About us
The Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre in Berlin commemorates the fate of the more than 13 million men, women and children who were exploited as forced labourers in the German Reich during the Second World War. It is located on the historical site of an almost completely preserved forced labour camp.
Our exhibitions and educational work focus on the so-called civilian forced labourers: Around 8.4 million people were deported from the occupied territories of Europe to work in the German Reich. In addition, prisoners of war, concentration camp prisoners, Jewish persecutees as well as Sinti:cze and Roma were forced to perform forced labour.
On site, we are showing the two permanent exhibitions ‘Forced Labour in the Daily Round 1938-1945’ and "Between two Stools. The history of Italian military internees 1943-1945" as well as special exhibitions. We offer an extensive public programme for individual visitors and groups: multimedia guides in various languages, educational programmes and guided tours of the exhibitions as well as events. There is also a collection and a public library. An education portal, a contemporary witness archive and a database of Berlin camp accommodation are also available online.
Our international youth meeting centre offers students and young researchers the opportunity to take an intensive and transnational look at the topic of forced labour with seminars lasting several days.
Find out more: The historical site
Construction and use
The forced labour camp in Schöneweide was built from the end of 1943 by the ‘General Building Inspector for the Reich Capital’ (GBI) under the direction of Albert Speer in the middle of a residential area. The camp consisted of 13 accommodation barracks and a service barrack and was originally planned for 2,160 forced labourers - but it was never fully occupied. Over 400 Italian forced labourers, mainly so-called ‘military internees’ (prisoners of war), as well as forced labourers from Eastern and Western Europe were housed here. In the final months of the war in 1945, two barracks were used as accommodation for female concentration camp prisoners from Poland who had to work at the Pertrix battery factory.
Post-war period
The Red Army used some of the barracks as a paper warehouse for the Soviet military administration. Shortly after the war, a vaccine company moved into the very six barracks that are now part of the documentation centre, which then developed into the GDR Vaccine Institute. The remaining barracks are still used commercially today, including as a workshop, Kindergarden, car dealership and bowling alley. After reunification in 1990, the vaccine institute was closed and the barracks stood empty for years. Soon afterwards, civil society activists, including the Berlin History Workshop, endeavoured to establish a place of remembrance. In the context of the public debate about compensation for former forced labourers, they demanded the preservation of the historic buildings and the establishment of a documentation centre. The historic barracks have been listed as a historical monument since 1995.
Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre
In 2004, the Berlin Senate decided to set up a documentation centre in the empty barracks of the former vaccine institute, which was opened on 24 August 2006. The centre is part of the Topography of Terror Foundation. Since 2008, another building, ‘Barrack 13’, has been part of the documentation centre. It was hardly rebuilt after the war and gives an impression of the accommodation conditions of the forced labourers in this camp. The building is only accessible as part of a guided tour.
The documentation centre is a point of contact for former forced labourers and their relatives, whom it also supports with research enquiries. Its mission also includes research and the collection of historical evidence on the subject of Nazi Forced Labour.
The Team
Head:
Dr. Christine Glauning, management
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 0
Dr. Roland Borchers, deputy management
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 15
Office management:
Eva-Maria Beiner
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 10
Press:
Daniel Felleiter
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 14
Scientific Fellows:
Iris Hax
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 13
Simon Stöckle, scientific trainee
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 28
Project “Camp Research”
Lydia Dollmann
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 07
Dr. Gonzalo Compañy
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 06
Education department:
Daniela Geppert, head
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 11
Mirna Campanella, Advice and coordination
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 0
Christian Weber, Outreach
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 01
Tanja Vaitulevich, International Youth Meeting Centre
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 0
Isabell Jablonski, student assistant Int. Youth Meeting Centre
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 04
Milena Kulik, student assistant
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 26
Collection:
Mia Schmidt
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 22
Francesca Reif, student assistant
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 19
Library:
Malte Schendel, student assistant
Luise Gottschalk, student assistant
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 23
Administration:
Manuela Liek
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 0
Michaela Wandtke
Tel: +49 30 6390 288 24