Forced laborers from the Soviet Union

Nelli was only 19 years old and used the name Nina Matwejenko in Germany. At the Zwodau/Svatava sub-camp in what is now the Czech Republic, she had to perform forced labor for a subsidiary of Siemens. At the end of February 1945, the SS transferred Nelli to the Beendorf sub-camp. She survived the clearing of the camp and the death march towards Hamburg.

She subsequently returned to the Soviet Union and married officer Alexandr Grigorjewitsch Pawlow. The couple enjoyed a happy marriage and had two daughters, Ljudmilla and Tatjana. Nelli Dmitrijewna Pawlowa died in 2012 at the age of 87. 

The prisoners were to build what was known as the “Friesenwall” in inhumane conditions–this consisted of fortifications that were intended to stretch along the North Sea coast from Denmark to the Netherlands. Mustafa Jagjajew survived Nazi persecution and later returned to the Soviet Union, where he had a family and died as an old man.

In the summer of 2019, the Arolsen Archives were able to find his daughter Elmira Mustafajewna Jagjajewa thanks to the support of the Russian Red Cross. Mustafa’s mementos–including the signet ring with the initial “A YA”–were thus returned to the Jagjajew family.

After the war, a friend said that he and Iwan had worked on a farm in East Prussia. As the front moved closer, Iwan wanted to flee to the Red Army. His escape was unsuccessful, and in the winter of 1944 the Nazis imprisoned him in the Neuengamme concentration camp. He died in the Wöbbelin reception camp on April 27, 1945, just a few days before the liberation.

A fortune teller had promised his mother that Iwan had started a new life in Germany after the war. Now the family knows what actually happened, and they have Iwan’s last personal possessions.

At the beginning of June 1944, she was transported to the Hamburg-Wandsbek sub-camp, where Drägerwerk AG assigned her to the production of gas masks. This sub-camp was under the administration of Neuengamme concentration camp and existed until the end of the war. The Arolsen Archives have Warwara’s jewelry and a photo in their holdings. Nothing is known about the rest of her life.

The Arolsen Archives have his personal belongings in their holdings. They consist of photos and postcards with affectionate messages from friends and family. An inscription suggests that Michail Beljajew was in Darmstadt in 1943 together with W. Filatow, Ljussja Bibik, and Schanna Kurilowa. It is unknown whether the young man survived the inhumane conditions and the forced labor in the camp.

We have only a rough idea of the young forced laborer’s fate. The Gestapo deported Maria to the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp on May 17, 1944. Her inmate number was 38639, and like the majority of foreign inmates, her category of imprisonment was "political".

In the summer of 1944, she was transported to Hamburg-Wandsbek, a sub-camp of Neuengamme concentration camp, where she had to perform forced labor in gas mask production together with Alexandra Demjanenko and Antonia Gladilira. This is the last we know of Maria Nanmova. The surviving photos and jewelry stored in the Arolsen Archives open a small window onto her life.

On the night of July 24/25, 1943, Wladimir survived the Allied bombing of the camp. In the winter of 1944/45, the Nazis imprisoned him in the Neuengamme concentration camp. He was registered with prisoner number 71 914. His further fate is unknown.

When he was admitted to the concentration camp, he had to hand over what was probably his most valuable possession, his pocket watch. On the inside is a photo collage of his family and friends. He engraved the following text on the watch: “Hamburg-Altona 1942 – 194_.” He presumably intended to fill in the blank with the year of his release from forced labor. Today, Wladimir Saplatynskij’s watch is in storage at the Arolsen Archives.

On May 10, 1944 — she was still a school pupil — the Gestapo deported her to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Classified as a political prisoner, she there received the inmate number 38118 and performed forced labor in a nearby factory. In early June 1944 she was transferred to the Neuengamme concentration camp and forced her to work in the sub-camp Hamburg-Wandsbek for the Nazi regime.

Among Gladilina’s possessions were a necklace with a Christian cross and a pair of earrings. All that is known about her further fate is that, after her liberation by the Allies, she lived on the Wulfsdorf estate in the community of Ahrensburg near Hamburg for about six weeks.

Of the six million civilian forced laborers in Germany, a third of them were women in 1944, mostly from Poland and the Soviet Union. The Nazis deported the young woman to Ravensbrück concentration camp on May 12, 1944.

Three months later, they transported Alexandra to the Hamburg-Wandsbek camp, a sub-camp of Neuengamme concentration camp. Female prisoners had to produce gas masks there for Drägerwerke as forced laborers. In the spring of 1945, the company performed human experiments on some of the women to see how long they could survive in an air raid shelter without ventilation. It is unclear whether Alexandra Demjanenko survived imprisonment in the camp. The Arolsen Archives have her jewelry in their holdings.

The SS deported her to the sub-camp of Neuengamme concentration camp in Beendorf on October 24, 1944. Many women died on these transports. Up to 2,500 women had to work for the German armaments industry there in underground production halls. The camp was cleared in April 1945.

Nothing is known of Olga Wolkowa’s fate. The Arolsen Archives have in their holdings a brooch, a locket with photos, and a chain with a pendant belonging to Olga, which were taken from her by the Nazis.

She was one of the many female forced laborers the Nazi regime exploited to keep the war economy going. The grounds for their arrest were usually minor offenses, including contact to Germans.

On May 5, 1944, the Gestapo deported the student to the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp. In July 1944 she was transported to the Salzgitter-Watenstedt camp – a sub-camp of Neuengamme concentration camp. There she had to work for the armaments industry. It is not known what happened to her after that. The photos with dedications show memories of happy times. Her friends called her Nelly.

During this time, he lived in Döteberg and was insured by Landeskrankenkasse Hannover until March 10, 1944.

The Nazis subsequently deported him to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he was assigned prisoner number 64904. It is unclear why he was imprisoned. When Georgij arrived at the camp, the pocket watch, the watchcase, and the chain he had with him at the time were taken from him. It is unknown whether Georgij Blagorodow survived.