You might come to Ehrenfeld because of the street art or to enjoy its diverse nightlife. But are you aware that the Lidl shop where you do your weekly grocery shopping was a forced labor camp? Or the retirement house that your grandparent lives in used to be the hospital where the injured people during an air raid in 1944 treated? Are you aware that the company runs the train you ride every day involved in the forced labor?
The cruelty of war during 1939-1945 ravaged the world, especially in Germany. During that time, the population of Cologne shrank drastically. Millions of forced workers import from the neighboring countries have fostered adequate war supplies. Ehrenfeld Municipality is one of the regions where factories and forced labour camps were situated. Traces of this tragedy are shared and remembered widely throughout the world. However, here in Ehrenfeld, it is buried by the colorful hip culture.
This project maps and documents traces of forced labor in Ehrenfeld to reflect how the very Ehrenfeld we
