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Additional labour from distant parts was recruited through themedium of professional "crimps" which local labour was obtained throu^ilocal recruiting offices set up both by the OT and by firms, fchrou^inewspaper advertisements and so forth* Minimum manpower requirementsfor priority projects were supplied by the local OBL administrationthrough contact with the corresponding geldkommandantur which at thattime enjoyed the prestige of an apparently victorious conqueror.The situation consequently had nothing of the grlmness in it whichcharacterised the later manpower levies and raids. As a matter offact, the scarcity of German personel exceeded that of foreign labourand drove individual firms or even OBL ProntfQhrer into sendingrecruiting agents into Germany.Dearth of German OT personnel offered a serious problem inasmuchas firms could not operate unless they had at their disposal a minimumproportion of German supervisory personnel to direct the foreign labouriji their employ. A comparatively lax administration in Prance, however,tolerated the unsanctioned methods of recruiting as described above,until the urgency of the situation no longer permitted such tolerance.1© Germany the labour authorities entered a series of complaints, whilethe establishment of Arbeit samt Nebenstellen (Branch Labour Bureaux)in OT Induction Centres made such irregular methods of recruiting anexception rather than the rule.Ifee second phase lasted from JXme 1942 to about the same timei& 1943* At that time a comprehensive construction programme,(Atlantic Wall in the West, The Ostwall in the East, etc.) was assignedto the OT as part of the general defensive strategy which Germany hadadopted in regard to her conquests in Europe. At the same timemanpower was needed more than ever for war production in Germanyand in Prance. The needs of the situation resulted in the co-ordinationof manpower allotments to the OT with allotments to other essentialindustries in Germany and in Prance. In the early spring of 1943.French manpower quotas for the OT were filled on the basis of apriority equal to that given to German essential industries. Inpractice, however, authorities were unable to furnish the OT with morethan a minimum sufficient for tasks which were considered urgent, suchas the construction of V-sites, etc. Additional help had to beimported from Poland, Russia, Belgium, and other countries.The third and last phase was characterised by the effort of theGeneral Plenipotentiary for Manpower Allocation, SAUCKEL and his henchman,in Prance, Dr. RITTER, (see Aktion Frankreich, para 171 below)."By mid-year, 1943* efforts to raise Germany's war product ion - output hadreached a critical stage. In the face of obstinate resistance on thepart of the Prench, the general policy during the second stage had beento force Frenchmen to take essential war jobs in Prance if they wereto avoid deportation to Germany. Such essential industries wereclassified 'S' industries, 'S 1 being the abbreviation for Sperrbetriebe(Closed Industries). Employees of an 'S f industry were exempt fromremoval by Labour Authorities or even the Wehrraacht. Conversely, anemployee was subject to severe disciplinary action for unauthorisedabsence from employment of this type. TheOT was classified an fS findustry on 21 Oct 1943•During this third phase, however, a re-appraisal was made of theentire manpower supply throughout German controlled Europe and of meansand methods to co-ordinate it once and for all in the light of thecritical war production situation in Germany and of a possible Alliedinvasion of Europe. A compromise was consequently necessary in Prancebetween the urgent need of putting to maximum use in Prance thoseFrenchmen whom the Germans were unable to transport forcibly to Germany,