Working with historical sources from the Nazi era is part of the standard repertoire of history lessons in the classroom and in educational work at extracurricular places of learning and remembrance.

Diaries, photographs and legal texts are examples of the many ways in which the subject of forced labour can be approached and the complex of Nazi crimes and the daily lives of some 13 million forced labourers in the German Reich can be explored.

Some of these historical sources are presented in this section. Each of the articles considers what the source reveals about Nazi forced labour and what needs to be considered when dealing with this type of source in educational work. In doing so, they promote a source-based understanding of the living and working conditions of forced labourers and encourage a critical approach to historical sources.

The selection of sources is multi-perspective. This means that different historical actors in the system of Nazi forced labour come to the fore. We look at history from all its perspectives: civilian forced labourers, prisoners of war, Italian military internees and concentration camp inmates, as well as state actors, especially labour offices, specific Nazi authorities and the General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment, and German companies. One source does not date from the Nazi period. It is a snapshot of the decades-long struggle of former forced labourers for compensation.

Educational work with historical sources – especially documents produced by perpetrators – has to deal with a fundamental contradiction. On the one hand, the racist and inhuman world view of the Nazis, which is reflected in the documents they produced, should not be reproduced. On the other hand, laws, administrative documents and photographs can be used to draw meaningful conclusions about the functioning of Nazi society.

We have therefore decided to reproduce the perpetrators’ documents here. However, we are only presenting the cover of a propaganda pamphlet. It can be obtained from libraries if required.