“The French Government has likewise accepted my demand that French officials sabotaging the enforcement of the compulsory labor law should be punished by severe penalties including the death penalty. I have left no doubt that further and more rigid measures will be adopted if the demands for the manpower required are not fulfilled.
“Your ever obedient and faithful, Fritz Sauckel.”
I draw the attention of the Tribunal to the problem of compulsory labor of women referred to in the two preceding documents. For a long time the French authorities categorically opposed the introduction of female labor. In return the Defendant Sauckel did not cease to exercise violent pressure.
On the 27th of June 1943, in a letter to Hitler, he suggested that an energetic statement of German needs be made before the French Government. I have already quoted this letter to the Tribunal, Exhibit Number RF-65 (Document 556(39)-PS). I shall not revert to it, but I emphasize the fact that the law of 1 February did not satisfy Sauckel and did not in the least appease his demands at all. His dissatisfaction and his determination to pursue his policy of compulsion become apparent from a report of 26 April 1944, bearing his signature; that the report has been forwarded is certified by Berk, one of his assistants.
There actually were four reports submitted jointly under Document Number 1289-PS, Exhibit Number RF-71, and I quote from the second page:
“1) France. The problem of women.
“At the time of the promulgation of the French compulsory labor law, the French authorities (Marshal Pétain in particular) have urgently desired that women be exempted from performing compulsory labor in Germany. In spite of serious objections the G.B.A. approved of this exemption. The reservation was made, however, that the approval was given on condition that the contingents imposed were met; or else the G.B.A. would reserve himself the right of taking further measures. Inasmuch as the contingents are far from being met, the demand for extending the compulsory labor service to women must also be addressed to the French Government.”