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At an End but not over 
Dealing with Nazi Forced Labour after 1945

After the liberation at the end of the war, many forced labourers attempted to return back home as swiftly as possible. Some were forcefully repatriated by the authorities. Returning home, many forced labourers awaited indifferent behaviour or prejudices by their compatriots, since they were often considered as traitors who had been working for the enemy. The Soviet Union suspected the former “Ostarbeiter” to have had collaborated with the enemy. That was the reason, why some were incarcerated and sent off to Soviet penal-labour camps.  

During the Nuremberg trials forced labour was treated as a “crime against humanity” by the Allied forces and the main perpetrators were punished severely. In post-war Germany (East and West) the organisation and use of forced labour was not persecuted. Only crimes against forced labourers were brought to justice.  Additionally, forced labour was trivialised as an inevitable consequence of the war, which resulted in minor sentences or no sentencing at all for former perpetrators in West Germany. In East Germany on the other hand, perpetrators were punished severely in unlawful show trials.

State and profiteers refused to grant financial compensation to former forced labourers over decades. The public debate about NS-forced labour did not take place up until the 1980ies, which is when the German general public slowly began to show interest in the topic. Individual compensation payments by the state and profiteers commenced by the year 2000. Those still alive received a symbolic financial compensation. Former Soviet POWs (prisoners of war) and Italian military internees on the other hand, have not been granted any form of financial compensation up to this day.    

The first encounter with Red Army soldiers 1945; Drawing: Jerzy Bukowiecki, 2000

The first encounter with Red Army soldiers 1945; Drawing: Jerzy Bukowiecki, 2000

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Liberation
Album commemorating the visit of Yelena Lupalova to the Kabelwerk Oberspree in 1981; Design: Hans Krüger, 1985

Album commemorating the visit of Yelena Lupalova to the Kabelwerk Oberspree in 1981; Design: Hans Krüger, 1985

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Jelena
Janina Halina Głowacka in her flat in Łódź, 2005

Janina Halina Głowacka in her flat in Łódź, 2005

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Halina
Identity card photo of Ugo Brilli, 1944

Identity card photo of Ugo Brilli, 1944

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Ugo