GERMANY: Seldte’s Solicitude

Overtime is only a figure of speech in Germany these days. Recently Marshal Hermann Goring appointed Efficiency Expert Paul Walther to investigate the coal industry: the men were digging less coal on ten-hour shifts than they had previously dug on eight. Working hours for men have been pushed up until two twelve-hour shifts have been reached in some industries. Men returning from work on the Siegfried Line say that they were driven 15 hours a day—from dawn to dark, with two short rests.

Contrary to the trend was a law which

Minister of Labor Franz Seldte put into effect last week. Women, decreed Minister Seldte, must not be made to work more than ten hours a day, 54 hours a week. Nazi Seldte’s reason: “Women must have plenty of time for their natural profession, motherhood.”