THIRTY-NINTH DAY
Monday, 21 January 1946
Morning Session
M. GERTHOFFER: Mr. President, Your Honors, at the end of the last session I had the honor of beginning the account of the French Prosecution on the economic pillage. In the first chapter I had indicated to you succinctly how the Germans had become masters of the means of payment in the occupied countries by imposing war tributes under the pretext of maintaining their army of occupation and by imposing so-called clearing agreements, functioning to their benefit almost exclusively.
In a second chapter, entitled “Sequestering of Production in the Occupied Territories,” I had the honor of expounding to you that, after the invasion, the factories were under military guard and that German technicians proceeded to transfer the best machines to the Reich; that the working population, having come to the end of their resources, grouped themselves around the factories to ask for subsidies; and, finally, that the Germans had ordered the resumption of work and had reserved for themselves the right to designate provisional administrators to direct the enterprises.
At the same time, the Germans exercised pressure over the rulers of the occupied countries and over the industrialists to bring the factories back to productivity. In certain cases they themselves placed provisional German administrators in charge and insinuated that the factories would be utilized for the needs of the occupied populations.
On the whole, to avoid unemployment and to maintain their means of production, the industrialists, little by little, resumed their work, endeavoring to specialize in the manufacture of objects destined for the civilian populations. Resorting to various means of pressure, the Germans imposed the manufacture of defensive armaments and then progressively of offensive armaments. They requisitioned certain enterprises, shut down those which they did not consider essential, distributed the raw materials themselves, and placed controllers in the factories.
The German control and seizure continually expanded in conformity with secret directives given by the Defendant Göring himself, as can be seen in a document dated 2 August 1940, discovered by the Army of the United States, which bears the Document Number EC-137, and which I place before the Tribunal as Exhibit Number RF-105. This is the essential passage of the document:
“The extension of the German influence over foreign enterprises is an objective of German political economy. It is not yet possible to determine whether and to what extent the peace treaty will effect the surrender of shares. It is now, however, that every opportunity should be used for German economy, in time of war, to obtain access to material of interest to the economy in occupied territories and to prevent removals that might hinder the realization of the above-mentioned aim. . . .”
I stop this quotation here. After having had knowledge of such a document, there can be no further doubt about the intentions of the German rulers. The proof of the putting into execution of such a plan is shown in a document which will be read when the particular case of France will be dealt with in the course of this exposé.