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The press information on the exhibition “Forced Labor. The Forced Laborers and the War” at the Museum der Arbeit, Hamburg is available here for downloading (in german).

 

More details about the accompanying book on the exhibition and background information on the poster image can be downloaded here.

 

The accompanying book (in German, Polish, Russian, English and Czech) can also be purchased at the Buchenwald Memorial’s specialized bookshop on the history of National Socialism, the concentration camps and the special camps. The shop can be contacted by phone at +49 (0)3643 430 151 or by email.

 

To order review copies of the accompanying book, please contact the Press and Publicity Department.

 

PRESS CONTACT

Germany (Information on the exhibition):

Dr Philipp Neumann-Thein
Press and Publicity Department
Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation
Phone +49 (0) 3643 430 156
Fax +49 (0) 3643 430 100

or write an E-Mail.

Photo-Download for the exhibition

The press photos are for use exclusively within the framework of press coverage of the special exhibition “Forced Labor. The Germans, the Forced Laborers and the War” and must be accompanied by a complete reference to the source.

Please send copies of the respective publications to the Department of Press and Publicity (Abteilung Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit) of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation.

Photo - Accommodation. Violence and Ostracism before the War

Chemnitz, März 1933.
Bernhard Kuhnt und andere verhaftete Sozialdemokraten und Kommunisten wurden gezwungen, vor Schaulustigen Zäune zu säubern. Bernhard Kuhnt blieb bis Juli 1934 in Haft. Danach lebte er unter Überwachung in Berlin.

Quelle: Stadtarchiv Chemnitz
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Humiliation of Bernhard Kuhnt in Chemnitz
The inscription, “Always dignified! The naval fleet’s mutineer Bernh. Kuhnt arrives at his new workplace (washing off the dirt),” refers to the myth that mutinous social democratic and communist sailors were responsible for the defeat of the German empire in the First World War.
Source: Bundesarchiv, Koblenz
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“Scouring operation” in Vienna
In March 1938, Fritz Wokurka took photographs of the “scouring operation” that he organized along with some like-minded associates. He sent them to “Der Stürmer”, accompanied by a letter, several years later.
Copyright: Stadtarchiv Nürnberg/E 39 Nr. 256/5 (Please always indicate the reference number.)
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Photo - Radicalization. Forced Labor in Occupied Europe

Transport to Germany
Transport to Germany, Ukraine, spring 1943. Under guard, women and girls who are being taken to the German Reich for forced labor, climb into a railroad car.
Photo: Thiemann; source: Bundesarchiv, Koblenz
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Album of the Textile Department at Litzmannstadt Ghetto (reproduction)
Listed are products manufactured between 1940 and 1942 for the Wehrmacht, including parade uniforms, field tunics, overcoats, and air force caps.
Photo: Daniel Porsdorf; source: Zbiór ikonograficzny Archiwum Państwowego w Łodzi
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Construction work, IG Farben site in Auschwitz
Concentration camp inmates and female civilian workers doing roadwork. According to the testimony of Dürrfeld, the women were “Eastern workers.” Several hundred women from the Ukraine and Russia had to work in forced labor for IG Farben in Monowitz. IG Farben site in Auschwitz, ca. 1943.
Source: Bundesarchiv, Koblenz
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Büro eines deutschen Arbeitsamtes in Polen
Die Uniform lässt die deutschen Mitarbeiter der Arbeitsämter militärisch erscheinen. Polen, Oktober 1940.
Quelle: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe, Warschau
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Daimler facility in Minsk
Forced laborers of the Daimler facility in Minsk supervised by an employee of the Organisation Todt.
Source: Mercedes-Benz Classic, Archive, Stuttgart
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Daimler facility in Minsk
Female forced laborers of the Daimler facility in Minsk, September 1942.
Source: Mercedes-Benz Classic, Archive, Stuttgart
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Deutsches Arbeitsamt in Łódź
Die Arbeitsämter gehörten zu den ersten deutschen Dienststellen, die in den besetzten Gebieten eingerichtet wurden. Ihre wichtigste Aufgabe war die sofortige Erfassung der Arbeitskräfte. Łódź (1940-1945 Litzmannstadt), 1939.
Quelle: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München
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A box of documents from the Warsaw ghetto
Members of the Underground Archive buried this metal box during the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt of 1943. It contained eyewitness accounts of ghetto inhabitants about life under the German occupation. Emanuel Ringelblum, ghetto inhabitant and historian, had compiled the accounts.
Original, on loan from Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma, Warsaw.
Photo: Katharina Brand; source: Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation
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A uniformed German harasses a Jewish man in occupied Poland, autumn 1939
A detail of this photo was published in November 1939 in "Der Stürmer." It omitted the children who were watching.
Copyright: Stadtarchiv Nürnberg/E 39 Nr. 1703/21 (Please always indicate the reference number.)
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Schikane im Lager
Laut dem Bericht von Katzmann zeigt das Foto die Durchsuchung von neu eingetroffenen Zwangsarbeitern. Schikanen und Misshandlungen gehörten in den Lagern an der Durchgangsstraße IV zum Alltag. Galizien, um 1942.
Quelle: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Warschau
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Tischlerwerkstatt im Ghetto Łódź
Mendel Grosman und Henryk Ross fotografierten im Frühjahr des Jahres die Ghettowerkstätten. Ihre Bilder sollten die Effizienz der Produktion im Ghetto Litzmannstadt belegen. Auf manchen ist jedoch der schlechte gesundheitliche Zustand der Ghettoinsassen deutlich zu erkennen. Łódź (1940-1945 Litzmannstadt), 1942.
Quelle: Mendel Grosman / Henryk Ross; Archiwum Państwowe w Łodzi
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Forced laborers working on the Atlantic Wall
To meet the completion dates for the large structures, the foremen of the Organisation Todt continued to press foreign laborers to work regardless of the consequences on their health, 1943.
Photo: Schmähmann; source: Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo
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Photo - Mass Phenomenon. Forced Labor in the German Reich

“Adrema” Plates (exhibit)
The personal data of the forced laborers were recorded on so-called “Adrema” plates, which were actually intended for addressing machines. They include the following details: number, name, nationality, job assignment, name of the forced labor camp, birth date, and date of first day of work.
Photo: Peter Hansen; source: Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation
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Work Books (exhibit)
Work books for foreign forced laborers issued by the employment offices in the German Reich.
Photo: Peter Hansen; source: Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation
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Berlin-Wilhelmshagen: Arrival at the transit camp
Female forced laborers from the Soviet Union on their arrival at the Berlin-Wilhelmshagen Transit Camp, December 1942.
Photo: G. Gronfeld; source: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin
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Berlin-Wilhelmshagen: Registration at the transit camp
Labor office staff registered the forced laborers and handed out employment certificates. Berlin-Wilhelmshagen Transit Camp, December 1942.
Photo: G. Gronfeld; source: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin
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French prisoners of war in Ingolstadt
The French prisoners of war in Ingolstadt are holding plaques inscribed with “No Love” and “Villa of Tears” to express their emotions in this photograph taken on 1 December 1940.
Source: Private collection Clemens Nißl, Obereichstätt
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Frauen beim Baumfällen
Viele weibliche Zwangsarbeiterinnen mussten auch jene Tätigkeiten ausführen, die traditionell von Männern gemacht wurden, wie etwa die Forstarbeit.
Quelle: Stiftung „Polnisch-Deutsche Aussöhnung“, Warschau
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Gruppe von Zwangsarbeitern in einer Baracke vor einem Ofen
„Die Arbeit war sehr schwer, denn ich habe beim Wegräumen von gesprengten Steinen gearbeitet. Ich war die ganze Zeit nass vom Wasser, was vom oberen Teil des Tunnels herunterlief. Ich bekam Rheuma, so dass ich in der Nacht nicht schlafen konnte. Im Herbst und Winter 1940 gefror die nasse Kleidung am Körper auf dem ca. 1 km langen Weg von der Arbeit bei den damals herrschenden Temperaturen von -20°. Nach der Rückkehr musste man zuerst die Kleidung auftauen, um sie wechseln zu können.“ Der Pole Edward Dabrowa (wahrscheinlich Bildmitte), geboren 1919, leistete Zwangsarbeit beim Bau des Wasserkraftwerkes Illwerke (Tirol).
Quelle: Stiftung „Polnisch-Deutsche Aussöhnung“, Warschau
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Hinrichtung des polnischen Zwangsarbeiters Julian Majka (1)
Julian Majka wurde wegen der Beziehung zu einer deutschen Frau am 18. April 1941 hingerichtet. Leitende Beamte der Sicherheitspolizei, ein Vertreter des Landrats, ein SS-Arzt und der Scharfrichter Johann Reichhart waren anwesend. Ein Gestapo-Beamter leitete die Exekution. Michelsneukirchen, 18. April 1941.
Quelle: Sammlung Vernon Schmidt, Veteran der 90. Inf. Div., U.S. Army, Fresno
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Hinrichtung des polnischen Zwangsarbeiters Julian Majka (2)
Häftlinge des KZ Flossenbürg mussten den Scharfrichter Johann Reichhart bei der Hinrichtung unterstützen. Vermutlich fotografierte der SS-Mann, der das Exekutionskommando führte, die Hinrichtung. Bei der Befreiung Flossenbürgs fand ein amerikanischer Soldat die Fotos. Michelsneukirchen, 18. April 1941.
Quelle: Sammlung Vernon Schmidt, Veteran der 90. Inf. Div., U.S. Army, Fresno
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Forced laborers are ordered to walk past the gallows after the execution
The men and women from Poland who worked as forced laborers in the area were ordered to assemble at the execution site. A Gestapo official stood before the assembled crowd and instructed them not to violate the German regulations. Bavaria, ca. 1941.
Source: Collection Vernon Schmidt, veteran of the 90th Inf. Div., U.S. Army
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Identification of Soviet forced laborers at the Hans Still company, May 1942.
In April 1944, the Hans Still company employed nearly 500 forced laborers from France, the Netherlands, Poland, and the Soviet Union.People from the occupied Soviet territories wore badges identifying them as “Eastern workers”.
Photo: Willy Beutler, Source: StaHH 2026-1-11 83 / 29
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Concentration camp inmates assembling time fuses for the Messap company, ca. 1944.
The Messap company started producing time fuses for grenades on the Neuengamme concentration camp grounds in 1942. The inmates had to perform precision work. The photo was probably taken by a company employee.
Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
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Otto Thom (links) mit polnischen Arbeitern.
Otto Thom war der Sohn des Schmieds, der „freundlich zu allen Zwangsarbeitern war“, so Antoni Bryliński. Henryk Czarnecki, der zweite von rechts, folgte seinem Bruder Zygmunt freiwillig nach Rehfelde. Für die brutale Behandlung des Verwalters Wolf war die Art der Rekrutierung unwichtig. Oktober 1943.
Quelle: Privatbesitz Antoni Bryliński, Poznań
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Selected for Mining
In the summer of 1942, Soviet prisoners of war are selected from the prisoner-of-war camp Zeithain to perform forced labor in Belgian mines.
Source: Gedenkstätte Ehrenhain Zeithain
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Selected for Mining
In the summer of 1942, Soviet prisoners of war are selected from the prisoner-of-war camp Zeithain to perform forced labor in Belgian mines.
Source: Gedenkstätte Ehrenhain Zeithain
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“Figure of the week”
One of the regulations forbid the “community of the table” between Germans and forced laborers. On the farms, forced laborers were to eat separately from Germans. “Figure of the week,” Amstettner Anzeiger, 18 April 1943.
Source: Bibliothek der Universität Wien
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Constant supervision
The French prisoners of war Nobile Citerneschi and François Santini worked on the farm belonging to Marie Renner. They were guarded by two Wehrmacht soldiers. Because the soldiers were needed at the front, later the farmers had to guard the forced laborers, 1941.
Photo: Franz Gabriel; source: Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv
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Tschechische Zwangsarbeiter in Essen
„Essen, der Arsch Europas“ haben tschechische Zwangsarbeiter im Juli 1943 für dieses Erinnerungsfoto mit Kreide auf die Tafel geschrieben. Sie mussten Zwangsarbeit für den Krupp-Konzern in Essen leisten.

Quelle: Privatarchiv Milan Dokoupil, Opava
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Ukrainian family
The entire Ukrainian family was deported for forced labor in Volzum (Lower Saxony) in May 1943.
Source: Braunschweigischer Geschichtsverein e.V./Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv - Staatsarchiv Wolfenbüttel
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Vera Koseeva in a group of forced laborers in the courtyard of the New-York Hamburger Gummi-Waaren Compagnie, autumn of 1942.
The photograph shows an exceptional situation – the courtyard was closed for the forced laborers until early 1945. They had to spend all their time inside the “New Factory”. They were brought to work and back to their living quarters under guard.
Source: Museum der Arbeit
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Vera Koseeva, June 1942.
Vera Koseeva was deported from her native village in Ukraine in June 1942 at the age of 15. Upon her arrival in Hamburg the German authorities took this photograph for registration purposes. From August 1942 to May 1945 she had to perform forced labor at the New-York Hamburger Gummi-Waaren Compagnie.
Source: Museum der Arbeit
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Władisław Kołopoleski
“In addition to the hard work, which exceeded my strength, I was beaten on the slightest provocation, sometimes to the point of unconsciousness. Once, for example, I suffered a severe head injury after I was beaten by Max Ewert, an SA officer. I not only lost consciousness, but I had to have head surgery,” wrote Władysław Kołopoleski, a young Pole born in Łódź in 1932. He was deployed in April 1940 on the estate of mayor Max Ewert in Gervin, now Górawino, in Pomerania.
Source: Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation,” Warsaw
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Forced laborers at the Hans Still company, May 1942.
Willy Beutler probably took these photographs on behalf of the Hamburg State Photographic Service established in 1935. One of the service’s responsibilities was to document the city of Hamburg in photographs.
Photo: Willy Beutler, Source: StaHH 2026-1-11 84 / 32a
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Zwangsarbeiterinnen in Ostpreußen
Ausländer stellten ab 1943 fast die Hälfte der Arbeitskräfte in der Landwirtschaft. Wie gut oder wie schlecht sie ihre Zwangsarbeiter behandelten, konnten die Bauern weitgehend selbst entscheiden. Ostpreußen, undatiert.
Quelle: Stiftung „Polnisch-Deutsche Aussöhnung“, Warschau
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Zwei Kinder mit einer Schubkarre
„Eine Woche arbeiteten wir Morgens, zweite Woche Nachmittags, immer 12 Stunden lang. Die Schaufel, die ich gekriegt hatte, war höher als ich. Ich war damals noch ein kleiner Junge.“
Der 13jährige Pole Jan Sikorski (vermutlich links im Bild) wurde im März 1940 in das Deutsche Reich deportiert. Er musste für die Baufirma „Polensky & Zöllner“ beim Kanalbau schuften. Im Dezember 1942 verlor er auf der Baustelle des Güterbahnhofs in Braunschweig bei einem Arbeitsunfall den rechten Unterschenkel. Bis Kriegsende musste er an einem anderen Arbeitsplatz Zwangsarbeit leisten.
Quelle: Stiftung „Polnisch-Deutsche Aussöhnung“, Warschau
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“Europe works in Germany”
“Europe works in Germany,” propaganda brochure by the General Commissioner for Labor Deployment, 1943.
Photo: Peter Hansen; source: Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation
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“Slaves of the 20th century”
Workers from Western Europe and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia were allowed to own a camera. The Czechs employed by Ambi Budd company in Berlin and housed in camp Johannisthal show that the photo was not taken at a regular celebration: they wrote “Slaves of the 20th century” on their bag. Copyright: Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt e.V.
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Photo - Liberation. Coming to Terms with Forced Labor and its Consequences

Liberated Jewish women
These young Jewish women were released from a forced labor camp at Kauritz (Saxony) by U.S. Army troops in early April, 1945. They are part of a large group removed from homes in France, Holland, Belgium and other occupied areas in Europe.
Source: National Archives, Washington
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Befreite polnische Zwangsarbeiter begrüßen US-Soldaten
Die süddeutsche Stadt Ulm wurde am 24. April 1945 befreit. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt waren mehrere tausend Zwangsarbeiter in der Stadt. Ulm, 1945.
Quelle: National Archives, Washington
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Liberated forced laborers of the Focke-Wulf aircraft factory
Liberated forced laborers of the Focke-Wulf aircraft factory near Poznań greet soldiers of the Red Army. Poznań, March 1945.
Photo: Boris Puschkin, source: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin
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Liberated Polish forced laborer
Polish citizen Jan Jakubasik immediately after his liberation. He had been used for forced labor in the German Reich since 1942. Unknown location, March 1945.
Source: National Archives, Washington
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First meal after the liberation
Liberated Ukrainian forced laborers receive their first meal after their liberation. For many of them this was the first proper meal in weeks. Anrath near Mönchengladbach, March 1945.
Source: National Archives, Washington
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A Jewish mother and her tweve-year-old daughter from Czechia
A Jewish mother and her tweve-year-old daughter from Czechia in a forced labor camp following their liberation. Both had had to work in an ammunition factory. Kauritz (Saxony), April 1945.
Source: National Archives, Washington
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Looting in Munich
Hundreds of Germans and former forced laborers parade through the streets carrying merchandise. Together they had broken into and looted a department store. Munich, April 1945.
Source: National Archives, Washington
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Registration in the DP-office
Liberated forced laborers register for their return home, Verviers (Belgium) 1945. The Allies attempted to organize a speedy return for the forced laborers. Between May and September 1945, each day saw an average of 33,000 deportees begin their journey home.
Source: National Archives, Washington
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