The money the prisoners might have earned was paid direct to the SS from whom the women were rented as slaves. Under the terms of their contract, Siemens paid the SS about forty Pfennigs for each hour worked. Even so, the company wanted its money’s worth, and it practised a system of incentives. If the prisoner wound more than her quota of spools she received a coupon worth up to one Reichsmark, which could be spent at the camp shop; if she fell below the quota, Grade ordered a guard to box her ears. If that didn’t work, he sent a report to the main camp labour office saying the woman was
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