SAUCKEL: I did not issue them myself, but rather the French Government did. That is correct; for in every occupied territory—and that is true the whole world over—the authority of the occupying power must be respected.
M. HERZOG: Is it true that you demanded that the death penalty should be applied to officials who, for instance, hindered your action?
SAUCKEL: It is true that at a conference with the French Premier Laval, I demanded, by way of negotiations, the death penalty in cases of very serious obstruction.
M. HERZOG: Then you admit that you demanded the application of the death penalty in the case of these officials?
SAUCKEL: Yes, if a serious case of sabotage was in question—according to martial law.
M. HERZOG: Is it true that your task was to procure for the German war industry the labor it required?
SAUCKEL: That was one of my tasks.
M. HERZOG: In this respect were you responsible to the Defendant Speer, Minister for Armaments and Munitions, for the carrying out of your task?
SAUCKEL: I was responsible to the Four Year Plan and to the Führer, and I had instructions from the Führer to meet the requirements of Reich Minister Speer as far as it was possible for me to do so.
M. HERZOG: Did the Defendant Speer approve of all the steps which you took in recruiting foreign labor?