The organisation of forced labour in Italy (1943-1945)
The Todt in Italy
The Todt had already made its appearance in Italy before the armistice of 8 September 1943. At the outset its task was to repair and maintain railway lines and associatied infrastructures, which had been heavily attacked by the Allied air forces.
As from September 1943 its function was widened to include the building of fortifications and in general, everything without which the Wehrmacht could not operate (bridges, roads, airports, etc).
In Italy the Todt came under the Einsatzgruppen Italien, commanded by General Fischer, an engineer whose headquarters were based in Florence. The headquarters of the Works Department were set up instead at Sirmione sul Garda. At Sirmione there were also the headquarters of the Supplies Department and at Desenzano the Provisions Department. The Propaganda Office was set up in Milan in the Casa dello Studente (Students' Hall of Residence) in via Romagna.1
The Einsatzkommando Italien was spilt up into three regional operational directives. Under these directives there were sixteen sub-sections (Oberbauleitungen OBL). For example, the sub-section Alarich (XV), made up of four subsidiaries (Abschnittbauleitungen), was given the task of building fortifications along 180 km of coastline between Terracina and Orbetello. In the area around Rome there was the OBL Theoderich, msfe up pf eight sections. Each of these sections, under the command of a government works inspector, was made up of between two and four teams of building workers under the command of the German military or members of the Todt organisation. The workers belonging to each section were housed in a camp near to their place of work, under the control of a German camp commander.”2
Recruitment was carried out as follows. In every city a recruitment office was set up, run by personnel from the Sauckel Organisation, the Paladino Organisation and the Todt Organisation. The unemployed were required to report to this office and they were asked if their intention was to work in Germany or in Italy. In the event that they accepted work in Germany they were handed over to the Sauckel, if they declined they were handed over to the Todt or the Paladino. Those firms working in Italy for the Todt or the Paladino had in turn to apply to the recruitment office for the manpower they needed. In the autumn of 1943 the prioirity as far as the Germans were concerned was to sign on workers for the construction of the Gustav Line, which was to be built as speedily as possbile in order to delay the Allied advance. Hence efforts to obtain a sufficent number of workers were concentrated in central Italy. Despite the propaganda and the numerous appeals signed personally by Kesselring, the number of labourers who reported to the recruitment offices was well below that projected. In the autumnof 1943 the situation of generalised chaos and the superimposition of requests coming from the competent authorities (the Wehrmacht, the Todt and the Paladino) rendered the announcements encouraging voluntary enlistment practically useless.
On 25 September a report by the Home Office indicated that for the province of Perugia, “Despite the stricter regulations that have been issued recruitment is beset by many difficulties” In Terni the pay was deemed insufficient, in addition many displaced people were still living outside the province and others were still, at least theoretically, under arms. In L'Aquila, “In spite of the stricter regulations issued recruitment is beset by many difficulties.” In Ascoli Piceno, “The first bout of recruitment produced a very poor result.” All this was not only due to the total lack of cooperation on the part of the local German authorities, who refused to provide vehicles and petrol, but also “to the workers' conviction that they will be transferred to Germany.”3
In early October repression began: in Rieti “Those who did not report to the recruitment office were taken into custody by the police authorities, who also paid them home visits.“ In Ascoli Piceno, in addition to sanctions, “provision has been made for the immediate dismissal of those employed as temporary clerks by the local authority who have arbitrarily absented themselves.”
On 29 September the first round-up of workers in Rome took place, with the result that eight people were picked up from restaurants in via Urbana, eight from departing trains and five from the Registry Office, a total of twenty one persons. But despite all these measures, in Rome on 7 October only 724 men had actually enrolled.4
By 30 September, of the 90,000 predicted workers only 3,020 volunteers had been recruited and a further 4, 175 had been picked up on the spot. “The low number of volunteers – especially amongst those willing to be sent to the Reich but also amongst those who had volunteered to stay in Italy - is a clear indication of the almost universal refusal of the population to submit to the occupying power.”5
This refusal was also clear to the German authorities at the time.
On 25 September, Kesselring wrote to the Home Office complaining that the maximum quota of 60,000 men had not been even remotely reached, and an additional 30,000 would be required to enrol by 5 October.6
On 29 November 1943, at a meeting in Rome, the consul general Mollhausen began violently attacking the Italian directors of the Labour Service: “The consul general Muhlausen [sic] notes that it is not currently possible to talk of a German-Italian alliance given that German soldiers were fighting on the front in the South of Italy and young Italians were literally doing nothing".7 The meeting ended with the proposal to withdraw the ration books from families of those who had not reported to enlist.
Following the evident lack of enthusiasm on the part of Italian workers, the Wehrmacht continued rounding up workers. Between December 1943 and January 1944 it carried out some raids in central Rome. Other raids also followed throughout the whole of central Italy. For example on 4 May 1944 the Head of the Province of Perugia, Rocchi, telegraphed to the Home Office reporting that on 4 April 118 people had been rounded up in the Cascia area and taken to Rome to the Cinecittà internment camp.8
Along with this repression, the German authorities greatly increased their propaganda effort, through newspapers, leaflets and cars with loudspeakers. A woman whose function was to try to convince the workers to enlist was made to sit next to the car driver.
In addition to complaints about the small number of recruits, the German authorities complained repeatedly about the lack of discipline and commitment amongst the workers they employed. Especially to the south of Rome, because of the proximity of the front and the risk of being strafed and bombed, workers continuously absented themselves or fled without returning to the job in hand.9
With the collapse of the Gustav Line and the movement of the front towards the Gothic Line, recruitment efforts were to be concentrated in the Po Valley. First, the Paladino Organization passed directly under the control of the Todt Organization. In addition, on 12 August, 1944, a decree passed by the Duce imposed compulsory labour on all able-bodied men between 14 and 60 years of age in the provinces of Treviso, Venice, Vicenza, Padua, Verona and Rovigo.10
On 28 October, the twentieth anniversary of the “March on Rome”, the Government of the Republic issued an amnesty for draft dodgers. It was the second act of clemency following on from the first which had been issued in May 1944 promising clemency to the draft dodgers, who had been previously threatened with the death penalty in an announcement of 18 February 1944. Through these measures it was hoped to recruit enough workers to meet German labour requirements.
Following on from the Duce's decree of the of 28 October, a total of 72,881 deserters and draft dodgers consigned themselves to the authorities, but they were mostly partisans who, fearing another winter in the mountains, concealed themselves in the Todt, waiting for the “difficult” season to pass so that they could return to their formations. In late October the republican police indicated that: “It has been reported from various places that a number of deserters and draft dodgers have come out of hiding, perhaps due to apposite propaganda put out by local authorities and parish priests, and have gone back to their respective communes in to order to regularize their position, both military and civilian. Many of these elements have already been employed by companies and organizations working on behalf of the German authorities. There is reason to believe that some of them have abandoned the partisan bands in the mountains in response to orders issued by the leaders of the so-called National Liberation Army.”11
The entire strategy had become so obvious that on 11 November 1944 Mussolini himself sent a circular telegram to all the heads of province which read as follows: “Get in touch with the commanders of the Todt Organisation with the object of getting rid of all the fake workers who are hiding themselves its ranks in order to avoid their military obligations. The German ambassador proposes, and I concur, that this operation should be undertaken by means of a commission made up of the Heads of Provinces, the Federale (a fascist party functionary – translator's note), and by a representative of the Combatants'Association.”12
The statistics produced by the Home Office give a fairly complete picture as to the number of workers employed by the Todt Organisation.
In July 1944 in the Province of Brescia there were 6, 559 workers on the payroll of the Todt , 6,640 on that of the German military and 441 on that of the Paladino. In Milan, up to 15 May 1944, the Todt had employed around 20,000 workers, and 2,500 had been sent to Germany. In Pavia, on 12 October, there were 423 men working for the Todt. In Aosta, in September 1944, there were 151. In Ferrara, at the end of August 1944, there were 4,611. In Cremona, the workers controlled by the Todt amounted to 2,037 employed in agriculture and 2,336 in industry. In Cuneo, 2, 400 were employed by the Bauleitung Saluzzi Lagnasco company, 200 in the airfields at Mondovì and 52 in a firm called Levaldigi Savigliano. In Genoa the workforce numbered 15,000, spread out in a hundred or so firms.
At the end of summer 1944 the numbers were as follows:
Alessandria 0, Aosta 151, Asti 100, Bergamo 2320, Bologna 7700, Brescia 11000, Como 400, Cremona 4373, Cuneo 3652, Ferrara 5000, Firenze 20000, Forlì 11000, Genova 15000, Imperia 19, Mantova 6000, Milano 20000, Modena 0, Novara 6870, Padova 1300, Parma 4340, Pavia 423, Piacenza 1100, Pistoia 4500, Ravenna 3813, Reggio Emilia 2500, Rovigo 400, Savona 10224, Sondrio 600, La Speza 8600, Torino 3406, Treviso 800, Varese 4850, Venezia 5000, Vercelli 350, Verona 6559, Vicenza 3121. Total 175.471.13
The methods used by the Todt to get sufficient workers and to pay firms were quite casual. According to a report by the prefect of Lucca, dated February 1944: “The OT (Todt Organisation) entrusts the work to various companies using the “regia” system, that is the reimbursement of all expenses incurred for the workers, increased by 40% to cover taxes, administrative costs and profits. This avoids accounting and supervision. It is clear that with such a system everything depends on the honesty and conscientiousness of enterprises. One of these firms said: "The German Military Command indicates the work to be undertaken and the Todt Organisation passes the work over to the Italian companies, with whom they deal directly. The German companies pay the Italian companies directly."14 The report continued by saying that the Todt had taken recruits of all types, including those characters who were not real workers but had taken advantage of the opportunity to avoid military service, and this in spite of the warnings and protests of the Italian local authorities.
The Todt also lured workers with high wages. According to the Head of the Province of Sondrio, the labourers employed in excavation work on the mountain passes of the Stelvio and the Tonale were earning up to a thousand lire a day. Often, too, the Organization's engineers paid with bundles of a thousand freshly minted bank notes.
The Todt had difficulties with the Italian authorities, who were forced to endure the bullying tactics of the German officials, as is evident in a letter sent out from the Istrian executive, who compelled the prefect to dismiss two workers taken on by the police headquarters without the Todt's permission. “By accepting forced workers you are assisting the deserters, thus leaving you open to sanctions. The foresaid workers must be laid off immediately and must report tot the Directorate of Construction of the Todt Organization, Workers' Enrolment Section (Miramar).”15
The local military commands often used to take initiatives that were directly contrary to the laws of RSI. In December 1944, in the Cuneo area, an officer of the Wehrmacht issued a leaflet promising the partisans (including deserters) that if they reported for work they would be employed in Italy without any action being taken against them.16 Attached to the leaflet was a permit which said: “Those who hand over their weapons to the nearest Italo-German command post will be able to return to their homes and take up work in Italy. The Italo-Germanic Command has established a partnership with the Italian Government and will provide protection and a free passage to all those who report in and hand over their weapons."
The same thing happened in the Piave area, where in December 1944 the German headquarters posted a manifesto which stated that soldiers in the republican army could also safely abandon their units and enlist in the Todt. Colonel Bocca, Graziani's chief of staff, had to intervene to make clear to the German officers that deserters were not covered by the amnesty which had been issued by Mussolini on 28 October.
On 19 February, 1945 Colonel Heggenreiner wrote to the Ministry of the Armed Forces complying with the demands made by the Italians: “On the orders of the Superior Commander of the Southwest, with reference to the aforesaid matter, which has been dealt with by the Army Group I on behalf the Supreme Commissioner of the Adriatic Littoral Operational Zone. The Italian and Alpine Employment Branches of the Todt Organisation have been informed that they should send the aforementioned deserters back to their own military units.”17
Despite the protests, and actions (which may have been feigned) taken by the German headquarters, in March 1945 in the province of Modena alone there were still 3,000 “draft dodgers and deserters working for the Germans”, as stated in a report issued by the Ministry of the Armed Forces.
In short, the Todt had become an organization which, thanks to the support of the German military authorities, could issue notices, recruit staff, decide who could serve in the army and who could instead avoid the draft by working as a civilian. Apparently for the Germans Italian workers were the the priority, not Italian soldiers. This priority favoured those youngsters, including many partisans, who saw working for the Todt as an excellent opportunity to avoid the brutaility of the civil war and to work near home without running too many risks.
As regards working conditions, the fact that an enormous number of construction sites, factories and farms came under the aegis of the Todt makes it difficiult to give a clear answer to the question. The 15,000 workers in the province of Genoa were likely to have been metal workers who simply worked in local companies that the Germans described as “protected”, ie working for the economic interests of the occupying forces. The conditions were the same as in all Italian factories working for the Germans: harsh conditions, naturally, but without risks. The treatment of those workers who were engaged in the extremely exhausting excavation work of building fortifications near the front or in the Alps, and often found themselves without the clothing and equipment they needed, would have been very different. However, even this was apparently considered better than being sent to Germany as forced labour or being enrolled in the republican armed forces.
The Todt proved a very effective system for the exploitation of forced labour, and made a fundamental contribution to the German war effort.
Amedeo Osti Guerrazzi (2016)
Paolo Savenago, Le organizzazioni Todt e Poll in provincia di Vicenza, Cierre, Verona, 2003, p.33.
Lutz Klinkhammer, L’occupazione tedesca in Italia, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 1997, p.146.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Segreteria particolare del Capo della Polizia RSI, b.32.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Segreteria particolare del Capo della Polizia RSI, b.32.
Lutz Klinkhammer, L’occupazione tedesca in Italia, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 1997, pp.147-148.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Segreteria particolare del Capo della Polizia RSI, b.32.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Segreteria particolare del Capo della Polizia RSI, b.27.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno, categoria A5G (II Guerra Mondiale), b.152.
Lutz Klinkhammer, L’occupazione tedesca in Italia, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 1997, p.147.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno RSI, Gabinetto, b.33.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Segreteria particolare del Capo della Polizia RSI, b.40.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno RSI, Gabinetto, b.43.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno RSI, Gabinetto, b.43.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno RSI, Gabinetto, b.43.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero dell’Interno RSI, Gabinetto, b.43.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero delle Forze armate RSI, Gabinetto, b.2.
Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero delle Forze armate RSI, Gabinetto, b.2.
The workers' re-education camps (AEL) were set up in 1940 by the Gestapo in order to re-educate individuals accused of acts of industrial sabotage or who, for some reason, were held to be “reluctant” to work. In effect, these camps were also a means of exploiting forced labour. It has been estimated that in Germany and the German-occupied territories around 200 Arbeitserziehungslager had been set up in which around 500,000 people had been imprisoned.
During the Second World War the Germans established prisoner of war units known as Bau-und Arbeits Battaillon (shortened to B.A.B.). The B.A.B. were made up on average of 600 prisoners of war who were used as forced labour. The distinguishing feature of these forced labour units was that they were mobile; unlike the prisoners who were being held in the Stalag, these workers were not stationed in a specific location but were moved around according to necessity.
The I.G. Farben Company was founded in 1925 from the merger of several different German industries. During the Second World War it was the main producer of chemicals for Nazi Germany. I.G. Farben made more use of forced labour than any other industry, particularly during the construction of the plants at Auschwitz. The directors of I.G. Farben were among the accused at the Nuremberg Trials of 1947/48. At the end of the war the decision was taken to split up the industry into its original component parts.
The Arbeitskommando were work camps detachments for prisoners who had been captured by the Germans. Usually made up of a few hundred prisoners, they were set up near to places of employment (factories, mines, agricultural establishments etc.). They were run from a central Stalag (prisoner of war camp), which may have been responsible for hundreds of work detachments. The work detachments for Allied prisoners of war were visited on a regular basis by representatives of the Red Cross.
The Military Work Inspectorate was set up in October 1943 with the aim of organising a workforce which was to construct territorial defences for the Italian Republic of Salò and repair the damage caused by air raids. Known as the “Organizzazione Paladino” (Paladino Organisation) after its founder and commanding officer, and operating in strict collaboration with, and at times directly employed by, the Germans, it took on several tens of thousands of workers.
The Todt Organisation was begun in Germany at the end of the 'Thirties with the aim of setting up a workforce which would build military defences. The idea of Fritz Todd, who was also its director until his death in 1942, during the war it exploited forced labour in German-occupied countries. In Italy it played a fundamental role in the construction of defences along the Appenines in support of the Wehrmacht, employing tens of thousands of men.
Born in Scilla (Reggio Calabria) in 1890, he volunteered for the Corps of Engineers as a telegraphist in 1907. In 1908 he rose to the rank of sergeant, a rank he held throughout the War in Libya. In 1914 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and during the First World War he was made captain.
Afterwards he remained in the Armed Forces and in 1932 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1936 he took part in the War in Ethiopia, during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
In the Second World War, he returned to Italy after participating in the Greek campaign and was assigned to the Bolzano Corps. In 1942 he was promoted to brigader general. After the armistice he joined the Italian Social Republic for which he created the Military Labour Inspectorate.
He finally retired in 1945 and in 1970 he was awarded the honorary grade of major general.
He died in 1974.
Fritz Sauckel, born in 1894, was a local Nazi party official. In 1942 he was nominated plenipotentiary for the organisation of work throughout all the German-occupied territories. In practice, he was responsible for the compulsory engagement of forced labour. In Italy his organisation tried to round up hundreds of thousands of men to send to the German Reich, with scarce results. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out in 1946.
Albert Speer, born in 1905, was an architect who enjoyed an excellent personal relationship with Adolf Hitler. Even though he was not an ardent Nazi, he was the brains behind the staging of the Party parades, thereby assuring for himself the esteem and trust of the dictator. In 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, he was put in charge of the Ministry of Arms and Munitions, which oversaw the Todt organisation. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to twenty years imprisonment. He died in London in 1981.
A German prisoner of war camp. The living conditions in the Stalag varied considerably according to the nationality of the prisoners (Allied, Russian, Italian military internees, etc.)
Fritz Todt was a German engineer who was responsible, in the 'Thirties, for building the motorway system as desired by Hitler. At the end of the 'Thirties he set up the Todt Organisation, with the aim of supplying forced labour to be used in the building of defences along the French border. During the war his organisation oversaw the use of forced labour in the occupied territories. He died in a plane crash in 1942.
The Gemeinschaftslager, like the Wohnlager, were unsupervised camps for foreign workers, while the Arbeitslager were supervised. Generally speaking, the concept of forced labour is applied only to the latter, but at the present time historians are undoubtedly tending to review the concept of forced labour, extending it to include work situations which are apparently free but in reality are forced. More specifically, the current discussion tends to be orientated towards a concept of forced labour which includes these three distinctive elements:
- from a legal point of view, it is impossible for the worker to dissolve the relationship with his employer
- from the social point of view, the possibilities of significantly influencing employment conditions are limited
- there is a high mortality rate, which indicates a higher than average workload and a provision of means of sustenance below the necessary requirements.
See: [https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/geschichte/auslaendisch/begriffe/index.html]
The workers' re-education camps (AEL) were set up in 1940 by the Gestapo in order to re-educate individuals accused of acts of industrial sabotage or who, for some reason, were held to be “reluctant” to work. In effect, these camps were also a means of exploiting forced labour. It has been estimated that in Germany and the German-occupied territories around 200 Arbeitserziehungslager had been set up in which around 500,000 people had been imprisoned.
During the Second World War the Germans established prisoner of war units known as Bau-und Arbeits Battaillon (shortened to B.A.B.). The B.A.B. were made up on average of 600 prisoners of war who were used as forced labour. The distinguishing feature of these forced labour units was that they were mobile; unlike the prisoners who were being held in the Stalag, these workers were not stationed in a specific location but were moved around according to necessity.
The I.G. Farben Company was founded in 1925 from the merger of several different German industries. During the Second World War it was the main producer of chemicals for Nazi Germany. I.G. Farben made more use of forced labour than any other industry, particularly during the construction of the plants at Auschwitz. The directors of I.G. Farben were among the accused at the Nuremberg Trials of 1947/48. At the end of the war the decision was taken to split up the industry into its original component parts.
The Arbeitskommando were work camps detachments for prisoners who had been captured by the Germans. Usually made up of a few hundred prisoners, they were set up near to places of employment (factories, mines, agricultural establishments etc.). They were run from a central Stalag (prisoner of war camp), which may have been responsible for hundreds of work detachments. The work detachments for Allied prisoners of war were visited on a regular basis by representatives of the Red Cross.
The Military Work Inspectorate was set up in October 1943 with the aim of organising a workforce which was to construct territorial defences for the Italian Republic of Salò and repair the damage caused by air raids. Known as the “Organizzazione Paladino” (Paladino Organisation) after its founder and commanding officer, and operating in strict collaboration with, and at times directly employed by, the Germans, it took on several tens of thousands of workers.
The Todt Organisation was begun in Germany at the end of the 'Thirties with the aim of setting up a workforce which would build military defences. The idea of Fritz Todd, who was also its director until his death in 1942, during the war it exploited forced labour in German-occupied countries. In Italy it played a fundamental role in the construction of defences along the Appenines in support of the Wehrmacht, employing tens of thousands of men.
Born in Scilla (Reggio Calabria) in 1890, he volunteered for the Corps of Engineers as a telegraphist in 1907. In 1908 he rose to the rank of sergeant, a rank he held throughout the War in Libya. In 1914 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and during the First World War he was made captain.
Afterwards he remained in the Armed Forces and in 1932 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1936 he took part in the War in Ethiopia, during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
In the Second World War, he returned to Italy after participating in the Greek campaign and was assigned to the Bolzano Corps. In 1942 he was promoted to brigader general. After the armistice he joined the Italian Social Republic for which he created the Military Labour Inspectorate.
He finally retired in 1945 and in 1970 he was awarded the honorary grade of major general.
He died in 1974.
Fritz Sauckel, born in 1894, was a local Nazi party official. In 1942 he was nominated plenipotentiary for the organisation of work throughout all the German-occupied territories. In practice, he was responsible for the compulsory engagement of forced labour. In Italy his organisation tried to round up hundreds of thousands of men to send to the German Reich, with scarce results. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out in 1946.
Albert Speer, born in 1905, was an architect who enjoyed an excellent personal relationship with Adolf Hitler. Even though he was not an ardent Nazi, he was the brains behind the staging of the Party parades, thereby assuring for himself the esteem and trust of the dictator. In 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, he was put in charge of the Ministry of Arms and Munitions, which oversaw the Todt organisation. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to twenty years imprisonment. He died in London in 1981.
A German prisoner of war camp. The living conditions in the Stalag varied considerably according to the nationality of the prisoners (Allied, Russian, Italian military internees, etc.)
Fritz Todt was a German engineer who was responsible, in the 'Thirties, for building the motorway system as desired by Hitler. At the end of the 'Thirties he set up the Todt Organisation, with the aim of supplying forced labour to be used in the building of defences along the French border. During the war his organisation oversaw the use of forced labour in the occupied territories. He died in a plane crash in 1942.
The Gemeinschaftslager, like the Wohnlager, were unsupervised camps for foreign workers, while the Arbeitslager were supervised. Generally speaking, the concept of forced labour is applied only to the latter, but at the present time historians are undoubtedly tending to review the concept of forced labour, extending it to include work situations which are apparently free but in reality are forced. More specifically, the current discussion tends to be orientated towards a concept of forced labour which includes these three distinctive elements:
- from a legal point of view, it is impossible for the worker to dissolve the relationship with his employer
- from the social point of view, the possibilities of significantly influencing employment conditions are limited
- there is a high mortality rate, which indicates a higher than average workload and a provision of means of sustenance below the necessary requirements.
See: [https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/geschichte/auslaendisch/begriffe/index.html]
The workers' re-education camps (AEL) were set up in 1940 by the Gestapo in order to re-educate individuals accused of acts of industrial sabotage or who, for some reason, were held to be “reluctant” to work. In effect, these camps were also a means of exploiting forced labour. It has been estimated that in Germany and the German-occupied territories around 200 Arbeitserziehungslager had been set up in which around 500,000 people had been imprisoned.
During the Second World War the Germans established prisoner of war units known as Bau-und Arbeits Battaillon (shortened to B.A.B.). The B.A.B. were made up on average of 600 prisoners of war who were used as forced labour. The distinguishing feature of these forced labour units was that they were mobile; unlike the prisoners who were being held in the Stalag, these workers were not stationed in a specific location but were moved around according to necessity.
The I.G. Farben Company was founded in 1925 from the merger of several different German industries. During the Second World War it was the main producer of chemicals for Nazi Germany. I.G. Farben made more use of forced labour than any other industry, particularly during the construction of the plants at Auschwitz. The directors of I.G. Farben were among the accused at the Nuremberg Trials of 1947/48. At the end of the war the decision was taken to split up the industry into its original component parts.
The Arbeitskommando were work camps detachments for prisoners who had been captured by the Germans. Usually made up of a few hundred prisoners, they were set up near to places of employment (factories, mines, agricultural establishments etc.). They were run from a central Stalag (prisoner of war camp), which may have been responsible for hundreds of work detachments. The work detachments for Allied prisoners of war were visited on a regular basis by representatives of the Red Cross.
The Military Work Inspectorate was set up in October 1943 with the aim of organising a workforce which was to construct territorial defences for the Italian Republic of Salò and repair the damage caused by air raids. Known as the “Organizzazione Paladino” (Paladino Organisation) after its founder and commanding officer, and operating in strict collaboration with, and at times directly employed by, the Germans, it took on several tens of thousands of workers.
The Todt Organisation was begun in Germany at the end of the 'Thirties with the aim of setting up a workforce which would build military defences. The idea of Fritz Todd, who was also its director until his death in 1942, during the war it exploited forced labour in German-occupied countries. In Italy it played a fundamental role in the construction of defences along the Appenines in support of the Wehrmacht, employing tens of thousands of men.
Born in Scilla (Reggio Calabria) in 1890, he volunteered for the Corps of Engineers as a telegraphist in 1907. In 1908 he rose to the rank of sergeant, a rank he held throughout the War in Libya. In 1914 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and during the First World War he was made captain.
Afterwards he remained in the Armed Forces and in 1932 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1936 he took part in the War in Ethiopia, during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
In the Second World War, he returned to Italy after participating in the Greek campaign and was assigned to the Bolzano Corps. In 1942 he was promoted to brigader general. After the armistice he joined the Italian Social Republic for which he created the Military Labour Inspectorate.
He finally retired in 1945 and in 1970 he was awarded the honorary grade of major general.
He died in 1974.
Fritz Sauckel, born in 1894, was a local Nazi party official. In 1942 he was nominated plenipotentiary for the organisation of work throughout all the German-occupied territories. In practice, he was responsible for the compulsory engagement of forced labour. In Italy his organisation tried to round up hundreds of thousands of men to send to the German Reich, with scarce results. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out in 1946.
Albert Speer, born in 1905, was an architect who enjoyed an excellent personal relationship with Adolf Hitler. Even though he was not an ardent Nazi, he was the brains behind the staging of the Party parades, thereby assuring for himself the esteem and trust of the dictator. In 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, he was put in charge of the Ministry of Arms and Munitions, which oversaw the Todt organisation. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to twenty years imprisonment. He died in London in 1981.
Fritz Todt was a German engineer who was responsible, in the 'Thirties, for building the motorway system as desired by Hitler. At the end of the 'Thirties he set up the Todt Organisation, with the aim of supplying forced labour to be used in the building of defences along the French border. During the war his organisation oversaw the use of forced labour in the occupied territories. He died in a plane crash in 1942.
The workers' re-education camps (AEL) were set up in 1940 by the Gestapo in order to re-educate individuals accused of acts of industrial sabotage or who, for some reason, were held to be “reluctant” to work. In effect, these camps were also a means of exploiting forced labour. It has been estimated that in Germany and the German-occupied territories around 200 Arbeitserziehungslager had been set up in which around 500,000 people had been imprisoned.
During the Second World War the Germans established prisoner of war units known as Bau-und Arbeits Battaillon (shortened to B.A.B.). The B.A.B. were made up on average of 600 prisoners of war who were used as forced labour. The distinguishing feature of these forced labour units was that they were mobile; unlike the prisoners who were being held in the Stalag, these workers were not stationed in a specific location but were moved around according to necessity.
The I.G. Farben Company was founded in 1925 from the merger of several different German industries. During the Second World War it was the main producer of chemicals for Nazi Germany. I.G. Farben made more use of forced labour than any other industry, particularly during the construction of the plants at Auschwitz. The directors of I.G. Farben were among the accused at the Nuremberg Trials of 1947/48. At the end of the war the decision was taken to split up the industry into its original component parts.
The Arbeitskommando were work camps detachments for prisoners who had been captured by the Germans. Usually made up of a few hundred prisoners, they were set up near to places of employment (factories, mines, agricultural establishments etc.). They were run from a central Stalag (prisoner of war camp), which may have been responsible for hundreds of work detachments. The work detachments for Allied prisoners of war were visited on a regular basis by representatives of the Red Cross.
The Military Work Inspectorate was set up in October 1943 with the aim of organising a workforce which was to construct territorial defences for the Italian Republic of Salò and repair the damage caused by air raids. Known as the “Organizzazione Paladino” (Paladino Organisation) after its founder and commanding officer, and operating in strict collaboration with, and at times directly employed by, the Germans, it took on several tens of thousands of workers.
The Todt Organisation was begun in Germany at the end of the 'Thirties with the aim of setting up a workforce which would build military defences. The idea of Fritz Todd, who was also its director until his death in 1942, during the war it exploited forced labour in German-occupied countries. In Italy it played a fundamental role in the construction of defences along the Appenines in support of the Wehrmacht, employing tens of thousands of men.
Born in Scilla (Reggio Calabria) in 1890, he volunteered for the Corps of Engineers as a telegraphist in 1907. In 1908 he rose to the rank of sergeant, a rank he held throughout the War in Libya. In 1914 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and during the First World War he was made captain.
Afterwards he remained in the Armed Forces and in 1932 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1936 he took part in the War in Ethiopia, during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
In the Second World War, he returned to Italy after participating in the Greek campaign and was assigned to the Bolzano Corps. In 1942 he was promoted to brigader general. After the armistice he joined the Italian Social Republic for which he created the Military Labour Inspectorate.
He finally retired in 1945 and in 1970 he was awarded the honorary grade of major general.
He died in 1974.
Fritz Sauckel, born in 1894, was a local Nazi party official. In 1942 he was nominated plenipotentiary for the organisation of work throughout all the German-occupied territories. In practice, he was responsible for the compulsory engagement of forced labour. In Italy his organisation tried to round up hundreds of thousands of men to send to the German Reich, with scarce results. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out in 1946.
Albert Speer, born in 1905, was an architect who enjoyed an excellent personal relationship with Adolf Hitler. Even though he was not an ardent Nazi, he was the brains behind the staging of the Party parades, thereby assuring for himself the esteem and trust of the dictator. In 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, he was put in charge of the Ministry of Arms and Munitions, which oversaw the Todt organisation. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to twenty years imprisonment. He died in London in 1981.
Fritz Todt was a German engineer who was responsible, in the 'Thirties, for building the motorway system as desired by Hitler. At the end of the 'Thirties he set up the Todt Organisation, with the aim of supplying forced labour to be used in the building of defences along the French border. During the war his organisation oversaw the use of forced labour in the occupied territories. He died in a plane crash in 1942.