English Translation

28 - 14 - III. Economic part. 1.) Industry, trade and trade. The situation in industry, commerce and trade shows no significant changes compared to the previous month. The allocation of industrial coal is good. The wagon positioning through the Reichsbahn has improved again; complaints have come only from the glass industry in the district of Falkenau. The allocation of raw materials, according to the conditions, is generally satisfactory, if one does not supply the craft, especially the forge, locksmith and shoemaker. However, the labour question is still difficult and increasingly difficult. The recent reconvening of important skilled workers has created large gaps almost everywhere, which cannot be closed again in the foreseeable future.This has led, for example, to the fact that in some textile companies, in spite of urgent orders, individual machines even had to be shut down. It is only possible to cover the needs of skilled workers by foreign forces or by means of the compulsory reporting and decommissioning action to a small extent, since in this case there are hardly any skilled workers, but in the best case only auxiliaries which have to be trained. Apart from this, however, the number of auxiliary personnel available is far from sufficient. The work ethic is still good. There is much to be heard about the foreign-völker workers. Especially recently the Belgians and Russians are often described as good. The French are not to be used at first, but then develop after some time into useful workers. The plant closures have not only caused a derogatory criticism not only among those directly concerned, but also in the general public, which does not appear to be entirely unjustified. There is a view that the order of these measures, which is described as overly dismayed, is due to the fall of Stalingrad and a nervousness caused by it, an impression which naturally already significantly affects the mood itself. In addition, however, the short-term implementation often suggests to the person concerned that his case had not been dealt with thoroughly and not in detail enough, as a result of which there are many and urgent complaints. The number of these complaints has increased even later, when in fact various overhasty closures had to be reversed. If no less than 17 had to be reopened in a district of 29 originally closed enterprises, so that only 12 closures remained of 29, this is a shocking result which could have been avoided from the outset if thorough examination had been carried out. The unrest caused by this overrun is increased even further by the decree of the Minister of Economic Affairs of 22 April 1943, according to which the persons concerned may be able to join forces with one or more other non-closed enterprises to form a war enterprise. This decree comes much too late and therefore leads to further exaggeration; one wonders why this possibility is not possible from the outset.