Rundgang: Befreit in Leipzig 1945: Erfahrungen und Perspektiven von Zwangsarbeiter:innen

In the organizer's words:

with Oliver Neef

The tour through the west of Leipzig focuses on the perspectives of forced laborers on their liberation in spring 1945 and the immediate post-war period. Many displaced persons (DPs) returned to their countries of origin from Plagwitz station, while others began a search for relatives or for opportunities to start a new life in another country.

Meeting point: Parking lot in front of the Lofft, Spinnereistraße 7/ Halle 7
Streetcar 14, Bus 60 (Leipzig-Plagwitz S-Bahn station)
Duration: approx. 2 hours to Plagwitz station

Participation is free of charge and possible without registration.

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The tour is part of the #BefreitInLeipzig1945 project

In spring 2025, the motto is "Open your eyes!": from mid-March, you can see our poster interventions commemorating 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe in streetcars, at stops and in selected shop windows.

The US troops reached Leipzig on April 18, 1945. At this time, there were tens of thousands of foreign forced laborers in the city: civilian forced laborers, prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners who had been deported to Leipzig from all over Europe to work during the Second World War.

The project #BefreitInLeipzig1945 by the Leipzig Forced Labor Memorial (GfZL) focuses on their experiences and perspectives on the final days of the war, liberation and the immediate post-war period.

The poster campaign will be complemented by a virtual exhibition. It introduces the forced laborers and survivors who have their say on the posters and explores the questions: How did they experience the last days of the war, the liberation and the immediate post-war period in Leipzig? What hopes, fears and wishes did they have in the spring of 1945?