"Non-Germans" Under the Third Reich (225 page)

7.
The view expressed by Gschließer in his report (BA Ostdok, 13 GG IV b/2), that the Labor Service Decree of October 26, 1939, was “essentially something that existed only on paper” is probably wide of the mark, since the decree was the foundation for the whole program whereby Poles were conscripted, sometimes compelled by use of police powers, for forced labor in the General Government and the Reich.

8.
The so-called
Baudienst
(the Reconstruction Service, which was incorporated into the Central Department of Internal Administration) had been set up to “carry out significant public works in the national interest” (Decree on the Reconstruction Service in the General Government of December 1, 1940,
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 359; reproduced in
Doc. Occ
. 6:336 f.; superseded by a stronger decree on April 22, 1942,
VBl.GG
[1942]: 218; reproduced in
Doc. Occ
. 6:341 ff., according to which all “non-German” males in the General Government between ages 18 and 60 [with the exception of foreigners, Jews, and Gypsies] were subject to conscription into the Reconstruction Service). Those called up were drawn from the younger age groups of “non-Germans” (Poles, though not Jews), according to needs; but the planned Reconstruction Service for the Ukrainians and Górales was apparently not established (according to remarks by Frauendorfer, the former head of the Central Department of Labor, July 20, 1961, BA Ostdok. 13 GG IV 1 b/3). The Reconstruction Service roughly corresponded to the Labor Service in the Reich. Its effectiveness is open to doubt, in spite of the welter of official statistics (according to the situation report for the year 1941 submitted by the head of liaison for the
Reichsarbeitsführer
to the governor general, March 19, 1942, “Diensttagebuch,” 1942, 1:214, excerpts in
Doc. Occ
. 6:338 ff., its strength was 11,500 men; according to a report by the Reich minister of finance on April 1, 1944, BA R 2/5053, there were 1,000 Reconstruction Service branches each with 150–80 conscripts), because wages were 50–60% below industry levels, and a very high percentage of those called-up never turned up or later “went on the run” (situation report from the head of liaison for the
Reichsarbeitsführer
to the governor general, March 19, 1942, “Diensttagebuch,” 1942, 1:214). The Reich Administration appears to have had a low opinion of this institution anyway (cf. telex from HSSPF/state secretary for the Security Services in the General Government to the Reich minister of finance, August 13, 1942, BA R 2/5049, 123; and his reply of August 29, 1942 [124]). Regarding the Civil Service ranking of German leaders of the Reconstruction Service, cf. situation report from the head of liaison for the
Reichsarbeitsführer
to the governor general, March 19, 1942 (“Diensttagebuch,” 1942, 1:214) and report by the Reich minister of finance of April 1, 1944 (BA R 2/5053). Nevertheless, the Reconstruction Service did play a certain role in major projects (forestry, building of the
Ostbahn
—Eastern railroad—and so on; situation report, March 19, 1942 [“Diensttagebuch,” 1942, 1:214]). With the deterioration of the war situation and the strenghtening of the Polish resistance movement, the manpower and effectiveness of the Reconstruction Service was further depleted; because of “attacks by gangs” and the “crumbling of German authority,” manpower fell in some parts by 30 to 40%; in Galicia it dropped from 10,000 to 2,000. In the General Government as a whole, desertions from the service led to a reduction in manpower from about 45,000 in January 1944 to 33,000 in May 1944 (situation report on the Reconstruction Service in the General Government, May 10, 1944, Institute for Western Studies, Pozna
, doc. I-151, Mappe 25; reproduced in
Doc. Occ.
6:438 f.).

9.
Decree on Compulsory Reconstruction Service for German Citizens, December 15, 1942 (
VBl.GG
[1942]: 761), though there were no
general
regulations on compulsory service for Germans. According to the report by Dr. Gschließer (BA Ostdok. 13 GG IV b/2), there was compulsory service for Germans already as early as 1940. The Decree concerning Restrictions on Changing Workplaces of February 22, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 80), which stipulated that giving notice and changing jobs were not permitted without prior approval from the Labor Office (except notice of termination of employment by offices of the Civil Service; cf. instruction of April 24, 1941,
VBl.GG
[1941]: 259), was valid for
all
employees in the General Government. The possibility of withdrawing manpower from existing employment for projects of “particular national importance” had already been introduced in relation to Poles by a decree issued on May 13, 1942 (
VBl.GG
[1942]: 255). According to Dr. Gschließer’s report (BA Ostdok. 13 GG IV b/2), this ruling also applied to Germans from January 18, 1943, on. However, the only hard evidence is the Decree on Registration of Men and Women for Service in the Defense of the Reich of February 2, 1943 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 65 ff.), with supplementary decree of June 30, 1942 (305).

10.
For a summary of rulings in the field of labor law in the General Government, see Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, 21 ff., though it does not contain the basic decrees of October 26, 1939 on compulsory labor service and forced labor for Jews (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 6) and for Poles (5). Concerning the situation of Polish workers, cf. S. Datner, “Wywóz ludno
ci polskiej na roboty niewolnicze do niemiec,”
Bulletin of the High Commission Warsaw
, vol. 16, 17 ff.; for more details, see Seeber,
Zwangsarbeiter in der faschistischen Kriegswirtschaft
(1964), 116 ff. (with numerous examples); see also note 2 above.

11.
As stated in the highly critical report of the head of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Czenstochau (Cz
stochowa),
Justitiar
Schmitt, “Die wirtschaftspolitischen Maßnahmen im GG” (no date, Institute for Western Studies, Pozna
, doc. I-13, reproduced in
Doc. Occ.
6:350 ff., 352).

12.
Sec. 4 of the decree of October 26, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 5).

13.
Ibid.

14.
Secs. 1, 2 of the Decree on the Organization of Working Conditions and Industrial Safety in the General Government of October 31, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 12), with a total of twelve implementing orders (in
Doc. Occ.
6:309 f. n. 4; and Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
).

15.
Sec. 3 of the decree issued on October 31, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 12); sec. 1, Third Implementing Order of March 12, 1940 (
VBl.GG
2 [1940]: 185).

16.
Cf. Fifth Implementing Order of December 14, 1940 (
VBl.GG
2 [1940]: 560), to the Decree on the Organization of Working Conditions and Industrial Safety of October 31, 1939 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 12). More than one hundred rulings on pay were decreed for the different districts, regulating the pay of “non-German” workers in the various branches of industry; German workers’ pay was regulated in accordance with Reich wage agreements (Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, introduction, 9). These pay rulings were applicable to the private sector (
Amtl. Anz.
1942, nos. 69, 71, 73, 90, 94; 1943, nos. 25, 69) but became more and more obsolete as the system was geared in practice to creating a uniform wage system modeled on a projected skeleton wage agreement for the private sector and trades (Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, 230 ff.), roughly corresponding to the skeleton wage agreement for the public services. Cf. the skeleton wage agreement for “non-German” workers and employees in the Civil Service (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 9, 14, 23); Wage Agreement Regulating Traveling Expenses for Workers … in the Private Sector of March 25, 1942 (
VBl.GG
[1942]: 182); Wage Agreement for Pharmacists of March 8, 1941 (
VBl.GG
[1941]: 296); Wage Agreement for Forestry Workers of October 28, 1942 (
VBl.GG
[1942]: 724; [1943]: 72, 212); Wage Agreement for Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Installations … and Oil Refining Plants … of April 13, 1943 (
Amtl. Anzeiger
1943, 1381); Instruction on the Regulation of Working Conditions … in the Sugar Industry of October 20, 1943 (quoted from Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, 228 ff.).

17.
Frank at a meeting on October 30, 1939, “Diensttagebuch,” 1939.

18.
Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, 182 f.

19.
Law of May 16, 1922 (
Gesetzbl. der Republik Polen
, no. 40, Pos. 334).

20.
Fourth and Seventh Implementing Orders, issued respectively on July 20, 1940 (
VBl.GG
2 [1940]: 404), and March 29, 1941 (
VBl.GG
[1941]: 174), to the Decree on Working Conditions in the General Government of October 26, 1939; Instruction on Regulation of Vacations for “Non-German” Employees in the General Government of March 31, 1943 (
Amt. Anzeiger
1943, 718; Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, 35 f.). Sixth Implementing Order to the Decree on Working Conditions of March 29, 1941 (
VBl.GG
[1941]: 172), and skeleton wage agreement for “non-German” employees and workers of December 28, 1942 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 9; Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, 186); this stipulated a four-week period of notice for Polish employees in the private sector. Decree on Modification of Industrial Safety Regulations of June 13, 1940 (
VBl.GG
1 [1940]: 200), empowering works managers to extend the working hours from eight to ten hours a day, insofar as existing regulations did not allow working days of ten hours or more. In addition, prolonging working hours to ten hours a day was permitted under the terms of wage agreements (secs. 1, 2). A corresponding ruling is to be found in sec. 5 of the skeleton wage agreement for “non-German” workers and employees in the Civil Service of the General Government (
Rahmentarifordnung
or RTO) of December 28, 1942 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 9; Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, 186). Sec. 1, Decree on Protection of the Working Mother of May 1, 1943 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 187 ff.in conjunction with sec. 1 of the instruction of May 1, 1943, to the Decree on Protection of the Working Mother, Melies,
Das Arbeitsrecht des Generalgouvernements
, 170), according to which protection of the working mother applied only to German citizens and nationals and persons of German descent, not to Poles and Jews. sec. 6 of Twelfth Implementing Order of March 15, 1943 (
VBl.GG
[1943]: 9, 150), to the Decree on the Organization of Working Conditions … in the General Government of October 31, 1944 (
VBl.GG
[1939]: 13). Cf. also the so-called
Arbeitsstrafverordnung
(lit. work discipline decree) of February 16, 1944 (Decree on the Punishment of Violations of Forced Labor Regulations,
VBl.GG
[1944]: 57 f.), which made violations against industrial relations regulations (e.g., those concerning compulsory labor, “work cards,” duty of service, etc.), punishable by prison sentences and/or unlimited fines, and in serious cases by penitentiary. Criminal proceedings could be started only at the behest of the
Kreishauptmann
(or
Stadthauptmann
) (sec. 2), maintaining a degree of flexibility. This did not rule out the use of “other appropriate measures” [such as police action—Author], so that dereliction of duty by Poles could be punished by measures such as protective custody.