Instructions concerning the treatment of Eastern domestic workers in Germany

DECREES, REGULATIONS, ANNOUNCEMENTS [Verfuegungen, Anordnungen, Bekanntgaben] 2nd vol., edited by the Party Chancellery, publ. Zentralverlag der NSDAP.
Regulation No. 4 of the plenipotentiary-general for the mobilization of labor on the recruiting, care, lodging, feeding, and treatment of foreign workers of both sexes of 7 May 1942.
In the tremendous struggle of fate of Europe, the Greater German Reich is constrained to import a tremendous number of nonGerman (foreign) workers of both sexes into the Reich to secure its armament and food supply. All these working people, prisoners of war included, will be treated, according to the oldest traditions of the German people and of our race, correctly, decently, and humanely.
The recruitment of foreign labor will be done on the fundamental basis of volunteering. Where, however, in the occupied territories the appeal for volunteers does not suffice, obligatory service and drafting must under all circumstances be resorted to. This is an indisputable requirement of our labor situation.
Recruitment must be made as befits the prestige of the Greater German Reich and the will of the Fuehrer. Irresponsible promises regarding pay, contracts, housing, freetime etc. must not be made. Living conditions in Germany itself, which are better than any where else in Europe, can and should be emphasized, without exaggeration being necessary. Jewish methods of catching people such as they customary use in the democratic states of the capitalistic age are unworthy of the Greater German Reich. With, the above principles as a basis I order the following:
I. General.
1. The recruitment of foreign labor in the areas occupied by Germany in allied, friendly, or neutral states will be carried out exclusively by my commissioners, or by the competent German military or civil agencies for the tasks of labor mobilization.
Other agencies, organizations or persons are not allowed to recruit foreign labor. Any exceptions need my express approval. I will also determine whether, in what way, and to what extent enterprises (organizations, business, administrations) are to take part in the recruitment of foreign labor. Those taking part in the recruitment are subordinate during the carrying out of recruiting to my commissioners or the competent military or civil agencies. -My commissioners in allied, friendly, or neutral foreign countries are the former foreign agencies of chief division V of the
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Reich Labor Ministry. They will bear from now on the official name:
The commissioner for the 4 year plan.
The Plenipotentiary General for Mobilization of Labor Office
(for example Italy, etc.)
I reserve for myself the installation of commissioners in other countries.
2. The care of foreign labor will be carried out.
(a) up to the Reich border by my commissioners or—in the occupied areas—by the competent military or civil labor mobilization agencies. Care of the labor will be carried out in cooperation with the respective competent foreign organization
(b) Within the area of the Reich :
1. By the German Labor Front in the cases of nonagricultural workers.
2. By the Reich food administration in the case of agricultural workers.
The German Labor Front and the German food administration are bound by my directives in the carrying out of their tasks of caring for the workers.
The agencies of the labor mobilization administration are to give far-reaching support to the German Labor Front and the German food administration in the fulfillment of their assigned tasks.
My competence for the execution of the care for foreign labor is not prejudiced by the assignment of these tasks to the German labor front and the Reichs food administration.
II. Carrying out of recruitment.
la. For the carrying out of recruitment in allied friendly, or neutral foreign countries, my commissioners are solely responsible. They must, in all cases of political importance, come to an agreement with the chief of the respective German diplomatic missions and to this extent are bound by the directives of the chief of the mission or his deputy. The mission chiefs are to be informed of all basic questions of mobilization of labor. Negotiations with foreign agencies and organizations in foreign lands which are of basic importance are to be carried out in agreement with the Reich representative or on the basis of their arrangements. Conversations with foreign agencies and organizations on questions of technical execution of recruitment can be carried on by my representatives directly.
The foreign office has informed the leaders Of the German diplomatic and consular missions abroad to give far-reaching support
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to my representatives in their work especially within the framework of existing political possibility to make sure that my representatives can carry out their tasks free from groundless interference by foreign offices, organization, or other agencies or persons. In cases ethnic Germans [Volkdeutsche] are settled in the recruiting areas, close touch with the leaders of the respective German ethnic group is to be kept by my representatives so far as the political conditions permit and if it is approved by the leader of the German diplomatic mission concerned.
b. For the respective recruitment of labor in the areas occupied by the German agencies for the mobilization of the labor of the German military or civil administration installed in these areas are exclusively responsible. I retain for myself the right to send special representatives to these agencies from time to time. My representatives must cooperate closely in the carrying out of their task with the foreign agencies and organization competent for recruitment in allied, friendly, or neutral foreign countries, especially those agencies specified in the international agreement. In this connection, it is to be noted that the leadership of the recruitment so far as it can be accomplished will always be German, furthermore, my deputies must always be conscious of the fact that in their work, as well as in their nonofficial appearances they are looked upon by the foreigners with whom they come in contact as representatives of the national socialist of greater Germany.
2. In recruiting the following points are to be observed.
a. Preparation for recruiting (propaganda)
Before taking up recruiting, complete understanding must be given to the population, through the press of the land where recruiting takes place or through other means of the publicity, for what vocation, for what work to be done, and for what type of work the workers are needed.
The execution of the recruiting propaganda is to be done in agreement with the competent Reich representation.
b. Publication of work and pay conditions as well as of regulations on transferring pay.
1. Foreign workers are to be informed in detail at the time of recruiting on the basis of the recruiting orders about the pay and work conditions of the firm in the German Reich, so far as this is at all possible. In this regard information on the approximate amount of pay deductions should be given, so that persons recruited receive as clear a picture as possible in their actual earning in the Reich. In no case may the persons
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recruited be given promises which are false or impossible to fulfill.
2. The persons recruited are to be informed exactly on the possibilities existing for the transfer of saving from pay.
c. Information of the general living conditions in the Reich.
The foreign workers are to be informed at the time of recruiting
that the living conditions in the German Reich are better than in the rest of Europe. In this connection, however, in order to avoid any misunderstanding it must be pointed out that in Germany just as at home, the persons recruited are subject to limitations in housing, food, and other living conditions brought about by war.
d. Vocational Suitability.
It must be assured that specialist workers and trained workers are recruited principally for an activity in their professional field. If, as an exception, only employment outside of their profession is possible, the persons affected are to be informed.
The recruiting official must first test the professional suitability. In this connection vocational certificates which may be at hand are to be evaluated, if necessary experts from the country where recruiting is taking place are to take part. In special cases, German experts will be made available.
e. Physical examination.
The foreign workers are to be medically examined (individual examinations) in immediate conjunction with the vocational testing, by officially engaged physicians of the country where the recruiting takes place according to official German guiding principles. In the interest of all concerned, strict standard in this matter is to be applied. If the occasion arises, German physicians will be placed at the disposal for medical examinations. Non-German physicians can also be engaged.
f. Conclusion of labor contracts, issuance of recruitment certificates.
Written labor contracts are to be concluded as a matter of principle according to the international labor agreements. Where no international agreements exist, a written certificate of recruitment which contains the pay and work conditions, in every case to be drawn up for the persons recruited. A copy of the labor contract or a certificate of recruitment in his mother tongue is to be given at the time of recruitment to every worker. So far as the conclusion of collective contracts for work are planned (e.g. in agriculture) a copy of the contract in the workers mother tongue is to be given to thfe leader of the group.
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I reserve for myself the right to make respective deviations from the above ruling from case to case.
g. Clothing, footwear.
The conditions in the German Reich caused by war make it necessary that foreign workers bring with them clothing suitable for their work, including footwear. So far as supply of work clothing and footwear is not already, by international agreement, the responsibility of the country where recruitment takes place, the recruiting agency must devote particular care to this question. Also other clothing, laundry and footwear must be brought by the workers from their homeland, since it is at this time not possible for them to obtain things of this nature in the Reich.
h. Personal Identification Papers!
The foreign workers must possess, on crossing the German border and during their stay in the territory of the Reich, a valid passport from their homeland or an official substitute document, recognized in Germany in place of a passport. The passport or substitute document must bear an official German visa of the competent German diplomatic mission. In the case of collective transports, collective visas, affixed to the transports lists, suffice.
j. General Information Pamphlet.
Already at the time of recruiting a short informational pamphlet on the pay and work conditions if provided for, is to be distributed to the foreign workers, which in a general outline, gives a general explanation on working hours, social insurance, tax, work clothes, transfer of pay, vacations, visits home to the family, passport matters, and other work conditions (rights and duties) under which the workers, male and female, have to work in the Reich.
III. Carrying out of the transports into the Reich.
a. Basic Principles.
After recruitment and during the transport into the Reich, a correct, faultless treatment of the workers, male and female, is to be striven for in order that willingness to work and the trust of those recruited may not be destroyed perhaps already during transport. .
The workers recruited are as a rule to be taken in collective transports with special trains, or if necessary in group transports with regular trains.
b. Composition and operation of the transports.
The composition and operations of the transports up to the place of work is the task of my representatives, in the occupied territories of the labor mobilization agencies of the military and
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civil administration. In the countries in which foreign representatives are to direct the transports up to the frontier, the German recruiting agency must take part in the supervision and care of the transports.
The chief of the transport must take care that during the transport:
1. Unconditional order and cleanliness prevail. The necessary hygienic precautions must be assured under all circumstances in each transport, and, if temporary lodging in a collection camp takes place, in every collection camp.
2. An overloading of the cars will not take place.
3. A sufficient number of toilets—also at stops and in the collection camps (or perhaps latrines) must be at hand.
4. Masculine and feminine members of the transport will be separated.
5. Ethnic Germans, as far as possible, will be separated from the foreign members of the transport.
6. Prevent friction amongst the various foreign elements of the transport through suitable sheltering. Furthermore it is the duty of those who compose the leadership and who bear the responsibility of the transport, through their proficiency and ingenuity, to organize the transport in such a manner, under all circumstances, so that no member of the transport will suffer injuries, that will render him useless from the start for complete committal to work for the Reich.
c. Supply for the Transport.
The food supply for the individual workers in transit within the Reich is the duty of the [DAF] German workers front, office for labor mobilization. For the rest, my offices effect the supply for the transport. Attention is directed here to the fact that the individual foreign countries are obliged by interstate agreements to supply the transports up to the borders.
The assurance of a sufficient and substantial supply of the members of the transport within the sphere of war-conditioned possibilities is of special importance. Special care must therefore be devoted to that question.
d. Decontamination.
As far as the foreign workers originate from areas whence the introduction of contagious disease must be feared, they must if necessary, be decontaminated several times. The second decontamination is to be combined with a repeated medical checkup. This must take place within the borders of the Reich in transient camps specifically provided for this purpose. Also,
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during their stay in the decontamination stations a correct and unobjectionable treatment of the workers and the women workers is under all circumstances necessary.
IV. The Care for the Workers.
The care for the foreign workers employed in the Reich will be carried out:
(a) by the German Reich Food Administration in case of agrarian workers.
(b) by the German Workers Front in the case of non-farm laborers.
The overwhelming camp type sheltering of nonagrarian foreign workers and female workers requires a specially rigid concentration and execution of the methods of care.
I therefore decree the following:
1. All camps with foreign nonagrarian workers, regardless of who furnished or maintains the camps, will be cared for by the German Workers Front (Office of Work Mobilization).
The camp personnel may, in accordance with that, be employed only in agreement with the German workers front (Office of Work Mobilization). The camp leaders need in each case the sanction of the German Workers Front (Office of Work Mobilization) for the execution of his task.
The German Workers Front (Office of Work Mobilization) is responsible for the uniform performance and continuous schooling of the camp personnel. The requisitioning of guards and caretakers in the camps with Soviet Russian workers is reserved for special supervision on the basis of an agreement between the Reichsfuehrer SS and the Chief of the German Workers Front.
2. The care for the foreign workers by national organizations (caretakers) is allowed only if those are set up and active within the framework of the German Workers Front organization.
3. In the camps, only those camp orders set up by the German Workers Front in agreement with me and the other competent offices are binding.
For the execution of the Workers Care I set up the following principles.
(a) Sheltering
The accommodation for foreign workers and women workers must be models of order, cleanliness and hygiene, and must be provided with all necessities. All work-mobilization offices, the offices of the German Workers Front, the Reich Food Administration and the work managers must all strive in mutual competition, that all foreign workers and women workers may be convinced:
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1. Of German superiority, German skill and of German organizations as well as
2. Of German justice, integrity and cleanliness in public life, regardless of what peoples may be involved, peoples of related blood or peoples from the Soviet areas.
Specifically the following must be noted:
The foreign industrial workers will on principle be lodged in community camps. As far as it is at all possible, separate camps are to be provided for the various nations. In all cases, separate barracks must be provided for the members of different nations. Definite consideration must be given to the mutual political adjustments between the nations.
The quartering in private houses is considered only in special cases (e. g. office workers).
The camps must be absolutely unobjectionable from a medical point of view. The equipment must be suited for its purpose, nevertheless limited by war-conditions. For example, the issuing of bed linen is regulated according to the stocks of the factories.
New bed linen can be ordered by the factories only in exceptional cases and then only for women workers.
The quartering of the foreign farm workers follows the same principles, corresponding to the existing special conditions in German agriculture.
Special care should be taken that the sheltering of the foreign workers and women workers is as nearly according to the national customs as war conditions permit.
(b) Feeding
The foreign workers receive provisions fixed by the Reichsminister for food and agriculture: it is fundamentally the normal provision for the German civilians. During sheltering in camps, community feeding throughout will be guaranteed. Here consideration must be given to the native customs of the foreign workers insofar as war conditions allow. Employment of native cooks is encouraged.
(c) Free Conditions
The use of the freetime of the foreign workers and women workers within and outside of the camps is to be made within the framework of the given war-limited possibilities and according to the peculiar qualities of the workers. Extensive regard must be given to the national customs of the foreign workers and women workers.
The planning and execution of the mental and cultural treatment for the foreign workers is to proceed in agreement with the organizations of the foreign workers, which are represented
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by the German workers front, and must be handled in accordance with the guiding principles which are suggested by the foreign office for the respective individual nationalities.
The German workers front and the Reich food administration will use the existing, officially recognized interstate societies in Germany in the execution of this assignment.
(d) Transfer of Savings
The workers may, in accordance with the regulations existing for this purpose, send their earned savings totally or partially to their families. The amounts vary for the individual countries as well as for agrarian and nonagrarian workers and are available from the information leaflets which are received by the managers and the workers from the offices which execute the transfer of the savings.
(e) Mai] and Parcel Exchange
Exchange of letters and parcels of the foreign workers to their native countries must be assured.
(f) Furloughs
The regulating and carrying out of the furlough trips of the foreign workers is the duty of the German Workers front, in collaboration with other competent offices.
V. Special treatment of individual foreign worker groups.
The special regulations concerning the treatment of the individual groups of foreign workers will remain unchanged.
VI. Supervision and review of regulations.
In the German Gaus the Gauleiters will have the rights of inspections and controls of the execution of these orders.
signed : SAUCKEL