up at once with every possible pressure and the commitment of all powers especially also of the experts of the labor offices. All the directives which had limited temporarily the procurement of Eastern laborers are annulled. The Reichs procurement for the next months must be given priority over all other measures. "I do not ignore the difficulties which exist for the execution of this new requirement, but I am convinced that with the ruthless commitment of all resources, and with the full co-operation of all those interested, the execution of the new demands can be accomplished for the fixed date. I have already communicated the new demands to the Reichskommissar Ukraine via mail. In reference to our long distance phone call of to-day I will send you the text of the Fuehrer's decree at the beginning of next week." (017-PS) Again on 17 March 1943 Sauckel wrote Rosenberg, demanding the importation of another 1,000,000 men and women from the Eastern territories within the following four months (019-PS). Sauckel said: "After a protracted illness my Deputy for Labor Supply in the occupied Eastern Territories, State Councillor Peukert, is going there to regulate the labor supply both for Germany and the territories themselves. "I ask you sincerely, dear party member Rosenberg, to assist him to your utmost on account of the pressing urgency of Peukert's mission. Already now I may thank you for the hitherto good reception accorded to Peukert. He himself has been charged by me with the absolute and completely unreserved cooperation with all bureaus of the Eastern Territories. "Especially the labor supply for the German agriculture, and likewise for the most urgent armament production programs ordered by the Fuehrer make the fastest importation of approximately 1 million women and men from the Eastern Territories within the next four months a must. Starting 15 March the daily shipment must have reached 5,000 female and male workers respectively, while beginning of April this number has to be stepped up to 10,000. This is a requisite of the most urgent programs, and the spring tillage, and other agricultural tasks are not to suffer for the detriment of the nutrition and of the armed forces. "I have foreseen the allotment of the draft quotas for the individual territories in agreement with your experts for the labor supply as follows: "Daily quota starting 15 March 1943: "From General Commissariat White Ruthenia "Economic Inspection Center "Reichs Commissariat Ukraine "Economic Inspection South People 500 500 3,000 1,000 5,000 Total .. "Starting 1 April 1943 the daily quota is to be doubled corresponding to the doubling of the entire quota. "I hope to visit personally the Eastern Territories towards the end of the month, and ask you once more for your kind support." (019-PS) Sauckel travelled to Kauen in Lithuania to press his demands. A synopsis of a report of the City Commissioner of Kauen and minutes of a meeting in which Sauckel participated, reveal that: "In a lecture which the Plenipotentiary for the Arbeitseinsatz, Gauleiter Sauckel made on 18 July 1943 in Kauen and in an official conference following it, between Gauleiter Sauckel and the General Commissar, the pool of labor in the Reich was again brought up urgently: Gauleiter Sauckel again demanded that Lithuanian labor be furnished in greater volume for the purposes of the Reich." (204-PS) Sauckel also visited Riga, Latvia, to assert his demands. The purpose of this visit is described in a letter from the Reich Commissar for the Ostland to the Commissioner General in Riga. dated 3 May 1943. The letter states, in part: "In reference to the basic statements of the Plenipotentiary General for manpower, Gauleiter Sauckel on the occasion of his visit to Riga on 21 April 1943, and in view of the critical situation and in disregard of all contrary considerations, it was decided that a total of 183.000 workers have to be supplied from the Ostland for the Reich territory. This task must absolutely be accomplished within the next four months and at the latest must be completed by the end of August.” (2282.8S) Sauckel asked the German Army for assistance in the recruitmeet and deportation of civilan aber from the Eastern Terri torica secret organization order of the Army Group South. isted 17 August 1943, is to the following effect: "The Plenipotentary General for Labor Empicyment ardered the recruitment and employment of al born juring two years for the whole, newly occupied Eastern territory Decree AL VIA 378028 (Laciesure 1. copy of which is inclosed. The Reich Minister for Armament and Munition approved this order. "According to this order by the Plenipotentiary General for Labor Employment (BGA) you have to recruit and to transport to the Reich immediately all labor forces in your territory born during 1926 and 1927. The decree relative labor duty and labor employment in the theater of operations of the newly occupied Eastern territory of the 6 February 1943 and the executive orders therefore are the authority for the execution of this measure. Enlistment must be completed by 30 Sept. 43 at the latest." (3010-PS) Clearly, the demands made by Sauckel did result in the deportation of civilians from the occupied Eastern territories. Speer has stated in a record of conferences with Hitler on 10, 11, and 12 August 1942 that: "Gauleiter Sauckel promises to make Russian labor avail- 3. VIOLENT METHODS OF DEPORTATION FOR SLAVE LABOR In order to meet these demands, the Nazi conspirators made terror, violence, and arson the staple instruments of their policy of enslavement. Twenty days after Sauckel's demands of 5 October 1942, a high official in Rosenberg's Ministry by the name of Braeutigam, in a Top Secret memorandum dated 25 October 1942 described measures taken to meet these demands: 66* We now experienced the grotesque picture of having to recruit millions of laborers from the Occupied Eastern Territories, after prisoners of war have died of hunger like flies, in order to fill the gaps that have formed within Germany. Now the food question no longer existed. In the prevailing limitless abuse of the Slavic humanity 'recruiting' methods were used which probably have their origin in the blackest periods of the slave trade. A regular manhunt was inaugurated.. Without consideration of health or age the people were shipped to Germany where it turned out immediately that more than 100,000 had to be sent back because of serious illnesses and other incapabilities for work.” (294-PS) Rosenberg on 21 December 1942 wrote to Sauckel, the instigator of these brutalities, as follows: "The reports I have received show, that the increase of the guerilla bands in the occupied Eastern Regions is largely due to the fact that the methods used for procuring laborers in these regions are felt to be forced measures of mass deportations, so that the endangered persons prefer to escape their fate by withdrawing into the woods or going to the guerilla bands." (018-PS) An attachement to Rosenberg's letter, consisting of parts excerpted from letters of residents of the Occupied Eastern territories by Nazi censors, relates that: "At our place, new things have happened. People are being taken to Germany. On Dec. 5, some people from the Kowkuski district were scheduled to go, but they didn't want to and the village was set afire. They threatened to do the same thing in Borowytschi, as not all who were scheduled to depart wanted to go. Thereupon 3 truck loads of Germans arrived and set fire to their houses. In Wrasnytschi 12 houses and in Borowytschi 3 houses were burned. "On Oct. 1 a new conscription of labor forces took place. From what has happened. I will describe the most important to you. You can not imagine the bestiality. You probably remember what we were told about the Soviets during the rule of the Poles. At that time we did not believe it and now it seems just as incredible. The order came to supply 25 workers, but no one reported. All had filed. Then the German militia came and began to ignite the houses of those who had filed. The fire became very viclent, since it had not rained for 2 months. In addition the grain stacks were in the farm yards. You can imagine what took place. The people who had hurried to the scene were forbidden to extinguish the dames, beaten and arrested, so that 7 homesteads burned down. The policemen meanwhile ignited other houses. The people fell on their knees and kiss their hands, but the policemen beat them with rubber truncheons and threaten to b down the whole village. I don't know how this would have ended if I Sapurkany had not intervened. He promised that there would be laborers by morning. During the fire the militia went through the adjoining villages, seized the laborers and brought them under arrest. Wherever they did not find any laborers, they detained the parents, until the children appeared. That is how they raged throughout the night in Bielosirka. The workers which had not yet appeared till then, were to be shot. All schools were closed and the married teachers were sent to work here, while the unmarried ones go to work in Germany. They are now catching humans like the dog-catchers used to catch dogs. They are already hunting for one week and have not yet enough. The imprisoned workers are locked in at the schoolhouse. They cannot even go out to perform their natural functions, but have to do it like pigs in the same room. People from many villages went on a certain day to a pilgrimage to the monastery Potschaew. They were all arrested, locked in, and will be sent to work. Among them there are lame, blind and aged people". (018-PS) · Rosenberg, nevertheless, countenanced the use of force in order to furnish slave labor to Germany and admitted his responsibility for the "unusual and hard measures" that were employed. The transcript of an interrogation of Rosenberg under oath on 6 October 1945, contains the following admissions: 66* Q. You recognized, did you not, that the quotas set by Sauckel could not be filled by voluntary labor, and you didn't disapprove of the impressment of forced labor; isn't that right? "A. I regretted that the demands of Sauckel were so urgent that they could not be met by a continuation of voluntary recruitment and thus I submitted to the necessity of forced impressment." "Q. The letters that we have already seen between you and Sauckel, do not indicate, do they, any disagreement on your part with the principle of recruiting labor against their will; they indicate, as I remember, that you were opposed to the treatment that was later accorded these workers; that you did not oppose their initial impressment. "A. That is right. In those letters I mostly discussed the possibility of finding the least harsh methods of handling the matter; whereas, in no way, I placed myself in opposition to the orders that he was carrying out for the Fuehrer." (3719-PS) Moreover, in a letter dated 21 December 1942 Rosenberg stated: |