Forced Labor of Polish Civilians during World War II

     After the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the Nazi’s immediately  established  an administrative system of labor offices called arbeitsamt (employment office) that insured that the people of Poland became servants of the Third Reich.

    Poles waiting to register at the labor office in Łόdź, Poland. 1940. Photo credit: Wojskowo Biura Badań Historychnych Wojskowego Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej Warszawa.

     In their eyes, The Poles were considered untermensch, that is, subhuman creatures, deemed racially worthless.  Believing that they themselves were a race of superior humans, they had the right to displace, enslave or eliminate inferior beings. The Poles were to become their slaves, their workers, people that were to be weakened and destroyed. 

      Working for the Germans was compulsory.  Individuals identified as suitable for work received a summons that outlined the dire circumstances of their situation:  “ ...you are obligated to work in Germany…In the event that you do not fulfill this obligation, members of your family (parents, wife, siblings, children) will be placed in camps for criminals and will not be released until you present yourself.  We also remind you that we have the right to seize your, as well as your family's  movable goods and fixed properties.  Beyond that, in accordance with the said orders, you can be sent to a penal jail,  a heavy labor jail, or sent to a concentration camp.” 1

     Under such threats, tens of thousands of Polish men, women, adolescents and even entire families with small children were deported to Germany and to all territories occupied by the Third Reich. 

   Poles comprised the highest number of foreign laborers working in the Third Reich  until German aggression on Russia. The massive deportation of Russian men, women and adolescents caused their numbers to be supplanted by that of Russian workers. 

This table comes from the Nuremberg Trials immediately after the war and includes civilians, prisoners of war turned into civilians used as forced labor. 2

   Whether sent to work in agriculture or industry every Pole was mandated to wear a patch consisting of the letter “P” for Pole for easy identification among the population.

Polish women working in a farmyard. Dachau. 1940. Photo credit: Fundacja Polska Niemiecka Pojednanie.(FPNP) Not clearly visible is the "P" patch on the right side of the woman in the middle. 

A forced laborer named Helena Dengler later wrote of her experience::
"All of the Poles brought to work had to have the identifying letter “P” sewn on the right side of the chest so that we could be easily identified from a distance. Each of us received five such patches. I had to have it sewn on my dress, sweater and so on, even on my apron." 3
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Leokadia Dyczyńska (a 13-year-old sent to work who took a defiant attitude):
"At the police station, they gave us the letter “P”, threatening us with heavy punishment if we failed to wear them on our breasts. The Jews have the star, we have the letter “P”. We are going to wear this symbol. We are not ashamed to be Poles."

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    Through a series of laws known as the March Decrees of 1940 Polish forced laborers were forced to understand that their sole purpose was to work. Every liberty was curtailed. They were  often brutally mistreated, starved and many died from neglect and illness. After the war, In the TrIals of War CrImInals before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, the Nazi defendants were charged with warm crimes  for the forced labor of civilians.

  1. Seeber, Ewa Robotnicy Przymusowi w Faszystowskiej Gospodarcze Wojenny.  Książka I Wiedza,    1972, Warszawa  pp.352-3 
  2. Trial of War Criminals at Nurenberg “Blue Series” vol.35 Document D-524 
 3. Wearing the Letter P: Polish Women as Forced Laborers in Nazi Germany 1939-1945.         Hippocrene Books Inc. 2016 p.63
​  4. Ibid

 A brief overview of what Polish women experienced as forced laborers can be seen in my 3 minute video on You Tube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9pOnS399Vw

Thanks for reading.