Forced Labor 1939 - 1945

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Janina Halina G., Polish forced laborer for the AEG

Janina Halina G. from Łódź was sent to perform forced labor for the AEG in Henningsdorf (near Berlin) in 1943.

Segment from the video interview with Janina Halina G., 2005: Janina Halina G. describes her transport and arrival at the AEG in Henningsdorf (near Berlin). Subtitled sequence from the PC Station in the German Historical Museum (2:04 minutes).

Biography

• Born in 1926 in Łódź, grows up with her younger sister in a loving family in the poor quarter of Bałuty
• 1939: German invasion; finishes school
• February 1940: Bałuty ghetto is officially opened; Janina Hanila G.’s parents are forced to evacuate their apartment and grocery shop.
• From 1941: The 15-year-old is forced to work for a German knitting factory in Łódź
• In 1943, sent to Berlin to the electricity company AEG by the labor office of the occupying administration to take part in “technical traning”; forced labor as a semi-skilled lathe operator until the end of the war in Hennigsdorf (near Berlin)
• Accommodation at a guesthouse in Papenberge, later in a barracks camp in Hennigsdorf
• Early 1945: Momentarily in police custody
• Returns to Łódź after liberation by the Red Army
• Finishes school and studies economics
• Works in the technical department of a company for petroleum products and in an export trade office
• 1987: Co-founder and active representative for the Polish Association of former Forced Laborers
• Not married, has lived alone since the death of her parents