nature and volume of the orderslocation and capacity of the plantsraw material requirements and coverage the latter as far as possible out of raw material stocks existing in the General gouvernement—requirements and provisioning of workers means of transport for delivery of materials and dispatch of finished products;pre-financing of wages in the General gouvernement and transfer of the proceeds from the Reich;
nature and volume of the orders
location and capacity of the plants
raw material requirements and coverage the latter as far as possible out of raw material stocks existing in the General gouvernement—
requirements and provisioning of workers means of transport for delivery of materials and dispatch of finished products;
pre-financing of wages in the General gouvernement and transfer of the proceeds from the Reich;
e. that exact investigations be made in order to determine the plants which are either required for filling the armament orders or continue to work for the supplying of the General gouvernement with absolutely vital goods, or are being maintained as replacement plants, or are to be stripped and scrapped; and that the putting into operation or continued operation of the plants be uniformly regulated and made subject to permit;
f. that in order to insure the necessary supply of Polish workers in the Reich the labor offices harmonize the recruiting with the labor requirements in the General gouvernement; that the shipment will take place early enough to be completed in the course of April; that the transfer of savings of these workers be regulated who came to the Reich merely as migratory workers.
4. For the uniform orientation of the total economy of the General gouvernement towards the tasks now to be accomplished the following additional measures are to be taken:
a. In the food supply of the population it must under all circumstances be seen to it that the persons working in plants vital to life and armaments will maintain their efficiency while the rest of the population will have to remain restricted to a minimum ration as long as the food shortage lasts.
b. Any production which, on the basis of raw materials important for armament, is directed towards objects which in the framework of the present plan are not vital, is to be ruthlessly discontinued in so far as it will not be possible to switch it over to sufficiently abundant Ersatz materials and other materials (e.g. by producing wooden shoes while simultaneously prohibiting the production of leather shoes and boots for the native population). For the rest, all raw material saving decrees prohibitions of production and shipment and orders valid in the Reich are to be carried through in the Generalgouvernement at least to the same degree as is done in the Reich.
c. The shipment of raw materials to the Reich is to be limited to those amounts not absolutely needed in the Generalgouvernement to guarantee militarily vital production. The right of disposing of the stocks of raw materials, half-finished and finished goods in the Generalgouvernement is reserved to your service agency. For the better regulation of supply small amounts of valuable raw materials will be brought into collection depots from scrapped plants and from smaller depots.
d. The supplying of militarily vital plants with coal and the filling of the most urgent coal requirements of the population are to be guaranteed by agreements with the proper Reich agencies.
e. The collection of leather and old material [Erfassung] and the gathering of scrap are to be pushed forward according to plan. In view of the especial conditions in the Generalgouvernement, Jewish dealers who can be freed for this purpose from forced service etc., may also be engaged.
f. A transport plan will be drawn up in agreement with the transportation authorities with the object of bringing transport desires into line with transport possibilities and to arrive at priority scale which will then be made the basis of all further planning.
g. Price and wage regulations, currency protection and credit policy will be harmonized in closest accord between the agencies concerned with the object of creating stable conditions as an indispensable prerequisite for any economic planning.
h. In order to gain a conception of the presumable shape of the payment transactions between the Reich and the General-gouvernement, a payment balance sheet is to be drawn up as soon as it is possible to see to what extent armament orders from the Reich can be filled in the General gouvernement.
5. I reserve the right to issue further basic instructions.
Copy of the present is being sent to the subordinate service agencies as well as to the Commander in Chief East, the Chief of the Armament Inspectorate Upper-East, the Military Commander in Krakow and the Bank Director of the Emission Bank in Poland with the request that the service agency for the Four-Year Plan be supported in every possible way in the execution of its tasks.
(signed) Dr. FrankCertified
(signed) Ministerialkanzleiobersekretaer als Kanzleivorsteher
(signed) Ministerialkanzleiobersekretaer als Kanzleivorsteher
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 1376-PS
1940 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 77820 May 1940 Nr 87
Decree of the Fuehrer of 18 May 1940 on the Execution of Power by the Government in the Lowlands
Decree of the Fuehrer of 18 May 1940 on the Execution of Power by the Government in the Lowlands
In order to secure public order and public life in the Dutch territories taken under the protection of German troops, I decree:
Paragraph 1
The occupied Dutch territories will be subordinated to the "Reichs Commissioner for the Occupied Dutch territories." His seat will be The Hague. The Reichs Commissioner is protector of the interests of the Reich and will represent the supreme power of the government within the civil sphere. He will be directly subordinated to me and will receive directives and orders from me.
Paragraph 2
The General military commander in the Netherlands will exercise military sovereign rights, his demands within the civilian sphere will be carried out by the Reichs Commissioner. He has the right to order the measures which are necessary for the execution of his military mission and for military security. The same right belongs to the supreme commanders of the branches of the armed forces.
Paragraph 3
The Reich Commissioner may use German Police forces to carry out his orders. The German Police forces are at the disposal of the German military commander insofar as the military necessities require this and if the missions of the Reichs Commissioner permit it.
Paragraph 4
For the execution of his orders and the functioning of the administration the Reichs Commissioner may make use of the Dutch authorities.
Paragraph 5
1. The law which was formerly valid remains in force, in as much as it is compatible with the occupation.
2. The Reichs Commissioner may enforce law by decree. The ordinances will be proclaimed in the "Ordinance for the occupied Dutch territories."
Paragraph 6
I appoint Reichs Minister Dr. Arthur Seyss-Inquart to be Reich Commissioner for the occupied Dutch territories.
Paragraph 7
Regulations for the execution and completion of this decree will be issued according to my directives for the civilian sphere by the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellory and for the military sphere by the Chief of the supreme command of the armed forces.
Paragraph 8
This decree will be enforced as soon as and insofar as I shall cancel the order given to the Supreme Commander of the Army for the exercise of the complete power.
Fuehrer's Hqs. 18 May 1940
The Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler
The President of the Cabinet Counsel for the defense of the Reich, Goering, Field Marshal
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Dr. Lammers
The Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, Keitel
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, von Ribbentrop
The Reich Minister of the Interior, Frick.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 1377-PS
1938 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1115th February 1938Decree concerning the leadership of the Armed Forces—4th February 1938
From now on I take over directly the command of the whole Armed Forces.
The Armed Forces Office with its functions as Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, hitherto within the Reichs War Ministry, will come directly under my command and as my military staff.
At the head of the staff of the supreme command of the Armed Forces is the former Chief of the Armed Forces department as "Chief of the supreme command of the Armed Forces". He is equal in rank to a Reichs Minister.
At the same time, the supreme command takes the responsibility for the affairs of the Reichs Ministry of War, and by my order the chief of the supreme command of the Armed Forces exercises the authority formerly belonging to the Reichs Minister.
It is the supreme command of the Armed Forces' duty to carry out in peace time, in accordance with my instructions, the preparation of the defense system of the Reich.
Berlin, 4 February 1938.
The Fuehrer and Reichs ChancellorADOLF HITLER
The Reichs Minister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellery
The Reichs Minister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellery
DR. LAMMERS
The Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
The Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
KEITEL
REICHSGESETZBLATT, 5th February 1938
Decree concerning the setting up of a secret cabinet council of 4th February 1938.
Decree concerning the setting up of a secret cabinet council of 4th February 1938.
To advise me in conducting the foreign policy I am setting up a secret cabinet council.
As president of the secret cabinet council, I nominate: Reichsminister Freiherr-Von Neurath
As members of the secret cabinet council, I nominate:
Reichsminister of the Exterior Joachim von RibbentropPrussian Prime Minister, Reichsminister of the Air, Supreme Commander of the Air Forces, General Field Marshal Hermann GoeringThe Fuehrer's Deputy, Reichsminister Rudolf HessReichsminister for the enlightenment of the people and of propaganda, Dr. Joseph GoebbelsReichsminister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellery Dr. Hans-Heinrich LammersThe Supreme Commander of the Army, General Walter von BrauchitschThe Supreme Commander of the Navy, Grand Admiral Dr. (honorary) Erich RaederThe Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Keitel
Reichsminister of the Exterior Joachim von Ribbentrop
Prussian Prime Minister, Reichsminister of the Air, Supreme Commander of the Air Forces, General Field Marshal Hermann Goering
The Fuehrer's Deputy, Reichsminister Rudolf Hess
Reichsminister for the enlightenment of the people and of propaganda, Dr. Joseph Goebbels
Reichsminister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellery Dr. Hans-Heinrich Lammers
The Supreme Commander of the Army, General Walter von Brauchitsch
The Supreme Commander of the Navy, Grand Admiral Dr. (honorary) Erich Raeder
The Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Keitel
The current affairs of the secret cabinet council are handled by the Reichsminister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellery.
Berlin, 4 February 1938.
of the Reichs ChancelleryADOLF HITLERThe Reichsminister and Chief of the Reichs ChancelloryDR. LAMMERS
of the Reichs Chancellery
ADOLF HITLER
The Reichsminister and Chief of the Reichs Chancellory
DR. LAMMERS
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 1381-PS
The Representative of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories with the Headquarters of Army Group North
The Representative of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories with the Headquarters of Army Group North
December 1942SECRET[Rubber Stamp]
Political and Economic Problems of the Military and Civil Administration of the Occupied Eastern Territories.
Political and Economic Problems of the Military and Civil Administration of the Occupied Eastern Territories.
Introduction: The author of this report as representative of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories with the Headquarters of Army Group North had the possibility to become acquainted with all questions of administration and economy in the Eastern area. An information trip also brought him to the
Army Area B (Donetz)Army Area DonArmy Area CrimeaArmy Area A (Caucasus)into the General Commissariat Dniepropstrovskinto several District Commissariats.
Conferences took place with all commanders of these army areas, the chiefs of staff, the chiefs of the departments VII, the chiefs and experts of the economic inspectorates and numerous economic teams and with field and local commanders.
In the field of civil administration, conversations were held with the competent experts as well.
Result: Necessity for our Present Eastern Policy.
Reasons: 1. The military results of the fighting of this year in the Eastern area is the fact that the fighting power of the Bolshevist army has not been broken yet. One must count on a prolonged duration of the war.
2. The size of the occupied territory results in a noticeable lack of security troops as well as fighting troops. The necessity of the military commitment of the Slav becomes apparent more and more, whether it be for the combatting of partisans and in the police service, or whether it is for use at the front even as will be necessitated by future developments.
3. The war economic importance of the Occupied Eastern Territories increases with the duration of the war. The last inhabitant of the country, able to work, must be utilized in agriculture or in war economic factories. His existence must be assured. Losses of a large number mean damage for the front which cannot be repaired.
4. As in all great wars of all times, one must also reckon with military reverses in the East. In retaining our present Eastern policy, we stand before the danger that one day the dissatisfaction of the population will find an outlet in a general uprising, whereby the supply for the front would be endangered most seriously.
5. It is the opinion of all military commanders as well as of the leaders of the civil administrative areas, to whom the reporter was able to talk, that the present Eastern policy must undergo a fundamental change in its basic points.
The following are the most important problems:
I.The Food Problem
The food rations granted to the Russian rural population do not constitute the assurance of their existence, but only a vegetating for a limited duration. One can never expect the necessarycooperationfor the Armed Forces from a population who does not know whether it will still be alive tomorrow, who thus must expect death by starvation and who lived in the Bolshevist period—with the exception of the year 1933, with its bad harvest—better than today. The military dangers described at the beginning increase with the deterioration of the food basis; the tendency to support the partisans increases; the desire to experience again the former Bolshevist conditions comes to the foreground even in those who refute the system ideologically.
The rations allotted at present, which in practice are for the most part not issued complete, are as follows:
(Appendix A 3a)
City and Country: The following food situation prevails: The rural populations, although it has to hand over more today than in Bolshevist times, still goes rarely hungry. No matter whether it was in the time of the Mongol rule, or in Tsarist or Bolshevist times, they were always exploited, and they know methods of secreting food items, which guarantee them food despite of all controls. Today they are even able to deliver at least the most necessary things to the urban population through the black market. The German administration will never be able to develop a system which will enable a 100% seizure of products on Russian territory. The territory is too large for this, and the number of the appointed agricultural leaders is too small.
However, should one of the periodical bad harvests occur in Southern Russia within the next years, as last in the year 1933, then the present lack of reserves would result in a catastrophe in the Eastern territory, the effects of which would be unpredictable for the food situation in the rest of Europe.
The food question in the Eastern territory today is anurban problem. As already explained in the beginning, we must free ourselves completely from the attitude which we maintained at the time, that there were too many people in the territory, and that their extermination would mean a blessing to Germans! The German Armed Forces in the East live on the work performance of the cities there. Complaints about the lack of workers after the execution of the Sauckel action are common.
If we continue to maintain our present attitude, it will be the combat soldier who will pay with his blood for this mistake.
Generally there is no famine yet in the cities at present. The reporter was even able to establish in a city like Kharkov, which had been embattled to the finish, that the food situation is better than in the past year. This condition can be traced back to the fact that the urban population, which for the most part has been living in cities of industrial areas for only one or two generations, has relatives in the country by whom it is supplied with food items in exchange for consumer goods.
Nutrition—Nomadic Movement—Utilization of Labor.
He who flies over or rides through the occupied Eastern area today will notice crowds of people moving along the roads; there are hundreds of thousands of them, and according to the estimate of experts, their number often may reach a million. These crowds are on the move, either to look for food, or vice versa, to bring food to the cities in order to sell it.
The exchange of food items/consumer goods, which thereby is reached between city and country, is vital in the cities in view of the food supply which is insufficiently controlled by the German administration. Suggestions to suppress this self-support of the urban population radically are unbearable, because this would result in starvation of the urban population, causing decreased work performance and finally a revolutionary attitude.
Loss of Working Power
On the other hand, however, a tremendous amount of valuable working power is being lost for a certain time to the utilization of labor through the nomadic movement.
The conclusion therefore is:Firstsecuring of livelihood for the important war economically urban population and their relatives, andonly thensuppression of this self-support. But not vice versa.
Because of reasons of the utilization of labor therefore, all preparatory measures must be taken without delay in order to guarantee sufficient supplies for the urban population of the occupied Eastern territory which is important to the war economy.
The Family Problem
This must also include members of the family, because the male Slav worker like the female Slav worker will starve or practically give up the food to which they are entitled or even the cooked food which is being furnished in the factory mess halls, in order to save their children, parents, or other relatives from starvation.
The claim, that there are not sufficient food items on hand for this subsistence is countered by the fact that by way of the nomadic movement into the rural areas and the black market in the cities, food is supplied which until now has prevented specific signs of starvation on a larger scale.
The Occupied Eastern Area no Surplus Territory.
Despite this the realization that contrary to propagandistic claims the Ukraine as well as the areas of the Caucasus and the remaining Eastern areaare not yet surplus areas at present, from which Germany and the rest of Europe could already be fed tomorrow. The truth is that the additional subsistence of Western Europe today can only result in the risk that the Eastern territory will become refractory tomorrow as a result of its present delivery quota, which has been increased considerably in comparison to the Bolshevist period and that simultaneously part of the urban population, which is indispensable for the war economic tasks will approach a slow ebbing of strength, if not even death of starvation.
Ukraine Industrial Area without Agricultural Surplus
The large number of publications, which are being distributed at present in Germany about the Eastern territory, are copies of obsolete or uncontrolled figures from Tsarist or Bolshevist times, which lack any knowledge of fact. As every expert will have to realize, the truth in the Ukraine is that a situation has been created by the Bolshevist industrialization and by the accumulation of giant urban populations in the Don- and Donetz areas, which consumed the agricultural surpluses, which were at hand during the Tsarist period for the overwhelming part in their own territory.
Exchange Trade A Regulator
A part of the food of the cities is being procured through the black market, which for the most part is barter trade. First of all it is a regulating factor. In the Bolshevist era the urban population was better supplied with consumer goods because of relatively higher wages at the expense of the Sochos- and Kolchos peasants. Today these consumer goods are wandering to the country as barter goods for food.
Dangers of the Black Market Prohibition.
The black market has been completely outlawed in individual area as in the Army Area North [XVIII.AOK], in Pleskau and, as the commander of Army Area Don has informed the reporter, in Transnistria, which had been ceded by Rumania.
All these prohibitions had a completely negative result. The goods disappeared from the markets, trading was continued in uncontrollable backyards, and the urban population lacked the most important food items. With a readmission of the markets, these dangerous symptoms vanished.
Black Market Prices
Following are some examples of black market prices in the occupied Eastern territories:
In Areas of the Caucasus1 Egg RM 1.—1 lb. Butter RM 15.— - 20.—1 ltr milk RM 2.60 - 3.40100 gr. tea RM 20.— - 40.—1 apple RM 1.—1 chicken RM 9.— - 10.—1 lb. meat RM 5.—1 winter overcoat RM 600.—1 pr. shoes RM 200.— - 300.—In the city of Kharkov:1 ltr milk RM 3.— - 4.—1 kg tea RM 1000.—1 piece wartime soap RM 7.— - 8.—1 ltr Vodka RM 70.—1 cigarette RM -.301 pr shoes RM 400.— - 500.—
In regard to all these prices, however, it must not be forgotten that the majority of the scales being executed by means of barter.
The Armed Forces And Increases in Prices
Besides the lack of consumer goods, the German soldier is also responsible for the outrageous prices, because by uncontrollable means he is obtaining funds from home besides his pay, which in army of a million men add up to an imposing sum. Every expert of the conditions knows that the doughboy will today pay any price, because the additional food items are more import to him than money. The suggestion, made to the reporter by various economic inspectorates, that the soldier in future should receive noReichskreditkassenscheine, but shall receive a type ofsubstitute moneyfor purchasing in post exchange [Marketendereien], can only then be carried out, if the post exchanges can offer to the soldier additional food items, which he would otherwise obtain in the black market.
The opportunity for the combat soldier to acquire additional food items or to purchase them for the homefront must not be hampered, it must not be forgotten, that this combat soldier decides the war.
The Combat Soldiers as the Bearer of Useful Barter.
It is therefore regrettable, that town commanders often punish the soldier severely, who exchanges tobacco goods or minor items of consumer goods which he receives from home, for food items with the local population. It has to be considered that the consumer goods in question are in most cases rubbish of the German household, items which can be foregone by the homefront, but which such as needles, twine, pocket knives, nails, combs, etc., are necessary in the eastern territory and bring good will. The combat soldier, who carried out this barter, procures additional food for the front and/or to the homefront, and at the same time supplies to the East the most necessary consumer goods, which cannot be supplied in general today by German authorities.
For these reasons, the market activity in Russian towns must be retained despite all mentioned disadvantages.
Price Ceiling in the Black Market.
In order not to let the prices rise beyond all limits it is recommended to have a certain control, a price ceiling which equals the present average price; however an experiment which was executed in various towns, is not recommended for imitation, whereby merchandise which was not sold on the market by evening, is confiscated and sold at the local average price.
Establishment of a Central Food Administration.
Despite all this, market dealing can not be a solution. The food supply must be assured by the German administration. Two ways constitute the solution.
1. Further expansion of the factory kitchens
2. Mass introduction of community kitchens.
This system was built up during the Bolshevist period in a form, which an unbiased reporter must describe as exemplary. For instance, there was in the town of Simferropol, in the Crimea, during the Bolshevist period a food trust which supplied 23 mess halls and 15 factory kitchens, by which 50,000 of the town's 140,000 inhabitants were fed. Breakfast, lunch and supper were served and could be eaten right there and then, or were taken home. The appearance of the population and its physical condition at the time of conquest of the territory proved that the food was sufficient. A system of feeding to the population was carried out here, which is also going into effect in Germany in numerous labor camps, and factory canteens, etc., but in its present stage does not yet approach the Bolshevist system.
The Example Simferopol
A Kriegsveraltungsrat, who came from the Arbeitsfront took over these institutions in the town of Simferopol to a certain extent and operated them according to the necessities and conditions of the present. This organization appears to be so successful that its general introduction into the towns of the occupied East must be thought over in manner and extent.
At first, this system is marked that only asingleGerman administrative official can be in charge of the entire system without any further German help.
A Main Food Administration was established for the whole Crimea. The native town administrations supplied the collaborators of this organization, which, in Simferopol alone, runs today 12 mess halls and 49 factory kitchens, in which you can eat lunch or take it to your home. Those working for the German Armed Forces and also some of their relatives, a total of approximately 30,000 persons of the 70,000 inhabitants of the town, are fed. There is mostly soup, vegetables, sometimes fish and meat from deceased animals.
However the distribution of the allocated bread coupons frequently runs up against difficulties, since the bread supply is especially difficult in the Crimea. On the other hand an information service of the Food Administration itself is excellently organized; it consists of native residents, who immediately report, if spoiled, but still edible food from army stores, in the case of small truck farm vegetables etc. can be procured. Furthermore each deceased horse or cow within the territory of the town or its vicinity is reported immediately and examined for suitability.
A special control section of the Food Administration inspects the mess halls, doctors make spot checks of the quality of the food offered. In this case also, native help is used. Further sections of the Main Food Administration are the mill sections, which is in charge of the processing of grain. The section for the issuing of bread and food coupons, the bread baking and trading section etc. A procurement section which has to secure the release coupons from the competent German authorities and must look further for food, and call for it with its own vehicles, is in charge of the procurement of merchandise. All big consumers, such as hospitals, schools etc., have to submit monthly reports of supply requirements. Procurement takes place according to a common plan, so that the German agricultural leadership is not hampered by numerous individual requests.
This example must be imitated in its magnitude. In the field of food, the organizing capabilities of the Eastern population must be used, thus relieving simultaneously the German administrative apparatus.
The example Simferopol proves that we have to use the Slav in the huge Eastern territories for the organization of food, since he is always in the position to discover possibilities of procurement which we cannot do because of insufficient help. Self administration, which goes as far as possible, in the field of food for the urban population is necessary.
No Schematic All-inclusive Ruling of Fundamental Directives.
On account of the gigantic delivery quota of corn, meat, poultry, eggs, oil, to the German Reich, it is obviously not possible in the near future to guarantee to the urban population in the East a 100% supply of food. In addition, as already explained, there is still a great deal of food in the hands of the farmers and of some urban residents which is beyond our control. Thus schematic ruling would therefore lead to the result that the Russian towns would receive food which could be spared in an emergency at the expense of the German and/or the Western European territories. Thus the final conclusion can only be this that at the moment, a general systematic ruling which guarantees the minimum subsistence level of the entire population cannot be carried out in the occupied Eastern territories. On the other hand, the responsible leaders of the occupied territories must immediately receive the authority through directives from competent authority, that they can take immediate measures there, where serious dangers arise in the food situation of those natives employed in the war economy with freedom of decision and responsibility to exceed the presently authorized rations, which secure the minimum subsistence level and prevent the described dangers (loss of Man Power, Anti-German, and Pro-Bolshevist attitude). This system, which gives to the responsible administrative employee freedom of action and which has primarily been developed and tried by the English administration, based on hundred years of experience must be introduced more and more in the German work in the Eastern area. Basic decisions from central authorities, which can be of unforeseen consequence, should only be decided upon then, if the measures have proved themselves by experiments in a partial sector of the area.
II. The Position Agricultural
The food political situation which may become important during the coming year, even for the Reich and the whole of Europe, is opposite to the demand to procure sufficient food for people working in town in essential industry.
The following spot checks of the various Eastern territories give an approximate picture of the situation:
Caucasus
Economic Inspectorates established generally a surplus of farm products for the Reich can not be expected from the Caucasian area. At best, some cattle, sunflower seeds, wool and cowhides could be delivered.
As far as grain is concerned, it must be expected that there will not be enough in many cases for the supply of the local population until the next harvest. For example, details from the District Voroschilovsk (Stavropol): the territory covers approximately 540,000 hectars, 60,000 hectars of which are steppe.
The total area, growing wheat was 70,000 hectars, 10,000 hectars of which were destroyed by the Bolshevists. Of the total area growing oats, approximately 50% of 8000 hectars are destroyed and full of weeds. Of 17,000 hectars of barley, 4,000 hectars are destroyed. 8,000 hectar of meadow could not be mowed. The total cultivated area amounts to only 50-60% to that of 1940. Reason: lack of fuel and labor.
In the District Patigorsk, the conditions are still less favorable.
The example of the development of the Sovchos Semlianskaia near Voroschilovsk is also informative. According to this, there were the following during the Bolshevist time at this Sovchos:
104 horses presently 41104 cows presently 6032,000 sheep presently 8,899
5,561 double hundredweights of barley and fodder are required to keep the present livestock, 650 double hundredweights are available. Reason: 180 hectars of 750 hectars of wheat were destroyed by the Bolshevists. 360 of 475 hectars of barley are lost, since it could not be cut in time because of lack of gasoline, tractors, scythes, and man power; 20 hectars of oats are completely lost. 5 of 18 tractors are still on hand. 5,000 of the 8,899 sheep mentioned above must be surrendered to the Armed Forces in the near future.
Crimea
The result of the harvest is 191,969 tons of grain. 109,620 tons are needed for seed grain, 55,739 tons for fodder and 129,503 for food. Accordingly, there is a deficit 81,126 tons of grain in the Crimea. Added to this is a poor harvest of potatoes.
Territory Kharkov
In the territory of Kharkov (Army B) the delivery of cattle to the front has been so large, that only young cattle is still on hand. Thousands of hectars of the best soil could not be cultivated because there were no draft animals.
Ukraine
The total result of the harvest is worse than last year. In detail, the delivery quota calls for: 600 ltr. milk from each dairy cow at a price of 7 Pfg. per liter (during the Bolshevist period it was 90 ltr. at price of 15 Kopeken). Every liter delivered voluntarily exceeding this was paid with 3 Rbl. Because of the high delivery quota of more than 3 million tons of grain from the whole Ukraine it looks as follows in some of the districts of the country.
Rural District Wynica: The harvest gave winter wheat:
82 982 double hundredweights———55 900 double hundredweights must be surrendered25 906 double hundredweights are required for feed grain.
This leaves 11,176 double hundredweights for feeding the population, which are by no means sufficient.
In the General Commissariat Shitomir about 28% of the livestock has to be consigned. Normally it would be 18%.
General Commissariat Dniepropetrovsk.
The presumed consignment of grain amounts to a total of 490,000 tons of the total crop of 820,000 tons. Thereby the population receives only 65 kg. per capita of which 30 kg. already were distributed.
26% of the total arable land is used for winter grains. Of that, 30% are good, 30% are spotted, and40% did not come up at all.
The difficulties of cultivation are very great because of the shortage of tractors, fuel, and labor. Thus for 100 hectars 23-25 laborers are regularly required, but today only 13-14 are available. There are only 4-6 horses to 100 hectars. But the cow teams requires a greater number of laborers.
The consignment of live stock amounts to 50% of the stock. There are numerous cases where the farmer has to deliver his dairy cow, his only real property from the Bolshevik period.
III. The Agrarian Reform
The agrarian reform up to now has been carried out in a different manner in the various occupied territories. While the "Kalchos" were divided and the land given to the farmers for cultivation in the north and the center, not much was changed in the Bolshevistic conditions as such in the South, especially the Ukraine. The creation of agricultural cooperatives up to volume of 10% of the total agricultural area can not be considered as a basic change of the system.
It must be admitted that in the south with its strongly industrialized giant estates a slower pace is advisable in the division of the estate. The danger of a decrease in production in cases of a quick division would be present.
Conception of the Cossacks-Atamane.
In addition, another fact has to be taken into consideration, which is that old "Atamanen" have found in the Cossack areas for instance that only old Cossacks were capable of managing an individual farm. The young generation is partially so used to industrial agriculture that before all a certain re-education is necessary.
Also in carrying out of the new agricultural reform a general solution, as already mentioned, must not be striven for from the beginning; rather the return to individual farming must be carried out with consideration of economic and political points of view resulting from the particular situation in a particular region of the tremendous Eastern Area.
Special Arrangements in the Agrarian Reform.
The efficient German administrative expert must have the possibility of experimentation and his successes and his failures must become the basis for final decision of the central office.
The discussion, which the reporter was able to have with the specialists concerned in the entire eastern areas, resulted in the following proposed solution:
The Russian farmer is without exception land hungry and an opponent of the "Kalchos system." He desires private property of land, even though of limited extent. In contrast to the worker and intellectual he is the most honest opponent of the Bolshevik system. If tomorrow he is denied his property, then we shall lose the east economic and political power with which we could build up the Eastern Area.
Land Distribution According to Merit.
The demand to immediately allot to all farmers, land as private property, is in spite of these political points of view, of course unfeasible for the present.
First of all those farmers respectively their families, who themselves or whose sons have earned special merit in war economy in the fight against partisans, or today or tomorrow at the front, must receive self-sufficient individual farms.
Although later the distribution of land must be carried out in a generous manner without the qualifying clauses used today.
The greatest part of the agricultural region in the East must, because of the political reasons mentioned, as time goes on, become the property of farmer families in order to create a stratum of satisfied farmers as sure counter-weight against possible revolutionary ambitions of labor and intelligentsia in this manner.
State Farms and Farmer's Land
Besides these farmers' lands, a great number of state farms should be created by the taking over of the Sovchosen and/or the creation of new estates whose production would have to deliver the excess of agricultural products necessary for Europe.
IV. The Slav as Worker
Necessity of Realistic Policy
As initially pictured, every member of the rural population less means a weakening of the labor power as well as fighting power of the Reich. All occurrences of the recent past prove that there is no room for ideologies at this time. Where this demand is not heeded because of ideological reasons, for the sake of future problems, where the law of the best utilization of man-power is violated, the objection of the soldiers as well as that of responsible civil servants arises with justification. Thus we hear again and again from leading Germans in the East, the regret expressed that we learn too little from the English, who—under the cover of long term policy—act on the basis of the needs of the hour, while we antagonize people in the East and cause the greatest difficulties in reconstruction only in order to proclaim distant aims, whose accomplishment is in no way certain, but which come about on its own accord after a victory.
He who just like the reporter, has gone through English schooling and knows the English manner of treating foreign peoples, can only confirm that the greatest mistake of our entire Eastern policy is to be found in this field. First of all we have to win the war. Having won it, we can shape the area as we see fit. Every proclamation of an aim that repulses those who are of the most use for us in the Eastern area today, which makes them resent the German leadership, is, from a soldier's point of view, a mistake which has to be continually rectified by the commitment of German blood.
Thus the Project Sauckel as earned out in the Eastern area has caused unrest and dissatisfaction which is the equivalent of a lost battle, though without doubt it was the final means to cover the requirements for workers of the German economy.
Dangerous Excesses.
But the executing agencies have committed errors which should have been avoided: De-lousing of Russian girls by men, taking of nude photographs in forced positions, locking female doctors in cars in order to make them available to the transport leaders, transporting of shackled girls in shirts through Russian localities to the railroad, etc.... (The complete material has been channeled through the proper army regions to the OKH.)
Important Imponderables.
It is of course correct to consider these things without sentimentality. In spite of that the results of such errors must not be overlooked. Before everything, the treatment of the Eastern workers in the Reich is decisive. According to all previous reports the results in household and in agriculture are good; in industry bad. The fact that male and female workers housed in camps have no leave, that exercise of religion etc., in contrast to conditions in the Russian territories, is prohibited, leads the population of the occupied Eastern territories to the conclusion that the Slav is treated and utilized as a slave. The result is that when today a commission for the hiring of labor for the Reich appears in a region, everybody, as far as possible, flees into the woods.
Our propaganda, which attempts to influence the East by an expenditure of millions of Marks and irreplaceable paper, and also by the employment of valuable manpower, which is lost to the Armed Forces, must evaporate into thin air under these circumstances.
Attitude of the Eastern Peoples Important.
The Slav will formulate his opinion and attitude on the basis of his experiences in the Reich. Here comes the decision, whether millions of Slavs will reconstruct under German domination and leadership willingly or whether they, filled with hate, will seek every opportunity to destroy this domination, since their conditions make a worthwhile existence impossible.
The attitude, still present today occasionally in some places, to treat the Slav as a slave, whereby beatings are the best means of education, must be corrected by immediate orientation, and that the maltreatment concerned must be stopped at once by the severest threat of punishment.
Despite all terror during the Bolshevist period, the social aid measures for the Russian worker and his family were considerably better than is assumed in Germany—as has been proven in the meantime by unbiased investigations. In addition a purposeful meaning of his work in the realm of the community is given to him by unrelenting and refined propaganda. One must have much understanding for this, and it is by no means easy to win this people for us. Whoever represents the opinion that the attitude of this people is unimportant, sins against the German armed power in the face of the war economic and also future military indespensability of the Eastern peoples and calls for the danger that most valuable, forever irreplaceable German blood must be sacrificed in addition.
Methods of the Utilization of Labor.
The utilization of labor of the Slavic workers can be carried out best in similarity to the Bolshevist example, as various experiments which the reporter could observe, prove.
The Successes in Dniepropetrovsk.
Model successes have been achieved byCommissioner General Selzner in Dniepropetrovsk. The Russian worker, who practically has been primarily an armament worker for years, works according to thegroup piecework system. Not the individual performance, but that of the group was decisive. This system, the advantages of which are apparent, must be retained and introduced generally. Furthermore, the punitive system for contract violators or workers who violate the work discipline is ideal. At first, a reprimand is given or a monetary fine imposed. In case of repeated violations, additional duty [Dienstverpflichtung] with exact orientation about further punitive measures is another disciplinary procedure.
Educational Work Camps.
The severest punishment is confinement in a educational work camp. The maximum length of punishment here is 6 months. Such camps are in all District Commissariats, sometimes installed as mobile camps and made available to the Organization TODT. In the camps, allbeatingsand all corporal punishment areforbiddenaltogether, out of principle.
Coordination of Utilization of Labor and Food.
The work is carried out in groups, as in the group piecework. In case of full work performance, the convicts receive Armed Forces rations, diluted three times. If the group of ten men produce in their work performance only 50% of the quota, their food is diluted six times, and they receive 50% less bread. The results are marvelous. The amount of punishment decreases constantly, work performance increases, the morale of the workers is good, considering the circumstances.
Bonus System.
The Bonus system proves itself in case of the Eastern workers, industrial workers as well as farmers. Thus in the District Dniepropetrovsk, especially good results were achieved in the delivery of sunflowers, when 1 kg oil was made available to the farmer for every 100 kg of seeds delivered.
An especially attractive bonus is thedistribution of tobacco. In several districts, the tobacco, allocated to certain armament and/or war economic plants, is distributed equally up to 90% to the workers, whereas the remaining 10% * * *
V. Salary, Money, Market—Price Problem
The salaries which are being paid at the present time in the Eastern area are so low, in comparison to the general market prices, that they are of absolutely no value: Actually, in the entire section, there existsno salary problem at all, but merely a food problem. It is impossible to raise the salaries in order to thereby make it possible for the workers to purchase the most essential consumer goods. There is enough money. The reporter experienced repeatedly that for example, porters, unskilled laborers, etc., were in possession of such amounts of money as no German General possessed. A raise of salaries would only constitute a swelling of the circulation of a medium of exchange and a further price increase.
Comparison with the Japanese Experience in China.
In the entire Eastern Area, prices are being paid today for food and consumer goods which are actually inflationary. The reporter, who before the war, in 1939 had the assignment to conduct the same investigations on the Chinese-Japanese battle front, today in the Eastern area can only determine that the German administration is repeating the same mistakes which Japan had previously exercised in the occupied Chinese territory.
Combining the Reichs-kreditmark with the Ruble.
The greatest financial mistake which we could have made was to combine the Reichsmark, respectively the Reichskreditmark with the Ruble, similarly as Japan had done with its leveling, in connection with the Chinese dollar, until after severe set-back, it was at last recognized that this had been the greatest mistake which could have been made at all by the Japanese financial policy.
The Reichskreditmark, which, not only in the Eastern, but also in other occupied territories, is the medium of exchange which the combat soldier accepts as standard salary, is today actually of inflationary value. Her fate depends on the Ruble, which is entirely beyond our control. Today there is no German office which could determine in which amounts the Ruble is circulating, which amounts, thru robbing of the inhabitants, have come into additional circulation at the Finance Offices and which amounts are brought in by the Bolshevists through the Front, into the occupied territory.
We therefore made the same mistake with the same repercussion. Just as Japan, after several years of the Chinese-Japanese war, decided to withdraw from the former use of enemy currency, we too shall have to take that step. The quicker this happens, the better it will be.
The Karbovanetz Experiment.
The introduction of the Karbovanetz in the Ukraine, put through as an attempted solution, must be recognized as such, although it, as local experts of the Reichscommissariat themselves confirm, was a useless attempt. It is so because a partial solution is senseless in the huge Eastern Area and the Karbovanetz is meaningless as long as the other immense territories retain the Ruble.
The attempt was also doomed to failure because currency problems can only be solved together with the consumer goods problem. One can determine and control mediums of exchange; nothing is changed in the price fixing, as long as not even a half way satisfactory consumers goods offer opposes the continuous flow of mediums of exchange to the working country—and city inhabitants.
The currency political experiment, taken as a whole, must therefore be considered as a failure in the Ukraine. It has only brought unrest to the people. Above all, the fact that large banknotes are not redeemable in Karbovanetz, has resulted in the transport of money into the other sections, where the notes are changed into small coins.
Central Solution of Currency Problem.
This case proves particularly well that such efforts towards solution should be conducted only centrally, never locally. This example is further proof that, as all the General officers of the Army sector and Army groups had informed the reporter the greatest danger in the Eastern area was the lack of a central leadership in the Civilian Administration.
VI. Care of the sick—Self Aid Service
With a view to the aim, that is to say, the maintenance of the able-bodied person, the most important beside the sustenance, is the care of the sick and the safeguarding of those people who through lengthy illness have become unfit for work.
In some Army sectors, in the meanwhile, precautions for the care of the sick have been taken, and it is true, not only in the interest of the country inhabitants working for the German Armed Forces, but above all, in recognition of the Russian Psyche, for their families as well. The measures, carried out in this sense in the various Army sectors, must be taken over in general.
The lack of medicinal items, in the entire Eastern Area, is particularly catastrophic. The number of hospitals, doctors and medical personnel is fairly adequate, despite the abductions during the retreat of the Bolshevists. In order to uphold the standard of the people, for the purpose of war economic and military utilization, you must however work primarily for the accumulation of medicines for the entire Eastern territory.
Exemplary Solution in the Northern and Central Army Sector
Of particular importance is the so-calledSelf Aid Service, which represents a special measure of the first order for the entire Russian area and which expects to lift the social calibre of the peasantry in the Northern and Central Army Sector. It is necessary to spread this organization to all other occupied territories.
As the reporter was able to determine, on the basis of intensive investigations, particularly in this field, measures were taken during the Bolshevistic period, which on the average, correspond to the German conditions. The partially carried out and proposed emergency measures for further accomplishments correspond of course in no way to the former Bolshevistic and other accomplishments as customary in Germany today. They have in fact the exclusive aim to keep the most important portions of the Eastern Nations alive and capable of working for the German Armed Forces and the sustenance of the German people.
VII. The School System
The viewpoint represented up to now by numerous German offices in the Eastern area, that the Slavic person should be kept in a condition which could not be primitive enough, cannot practically be carried out. All Military posts, all Civilian Administrative offices, with which the reporter spoke on this problem took the viewpoint that the front, like the German war economy, was in need of a worker's replacement, which could not be supplied by 3rd or 4th grade primary schools.
No Breeding of Superfluous Intelligentsia.
Without exception, the viewpoint is taken, of course, that it would be wrong to heed a Russian intelligentsia, which without possibility of commitment, dissatisfied and without work, tomorrow would have to become the bearer of National, Revolutionary and Panslavic ideas. It is here important to keep a proper plan in mind. To point here to India, to England's faulty policy, is premature. The reporter had the opportunity to study the English colonial policy in India. It is true that the English, out of consideration for later working possibilities, make it possible for every Hindu to study at any desired school or college. In this manner, a Hindu proletarian intelligentsia was created. However—on the other side of every propaganda—one must admit today that, as the result of this English policy, today, in the darkest home of the Empire, one cannot speak of serious uprisings in India and that the Indian economy is working one hundred percent for the British war.
The British Experiences.
It is, however, not decisive as was sometimes believed, if a young native inhabitant in a subordinate section has a college education or is illiterate, but decisive is the fact whether this person is satisfied with the extensive utilization of labor and thereby actually is the best collaborator of the ruling people, or if he, regardless of what educational class he belongs to, dreams only of the downfall of this ruling class. The fact that England, as the third people after the Greek and Roman Empire has succeeded on the basis of a century-long experience of her colonial statesmen to gain supporters for herself among the best of the conquered peoples is the basis of the rule of the British Isle.
The German Language in the East.
If we are prohibiting today the learning of the German language in the occupied Eastern territories, then this is considered only a sign of weakness, not that of strength. Military detachments told the reporter that they were in many instances asked by the natives why their children were not allowed to study the German language. The Russians concluded from this that the Germans intended to leave the Eastern territory in the shortest possible period of time. Throughout the existence of world history, the conquered have learned the languages of the ruling peoples. This law of nature cannot be changed.
Today it is actually so, that—contrary to the order of the Ministry for the East-German is being learned and taught everywhere. Especially exemplary is the settlement at Selzner in the General Commissariat Dniepropetrovsk, where in the professional schools all professional and technical expressions are taught to the apprentices right away in the German language.
Replacement [Nachwuchs] of Specialists.
Aside from the general school education the question ofspecialist trainingfor industrial use plays the decisive part at present. Here also the way and manner is exemplary in which the solution is being executed in the General Commissariat Dniepropetrovsk with an inclination toward Bolshevist examples.
This concerns handicraft schools with attached retraining shops, which are connected with practical work in the factory.
The youths between the ages of 14-16 years, who have left school, attend a training course in industrial preparatory school, which lasts two months, after having taken a capability examination with the employment office. Then follows practical work in a factory; duration 6 month. This is followed by another training course of 2 month. After every attendance of a semester the youth advances into the next higher wage class. Altogether 12-16 months of training are given.
The system turns out useful specialists within the shortest period of time, even though they are not painstaking craftsmen. The continuation of this method is to be urgently recommended in view of the mobilization of labor, and if possible it should be executed by acentral order for the remaining occupied Eastern territories.
In Dniepropetrovsk itself especially good participants of the training courses are finally taken over after the Germans example into an apprenticeship of three years' length, where their final training takes place under German supervision.
Retraining in Critical Professions.
With the same system the unskilled workers who were left behind by the Bolshevists are being retrained in the critical professions: metal craftsmen, construction craftsmen, carpenters, and stone cutters. Further schools for car mechanics, tractor drivers, etc., have been established and schools for other professions are being planned.
Medical and Legal Replacement Necessary.
Besides this special training for industrial use a thorough training of the young generation also in the medical, veterinary, and legal fields is necessary. Because we need the Slav as a peasant and worker and tomorrow as a fighting soldier, in order to maintain ourselves against the whole world, it is necessary that especially in the medical field the required education for the maintenance of the population, whose life and work is necessary for our front. The impetus is the greater, because already today the time has arrived, when Ukrainian and/or Russian doctors are working in the Reich itself as assistant doctors in German hospitals because of the lack of doctors and thereby represent to the leading doctors a more valuable help than the inexperienced young German generation.
The Rising Generation of Farmers.
Just as important is the rising generation of farmers. In reality, in the East, the Specialist Officers [Sonderfuehrer] who cultivated at home 10 Mozgen, does not manage half a dozen communal farms [Sovchose] and state farms [Kolchose] with a total of a hundred thousand hectars, but the problems of such agricultural installations are mastered by the Bolshevist agronomist subordinate to the former, who has received a preliminary training during the Bolshevist period in order to manage huge industrialized agricultural installations.
Basic Meaning of the School Problem.
However, the question of schools, apart from all practical aspects of the rising generation of workers is urgent for us, also for propagandistic considerations. All efforts of the reporter to determine which apart from the practical social measures of Bolshevism, of the number of Moscow's ideological propaganda slogans has developed actually the strongest public appeal, yield the following unmistakable picture:
The entire population of the Soviet Union, even as far back as the most remote village—despite all terrors—had the conviction that each and every one carries the marshal's baton in his knapsack. Every farmer's son, every worker's child actually had every opportunity for advancement in the countless schools of the Soviets. There was no village in which one or more farmer families could not state proudly that their daughter or their son is an engineer or a doctor or chief agronomist or Commander of the Red Army, etc.There was an unusually broad middle strata of Soviet intelligentsia, whose highest aspiration was the continuation of education, the breaking into the scientific world.
As a sole sample taken at random the Sovchos Semlianskaia near Voreschilovsk is mentioned. The following comprise the administration of this State property; a director with a monthly salary of 1000 Rubles, his deputy 600 Rubles, another agronomist for special assignments with 600 Rubles, two agronomists for sheep with 450 Rubles each, the chief animal agronomist with 850 Rubles, two animal specialists with 450 Rubles each, the veterinary with 750 Rubles, two assistants with 450 Rubles each, the chief shepherd with 350 Rubles, the bookkeeper with 750 Rubles, his deputy with 500 Rubles, three more bookkeepers with 350 Rubles each.
Such a staff of "these of the intelligentsia" [Intelligenzlern] administred 20,000 hectars with 605 workers, including the members of the family.
The crass transition from the Bolshevist propaganda of the "ascent" [Aufstieg] into the intelligentsia to our method of closing all schools is perhaps the very measure which is the most dangerous for our domination in the East.
Theater and Film
In the same connection the theater and film question is important. The incident in Kiev is well known, where, after the presentation of a revue under German stage-direction with nude girls, etc., although subdued but completely unmistakable protest reactions by the native inhabitants were the result. The Russian and the people of the East area influenced by him, still considered the theater as an educational institution. They expect either education or a political tendency in the sense of training. In the serious theater, every activity of amusement appears to them as a sacrilege and consequently our revues and soldier shows as a barbaric action against culture.
It is similar with the motion pictures. After the appearance of the first German entertainment films, for a long time the native public vainly racked its brains over their tendency. All German offices, all interpreters, all native inhabitants who were linguists were overwhelmed with pertinent questions. Apparently the peasants agreed on the solution that all German films, which, as is known, take place in an atmosphere of luxury essentially have a marked tendency to glorify capitalism and its outward forms.
Accordingly, it is vital to exercise the greatest caution and tact in the selection of films for the Eastern area. It is best to exhibit cultural films, which are received with the greatest elucidation.
VIII. The Judicial Problem
Collegiate Courts or Single Judges
In various army areas, as well as in the Reich Commissariat Ukraine, a legal code have been created for the arbitration of civil court disagreements. As for details, the opinions differ. In the Army Area North and in Army Area Center, collegiate courts have been set up. In the Ukraine, the point of view is taken that the single judges are better, because the Slav has the tendency to evade the responsibility. There were endless proceedings in the collegiate court without the possibility of arriving at a clear-cut judgment, but the single judge is forced to pronounce a sentence on his own responsibility. This shortens the proceedings and is more favorable in its consequences.
Trained Jurists
The experience and conclusion that only trained jurists are fit for this judicial office is general and unmistakable. This conclusion is general. It was explained especially clearly in the General Commissariat, Dniepropetrowsk by the highest judge, who is continually traveling in the country and is professionally best equipped to judge the situation. This example also proves that the 3 year elementary school [Grundschule] in the Eastern area is unfeasible.
In the necessary clarification of the legal code the inheritance law (testaments) and marital law in particular are very urgent.
IX. Unified Leadership.
The complaint of all military offices as well as numerous civil administration offices is that today the Ministry for the East is not uniformly decisive in the Eastern area, but that a half dozen other offices act independently. In the appendix a chart of the structure of Army Group A is included which shows how many and what offices work on their own responsibility, outside of the proper military administration in its sphere.
Of course, this independence of individual offices gives them an extraordinary striking power, but in the long run this division of authority cannot be kept up. Even if the mentioned offices retain their general independence in the future, it must by all means, be achieved that the commander of the army areas are given the authority to delegate to all these offices the tasks designated for the individual commitments after previous consultation. Every military and civil leader with final responsibility in the Eastern area is weakened in his authority and thus also in view to the achieving of his aims by the fact that there are today, a half dozen officers which act independently in his sphere without having to subordinate their own interests to the overall interest of the particular sector. This division of jurisdiction is the same over-bureaucratization which we justly criticize in our enemies and which the Fuehrer has often enough branded as the cause of the weakening of our effort.
It will have to come that the highest leadership issues directives which are decisive for the civil as well as military administrative districts, whereby a basic law, according to an English model, has to be considered always: first of all experiments are made, and only then, after examination of the experiences, will the final decisive orders be given by the central office. This knowledge of leadership from century old experience, as possessed by the British Empire must finally be taken over by the proper central administrative authorities in Berlin.
X. Administrative Experiment Areas.
The Army Area, respectively Army Group A (Caucasus) have organized experimental areas of the administrative type, and namely one in the territory of the Cuban-Cossacks around Unmanskaia, which includes six regions with a population of about 150,000 each, the other one in the area of the Karatschaier.
The two closed settlement groups of the Karatschaier are led by a committee of the eldest, each consisting of 8 of the noblest persons of the tribe, who are directly subordinated to the local commander in an advisory capacity.
The cooperative [Kolchos] land is divided up, and given to the farmers as their property. The old farmland from the Bolshevist period is tax-free, taxes are levied for the new.
In the experimental area of the Cuban-Cossacks, the role of the local commander is changed. Six regions are concentrated under one field commandant. The District Ataman is subordinated to the field commandant in an advisory capacity.
Furthermore, a special economic liaison staff has been created which is directly subordinated to the economic inspectorate Caucasus. The county Agricultural Supervisor [Kreislandwirt] must turn to him. The regional agronomist is also subordinate directly to the liaison staff.
The attempts to carry out a certain amount of self administration deserve the highest attention in the framework of the reconstruction policy in the East. We must learn from experiments. Whatever proves itself here must be exercised again tomorrow in the best suited areas, perhaps in the Ukraine, then again in parts of districts.
XI. Realist-Political Leadership of the Peoples in the Eastern Area.
An ideological goal must be given to the peoples of the Eastern area, where already today and tomorrow even more the last inhabitant is used for essential agricultural or war economic task, above that where his use in military combat, whether it is against partisan or directly on the front has already begun. As long as no such goal is in front of the eyes of the Slav, we must expect that all forces, organized in the meantime, will turn against the German leadership in case of a military reverse, with which a far sighted policy always must count upon.
Never in world history was there such a condition, whereby a large people respectively several large peoples gave their entire working power and their blood in military commitments without knowing what results they can achieve by this for themselves, their children and their children's children. The fact that we do not recognize this thesis of experience of history will cost us tomorrow the blood of hundreds of thousands of German soldiers. There is no General of the German Armed Forces today who has any understanding that we believe to be able to dominate the Slavs without consideration of this fact.