On the 18th of February 1941, in connection with the Four Year Plan, the Reich Office for Metals and the Supreme Command of the Army worked out a “metal” plan which provided for Belgian consumption; the carrying out of German orders; exports to the Reich.
These various measures did not satisfy the occupying authorities so they ran a certain number of salvage campaigns which were called “special actions” (Sonderaktionen) in accordance with the method they applied in all the countries of Western Europe. I shall not go into the details of these actions which are described on Page 63 and following of the report; the salvage campaigns for bells, for printing lead, for lead and copper—from information given by the Belgian Government, Document Number RF-146, Page 65 of the report.
In other fields, but without admitting it, the Germans pursued a policy intended to eliminate or to restrict Belgian competition, so that in case of a German victory the economic branches concerned would have had to restrict themselves to the Belgian market, which would then have remained wide open to German business.
These attempts at immediate or future suppression of competition were clearly evident in the case of foundries, glass works, textile industries, construction works, car assembling, construction of material for narrow-gauge railroads, the leather industry, and especially shoe-manufacturing, for which reconstruction of destroyed factories was systematically prohibited.
But in addition, in the textile industry as well as in numerous sectors, especially in the iron-smelting industry, the weakening of the economy cannot be measured only by the scale of the compulsory deliveries but in relation to the policy practiced by the occupying power. Belgian industry, especially coal and iron, suffered considerable losses as a result of directives imposed to finance the war needs at a cheaper rate.
I shall pass over the question of prices of coal. The control of the coal industry was assured by the appointment of a plenipotentiary for coal and by centralization of all sales in the hands of a single organism, the “single seller,” under Belgian direction but with a German commissioner. I am referring to the Belgian coal office, one seller to a single purchaser, “Rheinisch Westfälisches Kohlensyndikat,” which ordered deliveries to be made to the Reich, to Alsace-Lorraine and Luxembourg.
According to the same German report, Page 67, in spite of the rise in the price of coal agreed to on 20 August 1940, 1 January 1941, and 1 January 1943, the coal industry showed considerable losses in the course of the occupation years. In February 1943, the coal office having agreed to an increase of the sales price, the price per ton for the Belgian coal was higher than on the German home market. The German commissioner for the mining industry forced the Belgian industry to pay the difference in rate when exporting to the Reich by means of premiums.
From the figures indicated in Exhibits Numbers RF-176 (Document Number ECH-35) and 178 (Document Numbers ECH-26 and 27), the Tribunal may gather information as to the financial losses caused by exploitation. The report of the military administration gives in its eleventh section details regarding the iron-smelting industry: It suffered as greatly as had the coal industry during the occupation. In the Thomas smelting works in particular, the losses resulted from the increase in the cost price and from price fluctuations in respect to certain elements pertaining to the manufacture.
In this one sector, according to the memorandum of the Belgian Government, the respective losses may be assessed at 3,000 million Belgian francs. Still, according to the same report, out of a total production of 1,400,000 tons, 1,300,000 tons of various products were exported to Germany not including the metal delivered to Belgian factories working exclusively for Germany.
According to information furnished by the Belgian Government, the Germans removed in bulk and transported to Germany material of very great value. The total industrial spoliation is estimated by the Belgian Government at a sum of 2,000 million Belgian francs, at the 1940 rate, of course.