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162. FirmenangehgrJRe (OT»-Firm Personnel)The OT had no trouble in the recruitment of German personneluntil Army requirements began to make inroaas on it. The firsttask of the OT in 1938 was made attractive enough to induce asufficient number of construction firms (estimated in some quarter aat one third of Germany f s construction capacity) to enroll in theorganization, bringing with them their equipment and employees(the latter are termed FirmenangehBrige in contra-distinction toOT-Eigenes personal described below). The outbreak of war resultedin an immediate decrease in civilian construction within the Reichand culminated in a complete stoppage about the time of the attackon Russia, When air raid damage inside Germany became a seriousfactor, the OT was gradually called in (viz. Einsatz Ruhrgebiet)until the summer 1944, when it assumed control of all construction.As a result German construction firms have become completelydependent on the OT (see IBl6,20, and HAb32).163. OT-Eigenea Personal (QT Organic Personnel)The organizing of the OT administrative personnel termedOT-Eigenes Personal in contra-distinct ion to F&rmenangehS rige didnot offer any serious problems, even though there always hasexisted some resentment in the lower assignments, because of thehigher wages received by the Firmenangehflrige. The higheradministrative (and technical) posts are filled by men whose politicalconnections both with the Nazi party and the German ConstructionIndustry can be traced back to the early days. Nazi party doctrinepays great attention to technology and its ^vhite-haired boys" includea number of the higher ranking OT technicians. Another source ofsupply for administrative posts were the Abgeordnete (civil servantsconnected with city and regional housing and constructionadministration and assigned to the OT on detached service). Many ofthe lower posts are filled by SA and Nazi Party members, classified"unabkftmmlich 11 (Uk.: indispensable) by the Wehrmacht Registration BureauiThe SS is likewise represented in the OT usually in assignments welladapted for military security and political counter intelligence work.164. Military and Manpower Priority Status of Of German PersonnelThe official military status of the OT is quasi-legal and willso remain until it no longer contains within its ranks foreignconscript labour (see Table I, no. 1: Wehrmachtsgefolge).The status of OT personnel from the standpoint of manpower recruitment,was modified within Germany as a result of OT's withdrawal from Prance,Belgium, Holland and other areas. Prior to this withdrawal, theOT ranked, in this respect, no higher than any other vital industry,and German OT personnel migftt be called up for active military servicelike ordinary civilians working in an essential industry, but. notnecessarily in indispensable posts. On the other hand the WehrmachtMeldeamt (Wehrmacht Registration Bureau) could "reserve" a man for 'the OT, and the Wehrbezirkskommando (Sub-Area Recruiting HQ) couldassign a man to the OT. The former was done arbitrarily in the caseof building mechanics or construction workers born in or before 1900.The latter was done for a variety of reasons in the case of individualconstruction workers born after 1900, and especially in the case ofindividuals with political connections who preferred to enter the OTrather than the Armed Forces proper. Both these categories wereconsequently "dienstverpflichtet" (conscripted) for the OT, but had noguarantee that they would not eventually be called up for activemilitary service.The foreign personnel lost to the Germans in occupied territory hasbeen replaced apparently by new levies of foreign workers, such asHungarian Jews, and by members of Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth Movement)and by German civilians used as emergency stopgaps. OT personnelin occupied territory is called up into the Wehrmacht through the