Forced labour under German rule during World War II

Discussion in 'The Third Reich' started by Ramiles, Jan 29, 2020.

  1. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    I'm not sure if there is a specific thread on this topic already?

    I recently transcribed this. I think it's from 5th January 1945 (the letter itself is dated Friday 5th)

    I think I was most struck by the line "I was talking to a slave yesterday"....

    "When I see what they have done to the Dutch I shudder to think of what the swine would have done to our people. Children with sores, it’s horrible. I was talking to a slave yesterday who before the war was on the Dutch-American steamship company. He was picked up in the street in Amsterdam. 18 months ago, six months have passed since he heard from his wife and they were very hungry then. The whole point is that the bread they eat is slow poison. I do hope the government will do something very quickly for these people or they will never recover. "

    Slave_workers_trudging_p6.jpg

    Forced labour under German rule during World War II - Wikipedia

    "In the late summer of 1944, German records listed 7.6 million foreign civilian workers and prisoners of war in the German territory, most of whom had been brought there by coercion.[13] By 1944, slave labour made up one quarter of Germany's entire work force, and the majority of German factories had a contingent of prisoners.[13][25] The Nazis also had plans for the deportation and enslavement of 50% of Britain's adult male population in the event of a successful invasion."

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    German Polish-language recruitment poster: "'Let's do farm work in Germany!' See your wójt at once."
     
    Simon376 and Dave55 like this.

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