Laurel outlook., 1944-03-15
Axis Captives
Aid in Forests
Help Meet Critical Needs of
Nation in Lumber and
Pulpwood.

Observation-Disclosures than 10000
Axis soldiers who fought with Mar
shall Erwin Rommel in North Africa
now are swinging axes in American
forests to help meet the nations
critical needs in lumber and pulp
wood. Their numbers may be in
creased s~eVeralfold as the result OF
an order by Gen. George c. Mar
shall, army chief of staff, permit
ting broader use of prisoners OF war
In forestry operations.
Wood cut by the prisoners will
help particularly in supplying lum-
Der and p~asteboard for containers
needed to move fruits, vegetables,
eggs, meat and other food products.
The War Food administration has
warned of a possible breakdown in
movement of food to consumers De-
cause of a shortage of containers.
The story of how these German
and Italian prisoners were obtained
and trained for work in the forests
goes back to last summer, when the
War Production board appealed to
the forest service to step up a rapid
ly declining lumber production. The
decline was laid to heavy loss of
manpower to the military services
and to better paying war industries.
Feared Forest Hazards.
The forest service sent Don M.
Rochester, its chief training officer,
to the war department to learn
whether prisoners could help. The
wal department shook its head. 1t
said such use of prisoners would be
an apparent violation of the Geneva
convention, which prohibits use of
prisoners in hazardous occupations.
Rochester replied that numbering
need not be so hazardous, that
proper training and observance of
safety practices had reduced for
estry casualties. He cited the low
injury record of civilian
ton corps units on forest projects.
Finally he won agreement to eX-
detrimental use of a few prisoners.
The experiment started last fall
near Huntsville, Texas, where a pa
per company offered to employ pris-
oners on a pulpwood project. Roch-
ester rounded up IS volunteers
among German noncommissioned
officers from a nearby prison camp.
Seven of the 25 had worked on
farms in Germany and were famil-
lar with use of the AK. Other woods
mems tools were strange to them.
All we're given a l0-hour instruc-
ton course. Then, using these %
as instructors, Rochester took
out so German ~privates each day for
training, which was carried on
through German soldiers who could
speak English. The training plan
included a sort of "schnitzelbank"
chart to teach the names and uses
of the various tools and also safety
practices.
Must Pay Equal Wages.
After several hundred prisoners
had been trained, Rochester took
several logging contractors and tim
berland owners into the woods to
watch. Few of them had thought
prisoners would be good enough
workers to assure a financial re-
turn from their use.
Employers of prisoners must pay
wages equal to that paid free Amer ,
lean workers. The prisoners, how
ever, get only 30 cents a day. The
difference goes to the federal treas
ury.
Most of the prisoners went about
the timber work with earnestness.
When they worked they got 30 cents
day. If they remained in camp
they got only 10 cents. Most of
them wanted the extra money to
buy cigarettes, candy and other lit
tie luxuries.
The war department, which had
watched the experiment with crossed
fingers, relaxed after a representa-
i've of the International Red Cross
made an inspection tour and pre-
pared a report to the German gov
eminent that the United States, by
means of its training program and
supervision, was not %subjecting the
prisoners to undue hazards or dan
gers.