Dokumentationszentrum NS-Zwangsarbeit

Deadly forced labor in Karya. German Occupation and the Holocaust in Greece.

Deadly forced labor in Karya

Can Germany and Greece come to terms with the little-known history of forced labor under the Nazis in occupied Greece? Using innovative and participatory forms of history education and bi-national encounters, projects can strengthen mutual understanding and thus European values.

A multi-perspective traveling exhibition developed based on previously unpublished photos of the forced labor of Jewish men on the railroad line in Karya. In cooperation with students from Germany and Greece, the Interdisciplinary Work Group Conflict Landscapes at Osnabrück University geoarchaeologically investigated the site for mass graves and traces of forced labor and developed a high-quality and visually appealing 3-D model that renders the crime scene tangible. The results of encounters with historical eyewitnesses and workshops with descendants of survivors incorporated into the German-Greek project in a participatory approach.

During the course of the exhibition, shown in Germany and Greece, interested parties from the general public were invited to participate in discussions with experts and the broader audience. Students and school students in particular, as well as people that do not visit historical exhibitions and disseminators in memory work, reached via a website, social media, workshops and learning modules.

Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre
The Nazi Forced Labor Documentation Centre is an institution of the Topography of Terror Foundation. The memorial site uses permanent exhibitions and educational programs on forced labor under National Socialism to impart the everyday nature of the forced labor of more than 26 million people in the German Reich and the European occupied territories. The aim is to promote a critical examination of a history that still influences relations between Germany and the other countries affected, such as Greece.

Ausstellung in Bildern

Data Sheet

Cooperation partners:

Dokumentationszentrum NS-Zwangsarbeit
Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas
Interdisziplinäre Arbeitsgruppe Konfliktlandschaften der Universität Osnabrück
Jüdisches Museum Griechenlands in Athen

Funding countries: Germany, Greece
Duration: 1.11.2022 until 31.12.2024

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More about the project

Education Agenda NS-Injustice

The Magazine of the Education Agenda NS-InjusticeThe Magazine of the Education Agenda NS-Injustice

Armaments factories, agriculture, private households, concentration and labor camps: forced labor was omnipresent in the German Reich between 1939 and 1945. In the so-called German Reich and its occupied territories, 26 million people worked under duress, without pay, and under life-threatening conditions. The millions of victims were seen and heard too late—the dimensions of this injustice remain little known throughout Europe to this day. Three funded institutions are each taking different approaches to the issue of forced labor and the millions of people who suffered its cruelties. These institutions conduct research, call for critical examination, remind, visualize, and educate—and fill knowledge gaps through participatory and interdisciplinary approaches.

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