By: Gen. Leon Degrelle
In this excerpt from his memoirs General Leon
Degrelle, former leader of the Belgian contingent of the Waffen-SS,
describes how Adolf Hitler gained the enthusiastic support of the
working people of Germany.
One of the first labor reforms to
benefit the German workers was the establishment of annual paid
vacation. The Socialist French Popular Front, in 1936, would make a show
of having invented the concept of paid vacation, and stingily at that,
only one week per year. But Adolf Hitler originated the idea, and two or
three times as generously, from the first month of his coming to power
in 1933.
Every factory employee from then on would have the
legal right to a paid vacation. Until then, in Germany paid holidays
where they applied at all did not exceed four or five days, and nearly
half the younger workers had no leave entitlement at all. Hitler, on the
other hand, favored the younger workers. Vacations were not handed out
blindly, and the youngest workers were granted time off more generously.
It was a humane action; a young person has more need of rest and fresh
air for the development of his strength and vigor just coming into
maturity. Basic vacation time was twelve days, and then from age 25 on
it went up to 18 days. After ten years with the company, workers got 21
days, three times what the French socialists would grant the workers of
their country in 1936.
These figures may have been surpassed in the more than half a century
since then, but in 1933 they far exceeded European norms. As for
overtime hours, they no longer were paid, as they were everywhere else
in Europe at that time, at just the regular hourly rate. The work day
itself had been reduced to a tolerable norm of eight hours, since the
forty-hour week as well, in Europe, was first initiated by Hitler. And
beyond that legal limit, each additional hour had to be paid at a
considerably increased rate. As another innovation, work breaks were
made longer; two hours every day in order to let the worker relax and to
make use of the playing fields that the large industries were required
to provide.
Dismissal of an employee was no longer left as
before the sole discretion of the employer. In that era, workers' rights
to job security were non-existent. Hitler saw to it that those rights
were strictly spelled out. The employer had to announce any dismissal
four weeks in advance. The employee then had a period of up to two
months in which to lodge a protest. The dismissal could also be annulled
by the Honor of Work Tribunal. What was the Honor of Work Tribunal?
Also called the Tribunal of Social Honor, it was the third of the three
great elements or layers of protection and defense that were to the
benefit of every German worker. The first was the Council of Trust. The
second was the Labor Commission.
The Council of Trust was
charged with attending to the establishment and the development of a
real community spirit between management and labor. "In any business
enterprise", the Reich law stated, "the employer and head of the
enterprise, the employees and workers, personnel of the enterprise,
shall work jointly towards the goal of the enterprise and the common
good of the nation."
Neither would any longer be the victim of
the other-not the worker facing the arbitrariness of the employer nor
the employer facing the blackmail of strikes for political purposes.
Article 35 of the Reich labor law stated that: "Every member of an Aryan
enterprise community shall assume the responsibilities required by his
position in the said common enterprise." In other words, at the head of
the company or the enterprise would be a living, breathing executive in
charge, not a moneybags with unconditional power. "The interest of the
community may require that an incapable or unworthy employer be relieved
of his duties"
The employer would no longer be inaccessible and
all-powerful, authoritatively determining the conditions of hiring and
firing his staff. He, too, would be subject to the workshop regulations,
which he would have to respect, exactly as the least of his employees.
The law conferred honor and responsibility on the employer only insofar
as he merited it.
Every business enterprise of 20 or more
persons was to have its "Council of Trust". The two to ten members of
this council would be chosen from among the staff by the head of the
enterprise. The ordinance of application of 10 March 1934 of the above
law further stated: "The staff shall be called upon to decide for or
against the established list in a secret vote, and all salaried
employees, including apprentices of 21 years of age or older, will take
part in the vote. Voting shall be done by putting a number before the
names of the candidates in order of preference, or by striking out
certain names."
In contrast to the business councils of the
preceding régime, the Council of Trust was no longer an instrument of
class, but one of teamwork of the classes, composed of delegates of the
staff as well as the head of the enterprise. The one could no longer act
without the other. Compelled to coordinate their interests, though
formerly rivals, they would now cooperate to establish by mutual consent
the regulations which were to determine working conditions.
Belgian author Marcel Laloire, who observed conditions in the Reich
first hand, wrote "The Council has the duty to develop mutual trust
within the enterprise. It will advise on all measures serving to improve
the carrying out of the work of the enterprise and on standards
relating to general work conditions, in particular those which concern
measures tending to reinforce feelings of solidarity between the members
themselves and between the members and the enterprise, or tending to
improve the personal situation of the members of the enterprise
community. The Council also has the obligation to intervene to settle
disputes. It must be heard before the imposition of fines based on
workshop regulations."
Before assuming their duties, members of
the Work Council had to take an oath before all their co-workers to
"carry out their duties only for the good of the enterprise and of all
citizens, setting aside any personal interest, and in their behavior and
manner of living to serve as model representatives of the enterprise."
[Article 10, paragraph 1 of the law.] Every 30th of April, on the eve of
the great national labor holiday, council duties ceased and the
councils were renewed, pruning out conservatism or petrifaction and
cutting short the arrogance of dignitaries who might have thought
themselves beyond criticism.
It was up to the enterprise itself
to pay a salary to members of the Council of Trust, just as if they were
employed in the work area, and "to assume all costs resulting from the
regular fulfillment of the duties of the Council".
The second
agency that would ensure the orderly development of the new German
social system was the institution of the "Workers' Commissioners". They
would essentially be conciliators and arbitrators. When gears were
grinding, they were the ones who would have to apply the grease. They
would see to it that the Councils of trust were functioning harmoniously
to ensure that regulations of a given business enterprise were being
carried out to the letter.
They were divided among 13 large
districts covering the territory of the Reich. As arbitrators they were
not dependent upon either owners or workers. They had total independence
in the field. They were appointed by the state, which represented both
the interests of everyone in the enterprise and the interests of society
at large.
In order that their decisions should never be
unfounded or arbitrary, they had to rely on the advice of a "Consulting
Council of Experts" which consisted of 18 members selected from various
sections of the economy in a representation of sorts of the interests of
each territorial district.
To ensure still further the
objectivity of their arbitration decisions, a third agency was
superimposed on the Councils of Trust and the 13 Commissioners, the
Tribunal of Social Honor.
Thus from 1933 on, the German worker
had a system of justice at his disposal that was created especially for
him and would adjudicate all grave infractions of the social duties
based on the idea of the Aryan enterprise community. Examples of these
violations of social honor are cases where the employer, abusing his
power, displayed ill will towards his staff or impugned the honor of his
subordinates, cases where staff members threatened work harmony by
spiteful agitation; the publication by members of the Council of
confidential information regarding the enterprise which they became
cognizant of in the course of discharging their duties. Thirteen
"Tribunes of Social Honor" were established, corresponding with the
thirteen commissions.
The presiding judge was not a fanatic; he
was a career judge who rose above disputes. Meanwhile the enterprise
involved was not left out of the proceedings; the judge was seconded by
two assistant judges, one representing the management, another a member
of the Council of Trust.
This tribunal, the same as any other
court of law, had the means of enforcing its decisions. But there were
nuances. Decisions could be limited in mild cases to a remonstrance.
They could also hit the guilty party with fines of up to 10,000 marks.
Other very special sanctions were provided for that were precisely
adapted to the social circumstances; change of employment, dismissal of
the head of the enterprise or his agent who had failed in his duty. In
case of a contested decision, the legal dispute could always be taken up
to a Supreme Court seated in Berlin-a fourth level of protection.
From then on the worker knew that exploitation of his physical strength
in bad faith or offending his honor would no longer be allowed. He had
to fulfill certain obligations to the community, but they were
obligations that applied to all members of the enterprise, from the
chief executive down to the messenger boy. Germany's workers at last had
clearly established social rights that were arbitrated by a Labor
Commission and enforced by a Tribunal of Honor. Although effected in an
atmosphere of justice and moderation, it was a revolution.
This
was only the end of 1933, and already the first effects could be felt.
The factories and shops large and small were reformed or transformed in
conformity with the strictest standards of cleanliness and hygiene; the
interior areas, so often dilapidated, opened to light; playing fields
constructed; rest areas made available where one could converse at one's
ease and relax during rest periods; employee cafeterias; proper
dressing rooms.
With time, that is to say in three years, those
achievements would take on dimensions never before imagined; more than
2,000 factories refitted and beautified; 23,000 work premises
modernized; 800 buildings designed exclusively for meetings; 1,200
playing fields; 13,000 sanitary facilities with running water; 17,000
cafeterias. Eight hundred departmental inspectors and 17,300 local
inspectors would foster and closely and continuously supervise these
renovations and installations.
The large industrial
establishments moreover had been given the obligation of preparing areas
not only suitable for sports activities of all minds, but provided with
swimming pools as well. Germany had come a long way from the sinks for
washing one's face and the dead tired workers, grown old before their
time, crammed into squalid courtyards during work breaks.
In
order to ensure the natural development of the working class, physical
education courses were instituted for the younger workers; 8,000 such
were organized. Technical training would be equally emphasized, with the
creation of hundreds of work schools, technical courses and
examinations of professional competence, and competitive examinations
for the best workers for which large prizes were awarded.
To
rejuvenate young and old alike, Hitler ordered that a gigantic vacation
organization for workers be set up. Hundreds of thousands of workers
would be able every summer to relax on and at the sea. Magnificent
cruise ships would be built. Special trains would carry vacationers to
the mountains and to the seashore. The locomotives that hauled the
innumerable worker-tourists in just a few years of travel in Germany
would log a distance equivalent to fifty-four times around the world!
The cost of these popular excursions was nearly insignificant, thanks to greatly reduced rates authorized by the Reichsbank.
Didn't these reforms lack something? Were some of them flawed by errors
and blunders? It is possible. But what did a blunder amount to
alongside the immense gains?
That this transformation of the
working class smacked of authoritarianism? That's exactly right. But the
German people were sick and tired of socialism and anarchy. To feel
commanded didn't bother them a bit. In fact, people have always liked
having a strong man guide them. One thing for certain is that the turn
of mind of the working class, which was still almost two-thirds
non-National Socialist in 1933, had completely changed.
The
Belgian author Marcel Laloire would note: "When you make your way
through the cities of Germany and go into the working-class districts,
go through the factories, the construction yards, you are astonished to
find so many workers on the job sporting the Hitler insignia, to see so
many flags with the Swastika, black on a bright red background, in the
most populous districts." The "Labor Front" that Hitler imposed on all
of the workers and employers of the Reich was for the most part received
with favor.
And already the steel spades of the sturdy young
lads of the National Labor Service could be seen gleaming along the
highways. The National Labor Service had been created by Hitler out of
thin air to bring together for a few months in absolute equality, and in
the same uniform, both the sons of millionaires and the sons of the
poorest families. All had to perform the same work and were subject to
the same discipline, even the same pleasures and the same physical and
moral development. On the same construction sites and in the same living
quarters, they had become conscious of their commonality, had come to
understand one another, and had swept away their old prejudices of class
and caste. After this hitch in the National Labor Service they all
began to live as comrades, the workers knowing that the rich man's son
was not a monster, and the young lad from the wealthy family knowing
that the worker's son had honor just like any other young fellow who had
been more generously favored by birth. Social hatred was disappearing,
and a socially united people was being born.
Hitler could
already go into factories-something no man of the so-called Right before
him would have risked doing-and hold forth to the mob of workers, tens
of thousands of them at a time, as in the Siemens works. "In contrast to
the von Papens and other country gentlemen," he might tell them, "In my
youth I was a worker like you. And in my heart of hearts, I have
remained what I was then." In the course of his twelve years in power,
no incident ever occurred at any factory Adolf Hitler ever visited. When
Hitler was among the people, he was at home, and he was received like
the member of the family who had been most successful.
1 comMENTS:
Nice website my brothers.
14 words to Victory or Valhalla!
Post a comment