1942

With the outset of the war in 1939, the entire German economy suffered from a severe labour shortage. Since all able-bodied men had been drafted into the military, KESSLER also had to cope with this problem. From 1942 onwards, civilian workers from occupied European nations were in large numbers hired to make up for this deficiency. Initially workers from the occupied eastern territories came voluntarily to Germany, but as the war progressed, these immigrants were subjected to forced labour. Without the 22 forced labourers, KESSLER would not have been able to maintain production during the last war years. The photo taken in June 1945 shows some of the former forced labourers.