Memorial Eastern European workers

In 1944, around 40,000 forced labourers were made to work in Gelsenkirchen. They came from Eastern Europe and were housed in camps throughout the city. At the end of the Second World War, the state order of the ‘Third Reich’ collapsed. Summary courts spread fear and terror. The forced labourers were now also perceived as a threat by the population: ‘Preventive measures’ were taken out of fear of revenge and as a deterrent.

In Gelsenkirchen, several ‘Eastern workers’ were executed in the final days of the war. Shortly before the arrival of the Allies, nine Soviet forced labourers were shot in the Stadtgarten park. Their bodies were exhumed in the spring of 1946 at the instigation of the British.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Egbert van de Schootbrugge