(p.4) The Nazi party's philosophy and policies regarding labor were fundamentally shaped by the circumstances of its maturation, especially the German inflation and depression. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the legislative actions of the Nazi party after it assumed power in 1933 to show the type and degree of controls that the Nazis established over the German workers prior to the war and subsequently extended to the foreign workers, and to illuminate some of the later inconsistencies in the foreign labor program.

(p.5) In the labor field, the initial actions of the new Nazi government in 1933 reflected the primacy of political goals over all others. In the spring of that year the Nazi government eliminated the political power of German labor. The trade unions, backbone of the Social Democratic party, were immediately abolished. The newspapers, funds, and property of the unions were incorporated into the monolithic Nazicontrolled Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF). The political parties representing labor were ruthlessly crushed. German labor, stripped of political and economic bargaining power, lay ready for molding by the Nazi party

(p.8) Of all the early Nazi labor actions, none had as serious aftereffects as the campaign to remove women from all gainful employment. Soon after the Nazis assumed power, they launched an intensive propaganda campaign to release women from industry. The virtues of motherhood were extolled. Women were constantly being told that their proper role was in the home. Monetary incentives like the marriage loans were enacted. Generous allowances were later granted to soldiers' wives; as a result, many women refused to work. Klein noted that these measures were only too successful in inculcating the idea that women should remain in...

(p.13) It is readily apparent that Germany had a far more comprehensive system of labor control than any other country in Europe, with the possible exception of the Soviet Union. This thorough system was one of the major reasons that Germany could effectively absorb millions of foreign workers during the war with so few disruptive effects.

(p.22) The general war plans of the Nazis, the partial mobilization of the economy, the Nazis' unwillingness to demand a heavier sacrifice from their own people, the lack of coordination and organization of the party and government, and the Nazi reluctance to draft women all pointed to one solution. The immediate manpower shortage had to be solved with foreign labor.