Prague, 25th November 1939 The Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia No. I la—Secret
1. Chancellery to prepare copy of the bracketed portion of the draft of 16th November 1939 from the dossier re oath of loyalty of employees of the Protectorate.
2. To be humbly submitted to the Under Secretary of State, again enclosing—
(а) The draft X 119/39 Secret.
(б) A copy of my file note submitted 16th November 1939, with the following opinion on (a) :
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The necessity for finding other employment for students who have become idle as a result of the closure of the Czech Universities in the Protectorate was. already mentioned by me as can be seen from (b), when considerations regarding the closure of Universities were put forward and is recognized by me now as formerly—the more so as it is now certain that the number of persons affected is very much higher than one originally assumed.
This necessity arises especially from the fact that all the students have a more or less chauvinistic attitude and have to be prevented from infecting the population politically throughout the entire territory of the Protectorate after their departure from the Universities to their homes.
I immediately suggested the introduction of compulsory labor service as a radical method.
In the meantime, however, I was informed by competent offices during my recent stay in Berlin that unemployment is beginning to make itself felt within the Reich on a considerable scale, and in particular that important industrial plants to which large detachments of Czech workmen- who had come into the Old Reich voluntarily were allocated were begging to be allowed to release these workers back into the Protectorate. This I countered with the statement that the release of large detachments into the territory of the Protectorate were out of the question, and that these detachments had rather to be put to work at places where foreigners were still employed in large numbers (Italians, Slovaks, Jugoslavs, etc.), as for instance at the Hermann Goering Works. I consider it politically far wiser to send the foreigners back home instead of releasing Czech workers who had gone of their own free will into the Reich back into the Protectorate, where they would spread rumors with the usual exaggerations—about the unemployment which is starting in the Reich and might give undesirable material to the whispering propaganda. At least as long as foreigners are still employed in organized groups in the Reich, the release of workers from the Protectorate should .be avoided.
From that it is clear that in Reich territory the utilization of fresh groups of workers from the Protectorate has little chance of success. Then there is also the question, which has still not yet been settled, of the possibilities of transporting large groups into the Reich.
But there is above all the further point that, as against the workers from the Protectorate employed in the Reich hitherto,
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the students enrolled for compulsory labor are not taken to the Reich voluntarily but only by force on the basis of the decree for compulsory labor. As they must in any case be looked upon as sources of discontent on account of their political opinions, they will, owing to the closure of the Universities and compulsory labor, have to be regarded as politically specially dangerous elements ; dangerous not only to the other workers in the Reich but also to their fellow Czech workers. For, in case of compulsion on the basis of the decree for compulsory labor, it will not only be the students who have become idle who will be enrolled but also members'of all the other various professions and strata of society who belong to an age group due for calling-up.
In such a situation, it appears to me doubtful whether it is advisable to send into the Reich the students who are to be given other occupation via the Compulsory Labor Decree and the members of other professions due for calling-up simultaneously owing to their age groups. I would be far more in favor of employing them only on Protectorate territory to begin with, e. g. on the building of the Oder-Danube canal, the autobahn, etc. A profitable utilization within Reich territory, outside of the Protectorate, appears to be only possible once peacetime conditions are reestablished.
3. Please put this on file relating to "The Compulsory Labor Decree".
Memorandum on plans for compulsory labor within the Protectorate for Czech students from the closed universities (who are politically hostile), and the disadvantages of allowing Czech workers in Germany to return home
Authors
Constantin Neurath, von (Baron; foreign minister)
Constantin von Neurath
German general and Nazi war criminal (1873-1956)
- Born: 1873-02-02 (Kleinglattbach)
- Died: 1956-08-14 (Enzweihingen)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: diplomat; lawyer; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Member of: Schutzstaffel
- Military rank: Obergruppenführer
- Position held: German Foreign Minister (period: 1932-06-01 through 1938-02-04; replaced by: Joachim von Ribbentrop; replaces: Heinrich Brüning); ambassador
Date: 25 November 1939
Literal Title: No. I Ia - Secret
Defendant: Constantin Neurath, von
Total Pages: 3
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: PS-3857
Citation: IMT (page 12394)
HLSL Item No.: 453625
Trial Issues
Forced labor and mistreatment of workers in war economy (IMT, NMT 2) Persecution of political, religious, and ethnic ("racial") groups (IMT, NM… Hostage-taking and reprisal actions, including killings and fines (IMT, NM…
Document Summary
PS-3857: Authenticated photostat of memorandum emanating from the Office of the Reichprotector in Bohemin and Moravia, von Neurath re: recruiting of Czech students for labor into the Reich
PS-3857: Proposal by an official in the office of the Reich protector Bohemia and Moravia, 25 November 1939: Czech students, rendered unemployed by the closing of universities in Czechoslovakia, should be conscripted for work in the protectorate itself, not in the Reich