Forced labour under German rule during World War II

Use of forced labour by Nazi GermanyOriginal Nazi propaganda caption: "A 14-year-old youth from Ukraine repairs damaged motor vehicles in a Berlin workshop of the German Wehrmacht. January 1945." Foreign forced labourersNumbers10 million (1944 est.) including: 6.5 million civilians 2.2 million POWs 1.3 million camp inmatesAbducted12 millionPlace of originUSSR (33.6%), Poland (21.7%), France (17.1%), Belgium, Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Romania and others 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 was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in occupied Europe. The Germans abducted approximately 12 million people from almost twenty European countries; about two thirds came from Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Many workers died as a result of their living conditions – extreme mistreatment, severe malnutrition and abuse were the main causes of death. Many more became civilian casualties from enemy