Prisoners played an important role in the system of forced labour to ensure war production. They were used to produce armaments within the prison. The largest arms manufacturing company on the grounds of Wolfenbüttel prison was the Brunswick-based company Voigtländer & Sohn. Isolated from other prisoners, the “night and fog” prisoners worked in the church of the prison; contact with other prisoners was avoided for reasons of secrecy.

Difficult prison conditions for incarcerated people were by no means confined to the Wolfenbüttel prison itself. The outSITE Wolfenbüttel project was initiated to highlight this. The project researched more than 50 sites between Südheide and Südharz, between Weser and Ostharz, where prisoners from Wolfenbüttel were used for forced labour. These sites are presented on a media wall in the entrance area of the Documentation Centre, where interactive information about the sites can be accessed. Stelae have also been erected at eight historical sites to commemorate the history of forced labour at these locations.

Hard labour was used as a punishment for forced labourers who had committed crimes. In Walbeck (Saxony-Anhalt), for example, Italian prisoners from the Wolfenbüttel prison worked alongside prisoners from the Buchenwald concentration camp in an underground armaments factory. This detachment was known as “intensified incarceration”. It was intended to punish refusal to work, alleged laziness or alleged poor work performance.