In September 1944, there were around 7 million civilian forced labourers and prisoners of war in Germany. This large number alone meant that there were a great many places where forced labourers and German civilians came into contact – at work, in public areas and streets or in private homes. Forced labourers were present everywhere in the day-to-day lives of the German population.

 

In private households and on farms

Germans had particularly close contact with forced labourers when it came to forced labour in their own households, businesses or on small farms. They themselves often chose the people who would work for them. For this purpose, the forced labourers were often “exhibited” in public places in the respective towns and villages. Their mouths were examined or they were judged by their physical appearance. Many forced labourers compared this degrading situation to slave or cattle markets.

If forced labourers worked on a farm or in a household, they were usually housed in a cattle shed or cellar. There were numerous guidelines and instructions for private households to ensure that the racially prescribed segregation of forced labourers from German families was adhered to. Nazi propaganda gave tips on how to implement segregation in everyday life. One drawing shows a Polish forced labourer eating on a farm and demands that he be given a separate room, as he could not be part of the “table community” on racial grounds. If German employers broke the rules, the forced labourers were taken away.

“Picture of the Week”, Amstettner Anzeiger, 18 April 1943. One of the rules forbade Germans and forced labourers from being part of the same “table community”. The forced labourers on farms were supposed to eat their meals separately from the Germans © Bibliothek der Universität Wien
“Picture of the Week”, Amstettner Anzeiger, 18 April 1943. One of the rules forbade Germans and forced labourers from being part of the same “table community”. The forced labourers on farms were supposed to eat their meals separately from the Germans © Bibliothek der Universität Wien

In many cases, forced labourers were not housed directly at their place of work. Forced labour camps were sometimes set up at factory sites or in the immediate vicinity. The routes from the place of work to the camp often passed through residential areas, which meant that many Germans were able to observe the labour detachments or encountered them on their way to work. Forced labour camps were everywhere: it is estimated that 30,000 camps existed in Germany.

 

Forced labourers in Detmolder Straße at the junction with Diesterwegstraße, undated, Bielefeld © Stadtarchiv Bielefeld
Forced labourers in Detmolder Straße at the junction with Diesterwegstraße, undated, Bielefeld © Stadtarchiv Bielefeld

Encounters in factories and businesses

There were also many points of contact between forced labourers and the German civilian population in the factories. German men could be exempted from conscription if they held jobs important to the war effort. When forced labourers were used in their company, they often took on the role of foremen. Instead of working on the machines themselves, they moved up the hierarchy to supervise the work of the forced labourers. They had broad powers in this role to punish forced labourers for alleged misconduct.

Forbidden friendships and relationships

Relationships and encounters between “Aryan” Germans and forced labourers were strictly regulated, monitored and punished, even on the slightest suspicion.

Sign forbidding Poles from entering a playground, undated © bpk, Bayrische Staatsbibliothek
Sign forbidding Poles from entering a playground, undated © bpk, Bayrische Staatsbibliothek

Romantic and sexual relationships between Germans and foreign forced labourers were strictly prohibited. Nevertheless, relationships developed between forced labourers and members of the German civilian population. If such a relationship became known, the consequences were severe. To show the consequences of a transgression of the racist order and to restore it symbolically, German women were publicly humiliated by having her hair shorn off, for instance. A male foreign forced labourer could expect to be given a harsh penalty. People from the Soviet Union and Poland whose forbidden contact was discovered were subjected to particularly cruel treatment. In many cases, they were executed by the Gestapo or sent to a concentration camp.

 

Crowd watching the public humiliation of a German woman and a Polish forced labourer for “forbidden contact” at Adolf Hitler Square, undated, Eisenach © Stadtarchiv Eisenach, archive signature 41.3-J-533_1
Crowd watching the public humiliation of a German woman and a Polish forced labourer for “forbidden contact” at Adolf Hitler Square, undated, Eisenach © Stadtarchiv Eisenach, archive signature 41.3-J-533_1

Although the state regulated interactions between Germans and forced labourers, members of the civilian population could decide for themselves how to behave towards forced labourers in individual cases. Former forced labourers reported both compassion and solidarity shown to them, as well as mistreatment or denunciation. Many Germans, for example, complained about the arrival of millions of forced labourers and lamented their presence in public swimming pools or cinemas. As the majority of the German population had internalised the racist Nazi ideology, there was a lack of solidarity, racist behaviour and indifference towards the forced labourers.

 

 

Further Reading:

Insa Eschebach, Christine Glauning, Silke Schneider (Hrsg.). Verbotener Umgang mit "Fremdvölkischen". Kriminalisierung und Verfolgungspraxis im Nationalsozialismus, Berlin 2023.

Mark Spoerer. Zwangsarbeit unter dem Hakenkreuz: Ausländische Zivilarbeiter, Kriegsgefangene und Häftlinge im Deutschen Reich und im besetzten Europa 1939-1945, Stuttgart/München 2001.