EXTRACTS FROM STENOGRAPHIC NOTES ON THE CONFERENCE AT
THE REICH MARSHAL’S ON THURSDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 1943,
11 O’CLOCK AT THE JUNKERS PLANT IN DESSAU
The Reich Marshal: Give the prisoner-of-war camp [Stalag] commander my greetings and tell him I said the Stalag is the biggest racket in Germany and merely a camp where get-aways are being organized wholesale. The men do not even have to bother to dig a tunnel, since they can walk out freely in broad daylight. The Italians get beaten up when they do not work. * * * It is absolutely useless to take the Italians as soldiers, for they report for duty, it is true, but then they bolt again. We need them here, however, as workers for the 100,000 men operation. In the second place, why do we not get the machines? If I want to have them, I just have to occupy a factory by surprise.
Milch: There are no transportation facilities to make this possible. We have to let certain plants go on working in Italy, such as ball bearings, steel castings, and others, and we cannot take the people from there. The same applies to the technical sphere. The people there are working for us. All depends on our policy toward the Italians. I have ordered that they can be beaten up if they do not work. I have also given permission that Italians caught sabotaging be sentenced to death. If this measure is not desired by the higher authorities, which seems to be the case, we are powerless; then the Italians in the Reich will not be of any use to us, and they will not do anything down there either. Now the Italian has found the way out, he goes into the militia and, once he is over there, he bolts. There is one other way to make him work; if we do not provide the Italian with food and tell him: only those who fight and work for us will get food.
(The Reich Marshal: That is what the Americans do!)
Why do we not do it? In my opinion we should try to get the machines by force. We can manufacture 1,000 pursuit planes in Italy and the engines for them. The engines will go only through Junkers, the other parts only through Messerschmitt. I should like to have the 109 and the 605 in Italy while they are still working, so that we can modernize our factories. We have the further advantage that the enemy drops his bombs not only on Germany, but also on Italy. We can disperse industry there in small valleys and we need not use the big Milan plants. The situation there is rather favorable.
The Reich Marshal: Above all, this question must be discussed at once with the Fuehrer.
(End of the conference at 11:45 p.m.)
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