Forced laborers

Between 1938 and 1945, around 13.5 million (foreign) forced laborers were used in the then German Reich. If one includes the workers who performed forced labor in all the territories occupied by Germany during World War II, the total number adds up to an estimated 25 million. Under the term usually fall various subgroupings. The numerically largest groups were about 8.5 million so-called “civilian forced laborers,” 4.6 million prisoners of war, and 1.7 million concentration camp inmates. The living and working conditions of the forced laborers varied greatly, depending on their status, origin, place of employment, or housing. Forced laborers were omnipresent in the streets and workplaces. Their systematic exploitation and discrimination was perceived by the German majority society as part of everyday war life and was generally not critically questioned. The fate of millions of forced laborers has received greater attention only since the 2000s.