At the bottom of a black hole, deeper than twice the height of the Empire State Building, a coal miner named Josef earned his daily bread this difficult winter. Fifteen European countries, including Germany, have a grim interest in Josef, for their economic revival is closely tied to the amount of coal which he and some 300,000 other miners win from the rich Ruhr mines. In the dust-choked gloom of the pit face TIME Correspondent Percy Knauth talked with Josef, trying to learn why the miners are producing only half as much as before the war.
"Warum?" echoed Josef. "Because...
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