As the Second World War dragged on, Nazi leaders became more determined than ever to exploit slave labour. This also affected the camp system, as Himmler changed its overall management: in spring 1942, the Camp Inspectorate (under SS-Brigadeführer Richard Glücks) became part of the WVHA (Business Administration Main Office), a brand new office coordinating the administrative and economic affairs of the SS. It was led by Oswald Pohl, a deeply committed Nazi who would oversee the camp system until 1945.
On 3 March 1942 the Reichsführer-SS issued the following order:
“The mobilization of labour reserves now has the same vital importance as the mobilization of military reserves. If we truly understand the significance of this war for Germany then we must seize every single opportunity to exploit even the dying efforts of anyone and everyone to achieve victory. I am therefore giving the order that SS-Brigadeführer Glücks and his entire staff be put under the command of the SS Business Administration Main Office.”
This order will come into force on 16 March 1942.
Signed Pohl, SS-Gruppenführer
Source: J. Tuchel, Die Inspektion der Konzentrationslager 1938–1945 (Berlin, 1994), p. 88
Translation: Lesley Sharpe and Jeremy Noakes