Forced Labour During National Socialism in Frankfurt
Did it exist? Where? And how can you research individual biographies?
Was there forced labour during National Socialism in Frankfurt too?
There are currently around 600 documented sites within the Frankfurt city area where forced labourers were housed or employed. In the summer of 1944 alone, 5.7 million people were working as civilian labourers in the German Reich. In total, more than 49,000 people were forced to perform forced labour in Frankfurt am Main between 1939 and 1945.
The racism of the National Socialists led them to distinguish between “Western workers” and “Eastern workers”. People from Eastern Europe received, for example, only ten per cent of the wage paid to a German worker.
Where Can I Find Information on Forced Labour in Frankfurt am Main?
- Website Frankfurt 1933-1945, section Economy and Labour / Research Help
- Household registers (Hausstandsbücher, 1929-1945) from police precincts, accessible at the Institut für Stadtgeschichte Frankfurt am Main
- Files of the “Labour Deployment” department of the German Labour Front (DAF) at the Hessian State Archives in Wiesbaden (Bestand 483, signatures 705, 773, 902, 3259, 7328 and Bestand 480, signature 6522a)
- Digital database of the Arolsen Archives (collection: 2.2.0.1 Correspondence and documents on forced labour)
How Can I Research Biographies of Individual Forced Labourers?
A case study: the Deutsche Reichsbahn had its headquarters at Frankfurt Central Station and operated 22 forced labour camps in the city. One of the camps was located in the dance hall of the Stapf restaurant at Oeserstraße 16.
The Arolsen Archives database holds the records of the Deutsche Reichsbahn company health insurance with over 4,700 index cards. A sample from Track Construction Team 6 includes, for example:
- Giovanni Amendola (signature: 76432886)
- Remo D’Antonio (signature: 76432910)
- Matteo Balduzzi (signature: 76432969)
- Irma Angioli (signature: 76432901) - was required to work in a coal mine for several months before coming to the Reichsbahn; further fate unknown
Further Resources
The interactive map of the Frankfurt History App from the Historical Museum Frankfurt makes the full extent of the camp system in Frankfurt visible and provides a good starting point for your own research.
If you have questions about research or need support, please get in touch.