Barrack 13

Barrack 13 was one of the first buildings of the camp, which were built after 1943 . Between 1944 and 1945 Italian military and civilian workers were housed there. Numerous inscriptions with names and dates, which can be seen in the basement of the building are giving proof of it. They are the only direct evidence of the forced labor of the camp.
After the war the Red Army used the barracks briefly as material storage. In the following years, various workshops moved in. Among other things, the state-owned enterprise (VEB ) Kühlautomat kept a training workshop here. From 2003, the building was used to store antiques and building materials. Despite the different subsequent uses of this barrack as compared to the other ones, it holds the most tracks of the Nazi period. It was therefore assumed by the Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre in 2008 and was restored and preserved carefully as a accommodation barrack.

In addition to the historical inscriptions in the basement, citations of forced labourers illustrate  their everyday life in the camp, which was characterized by narrowness, hunger, lack of hygiene and despair. The exhibition is open only during guided tours and special open days. 


Exhibitions and events

Forced Labour in the Daily Round 1939-1945

Permanent exhibition

The permanent exhibition presents the history of forced labour during the time of National Socialism as an omnipresent mass phenomenon. It shows the day-to-day lives of displaced men, women, and...

Activities from this museum

Living and Working Conditions of Forced Laborers under National Socialism

he tour of the grounds allows you to become acquainted with the history of the...


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