The Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre

During the National Socialist era, up to 13 million people were imprisoned in the labour camps of the Third Reich. These people came from many countries including Belgium, Italy and the Soviet Union. The last well-preserved former Nazi forced labor camp is located in Berlin-Schöneweide.

The camp was liberated by the Soviet Army on 23/24 April 1945. Until September 1945, the Red Army used some of the barracks as paper warehouses for the Soviet Military Administration. In the summer of 2006 the Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre opened the grounds of the former camp, which has now been declared a protected historic monument.

Entering the exhibition spaces, you will find inscriptions on the walls, letters and biographies which all provide a very personal insight into the prisoners’ lives. Down the air-raid shelter behind the thick walls, you have a chance to learn about the daily lives of the people detained in the camp – lives of men, women and children forcibly transported to Germany as labourers. It illustrates the extent to which the lives of forced labourers were shaped by the racist hierarchy of the Nazi regime.

If you are interested in history and want to learn more about such an important part of the world history, then join us next Wednesday!