Close contact between Germans and prisoners of war was forbidden for reasons of military and political security. Contact with forced labourers was generally undesirable, and contact with those stigmatised as “fremdvölkisch” (ethnically foreign) was also forbidden for racist reasons.

Under an initial ordinance issued as early as November 1939, “forbidden contact with prisoners of war” beyond communications necessary for work was punishable with imprisonment or Zuchthaus (penal servitude). Further regulations followed with the “Polen-Erlasse” (Polish Decrees) of 1940 and the “Ostarbeiter-Erlasse” (Eastern Workers Decrees) of 1942. Among other things, they made relationships and love affairs with Germans a severely punishable offence. In order to prevent male Western European forced labourers from having sexual contact with Germans, the Nazi regime started setting up brothels for them in 1939.These brothels only used women
considered “ethnically foreign” to perform the sexualised forced labour.

Despite the threats of punishment, there were numerous encounters, including sexual contact and love affairs. In many cases, offenders were denounced by people from their immediate environment, for example by work colleagues. The accused were subsequently often publicly humiliated and subjected to degrading interrogations.

Forms of relationships

There were many different types of contact between Germans and prisoners of war or forced labourers. It might be an exchange of cigarettes or food or a friendly chat. This in turn could develop into a romantic relationship or sexual contact, whether in the context of a love affair or sex work. Not all sexual contact was consensual; it ranged from sexual bartering to psychological pressure in the workplace and to rape. In some cases, Germans also helped prisoners of war or forced labourers to escape by giving them civilian clothes or forged documents or by harbouring them.

Encounter sites

Many contacts arose at work on farms and in urban factories. They varied greatly depending on whether the person involved was a prisoner of war or civilian worker and on their nationality. Western European forced labourers, who had more freedom of movement, were able to meet Germans more easily in public —for example, outdoors in their free time. For prisoners of war and Eastern European forced labourers, meetings were more likely to occur in the countryside, as there was less surveillance. In some cases, people in the milieu deliberately looked the other way and thus allowed contacts to develop.

Prosecution and penalties

In the case of illegal contact, both the Germans as well as the prisoners of war and forced labourers faced the threat of severe penalties. Different penalties applied depending on the status and nationality of the prisoners of war and forced labourers. They ranged from imprisonment or penal servitude, to internment in a concentration camp, and to the death penalty. Compared to their counterparts from Western Europe, prisoners of war and forced labourers from Poland and the Soviet Union usually faced more severe punishments, including public execution. As a deterrent, other forced labourers were often forced to watch the hangings. In some instances, on the other hand, authorities reviewed whether forced labourers were eligible for “Eindeutschung” (Germanisation)—for example, in the case of Poles with German ancestors. German men who had relationships with female forced labourers were rarely punished and usually less severely.

Verdict against Frieda Raatz from Marienhof in Pomerania, 25 August 1943

Frieda Raatz was sentenced to one year in prison for her relationship with the French prisoner of war Marcel Le Néchet, which led to the birth of Gerd Raatz.

Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin