“Rules are to be initiated for the allotment of scarce raw materials etc.; and their use and processing for other than war, or otherwise absolutely vital, goods is prohibited.” (EC-128)
The military aspects of Schacht’s plans to increase the production of scarce raw materials within Germany, and thereby reduce Germany’s dependence upon foreign countries for materials needed in the rearmament program, are likewise revealed in the aforementioned report of the Ministry of Economics of September 1934:
“The investigations initiated by the Raw Materials Commission and the measures introduced for enlarging our raw materials basis through home production as well as for furthering the production of substitute materials will directly benefit war economy preparations.” (EC-128)
(4) Plans and Preparations for Economic Controls During War. Pursuant to the unpublished Reich Defense Law secretly enacted on 21 May 1935, Schacht was appointed General Plenipotentiary for War Economy by Hitler. Under this law, Schacht was placed in complete charge of economic planning and preparation for war in peacetime, except for the direct production of armaments which was entrusted to the Ministry of War; and upon the outbreak of war, Schacht was to be the virtual economic dictator of Germany. His task was “to put all economic forces in the service of carrying on the war and to secure the life of the German people economically”. In order to facilitate his task, the Ministers of Economy, Food and Agriculture, Labor, and Forestry were subordinated to him, and he was authorized “within his realm of responsibility, to issue legal regulations which may deviate from existing regulations”. The necessity for absolute secrecy was stressed (2261-PS).
Schacht appointed Wohlthat as his deputy General Plenipotentiary for War Economy and organized a staff to carry out his directives. Schacht has admitted that he must accept full responsibility for the actions of these subordinates (3729-PS).
Before his resignation in late 1937, Schacht had worked out in amazing detail his plans and preparations for the German economy in the forthcoming war. Recognizing that wartime controls, to be effective, must be based on adequate information, Schacht had directed the completion of comprehensive surveys of 180,000 industrial plants in Germany and had compiled statistics concerning
“* * * the composition of the labor force as to sex, age, and training, the consumption of raw and auxiliary material, fuels, power, the productive capacity, the domestic and foreign trade as well as the supply of material and products in the beginning and at the end of the year.” (EC-258)
On the basis of the statistical data thus collected, plans had been formulated by the end of 1937 wherein
“* * * the needs of the Armed Forces and the civilian minimum needs in wartime are compared with the covering thereof by supplies and production.” (EC-258)
The supervisory boards, which were briefly described above in connection with the import and export controls, were charged with “preparing their orders for the regulation of war contracts and fees”, and were instructed to coordinate with various Reich manpower authorities to secure “their indispensable personnel” (EC-258).