Trial of the Major War Criminals before International Military Tribunal ...

HITLER's decree dated March 21, 1942. By this order GOERING
defined SAUCKEL's powers and provided that, among others, the
Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia and the chiefs of the civilian
administrations of occupied territories were subordinateto SAUCKEL
as far as his task of planning man-power for war purposes was
Concerned.
According to one of HEYDRICH's last decrees of May 1942, the
labour exchange could conscript for casual labour in any district
any child, even during the school term. Children from 14 years
upwards were sent into factories, farms and even mines and kept
there permanently.
(c) A rbitrary of FRANK and BERTSCH.
K.H.FRANK in March 1939 appointed "Secretary of State" (and
in August 1943 Deutscher Staatsminister in Bohemia and Moravia)
was second in the hierarchy of the German civil administration of
the Protectorate and responsible towards the Reich Protector NEU­
RATH and towards the Reich Government for giving effect, in the
territory of the Protectorate, to the orders given by the Reich School
authorities, among others also for giving effect to the general orders
regarding mobilisation of man-power mentioned above.
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In January 1942 the Reich-German Dr. Walter BERTSCH was
appointed Czech Minister of Economy and Labour and took over
control of all social welfare and public works. BERTSCH (actually
an exponent of Berlin) was given the power to issue.decrees without
even informing his "colleagues" in the government.
K.H.FRANK and BERTSCH brought about the introduction of
the general provisions regarding the forced labour into the "legal
order" applied on the territory of the Protectorate. This was effected
among others, by two orders of the Protectorate: Government order
relating to the planning of man-power (Regierungsverordnung ueber
Massnahmen zur Lenkung der Arbeitskraefte) dated May 4, 1942,
Collection No. 15411942 and the Government Order concerning the
stabilisation of wages and salaries and the safeguarding of labour
morale (Regierungsverordnung ueber die Sicherung der Lohn-und
Gehaltsstabilitaet sowie der Arbeitsmoral) dated December 7, 1942
Collection No. 404.
By Section 1of the order 154/1942 the duty to work was imposed
upon all inhabitants of the Protectorate who were able to work.
Sections 14-17 provided that inhabitants of the Protectorate were