 |
| 1. I was, as far as I know, a regular member of the Krupp Direktorium
since 1936, possibly only since 1937 or 1938, and this position of mine, as far
as I am aware, ceased to exist on 31 December 1943, at the time when the
corporation was transformed into a private company. I was chairman of the
Direktorium from 1 April 1943 until 31 December 1943 (?) [sic]. During all this
time, and also after 31 December 1943 (?), I normally participated in all
conferences of the Direktorium held in a restricted or wider circle. Of course
there were cases in which I was absent for some reason or other. From the
foregoing it follows that during the war I was well informed regarding the
basic attitude of the Direktorium towards the question of labor procurement,
with particular reference to other than German labor or compulsory labor, and
therefore can make the following statement in respect thereof. The Krupp
Direktorium only against its will, that is to say, only due to the pressure of
circumstances to be described later, put up with the fact that other than
German workers, and especially nonvoluntary workers, had to be employed. These
circumstances consisted, on the one hand, in a certain moral pressure exerted
by the authorities in regard to an intensified production program and to the
employment of non-German workers, and, on the other hand, in the fact that the
normally available manpower resources became more and more inadequate and
finally gave out completely. This inward objection referred to by me was
expressed in the Direktorium as far as I know, for the first time when the
first Russian prisoners of war were consigned to us. This was toward the end of
1941. The prisoners of war came to us at that time after a very short stay in
the prisoner of war base camp, and often in a completely emaciated condition,
probably due to the after effects of severe battles and to the abnormal
conditions prevailing in the fighting area from which they came. Naturally we
could not obtain from them the work output of a normal German worker. At the
same time, I have to add that later this situation was changed, as the Russian
prisoners of war, after a prolonged stay at the prisoner of war base camp, came
to us in a better physical condition. Even when Russian civilian workers were
assigned to us for the first time, which may have been the case during 1942,
the Direktorium put up with this fact unwillingly. Mr. Loeser submitted a
statement to the Direktorium, which showed that the employment of such foreign
workers, considering the relative work output and the relative cost of the
employment of this type of labor, were of no financial advantage to the firm of
Krupp as compared with the employment of German workers. But it is not correct
that Mr. Loeser was the only one, or the chief one, to express the attitude
men- […tioned] |
798 |
. 
