The use of slave and forced labour in Nazi Germany German : zwangsarbeit and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale.
It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in occupied Europe. Many more became civilian casualties from enemy Allied bombing and shelling of their workplaces throughout the war. Counting deaths and turnover, about 15 million men and women were forced labourers at one point during the war. The defeat of Nazi Germany in freed approximately 11 million foreigners categorized as "displaced persons" , most of whom were forced labourers and POWs.
In wartime, the German forces had brought into the Reich 6. However, in the case of citizens of the USSR, returning often meant suspicion of collaboration or the Gulag. In all, 5. Hitler 's policy of Lebensraum room for living strongly emphasized the conquest of new lands in the East, known as Generalplan Ost , and the exploitation of these lands to provide cheap goods and labour for Germany.
Even before the war, Nazi Germany maintained a supply of slave labour. During World War II the Nazis operated several categories of Arbeitslager labour camps for different categories of inmates. Prisoners in Nazi labour camps were worked to death on short rations and in bad conditions, or killed if they became unable to work. Many died as a direct result of forced labour under the Nazis. After the invasion of Poland , Polish Jews over the age of 12 and Poles over the age of 12 living in the General Government were subject to forced labor.
Manual labour was a resource in high demand, as much of the work that today would be done with machines was still a manual affair in the s and s — shoveling , material handling , machining , and many others. As the war progressed, the use of slave labour increased massively. Prisoners of war and civilian "undesirables" were brought in from occupied territories.
