Kriegswirtschaft und Zwangsarbeit in Stuttgart 1939-1945

Book launch and discussion with author Dr. Kevin Schmidt and Prof. Dr. Frank Engehausen, moderated by Dr. Günter Riederer (Stadtarchiv Stuttgart) Greeting: Marc Gegenfurtner, Head of the Cultural Office of the City of Stuttgart

Between 1939 and 1945, forced labor and exploitation shaped everyday life in Stuttgart's wartime economy. Tens of thousands of men and women from Nazi-occupied Europe had to work under often inhumane conditions for the factories, authorities and citizens of the Swabian industrial city and present-day state capital.

Kevin Schmidt's dissertation is the first to comprehensively examine the living and working conditions of forced laborers in Stuttgart. The study is now available as a book and will be presented to the public on this evening. Excerpts from the Stuttgart war film chronicle dealing with forced labor will be shown on this evening.

Kevin Schmidt studied history and philosophy at the Ruprechts-Karl University in Heidelberg and is currently a student trainee at the Heidelberg Seminar for Teacher Training and Further Education - Secondary School Department.

Frank Engehausen represents the research area "Southwest German regional history of the 20th century" at the University of Heidelberg. As coordinator of the research project "History of the State Ministries in Baden and Württemberg during the Nazi Era" initiated by the state government and carried out by a research association, he has dealt intensively with the role of public administration during the Nazi era. He has recently been working on the project "Remembrance of Nazi injustice in Heidelberg", which brings together initiatives, the city and academia. As a member of the Heidelberg Commission for Street Naming, he is also familiar with issues relating to the politics and culture of remembrance.