NAZI MAN POWER

Evening Star, Issue 24990, 8 October 1943, Page 4

NAZI MAN POWER

MEETING THE SHORTAGES GRANDFATHERS BEING CALLED UP . . . RUGBY, October 0. An official of the Ministry of Economic Warfare says that many German grandfathers will be called up under the new German order to relieve the acute man power shortage in Germany. Men up to 59 are to register for military service. This has been caused by the reverses in Africa, Russia, and Italy. _ Since 1942 the adjustment of German civilian production in relation to war production (which guaranteed a minimum production of consumer goods), air raids, heavy military defeats, and the big labour comb-out have forced changes in policy. These factors meant that all thought of a guarantee to the German consumer had to be set aside. There has been a vast destruction of consumer goods and textile plants in the air raids. This has forced the Ger-. mans to give up hope of an increased production of consumer goods and led to the suspension of all clothing sales to adults. This, as the Germans have admitted, was one of the direct results of the Hamburg raids. The fact tha,t their food front was relatively favourable has made the Germans think that they conld afford to cut down the consumer still further in spite of the increased demand for consumer goods, due to the air raids, but it is evident that the German consumer will have to look forward to an even leaner time so far as commodities other than foodstuffs are concerned. In many German cities, the official continued J advertisements have appeared in the newspapers for men to the age of 59 to register for military service. The Germans now find that they must replace the present casualties and provide for casualties in the future. There is a tendency to switch as many German men and women as possible from civilian to war'industry and place foreign imported labour in the civilians' former industry.

No doubt the Germans are planning to use for their labour force a considerable number of Italians who hud down their arms in the Balkans and in other parts of Europe. In three to four months before tho Italian armistice there was a very large flow o.t Italian workers back from Germany to Ttalv. Italv had planned to get them all out, but did not quite succeed. It is likely that Italian soldiers will ho as unwilling to work for the Germans as they are ready to lay down their arms.