The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-10-19


the East German authorities have
to foot the bill. In the areas con-
trolled by the Wismut AG (there
are five main ones) the East Ger
man government has no authority.
with its $4,000 administrative
staff directly responsible to the
Russian military authorities it is,
in effect, an autonomous state
within the state with laws of its
own, cut off completely from the
rest of the East Zone and its Ger
man authorities. The regime is, in
fact, a most blatant example of
colonial exploitation"
So there are 100000 East Ger
mans working the uranium mines
for the Suviets. How did the Russ
ians get these workers? Well, job
hunters are deprived of their un-
employment benefits and some
times their ration cards. If they
move to another area they are re-
fused residence permits. They eth
er mine uranium for the Russians
or starve. Wismut AG authorities
have devised ways of creating un-
employment. The local Labor Ex-
changes and other units are re-
quired to get a certain number OF
"volunteers" within a given period.
"The official responsible for full
filling the quotas is obliged to
reach the required numbers lest he
be suspected of disagreeing with
the Party line on the matter of
Wismut recruitment, which may
lead to his demotion or dismissal" !"
A current slogan among recruit
ment officials is, 'There is no such
thing as failure to volunteer"
Men between II and so years old
and women between Is and 55 are
eligible for work in the mines.
Those with disabilities up to so
percent are eligible too. The nor
NAL output rate is set so high that
it is the exception rather than the
rule. For those who do not produce
the MORN" food rations are cut.
The average wage for a surface
worker runs $12 to $15 month.
That is, if he fulfils his norm. With
the various deductions, including
idle time due to stoppages in the
shafts, the average wage for many
boils down to about Sc to So a
| month.
The workers have to travel long
distances to get there. The British
report that "Often much of what
little free time is left is spent in
queueing at the food shops.' The
accident rate underground is high
"as result of gas explosions, col
lapsing rock and blasting opera
tions without proper warning to
the miners at work. The number of
casualties is never disclosed and
cases have been reported of work
ers killed whose next of kin were
never supplied with the true de-
tails. When the worker failed to
return from the shaft his people
were informed that he fled to the
West"
| Wismut employees who become
i'll and want release from work are
considered shirkers. Wismut doc
tors have stopped using the term
"gas poisoning" and have adopted
"circulatory collapse" instead. The
British investigation found the
main illnesses to be respiratory
troubles, heart and lung troubles,
laryngitis, bronchial and intestinal
complaints, rheumatism, frostbite,
chronic ulcers Caused by open
wounds coming into contact with
radioactive substances) gastritis,
(caused by poisonous fumes) and
genealogical complaints.
And the pamphlets keep coming.
"Best conditions of work" "Why
are you hesitatiug?" The peace
must be secured, they say. Work
the mines. Get the uranium and lib
crate your Western brothers."