A recent discovery in Paris - a front page of the newspaper "France-Soir" from February 1943 featuring a PK image of a Junkers Ju 90. The headline refers to the new law creating the Service du Travail Obligatoire (the STO or 'compulsory labour service') thus dating this newspaper from either the 16th or 17th of February 1943. No date in fact appears on the front page. (well, of course it does, as Nick has pointed out, it's in the box top right! And dated 17 Feb 43) The STO was a continuation of the voluntary 'Releve' - at least 240,000 French workers had gone to Germany voluntarily, including 70,000 women. But Fritz Saukel needed at least another 350,000 French workers to make up for labour shortages in German military production. Henceforth this new Vichy law would ensure that French workers were conscripted and deported in huge numbers to go and work in German factories. The imposition of the STO was one of the factors behind the 'rise' of the French resistance with large groups of young men taking to the 'maquis' to avoid being sent to Germany. Note the headline in the middle top refers to " the continued vain attempts by the Russians to force a break-through " (..on the southern sector of the Eastern Front...) - this is a couple of weeks after the destruction of VI Armee at Stalingrad! The article is illustrated with a picture of a Ju 90, which, the caption states, is being used to transport German reinforcements to the front. Interestingly enough I recently came across the PK film series from which this image was extracted in the ECPA-D. According to their caption this machine was possibly coded 'BG+ ??'. (DAA 2658)
