Kehrl: That would also result in spreading the risk in case of air warfare.
Milch: I believe the system to be good, as a still more severe commitment of workers for Germany would have the effect of making a considerable part of them remain over there for good. I wish you had something to back you up so you can have enough power to get it done. I do not think that anyone in France will enforce it.
Sauckel: But they will all right, if Germany goes at this thing the right way. It is not the insignificant French workman who should be punished, but the French policeman, who, instead of supplying people to Germany, goes to them beforehand and says: I’m coming tomorrow; you’d better get out. The French subordinate and intermediary authorities have to be punished.
Milch: Even if Bichelonne and Laval have the best intention there will be resistance from the mayors, the gendarmes, and the prefects, just because these people are afraid that, first, they will be called to account afterwards for it, and, second, because of their patriotism, which makes them say: We must not work for the enemy of our country. Therefore, I would like to have an authority in our administration which would force these people to do it, because then the French could say: If you force us, we will do it, but voluntarily we will not do it. The same applies to Italy. There they say: Who knows who will win, whether it will be Mussolini or Badoglio or the King; only, if you force us, we are ready to do it. Therefore, we have to have something on our side which will exercise this pressure. I don’t see at all why big divisions should be necessary for this. The existing forces should be sufficient to accomplish it.
Timm: I have the feeling that we are sticking too closely to the figures and are neglecting the qualitative side of the question. The present development may permit us to fulfill our programs with regard to figures, but in the demands made by the factories the important thing for them is to have so many metal workers, etc. Then we practically have to say: You will only get unskilled workers.
Kehrl: We realize that. The plants are getting unskilled workers, at the utmost it may be possible to obtain skilled workers by transferring plants from Italy to Germany.
Sauckel: Then in the course of the year the factories will declare: We cannot use these workers. And over against this you have the fact that in France we have a reservoir of unused skilled workers.
Milch: I am not worrying about that. Naturally our plants will say: We want skilled workers. But they also need a certain number of unskilled workers.
Timm: Will it not happen that the officers making the demands say one day: But we know that in the French plants there is an excess of skilled workers which cannot be justified?
Milch: That should be discussed again later with Speer himself. First, Speer must have the proper perspective to see what has happened as the result of all his agreements.