In April 1944 the SS was called on to produce even more laborers—this time 100,000 Jews from Hungary. The Tribunal will recall the minutes of the Defendant Speer’s discussion with Hitler on April 6 and 7, 1944, which were found in our Document R-124 at Page 36 and were read to the Court in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-179—minutes in which Speer referred to Hitler’s statement that he would call on the Reichsführer SS to produce 100,000 Jews from Hungary.
The last source of manpower had not been tapped. To Jews, deportees, women, and children, there was added the productive power of prisoners of war. It was through the SS that the conspirators squeezed the last drop of labor from such prisoners.
I refer to a statement by the Defendant Speer which appears in our Document R-124 at Page 13 of the translation, the document itself having already been introduced in evidence as Exhibit Number USA-179. The statement is found at Page 7, last paragraph of the original, Page 13 of our Document R-124, the next to the last paragraph on Page 13. That appears in Volume 2 of the document book. I quote:
“Speer: ‘We have to come to an arrangement with the Reichsführer SS as soon as possible so that PW’s he picks up are made available for our purposes. The Reichsführer SS gets from 30,000 to 40,000 men per month.’ ”
In order to insure SS control over the labor of prisoners of war, the Reichsführer SS was finally appointed as head of all prisoner-of-war camps on 25 September 1944. I offer in evidence the letter referring to his appointment. It is our Document 058-PS. It is Exhibit Number USA-456. It will be found in Volume 1 of the document book. That letter is a circular letter from the Director of the Party Chancellery dated 30 September 1944 and signed “M. Bormann.” I quote, beginning with the first paragraph of that letter:
“1. The Führer has ordered under the date of 25 September 1944:
“ ‘The custody of all prisoners of war and interned persons, as well as prisoner-of-war camps and installations with guards, are transferred to the Commander of the Reserve Army from 1 October 1944.’ ”
Passing to Paragraph 2 of the letter, I shall read Subparagraphs (a) and (c); I quote:
“2. The Reichsführer SS has commanded: