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German History in Documents and Images
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Russian Forced Laborers Suffering from Smoke Inhalation after their Liberation from Osnabrück (April 1945)
About a third of the foreign laborers were women. Some of them were assigned to German mothers as household help; otherwise, they were used in all sectors of the economy. The photo shows Russian workers after their liberation in Osnabrück. The women suffered smoke inhalation after a German policeman locked them in a cellar and set it on fire. Civilians and British soldiers are seen providing first aid.