Sauckel: I would like to insist on the fact that, in the future also, the S-plants be checked; for the S-plants form a suction pump, and, since it is known all over Italy and France, that whoever works in the S-plants is protected from any interference on my part is proved by the following fact. During the first three months I wanted to take out of Italy 1 million people before 30 May. In these two months hardly 7,000 men have come. That is just the difficulty. The bulk goes to the S-plants, and only the dregs are left for employment in Germany. I would like to achieve yet, that for the important plants in Italy, at least the number of S-plants be restricted, that is that the number of S-plants be not increased.
Schieber: In Italy for every protected plant there is an agreement made. Over, beyond the situation on 15 February or 10 February, S-plants are established only with the approval of the services under me. We have them registered, and only when we aim at an agreement are they declared protected plants.
Sauckel: Now the question arises: If in such a protected plant there are more hands than are needed according to German standards, could they be handed over?
Schieber: They are to be combed through but the people combed through are to be put only in other protected plants. Down there in Italy in your services there is a demand for 7,000 hands and more. The gentlemen are right to laugh at us saying: What does that mean, you want people, but at the same time our great task must be the transfer of people! I spoke with Leyers on Sunday and told him that I wished to have a conversation with the Gauleiter about this matter: If the labor offices state that there is still a certain surplus of hands employed, a commissioner appointed by General Leyers must then visit the respective plant together with a commissioner of Gauleiter Sauckel’s; they must examine the situation, and these two gentlemen must then come to an agreement, as to the people they remove from plants. * * * Besides these promises concerning nutrition have not been kept to the extent we wished. The extra food, as we had planned it has not yet appeared at all so that there is no incentive felt; apart from this certain inner evolutions are influencing industry at present in Italy, with the result that especially the leading workmen who are so valuable for us partly fail to come to the factory any more. They wait patiently until, during the next three or four weeks, the elections and convocations in the factories concerning socialization and the introduction of commissars, etc., are over. * * *
Sauckel: In Italy, it seems, things are going on smoothly in general, but not yet in France.
Milch: When workmen are transferred how are their families ensured?
Sauckel: Automatically.
Schieber: That is quite easy. If it is possible in any way, we shall have the whole personnel transferred to another factory. * * *
Sauckel: Years ago we made an investigation like this in France and saw that in German armament production, corresponding to districts A and B, some 600,000 workers were occupied out of the total of some 2½ to 3 million metal workers we had anticipated. Therefore there must still be some more metal workers hidden in France, people who were formerly in metal trades.