Current offers and tenders

The three-day seminar for teachers in cooperation with the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V.) focuses on the topic of forced labour during National Socialism and today's remembrance and teaching of history. Using different learning sites as examples, we will examine the background and the practice of mediation. The nationwide teachers' seminar serves as a practice-oriented exchange. Together we will discuss lesson plans as well as approaches and ideas for teaching, educational work and possible cooperation with each other.

Registration deadline: 21 July 2023
The seminar language will be German.

Program including registration as PDF  Onlineregistration

25 - 29 September 2023

Between 1938 and 1945, over 13 million people were used for forced labour in the German Reich. The living conditions, the state organisation and the benefits for the German economy will be discussed at historical sites.

This seminar takes place in cooperation between the Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre and Berliner Unterwelten e.V.. It is aimed at adults. Recognition as a seminar within the framework of educational leave is possible. Participation is free of charge.

The seminar will be conducted in accordance with the valid ordinance of the state of Berlin on the containment and control of the coronavirus.
Seminar contents

On five days we will deal with the seminar topic within the framework of guided tours, lectures and discussions. The programme is planned to last eight hours each day; changes to the programme are also possible at short notice. During the seminar, the extensive history of Nazi forced labour in National Socialist Germany will be presented. The various forms of forced labour, the different areas of deployment and the working and living conditions of the forced labourers will be discussed. An overview lecture will begin by introducing the complexity of the topic.

On a former camp site, today's Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre, the history of this camp, the use of forced labourers in its immediate vicinity and their everyday life will be explained. Other lectures will explain the connections between war, forced labour and the economy or describe how the "recruitment" of workers in Eastern Europe took place. Special groups of forced labourers will be looked at.

We will visit other places in Berlin where forced labour camps were located, look at their use after 1945 and the different ways in which the Nazi past has been dealt with up to the present day. Current aspects also play a role here, such as the conflicts between civic engagement, monument preservation and investor interests. On the last day, we will discuss the lengthy process of compensation for former forced labourers by German industry and the associated establishment of the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future".

Registration: bildung-sw(at)topographie.de

The seminar is free of charge.