Controversial Problems of the Second World War Economy (Summary of the discussion)

Abstract

On the first day of the conference the discussion centered on the problems presented in the papers by Madajczyk, W. Schumann and L. Nestler, that is, on the policy practised by Nazi Germany and Japan in the occupied territories. The main point of the discussion was a classification of occupational systems suggested, by Cz. Madajczyk. According to J. Freymond this interesting attempt at a comparative analysis of the economic policy adopted by Germany in the occupied territories has been made at a sufficiently advanced stage of research on the subject. Freymond admitted that as a student of politics he would undertake attempts at structuring of events and at classification but as a historian he Fully realized all difficulties of presenting the reality in structural categories. After these general comments Freymond considered the question of the occurrence of the turning points in the occupational policy of Nazi Germany and whether they were the same for all Axis countries and the occupied countries. The last point was the extent to which the suggested typology reflected the actual purposeful attempts to put into practice National Socialist ideology or in which it resulted from interpretations of historians using the time perspective.