Forced Labor of Germans in The Soviet Union - Study By Gerhard Reichling

Study By Gerhard Reichling

The West German researcher Dr. Gerhard Reichling published in 1986 a study of German forced labor based on his own calculations. The figures were rough estimates and are not based on an actual enumeration of the dead. Dr. Kurt Horstmann of the Federal Statistical Office of Germany wrote the forward to the study, endorsing the work of Reichling. Reichling was an employee of the Federal Statistical Office who was involved in the study of German expulsion statistics since 1953.

Forced labor of German civilians-estimate by Gerhard Reichling in 1986

This category of deportees in Reichling's report is also listed above in the Russian archive statistics.

A. Deported from Eastern Europe to USSR 1945-1950 as Reparations Labor

Total deported 600,000. (Germany 400,000; Danzig 10,000; Czechoslovakia 30,000; Baltic States 10,000; Hungary 30,000; Romania 80,000; Yugoslavia 40,000).

Total Dead 224,000 (Germany 160,000; Danzig 5,000; Czechoslovakia 4,000; Baltic States 5,000; Hungary 10,000; Romania 30,000; Yugoslavia 10,000).

These categories of deportees in Reichling's report are not listed above in the Russian archive statistics.

B. "Forced Repatriation" and "Resettlers" – Soviet ethnic Germans returned to the USSR after World War Two.

C. Soviet Germans Deported in USSR 1941-1942 – These figures are Reichling’s estimates and are not included in the above mentioned German Red Cross study of 1965 or the Federal Archives figures listed above.

D. German forced laborers in post-war Poland 1945-1950 – These figures are Reichling’s estimates and are not included in the above mentioned German Red Cross study of 1965.