summary
Forced Labour in Austria
I. General
The Historical Commission's mandate is to investigate and report about the whole complex of "Deprivation of property in the territory of the Republic of Austria during the Nazi era as well as acts of restitution or compensation (including economic and social benefits) by the Republic of Austria after 1945". In accordance with this mandate, two expert reports have been commissioned on the subject of forced labour with the following terms of reference:
1. Establish the number of forced labourers who were employed in the territory of what is now the Republic of Austria between 1939 and 1945 (authors: Florian Freund and Bertrand Perz); and
2. Estimate the number of former forced labourers employed in Austria between 1939 and 1945 who are likely to be surviving in mid-2000 (author: Mark Spoerer).
II. What did forced labour under Nazism mean?
Generally, the victims sustained damage or injury as a result of specific Nazi policies: they were persecuted on racial or political grounds, underwent other kinds of coercive measures and were in many cases in danger of illness and death.
We speak of forced labour under Nazism where non-economic pressure was the essential factor which prompted a person to work, with people being assigned such work regardless of their profession and abilities, simply as a result of their origin (national, ethnic or religious).
Another specific feature of forced labour was a special status in terms of labour law: not only were specifically defined groups of persons forced to work on pain of punitive sanctions but they were also massively discriminated against in comparison with indigenous workers.
"Forced labour" must be carefully distinguished from work which citizens of the German Reich could be forced to accept temporarily or permanently, such as the Reich Labour Service, compulsory recruitment for certain jobs, or the "Rural Year" for girls. The living conditions of these persons were on the whole not comparable to those conditions which forced labourers had to endure.
III. Essential figures
|
CATEGORIES |
Cumulated number of surviving forced labourers (male and female) in the "Ostmark" 1939 - 1945 June 1945 |
Estimate of surviving former forced labourers who worked in Austria between 1939 - 1945 |
|
Civilians |
ca. 757,000 persons |
ca. 199,000 persons |
|
Prisoners of War |
ca. 150,000 persons |
ca. 19,000 persons |
|
Conc. camp prisoners, incl. Hungarian Jews |
ca. 85,900 persons |
ca. 21,000 persons |
|
TOTAL |
ca. 992,900 persons |
ca. 239,000 persons |
IV. Distinctive criteria for calculations and estimates
1. Both studies distinguish between four categories of foreign forced labourers:
a) Foreign civilians
b) Prisoners of War
c) Hungarian Jews in "Jewish Camps", and
d) Concentration camp prisoners
2. In both studies, the following points were taken into account:
a) countries of origin of forced labourers
b) branches and business sectors to which forced labourers were assigned
c) changes over time
d) gender
3. Neither of the two studies takes specific account of the following groups of indigenous forced labourers:
a) Austrian Jews (an estimated 20,000, most of whom were murdered. Wolf Gruner will present a special study, "Forced Labour Assignments of Austrian Jews", in spring.)
b) Roma and Sinti (estimated at several thousands, most of whom were murdered)
c) Persons serving criminal sentences (how many of them were assigned to forced labour is completely unknown)
The Commission has commissioned research projects both on the Roma and Sinti and on persons serving criminal sentences.
V. Foreign civilians