Curator guided tour
80 years ago, the Second World War ended in Europe. This exhibition focuses for the first time on the experiences of forced laborers in Berlin. At the beginning of 1945, around 370,000 foreign civilian workers, prisoners of war, and concentration camp inmates were in the Reich capital, Berlin. Hunger, air raids, and violence dominated their daily lives, while the city increasingly became a battlefield. After years of exploitation and dehumanization, they finally experienced their liberation at the end of April 1945.
Image gallery
Landkarte, die Max de Winter für den Fußweg vom KZ Sachsenhausen bis Havelberg nutzte, ohne Jahr
But the end of the war brought new uncertainties for many of the liberated, so-called displaced persons. They often had to endure in transit camps while their journey home was delayed. By the fall of 1945, most had disappeared from the Berlin cityscape—and soon from the memory of Germans. For a long time, many were denied recognition as Nazi victims, both in Germany and in their homeland.
#80YearsEndOfWar
(IN GERMAN)
Additional information
Meeting point: Barrack 2
