Wooden box of a Soviet prisoner of war

• Wood, raffia (inserts), aluminium (hinges),
  1943, width: 21 cm

The wooden box was given to the Peenemünde fisherman Hermann Beckerow in 1943 by a Soviet prisoner of war, who had often received food from the fisherman.

The Second World War led to a sharp rise in the demand for labour in the Peenemünde test sites. In order to meet this demand, foreign workers and forced labourers from Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy, Holland and France were obliged to work there. As of 1943, prisoner-of-war camps are set up for soldiers from France and the Soviet Union. Soviet POWs in Peenemünde work not only in production, but are also integrated into construction processes. As of the spring of 1943, there are also two concentration camps supplying slave labourers to the Peenemünde test site.

The box was donated by Ilse Piel (former marred name Beckerow).