First I call the attention of the Tribunal to the working hours imposed on foreign workers. The working hours were legally set at 54 hours per week by Sauckel’s decree of 22 August 1942. Actually, most foreign workers were subjected to still longer working hours. Rush work, which necessitated overtime, was mostly assigned to foreigners. It was not unusual for the latter to be forced to work 11 hours a day, that is, 66 hours a week, provided they had one day off per week.
For this purpose I quote the report of the Minister for Prisoners, Deportees, and Refugees, Document UK-78(3), which I submit as Exhibit Number RF-87. I quote Paragraph 2:
“Working Hours: The average number of working hours was 11 and sometimes 13 a day in certain factories, for example, Maschinenfabrik, Berlin (31). In Berlin-Spandau, the Alkett factory imposed 10¼ hours work on day shift and 12 hours on night shift. At Königsberg the caterpillar-tread factory, Krupp, imposed 12 hours a day.”
The work of foreign workers was remunerated by wages identical with those of the German workers.
I call the attention of the Tribunal to the illusory character of this equality. The policy of freezing wages was a permanent element of the wage and price policy pursued by the National Socialist Government; consequently, the wages of the workers employed in Germany remained limited. They were, moreover, heavily burdened with impositions and taxes. Finally and above all, they were encroached upon by fines which the German employers had the right to impose upon their workers. These fines could reach the amount of the weekly wage for slight breaches of discipline.
I submit in evidence Document D-182. These are two drafts of speeches to foreign civilian workers. One of them is intended for Russian and Polish workers. I leave this to be dealt with by my Soviet colleagues. I submit the other to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number RF-88, and I quote:
“Draft of an address to foreign civilian workers, ‘Maintenance of Labor Discipline,’ January 1944.
“I must inform you of the following: