Transport and communications.
The Germans made enormous requisitions of transport and communication material. It is not yet possible to draw up an exact inventory of them. Nevertheless, the information given by the Netherlands Government makes it possible to form an idea of the magnitude of these spoliations.
I submit as Document Number RF-134 information given by the representative of the Netherlands Government concerning transport and communication. This is a summary of it:
(a) Railways—of 890 locomotives, 490 were requisitioned; of 30,000 freight cars, 28,950 were requisitioned; of 1,750 passenger cars, 1,446 were requisitioned; of 300 electric trains, 215 were requisitioned; of 37 Diesel-engine trains, 36 were requisitioned. In general, the little material left by the Germans was badly damaged either by wear and tear, by military operations, or by sabotage. In addition to rolling stock, the Germans sent to the Reich considerable quantities of rails, signals, cranes, turntables, repair cars, et cetera.
(b) Tramways—the equipment was removed from The Hague and Rotterdam to German cities. Thus, for example, some 50 tramcars with motors and 42 trailers were sent to Bremen and Hamburg. A considerable amount of rails, cables, and other accessories were removed and transported to Germany. The motor buses of the tramway companies were likewise taken by the occupying power.
(c) The Germans seized the greater part of the motorcars, motorcycles, and about 1 million bicycles. They left the population only those machines which would not run.
(d) Navigation—the Germans seized a considerable number of barges and river boats, as well as a considerable part of the merchant fleet, totalling about 1.5 million tons.
(e) Postal equipment—the Germans seized a large quantity of telephone and telegraph apparatus, cables, and other accessories, which has not yet been computed; 600,000 radio sets were confiscated.
I now come to Chapter 49, miscellaneous spoliation.
Forced labor demanded by the occupier.