• Memorial to Forced Labourers on the Premises of the Volkswagen Factory
In 1999, a memorial on the premises of the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, in a former underground bomb shelter, was dedicated to the approximately 20,000 people who had to conduct forced labour for Volkswagen between 1940 and 1945.
Image: Wolfsburg, about 1941, Female forced labourers from Eastern Europe in one of the factory halls at the Volkswagen factory, Volkswagen AG
Wolfsburg, about 1941, Female forced labourers from Eastern Europe in one of the factory halls at the Volkswagen factory, Volkswagen AG

Image: Wolfsburg, undated, Exhibition room in the hallway of a former air raid shelter with bomb damage still visible, Volkswagen AG
Wolfsburg, undated, Exhibition room in the hallway of a former air raid shelter with bomb damage still visible, Volkswagen AG
On May 28, 1937, the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront, DAF) established a society for the creation of the German »Volkswagen«, where »Volkswagen« referred to a »people's car«, which would be affordable to the masses. The »strength through joy« (»Kraft durch Freude«) sub-organisation of the DAF, the state leisure organisation, was most prominently involved in planning the »Volkswagen«. The company was registered as a subsidiary of DAF in 1938 under the name »Volkswagenwerk Ltd.«, and already at the beginning of 1938 construction work for a car factory close to Fallersleben in Lower Saxony began. With the beginning of the Second World War, the Volkswagen factory concentrated on armaments production. To overcome a shortage of manpower for the production of military equipment, 300 Polish women were deployed in forced labour at the Volkswagen factory in June 1940. From October 1941 on, Soviet prisoners of war were deployed, and from the spring of 1942, Soviet civilians were forced to work at the factory. In the following years of war, forced labourers from many different countries were deployed in Fallersleben, among them concentration camp prisoners who were accommodated in concentration camps on the factory grounds. On April 30, 1944, there were 17,300 people in total working in the Volkswagen factory, 11,300 of those were forced labourers from all over Europe. On April 7, 1945, the SS evacuated the concentration camp prisoners from the factory premises and transferred them to various collection camps. The forced labourers remaining at the factory were liberated by American troops on April 11, 1945.
Image: Wolfsburg, about 1941, Female forced labourers from Eastern Europe in one of the factory halls at the Volkswagen factory, Volkswagen AG
Wolfsburg, about 1941, Female forced labourers from Eastern Europe in one of the factory halls at the Volkswagen factory, Volkswagen AG

Image: Wolfsburg, undated, Exhibition room in the hallway of a former air raid shelter with bomb damage still visible, Volkswagen AG
Wolfsburg, undated, Exhibition room in the hallway of a former air raid shelter with bomb damage still visible, Volkswagen AG
The majority of forced labourers at the Volkswagen factory were so-called »Ostarbeiter«, people deported from different parts of the Soviet Union to conduct forced labour in Germany. There were also about 850 Soviet POWs among the forced labourers. French prisoners constituted another large group: 1,000 POWs and 1,500 civilians worked at the Volkswagen factory. The prisoners of war came from the »Stalag XI B« and »Stalag XI D« POW camps in Fallingbostel to Fallersleben. A further 5,000 concentration camp prisoners were forced to work at the factory from 1944 on, having been previously held at Auschwitz and Neuengamme. It is estimated that up to 20,000 people were deployed in forced labour at the Volkswagen factory.
Image: Wolfsburg, May 2005, Presentation of the publication »Survival in Fear«, Volkswagen AG
Wolfsburg, May 2005, Presentation of the publication »Survival in Fear«, Volkswagen AG
Between 1945 and 1949, the Volkswagen factory was administered by the British military forces, which consequently consigned the company to the state of Lower Saxony. In the 1960s, the company was privatised and it expanded to become an internationally prospering enterprise. In 1986, Volkswagen commissioned historian Hans Mommsen to conduct independent research on the issue of forced labour at the factory. In 1991, a monument was unveiled on the factory premises. The memorial site was opened in 1999 by the company's department of »historical communication« in a former air raid bunker beneath the factory. It displays a permanent exhibition on the topic of forced labour.
Image: Wolfsburg, undated, The VW logo on the old heat and power station, Klaus Reichardt
Wolfsburg, undated, The VW logo on the old heat and power station, Klaus Reichardt

Name
Erinnerungsstätte an die Zwangsarbeit auf dem Gelände des Volkswagenwerkes
Phone
+49 (0)5361 925 667
Fax
+49 (0)5361 976 957
Web
https://www.volkswagenag.com/de/group/history.html
E-Mail
history@volkswagen.de
Open
Only by appointment
Possibilities
Guided tours by appointment, publication series