"Genocide Carried out by the Tito Partisans"
Österreichische Historiker-Arbeitsgemeinschaft Für Kärnten und Steiermark (Austrian Historian Working Group for Kärnten and Steiermark) Chapter one

Internment: 1. The Forced Labor Camps

Translated by Henry Fischer

     As soon as the Russians occupied an area and the Partisans “set up shop”, various forms of the slave labor were demanded of the Danube Swabian population.  They were always given the hardest and most difficult tasks, but their food and accommodation were at the bare minimum.  They worked from 4:00 am to dark and received a piece of bread and watery soup at each meal.  In many instances work parties would be replaced and they themselves were then released to go home.  This was the general rule for work parties under the command of the Russian military at the airport in Sombor.  This never happened to those who were under the jurisdiction of the Partisans.  There was no release, except death or flight.  Those released by the Russians were invariably picked up by the Partisans and put back into labor battalions. 

     The Danube Swabian slave labor battalions were made available to the railways, sanitation departments and such.  To be more available for work, local labor camps were set up in old factories, schools, former homes of Danube Swabians that were converted into guarded compounds.  Prisoners were shifted from camp to camp and were marched on foot over long distances during the night to be available for work the next day at the new site.  The Partisans command was in charge and in control of this action and placement. 

     The slave laborers included both men and women and their life in the camps was miserable.  Torture and beatings were “normal”.  Many died because of this constant abuse and mistreatment.  They could not keep up with the marching column going to work and would be beaten and driven to the work place.  Many such laborers did not last for more than a week at the labor camp. 

     Families of those who were in the labor camps had no contact or any information about their family members.  Often mothers had to leave their children in the care of the oldest child or turned them over to a relative or friend or simply left them to fend for themselves without knowing if they would ever meet again.  Often those who took in other children would be interned in a camp and had to provide for them.  It was against the law for “Germans” to send our receive mail and mothers had no way of letting their children know where they were.  Nor did the mothers know of the situation or whereabouts of their children. 

     As early as the fall of 1944, each district where the Danube Swabians lived had a large central Forced Labor Camp.  When the Military Government was abolished on March 3, 1945 these camps came under the command and direction of various state “enterprises”.  The worste feature of these forced labor camps was the practice of gathering groups of them for mass shootings or individual executions.  Many of those who were sick and too weak to work were the victims of these shootings.  But one could work hard and dutifully all day, only to be return to camp and face a gruesome death to entertain the guards.  It was during the time when the Partisans were in control that the mass shootings took place, later everyone lived in fear of individual execution. 

     The situation was better for those slave laborers who worked and were lodged at their work place away from the District Camp.  These facilities were not well guarded.  There were no barbed wire compounds and it was easier to leave at night and scrounge for food.  Often the officials of such camps had too much heart to let the inmates starve and increased their rations.  If a person were unable to be assigned to such a camp, he/she would weaken to such a degree that they would be sent to a concentration camp.  The situation of the forced laborers simply got worse as they were moved from one work place to another.  Everything they had was taken away from them.  Their garments became rags. 

     The Labor Camps were guarded by the military and all work groups were accompanied by a sentry on the way to their work place.  The guard’s task at the camp was to keep the inmates inside and prevent all outside contact. 

     With the introduction of a civilian government on March 3, 1945 the forced laborers could be purchased for work at the rate of 50 to 110 Dinars per day and the purchaser would have to provide accommodations and food.  The slave labor “market” proved to be the salvation of many as former neighbors, friends, acquaintances of the other nationalities purchased them and assisted them back to health and well being and made contacts and traced the whereabouts and fates of their family members.

Next: 2. Concentration Camps

[Published at www.dvhh.org, Sept. 2006]