“A: ‘Yes, of voluntary recruiting only, my instructions being that it should only be carried out on this basis.’
“Q: ‘Are any results known?’
“A: ‘Yes, but the results were not as great as anticipated, only some 300,000 to 400,000 volunteered and most of these were from the Ukraine, Lithuania, and Estonia.’
“Q: ‘Were there any negotiations about decreasing the quotas ordered by the Plenipotentiary General for Allocation of Labor (GBA)?’
“A: ‘Yes, negotiations for decreasing the quotas took place but broke down owing to Sauckel demanding something like a million workers to be transferred to the interior.’
“Q: ‘Who was responsible for the care and control of the East Workers (Ostarbeiter) in the Reich?’
“A: ‘The German Labor Front (Arbeitsfront) and the Reich Food Estate (Reichsnährstand) were responsible for the care of the East Workers, the former for workers in munitions and heavy industry and the latter for agricultural workers.’
“Q: ‘What was the point of view of the Department ASO...’ ”
DR. THOMA: ASO, if I may interrupt, is the Labor, Social, and Political Department of the East Ministry.
INTERPRETER: [continuing.]