes, I do know that very well. In 1943,
before I went to Italy, Dr. Struss and Dr. Jaehne in a TEA meeting mentioned
amount that had been spent up to that time for barracks, or that would be spent
on so-called appropriated credits. The sums mentioned were between the order of
magnitude of 100 to 120 million reichsmarks. I remember that very well.
Q. Did you ever hear that, after the American Army moved into Germany,
an American agency investigated the housing and treatment of foreign workers by
Farben?
A. Yes, in the Kransberg camp, in the summer of 1945 — it
may have been the beginning of 1946 — I was told by a man that when the
Bitterfeld plant was occupied — by American troops, I believe — the
feeling was not very friendly, until the commander of this particular body of
troops inspected the housing of the foreign workers in the camps adjacent to
the works. The next day, so I was told, he changed his sentiment and he shook
hands with the official at the plant and was quite grateful in recognizing that
not the least objection could be made to the housing of foreign workers at
Bitterfeld. Similar events took place, according to the former plant manager,
in the plant at Gendorf. Dr. Wittwer told me this personally, in the Kransberg
camp.
Q. Do you know anything about how workers came from France to
Germany?
A. Yes, from 1941 onwards, I was in France repeatedly both for
the Francolor and buna negotiations, and I saw in France for myself how French
workers were recruited to come to Germany volun- [...tarily] |
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