We are a group of international students from Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Taiwan and Ukraine. In December 2022, we participated in an educational seminar organized by the International Youth Meeting Centre at the Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre (Berlin), in cooperation with the NGO “After Silence” (Lviv).

Over the course of several days, we learned about the history of Ukraine during WWII, as well as forced labour under National Socialism. We also worked with eight life-story interviews with former Ukrainian forced labourers who are still alive today. We studied their historical context but also talked about the current situation that these people find themselves in today: due to the current war with Russia, many elderly people – former forced labourers among them – have had to experience hardships once again. Some of them have had to flee their home country, and many families have been torn apart. Others remain in Ukraine without medication or financial means. In today’s wartime, they are extremely vulnerable due to their physical health, isolation, and limited mobility.

The goal of our seminar was to make an online exhibition that brings visibility to the stories of the victims of Nazi forced labour in Ukraine and raises awareness about their current situation. This topic is extremely relevant and is not restricted to Ukraine alone. We would like to thank the organizers for the opportunity to take part in this seminar!

Participating students:

Alexandra (Hildesheim), Anna (Warsaw), Barbara (Maastricht), Daniel (Hannover), Gyeong (Seoul), HeeJin (Seoul), HyunYoung (Seoul), Jane (Taipei), Jiyun (Seoul), Lukas (Göttingen), Koen (Maastricht), Marie (Göttingen), Matthias (Göttingen), Oksana (Chernihiv), Sabine (Göttingen), Sandra (Göttingen), SangHoon (Seoul), Sophia (Göttingen), Stefan (Göttingen), Tom (Maastricht), Wojtek (Warsaw).