Springe direkt zu Inhalt

Terms of Use for the Archive "Forced Labor 1939-1945"

1. General Information

The archive “Forced labor 1939-1945, Memory and History, A Digital Archive for Education and Research” (abbreviated: Archive) has been made available on the internet by the Freie Universität Berlin (abbreviated: Operator) on behalf of the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" (abbreviated: Foundation).

The archive contains life story interviews with former forced laborers from the time of the Second World War.

2. Use of the Archive

The archive is available for educational, teaching and research purposes or for comparable public applications by all persons and institutions demonstrating valid interest. Furthermore, the archive can be accessed for research purposes by journalists and private individuals who demonstrate legitimate interest. In using the archive, attention should always be paid to the personal rights of the witnesses interviewed, and their private personal information should not be distributed or their interests interfered with.

3. Property Rights

The entire archive is protected by copyright and the personal rights of the interviewees, the interviewers, the Foundation and the Operator. The metadata of the archive as well as the corresponding software are protected by the copyright of the Operator.

4. Application for Use of the Archive

Use of the archive requires an application in electronic form. After successful evaluation of the application, the applicant receives the required login in data electronically (user ID and password). This data must be treated confidentially and is not to be disclosed to third parties. In case of misuse, the Operator is authorized to withdraw the permission of use and, if necessary, to initiate further legal action.

5. Permitted Use

Within the framework of the intended use of the archive, the archive can only be used for research for the purpose of education, teaching and research, especially by pupils, students, scholars, and research institutions and other research and public establishments. The use for personal research is also permitted on demonstrable legitimate interest. The interviews (where available, visual and audio), transcripts of the interviews, translations and biographies are available to users. The permitted use also includes the printing of texts and pictures in the archive. In accordance with and within the framework of § 51 of the German Copyright Act, citations are permitted in independent works.The source is to be cited with every citation. The citation must include:
The first name of the interviewee, the first letter of the last name of the interviewee, the interview archive identification (archive ID) and reference to the project “Forced Labor 1939-1945”.

The citation requirements for each interview can also be found in the information on the interview in the online archive.
The anonymization of the interviewee's surname must also be observed in the text, if the full name has not been obtained from other sources.

6. Editing the Archive Materials

Within the framework of these Terms of Use, the editing of archive materials is not permitted. Editing constitutes changes with regard to content (i.e. by cutting, rerecording, etc.) or copying the archive materials. The editing of archive materials requires express approval by the Foundation. Inquiries should be directed to the archive.

7. Personal Rights and Prohibition of Use

In using the archive, attention should always be paid to the personal rights of the witnesses interviewed, and their private personal information should not be distributed or their interests interfered with. Use of the archive materials for advertising purposes, election campaign purposes or the like is prohibited. The misuse of the archive materials for the defamation of the victims of National Socialism, the denial of Nazi crimes, incitement of the people, the propagation of racist or nationalistic prejudices or the like is prohibited.

8. Liability

The user guarantees that those archive materials used will only be employed within the scope of these Terms of Use. All provisions must be adhered to in avoiding cases of misuse of the archive materials by third parties. In the case of misuse, the user will inform the Operator immediately and will support him/her in the case of court or out-of-court enforcement of his rights, provide necessary information as well as any documents or the like.

9. Exclusion of Liability

Claims for damages against the Operator independent of the legal basis are excluded unless the Operator, his/her legal representative or vicarious agent have acted deliberately or with gross negligence. The aforementioned limitation of liability does not apply to damage compensation claims stemming from injury to life, limb or health of a human being or the assumption of a guarantee as to condition or of fraudulent concealment of defects that result from the Operator. The Foundation and the Operator are not liable for the statements made in the interviews.

10. Data Protection

Personal data are collected in the application process for the use of the archive (Section 4). This data is exclusively used for internal purposes and will not be disclosed to any third parties without the explicit consent of the user. With the use of the archive, the user authorizes the Operator to process, store, evaluate and use the data obtained in connection with the use of the archive in compliance with the data protection laws. The user has a right to obtain information as well as a right to correction, barring and deletion of his/her saved data. In accordance with the applicable data protection legislation and current jurisdiction, the Operator may temporarily save the IP address in a log file for technical purposes. Under data protection laws, the Operator is responsible.

11. Applicable Law and Final Provisions

German law applies. Place of fulfillment and exclusive place of jurisdiction is, as far as this is legally authorized, Berlin. The Operator reserves the right to change or amend these Terms of Use and these changes will become effective in the future.