At the outbreak of World War I approximately 3 million Germans who worked in the agriculture sector leave their work places as volunteers for military service or for compulsory military service. As a result of this, forced working migrants, primarily from Poland, become indispensable in order to maintain German agriculture in the course of the war.
Many foreign workers were prohibited from returning to their home countries, as had previously been ordered, in order to ensure the productivity of Prussian agriculture. As the demand for agricultural produce increased, more workers were recruited in the occupied eastern territories and, especially in the fall and winter of 1916/17, even forcibly deported. Polish Jews were particularly affected by this. Prisoners of war from Russia, Serbia, and Belgium were also deported to work as civilian laborers.
The living conditions of forced laborers were extremely poor, with Poles in particular subject to strict regulations. They were prohibited from changing their place of residence and were bound to their employers.
