PRESS RELEASE

REPRESENTATIVE SURVEY BY infratest dimap ABOUT KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES
ON THE SUBJECT OF “FORCED LABOUR UNDER NATIONAL SOCIALISM”:

EXTENT OF FORCED LABOUR UNDER NATIONAL SOCIALISM UNDERESTIMATED

+ Three quarters of young people studied the theme of National Socialist forced labour at school, but still have gaps in their knowledge on this subject
+ 80 % of young people express interest in this theme
+ Two thirds (69 %) of all Germans still find the theme important today
+ 70 % of all respondents believe the compensation paid in this context is important for Germany’s reputation abroa

Berlin, 17 September 2010.  – Most Germans underestimate the extent of forced labour under the National Socialist régime. Only one fifth (19 %) are aware that over 13 million people were forced to work under the Third Reich between 1939 and 1945. This was the result of a representative survey by infratest dimap on behalf of the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (Stiftung EVZ) (to see the complete study, go to www.stiftung-evz.de/ns-zwangsarbeit).

The reason for this survey of 1,200 people is the largest exhibition to date on the theme of forced labour under National Socialism, which will be opened by German Federal President Christian Wulff at the Jewish Museum Berlin on 27 September. The exhibition was initiated and sponsored by Stiftung EVZ and curated by the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation. It clearly shows that a total of around 20 million people, especially from Central and Eastern Europe, but also from Western European countries, endured forced labour. So far, it was largely unknown that at least seven million forced labourers were put to work in the territories occupied by Germany alone. (www.ausstellung-zwangsarbeit.org).

Older people in particular (over 65) do not recall the extent of forced labour. Only 13 % of them realistically estimate its extent. Among younger people (aged 19- 49), this is the case for one quarter (23 %) of respondents. Young people show an unexpected degree of interest in the theme. Although about two thirds (59 %) state there is no memory of forced labour under National Socialism in their own environment, 80 % of young people said they find this issue interesting or very interesting. Only a quarter (28 %) of 14 to 18-year-olds has studied this theme in depth at school. In the context of the survey, questions were put to 200 young people in this age group to elucidate their knowledge and interest.

“The fact that young people in particular want to learn more about forced labour under National Socialism confirms our mandate to inform people about this subject and to enable encounters between young people and the victims for as long as possible. We find this result encouraging. But it is also clear that there are substantial gaps in knowledge which we intend to fill, among other things by means of the exhibition on forced labour,” said Günter Saathoff, Director of Stiftung EVZ.

Young people especially think that too little information is provided on this subject (69 % of 14 to 18-year-olds). Only 1 % in this age group think that too much information is provided, whereas 13 % of older people (65-74) think so. Seventy-seven per cent of people aged over 75 have memories of forced labour from their own environment, and 22 % stated having no memory of forced labourers.

There is a very high level of assent for the compensation paid by Stiftung EVZ. Nine out of ten respondents (88 %) consider the payments completed by Stiftung EVZ in 2007 to be right, though 52 % of respondents believe compensation so far has not been adequate. Of those who said compensation was not important, or not very important, (a total of 10 % of all respondents), 15 % stated that it was time to “draw a line” under the subject. Respondents with a lower educational level were disproportionately represented in this group, at 18 %.

Half (50 %) of respondents said that compensation paid to former forced labourers had contributed to reconciliation (this question addressed the neighbouring country of Poland by way of example). Thirty-nine per cent did not agree. Scepticism in this respect is greater in eastern than in western Germany (51 % west / 43 % east).

You can find the complete survey (in German only) at www.stiftung-evz.de/ns-zwangsarbeit/umfrage

High-resolution graphics on the survey can also be retrieved there.

On the exhibition at the Jewish Museum Berlin (28 September 2010 – 30 January 2011):

Forced Labour. The Germans, the Forced Labourers, and the War

An exhibition by the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation at the Jewish Museum Berlin, initiated and sponsored by the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”

The exhibition “Forced Labour. The Germans, the Forced Labourers, and the War” provides the first comprehensive presentation of the history of forced labour. It shows how forced labour was part of the Nazi régime’s racist social order from the outset: The propagated “Volksgemeinschaft“ (people’s community) and forced labour for the excluded belonged together.

The extensive international research on which the exhibition is based enable it to present historical exhibits and photographs that focus on the individual and the individual’s scope for action, as well as the European dimension.

Further information can be found at www.ausstellung-zwangsarbeit.org

Contact:
Foundation EVZ
Press and public relations
Franka Kühn
Tel.: +49 (0)30 / 259297-76
kuehn@stiftung-evz.de  
www.stiftung-evz.de