uce the V2 rocket propulsion systems without the factory owners even realising what they were used for, further helping their war effort (Hirschfield, 1988, p.191). With the help of the appropriate authorities the economic exploitation of the Dutch industries by the German administration was a successful policy as they were able to export a large amount of raw materials and foodstuff (Warmbrunn, 1963, p.262).
This mobilisation of labour with the Reich Labour Service (Arbeitsdienst) was another way in which the German occupation managed to utilise the Dutch economy. 60,000 labourers from Holland initially settled in Germany after the invasion of their own free will after the Reichsmark was able to be converted once again (Klemann, 2008, p.458). The occupying powers were also able to use the threat of being sent to a labour camp as a way of keeping business owners and employees productive and co-operative (Mazower, 2008, p.265). Between 1942-43 when Germany was again struggling with labour, 120,000 labourers a year left from the Netherlands to Germany, most of them were forced (Klemann, 2008, p.476). However, the reduction in skilled labour brought about by the labour draft led to the total quantity of industrial production in 1944 dropping to half of what it was in 1939 (Warmbrunn, 1963, p.71). This follows the argument, suggested by scholars such as Klemann, that whilst the policies were a success for the Germans, they were extremely detrimental for the Dutch economy. Goering had claimed in 1940 that the standards of living would be maintained at the same levels as in Germany (ibid., p.69). However, this was not the case as the plundering of all of the Dutch resources led to the “hunger winter” of 1944 in which 20,000 people died (Hirschfeld, 1988, p.52) and, by the end of the occupation, national income had fallen by 20% since 1938, demonstrating how ineffective the Nazis were in maintaining the Dutch economy (Klemann, 2008, p.470). In summary, Seyss-Inquart achieved significant success in integrating the Dutch economy into the war time economy of Nazi Germany. However, from a Dutch perspective, thi
