Kassel commemorates forced laborers: Heavy shadows of history remains

Kassel commemorates forced laborers: Heavy shadows of history remains

On April 7, 2025, an important event took place in Kassel, which was reminiscent of the end of the Second World War and the associated atrocities. The American Consul General Brian Heath from Frankfurt was an honorary guest and recalled the tragic fates of the 79 forced laborers, who were shot by the Gestapo in Kassel shortly before the US troops. Heath emphasized the ongoing partnership between the United States and Germany, which was founded 80 years ago.

In a video message, Michèle Lutz, the mayor of Kassel's French partner city Mulhouse, spoke about the importance of European values. She warned to vigilance, especially with regard to the latest election results in Germany and France. Contemporary witness Wolfgang Boczkowski described the event at that time from his perspective. Historian Dr. Dietfrid Krause-Vilmar and Gunnar Richter, formerly head of the Breitenau concentration camp memorial, discussed the last days of the war in Kassel and the following developments.

memory and warning

Mayor Sven Schoeller warned of the dangers of selfishness and despotism in international politics. He explained that peace was based on certain basics and that civilizational achievements were threatened by the forgetfulness of history and the risk of war. Schoeller emphasized that freedom, peace, prosperity and security would always have to be acquired, even 80 years after the end of the war.

he named Elisabeth Selbert, honorary citizen and lawyer, as an important participant in the Basic Law. He also emphasized the documenta as a symbol of cultural resuming in Kassel. The youth choir of the New Apostolic Church Kassel-Korbach under the direction of Steffen Haus and church music director Eckhard Manz on the organ.

The forced labor in Kassel

Forced labor played a crucial role in the war economy of the Third Reich. Henschel & Sohn was one of the largest companies in Kassel that employed forced laborers. While the number of forced laborers dropped to less than 2000 at the beginning of the war, this number rose to 22,000 from 1943 to the end of the war. The living conditions of the forced laborers were inhuman, they suffered from "performance nutrition" and received only as much food as the management considered it.

forced laborers often worked up to 60 hours a week, sometimes also on Sunday. Her wages fluctuated between 20 and 70 pfennigs, with Soviet forced laborers getting the lowest wages. The hygienic conditions in the camps were catastrophic. Diseases spread slightly and the sleeping places were overcrowded and unheated.

of brutal terrorist practices The operations were affected by the forced laborers every day. They were almost completely helpless and were not allowed to leave their camps without armed accompaniment. Soviet forced labor particularly suffered from the hardest conditions and received the slightest care.

The recruitment of forced laborers took place from attacked countries, and around six million civilian forced laborers worked in the German Reich by August 1944. This practice was defeated by the constant repression apparatus of Wehrmacht, police forces and SS.

only long after the end of the war, 65 years later, the debate about compensation for the victims of the Nazi compulsory work was started. The “Memory, Responsibility and Future” foundation paid around 4.7 billion euros to 1.7 million survivors. An online archive provided 590 memory reports of former forced laborers who represent an important part of the history.