Forced Labour in the GDR

This is a web portal of the Union der Opferverbände Kommunistischer Gewaltherrschaft e. V. (Union of Victims’ Associations of Communist Tyranny) in co-operation with the Stiftung DDR-Zwangsarbeit (GDR Forced Labour Foundation).

Inmates in prisons and reformatories in the GDR were subjected to a regime of forced labour. Under miserable working conditions, with worn-out machines and the constant threat of punishment, they produced goods that often found their way into West German department and mail-order stores. On this website you will find information, interviews and educational material on this chapter of contemporary German-German history.

This project is supported by:

“We were using cutting torches without any training. We were just the cheap labor.”

Alexander Müller

The Locations

On our interactive map you will find the places which have been documented as forced labour sites in the GDR between 1949 and 1989.

Media Library

In our media library you will find all our detailed interviews with various contemporary witnesses.

Educational Materials

This section provides educational materials concerning forced labour in the GDR for students in grades 9 to 13.

Forced Labour in the GDR

“We were using cutting torches without any training. We were just the cheap labor.”

The Locations

Media Library

Educational Materials

A Project of

Contact

Additional Links