Under the guise of work

Forced labor 1938-1945

Keller der "Baracke 13" – Unterirdischer Raum mit grob verputzten Ziegelwänden, mehreren Pfeilern und einem beleuchteten Ausgangsschild über einer offenen Tür.

Over five days, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., we will deal with the topic of the seminar in lectures, discussions, guided tours and site visits. Individual program points, such as the opening event at the beginning of the seminar, will take place in the Documentation Centre on Nazi Forced Labor; if possible, original or atmospherically suitable locations will also be visited during the course of the seminar. The program is divided into 90-minute blocks, with breaks and time for lunch. The seminar begins and ends each day in Berlin.

On the first day you will get to know the Documentation Center for NS Forced Labour in Berlin-Schöneweide as the organizer and the other participants. The detailed and updated seminar programme for the week will be presented and organizational questions will be clarified. Due to the extensive coordination of the program items, there may be occasional changes to the seminar schedule, which you will be informed of on site at the Documentation Center for Nazi Forced Labor .

During the seminar, the extensive history of forced labor in National Socialist Germany will be presented. The various forms of forced labor, the different areas of deployment and the working and living conditions of the forced laborers will be discussed.

The history of this camp, the deployment of forced laborers in Berlin companies and their everyday lives are explained on a former camp site, now the Nazi Forced Labor Documentation Center. Furthermore, the connections between war, forced labor and the economy are explained, how the "recruitment" of workers in Eastern Europe took place and special groups of forced laborers are examined.

Other places in Berlin where forced labor camps were located are presented. Their use after 1945 and the different ways in which the Nazi past has been dealt with to this day, including aspects such as civic engagement, monument preservation and investor interest, are discussed.

Finally, the lengthy path to compensation for former forced laborers by the German economy and the associated establishment of the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future will be discussed.Translated with DeepL

Next date:

• Date Monday, 04/May/2026 9:00 bis 17:00 (9 more dates)
• Venue Dokumentationszentrum NS-Zwangsarbeit Berlin-Schöneweide
• Address Britzer Straße 5, 12439 Berlin-Köpenick