Jewish Forced Labor Under the Nazis Economic Needs

Forced labor was a key feature of Nazi anti-Jewish policy and shaped the daily life of almost every Jewish family in occupied Europe. For the first time, this book systematically describes the implementation of forced labor for Jews in Germany, Austria, the Protectorate, and the various occupied Polish territories. As early as the end of 1938, compulsory labor for Jews had been introduced in Germany and annexed Austria by the labor administration. Similar programs were subsequently established by civil administrations in the German-occupied Czech and Polish territories. At its maximum extent, more than one million Jewish men and women toiled for private companies and public builders. This study refutes the widespread thesis that compulsory work was organized only by the SS, and that exploitation was only an intermediate tactic on the way to mass murder or, rather, that it was only a facet in the destruction of the Jews. • Discloses important aspects of a virtually unknown aspect of the Holocaust: the pre-ghetto, pre-camp mass forced labor for Jews • New insights on the life of thousands of Jews under forced labor and in forgotten forced labor camps • Broadens our picture of the Nazi perpetrators, revealing the responsibility of civil administrations, private companies, and others