It can thus be stated in principle that, by various procedures which differed hardly from those employed in other countries, the Germans during the occupation of Norway not only exhausted all the financial resources of that country but placed it considerably in debt.
It has not been possible to furnish a detailed account of German extortions, whether made after requisitions, followed or not by indemnities, or by purchase, apparently conducted by mutual agreement fictitiously settled with those very means of payment extorted from Norway.
In the report which I have submitted under Document Number RF-121, the Norwegian Government tabulated the damages and losses suffered by its country. I shall give a summary of this table to the Tribunal.
The Norwegian Government estimates that the damages suffered by industry and commerce amount to a total of 440 million kroner, of which the Germans have paid, fictitiously of course, only 7 million kroner; merchant vessels to the value of 1,733 million kroner, for which Germany has made no settlement; damage to ports and installations amounts to 74 million kroner, for which Germany has settled fictitiously only to the extent of 1 million kroner; for railroads, canals, airports, and their installations, the spoliation represents the sum of 947 million, for which Germany has fictitiously paid 490 million kroner; roads and bridges, 199 million kroner, for which the settlement amounts to 67 million; spoliation of agriculture reached 242 million kroner, of which only 46 million have been settled; personal property, 239 million, of which nothing has been settled; various requisitions, not included in the preceding categories, amount to 1,566 million kroner, for which the occupier, fictitiously, has settled up to the amount of 1,154 million kroner. The Norwegian Government estimates that the years of man-labor applied to the German war effort represent a sum of 226 million kroner. It estimates, on the other hand, that the years of man-labor lost to the national economy by deportation to Germany and forced labor by the order of Germany amounts to 3,122 million kroner. Forced payments to German institutions amount to 11,054 million kroner, for which Germany has made no settlement whatsoever. The grand total, according to the Norwegian Government, is 21,086 million kroner, which represents 4,700 million dollars.
Norway suffered particularly during the German occupation. Indeed, though her resources are considerable, notably timber from the forests, minerals such as nickel, wolfram, molybdenum, zinc, copper, and aluminum, nevertheless Norway must import indispensable food products for feeding her population.
As the Germans had absolute control over maritime traffic, nothing could come into Norway without their consent. They could therefore, by pressure, as they had to do in France by means of the line of demarcation between the two zones, impose their demands more easily. The rations, as fixed by the occupiers, were insufficient to insure the subsistence of the Norwegian population. The continued undernourishment over a period of years resulted in very serious consequences: Disease multiplied, mortality likewise increased, and the future of the population has been jeopardized by the physical deficiencies of its younger element.
These are the few observations which I had to make on the subject of Norway. I shall, if the Tribunal will permit, now deal with the part which relates to the Netherlands.
Economic pillage of the Netherlands.
In invading the Netherlands in contravention of all the principles of the law of nations, the Germans installed themselves in a country abundantly provided with the most varied wealth, in a country in which the inhabitants were the best nourished of Europe and which, in proportion to the population, was one of the wealthiest in the world. The gold reserve of Holland exceeded the amount of bills in circulation. Four years later when the Allies liberated that country, they found the population afflicted by a veritable famine; and apart from the destruction resulting from military operations, a country almost entirely ruined by the spoliation of the occupation.
The dishonest intentions of Germany appear in a secret report by Seyss-Inquart on his governorship. This report, dating from 29 May to 19 July 1940, was discovered by the United States Army. It has been registered under the number Document 997-PS, and I submit it to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number RF-122. These are the chief extracts from this report: