REICH FACED WITH LABOUR SHORTAGE

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23662, 12 June 1942, Page 4

REICH FACED WITH LABOUR SHORTAGE

FRITZ SAUCKEL

Dr. Mansfeld, appointed German labour dictator only a few weeks ago. was not destined to hold his long. Suddenly and unexpectedly. Hitler has nominated Fritz Sauckel Reich Stadtholder and Gauleiter of Thuringia, to be “General Commissioner for the recruiting of labour under tlmFour Year Plan." The ferocious gauleiter ls to achieve what the expert Mansfeld and his predecessor, Dr. Syrup, failed to perform. Changes ill'the high command are thus followed by a, change, in. the principal sections of economic warfare Things are certainly not going “according to schedule.” At the beginning of the year, Mansfeld was ordered to solve the labour problem by any means, however ruthless, in order-to provide his colleague of the industrial section, DirectorGeneral Zaftgen, with the labour needed to carry out what was called the “new gigantic arms programme.” The latest change shows that the task, upon the discharge of which depends not only the spring offensive, but the. future of Germany, is not yet achieved. Sauckel, the new dictator, -will- find himself confronted with problems equally difficult to solve. Here are some of them: . . 1. The hope of mobilising labour by combing processes has not been fulfilled. The reserves are so fully exhausted that, to take a single example, even the blind have been drawn uponr some of them being found fit for work in mines. With German workers already working 12 hours a day, longer hours are out of the question. Indeed, symptoms of fatigue and growing absenteeism for reasons 'of health are causing the German planning authorities increasing concern. Combing-out has itself gone so far that in the building trade, for instance, there is no one left to build houses. Labour in Agriculture 2. Contrary to original expectations, agriculture has suddenly appealed for several hundred thousand workers as an immediate and over-riding necessity. Bad harvests, the absence of supplies from the Ukraine, and the .need to plant many more potatoes call for additional labour without delay; otherwise Hitler’s war-machine will break down on its food front, Before.the war German agriculture' employed about 5,000,000 men and nearly 6,000,000 women. Half of them were members of farmers’ families. Of these, a considerable proportion is now in the army. At harvest time, July-August, there will be a still greater demand for labour. - 3. Female labour has also failed to realise expectations. Since the begin--ning of the war, 1,000,000 additional women have joined the ranks of the workers, 147,000 as postal servants. 45,000 in offices, 76,000 on the railways, and 26,000 on the tramway services. In other occupations the response has been negligible, and; most important of all, the quality of work leaves much to be desired. An Inquiry carried out on 100 farms in Pomerania revealed that women helped in harvest work on only 14 of them. On 87 farms, threefifths of; the wolhea stayed away. As a result, large quantities of cereals were frozen. Stem measures are now threatened, including fines and even imprisonment. Women must work longer hours and the exemptions hitherto allowed to toothers are withdrawn. The Nazi principle that women’s sphere is the home has gone, by. the board, with mslny others. The. conscription of women is only a question of time. . ~, 4. The greatest disappointment of all has been the Russian prisoners of war. With them Hitter believed that he had not only decimated the Russian army,but also -found the slaves he needs so badly. Now German farmers are declaring roundly that prisoners of war cannot satisfy the urgent need for German labour in agriculture, which required skilled arid Interested hands. “What ls : a farmer to do,'’ asked the “Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” of February 22, “when one party of prisoners is replaced by another and the staff of native experts is too small to teach and'direct the new material? The loss-of valuable time may imperil the whole, harvest"- And .this is only one aspect of the problem. . Hitherto, German labour has ofily/ absorbed about 300,000 of the alleged millions of

(By European Correspondents.)

Russian prisoners; and the 'Breslauer Neueste Nachrichten" tells us why. when it says that the Russians need very close guarding by German soldiers and can only be used for preliminary work. From other sources it appears that some of the prisoners have been employed on shovelling ' snow. From the Donets sector 1000 Russian miners have been transferred to tlfe Ruhr, where, as the Nazis will soon find out. their supervision will present, another problem. In the Ukraine itself there is a shortage of labour, because, so the Germans say, the Russians have “carried off’’ the men. Foreign Labour 5. The reservoir of “voluntary” labour from abroad is also exhausted. Persuasion having failed, recourse is had to threats. According to the German recruiting offices, the unemployed of Europe are to be transported for work in Germany. 'The number, according lo i German estimates, is 1,200,0W1, but many more are needed. 1 Consequently, the Nazi authorities in the occupied territories have resorted to the following expedient: businessesare required tq dismiss part of their staff, who are then recruited for labour in Germany. This has happened in the .Balkans and also ,in France. The Reich Labour Gazette says that in future the whole staff of the metallurgical industries, from the manager downwards, will be transferred to replace labour in German factories. In Czechoslovakia men and single women have been told to hold themselves in readiness to go and Work in Germany. The 'Berlin Market Research Institute recently ascertained that Holland, Belgium, tad France have more than 10,000,000 miners, and industrial workers. This stocktaking by the Nazi authorities in the subjugated countries is highly significant, but they will be making a great mistake if they count upon mis supply ’as a constant German asset. The leaders of German industry and labour have, found that nut during the recruiting of’the last ye«, even if they do not admit it. GoeobMl, acknowledged it recently,.. when . hte wrote in “Das- Reich : .We have enough raw materials, but we need labour to attain maximum armaments output.’’ That labour is not forthcomtag'.and it cannot be so easily : commandeered. It would seem that the, “gigantic arms programme” has already broken down on this point* - Banckel’s Career , Fritz Sauckel was a deputy and group leader of the Nazi party in the 'Thuringian Diet as early as 1930. He, , rose eventually to the position of PTe-'v sident of the Thuringian Ministry of r. State and. with Dr. Frick, then Thur- - tagian Minister for the Interior, con- L ' cocted the plan of acquiring German t citizenship for Adolf Hitler .through ; his appointment as a gendarme as Hild: i burghausen. The trick failed, being * killed by ridicule, when. Agalnst. the j wishes of the Government, It,.became ? public, knowledge. Ah a rewprd.how- ; ever, for good intentions, Sauckelwu j made Reich Stedtholder: in Thuringia, f The suggestion of a camouflaged ap- ; pointment for Hitler was . then revived $ by the Government of Brunswick, ; which appointed him Economic Coun-' 'f, seller to its Berlin- Legation, a; post ) which automatically conferred German | citizenship. . •• | Sauckel had only four years of see- I phdary schooling, leaving to study en- s gineering at the Technical College ,at - Hmenau. However, he became ,no • more than a qualified locksmith and» 1 saw better prospects for himself as a r party propagandist. In 1919 he joined - the “German People’s Defensive and Offenslv’e Alliance.” a forerunner of • the Nazi party,, and quickly won a re- j, putation for breaking up political meet- ; tags, and beating up political oppon- -- cntsi• • - •■ r , 3 - Sguckel, who iS;4he father of eight ; or more, was appointed “President of ,f the Central Committee of the National , Union of Germans Blest With Large ( Families.” During the party’s struggle f for power he founded a weekly, Der | Natiorial-SOzialiSt.” /Ih 1933/thia was - merged in the “Thuenngische Staats-; zeitung,” in which all-official prqclama- ; tions and all governmental and communal notices nave to be published— j. on payment of a fee. Now Sauckel has ~ been appointed Labour Dictator*, • fc. ■ (Copyright by European Correspond- \ ents.) ■ |