4 | ‘HE German aggressor:

have left a monstrous
heritage - behind them:
they have laid waste the
fruits of generations of la-
bor, the material wealth _ of
nations. ~
The day of reckoning has
come. The Crimea Conference
of the leaders of the three

great Allied powers decided to ©

compel Germany to make com-
pensation for the damage she
has caused “in kind to the
greatest extent possible.”

From a legal aspect, the
matter is beyond dispute. No
advocate tarred with the ap-
peaser’s brush could throw even
a shadow of a doubt on the
right — internationally recog-
nized—of the -victors to com-
pensation for damage caused
by the enemy.

When, however, freedom-lov-
ing nations which have been
the victims of predatory ag-
gression are the victors, the
right to demand reparations be-
comes a duty; for leniency to-
ward the aggressor may give
rise to new wars. The form of
‘reparations whether they
shall be in money or in kind —
-is a question of military and
‘economic expediency.

BY unleashing war and trans-
forming it into a system of
militarized banditry, Germany
caused enormous damage to the
freedom-loving nations which
became victims of her aggress-
ion. Naturally, Germany must
draw upon all her resources for
the purpose of compensating to
the greatest possible extent for
the damage she has done.

In the Versailles Treaty it
Was stated that the Allied and
associated governments recog-
nized that the resources. of
Germany were not adequate to
make complete reparation for
all the loss and damage caused
by Germany in the war of 1914-
18 (Article 230). Consequently,
in addition to considerable
money reparations, the Ver-
sailles Treaty provided for re-
parations in kind.

On account of feparations,
Germany undertook to transfer
to the Allies ships, coal; chemi-
eal products and livestock.

The damage caused by Hitler
Germany in the war of 1939-45

¢ WEARY YANKS GRAB SOME SHUTEYE AFTER VICTORY

ASoviet View OF German Labor

Reparations

By Prof. A. Trainin

Labor reparations are not only an expedient but also an

absolutely just form of compensation for damage.

Those who

destroy must restore what they have destroyed.

is immeasurably greater than
the damage by Germans caused
in 1914-18. Germany must com-
pensate for this damage to a
considerable extent in-kind.
Reparations must also take
the form of labor power, which
Germany must place at the Al-
lies’ disposal for the purpose of
restoring property ‘which the
Germans have destroyed. In
this connection, the following
points must be borne in mind.

THE German troops commit-
ted this damage methodic-
ally and systematically. They
were not prompted by consider-
ations of military necessity.
This destruction of property
was conducted as methodically
and systematically as was the
cold-blooded extermination of
millions*of civilians and prison-
_ ers of war in the Hitlerite
death camps.

Hence labor reparations are
not only an expedient but also
an absolutely just form of com-
pensation for damage. Those
who destroy must restore what
they have destroyed.

Lastly, it must not be forgot-
ten that among the tasks facing
the victor peoples, enormous
importance attaches to the
liquidating of Germany’s mili-
tary potential. The employment

of Germans on restoration work.

in the countries they have de-
vastated will naturally facili-
tate the effective economic dis-
armament of Germany.

The decision of the Crimea
Conference on reparations in
kind evoked favorable comment
in the foreign press.

The United States Institute
of Public Opinion recently con-
ducted an inquiry to discover
people’s views on the question
of employing Germans on res-
teration work in the Soviet Un-

ion. Their query was formulat-
ed as follows: “After the war,
should three. or four million
German men be required to
spend two or three years -to
help in rebuilding Russian cities
which they destroyed?” Seven-
ty-one percent of the Ameri-
cans who were questioned said
“yes.”” Nine percent refrained
from answering, and only 20
percent said “no.”

Although public opinion in
Allied countries gives wide
support to the idea of employ-
ing Germans to restore proper-
ty they jhave destroyed, there
are certain circles which oppose
it. The main apprehension of
the opponents of labor repara-
tions is that such reparations
will lead to the economic ex-
haustion, the “impoverishment”
of Germany, and that this in
turn will injure world trade.

This argument has been ad-
vanced repeatédly by the Lon-
don Economist. The same ap-
prehension was recently ex-
pressed by the New Stateman
and Nation, which stated that
if Germany’s industrial produe-
tivity was not restored within
prescribed limits, the ravages
of war in Europe would not be
made good during the life of
this generation.

Such apprehensions are not
new. Similar arguments were
zealously disseminated from
certain quarters after the First
World War. As is well known,
the upshot was that the Ger-
mans were generously provided
with loans, with the aid of
which “exhausted” Germany
built up a gigantic war indus-
try and prepared for the Sec-
ond World War. This lesson
must not be forgotten.

_ The ‘argument that labor
reparations will injure world
trade is unsound. The destruc-
tion of Germany’s war economy

does not in the least imply the
liquidation of her world econ-
omy and. her dropping out of
world trade. It was her enor-
mous armament program and
her policy of economic autocra-
cy, pursued for the purpose of
preparing her economy for war,
which diminished Germany’s
share in world trade.

The abandonment of this pol-
icy, and of the militarist trend
of economic development which
is its concomitant, will make
Germany far more dependent
on the world market than. she
was before, notwithstanding the
fact that the general level of
production in Germany will of
course drop as a result of the
payment of reparations in kind
and in labor.

On the other hand, it must
not be forgotten that this will
be compensated, and more than
compensated, by the growth of
productive capacities in the

. countries which suffered from

German aggression and which

will receive reparations from
Germany.

@
NDER these circumstances,

the argument ‘that an im-
poverished Germany will disap-
pear from the world market as
a result of making labor re-
parations is merely’ a bogey
raised by certain parties closely
interested in the German mar-
ket. P

Other opponents of labor rep-
arations advance no coherent
objections, but confine them-
selves to uttering frightful
words like “forced labor,” slav-
ery,” and so on. These people
oppose labor reparations only
because these will be imposed
on Germany.

Karl Von Wiegand, the no-
torious Hearst correspondent in
Madrid, asserted that the pro-
posal to employ German work-

ers on restoration work :
that “the United Sta ;
Great Britain, sanction a}
‘of slavery in Europe.” 1
Cc
(

echoed by George N*: ©
president of -Hunter :
New York, who in a spe
livered, before an audic.
members of the Foreign:
Association, said that lak:
arations were tantamo-

“enslavement.”

To stick to metaphor:
bels like “slavery” and “ea
ment” is of course one }
easiest mental exercis®
takes neither knowled
brains. But mere label
nothing.

One could as easily ¢
money reparations as:
bery,” and the demilitar’
of Germany’s industry
“ruination.” It is the se
line of argument as that
ed by the German-fascis
nibals, who believe tha
have the right to comm.
crime they please, but 13
call them to book for
crimes is tyranny and in:

It. will be shown that I: |
justice, for which the
troops fought, are not fl
slogans and pious wish¢,
political and military x
which have the power tol
not only the triumph of
but also the security of ¢].
ples against a recrudescé |
German aggression.

The. Herrenvolk will j
prived of their general
They will have to disband
army, disarm their -ind
compensate for the 4d
they have done, and i)
what they have so savag: |
stroyed.

Not so long ago the De
Zeitung in Norwegen, 2
man-fascist newspaper i
way, drepped into plaint 5
ricism in discussing. laboi
rations. It wrote: “The
man soldier has not beer
rated from his wife and ci.
and kept away from his.
for six years in order, as
sult of unconditional sur.
to receive from the Alli
right to be separated frc'
wife and children, and 25
work at his trade for a

ten years or for the rest_
life.”

0* course, it was not fe ®
that the German 1% Ip
went to war. On the othe
the freedom-loving nation: &
not made their incalculabl 3
rifices in order to allow tl
precedented crimes of th
lerites to go unpunished.

Germany, naturally er§
is displeased at the outco g
the war, displeased at hav |
bear the consequences 0:
vandalism. This is under: |§
able. That the defenders «ii
German aggressors in ¢@ |
foreign quarters should fet |
turbed is also understanda

But nothing can now.
either the one or the othe *

ruins of Europe will be reef
to the utmost possible exte |
Germany’s expense, and @
large’ extent by German i

SATURDAY, JULY 14, | :

SPRAWLING OVER A GRASSY EMBANKMENT, 2 group of eompletely ex- | Okinawa. A cou i i
; - . ple of the fighters were so tired they didn’t even take
hausted Yanks of the 10th Army catch the proverbial forty winks and | the time to remove their heavy battle helmets before stretching out.

This is an official U.S. Army photo. (International Soundphoto)