Forced labour

The survivors of this selection who were classified as fit for work had to perform forced labour under the harshest conditions to enable the German occupation in the area around Minsk to be supplied with essential goods such as food, tools and clothing.[1] Working days lasting more than 12 hours were the norm – as were harsh punishments for those who did not achieve their workload.

"The highest camp density was about 600 Jews and 300 Russian prisoners. We had to work 12-15 hours a day under the worst conditions imaginable. Soon barracks had to be erected, a ghetto built, a pumping station set up, electricity introduced. The fields had to be cultivated and cellars dug. In the tailor's shop, laundry, carpenter's shop, shoemaker's shop, tannery, glazier's shop, there was work upon work and everything had to be done in a jiffy. Every job was scheduled and mercy to him who failed to meet his prescribed deadline." [2]

Forced labor in the warehouse

One occupation was the work in the so-called warehouse, where probably Wolf Seiler had to work himself. The belongings that had been taken from the inmates of the camp and the residents of the surrounding ghettos were sorted there – such as after the clearing of the Slutsk ghetto in February 1943, which claimed a total of 1,600 lives:

“After the clearing of the Slutsk and Baranovichi ghettos, in which our camp command took part, a total of 10 skilled workers were brought to our camp. The 'captured' miserable belongings, which still had blood splattered on them, were brought to us in the camp." [3]

Malyj Trostenez S.82 (4).png

These two images show panoramic pictures of the former forced labour camp Maly Trascjanec, which were taken as part of investigations dating back to 1962:

  1. Water mill
  2. Dam
  3. Pond
  4. Highway Minsk (left) - Mogilev (right)
  5. Turnoff to the village of Maly Trascjanec
  6. Location of the camp commander's house
  7. Location of the grain silo
  8. Location of the rooms where the prisoners were kept (the command posts were also there)
  9. Site of barns used as agricultural buildings
  10. Location of the barn that housed the belongings, which were taken from the arrested (probably the so-called warehouse where Seiler worked)
    11. Location of the greenhouses
  11. Location of the former guards' rooms
  12. Location of the barn with agricultural equipment
  13. Location of a construction site for additional living quarters
  14. Location of the former commando's bunker
  15. Location of the barn where prisoners were kept in 1943
    17. Location of the "German" cemetery
  16. Direction to the shooting site
Malyj Trostenez, S.86 (5).png

View of the Maly Trascjanec agricultural estate, taken by the “Volksdeutsche” company, who were deployed to guard the camp. The prisoners of the forced labour camp Maly Trascjanec were used for the agricultural work on the farm.

Source:

[1] Cf.: Kat. Wanderausstellung „Malyj Trostenez. Geschichte und Erinnerung“ 2016-2019, p. 87

[2] Seiler report, p. 4.

[3] Ibid., p. 6.