Forgotten Liberation - Forced Laborers in Berlin 1945

At the beginning of 1945, there were approximately 370,000 foreign civilian workers, prisoners of war, and concentration camp inmates in the Reich capital. Their daily lives were marked by hunger, air raids, and violence, while Berlin increasingly became a battlefield. It wasn't until the end of April 1945 that they experienced their liberation after years of exploitation and dehumanization.


But the end of the war meant new uncertainties for many displaced persons. Many had to endure detention in transit camps because their journey home was delayed. By the fall of 1945, they had disappeared from the Berlin cityscape—and soon from collective memory. For a long time, they were denied recognition as Nazi victims, both in Germany and in their home countries.


#80YearsEnd ofWar