Captured Shadows
Freedom taken away,
Humanity failed,
Souls crushed,
They couldn’t escape.
No way out,
Just closed windows
And a future too far away.
Is hope still there?
Can you feel their pain?
Can you hear their names?
Shadows of the past,
Are you still there?
Irina Jovanović
The Irony of History: When a Playground Is the Best Memorial
This project explores the tension between memory and oblivion.
With this project, I want to show the irony of history through two contrasting images: the capitalist appropriation of space and the inevitability of present life.
The first set of pictures aims to highlight how, all over Berlin, the sites of forced labour are being occupied by private companies, the same ones that directly benefited from these forced labourers.
In contrast, the second set of pictures shows how life continues, even in the places marked by brutal histories, through the dichotomy between playgrounds and factories, pain and joy, death and life. To me, rather than diminishing the history, these scenes reveal how living fully in these spaces may be a more profound memorial than a plaque.
Clara Jordà i Pinatella
The Loop // A New Day Rises
This set of pictures reflects the frustrating routine a worker in a forced labour camp experiences on a daily basis. Day after day, this worker feels his youth slipping away, lost to monotony and hardship from life in the factory and barracks.
We see how the pictures capture the different phases of this person’s day. Through them, we step into his eyes, experiencing his desperation and hopelessness firsthand.
In the first picture, he wakes up and another grey day in Berlin begins, as he must quickly prepare for work. He goes through the forest in the next image. The following image uses tools as symbols of the harsh manual labour. By the fourth picture, we sense his exhaustion after hours of work, when he can only stop for a brief lunch break. As the day goes on, he continues with different tasks before his workday finally ends. In the fifth image, he stands by the riverside on his walk back to the barracks, clinging to the hope that one day this cycle will be broken and that a new beginning will rise. In the next image, he reaches a dark alley where he reflects on his fate.
Finally, he is back in the barracks, ready for a new day to rise. The loop continues and feels endless to him.
Leyre and Néstor Rodenas González
AEG Humboldthain: The Forgotten Forced Labour Site in Berlin
AEG was one of the biggest companies in Germany and, like many, was heavily involved in the Second World War.
The company site at Humboldthain, even though abandoned in 1983, still exists today and offers a glimpse into the past.
During World War ll the factory played a crucial role in military production and employed around 9500 people, of which one third were forced labourers from a variety of countries.
The working conditions for these workers were very poor. Long working hours, improper nutrition and strict surveillance were part of everyday life.
Today, only a small sign close to the former machine hall reminds visitors of the past.
Theodor Herold
Resilient Hearts
World War II took away dreams, freedom, and hope from millions of innocent people. Some of them were taken to concentration camps; but little is said about those who were sent to forced labour camps, and even less about the women, who were promised work and well-being only to later be turned into sex workers, historically called “comfort women.”
For our photo series, we visited places that made us reflect on the atrocities experienced during the Nazi era, across different locations. The feelings and thoughts that stayed with us were: sadness, frustration, humiliation, despair, loneliness, and fear. Separated from their families, hearing another language, and terrified of what might happen, they still found the mental and physical strength to face the adversities they lived through but managed to survive.
Some of them were lost along the way; others we call survivors, they learned to be resilient. From this comes “Resilient Heart” – our project.
The photo series shows Barracks 13 (window and hallway), the basement where prisoners of war were confined as they longed for it all to end (graffiti), the factory behind bars symbolizing the prison-like reality they endured, and the chair reflecting what the comfort women went through.
For us, the doors and stairs represent the desire for freedom, but also the passage of time, so that only some had the chance to share their experiences (telephone). Finally, a glimpse into the present shows the chimneys of the old factory alongside a remodeled building.
Maria Felicitas Lara Yescas / Johana Jimena Camacho Becerra
The Blink that Lasts Forever
This collection focuses on the small details of daily life under forced labour – details that stayed in memory because of the roles they played and the meanings they may have held for those who lived it.
“De reojo con mi ojo te veo, y tú me miras, me observas y me pides.”
“Out of the corner of my eye I see you, and you look at me, watch me, and ask me.”
Rovi, Irvin Armando Rodriguez Vaca
A Moment of Silence
Berlin is a large, diverse, and dynamic city today still bearing traces of the work of foreign forced labourers. As we walked through the city, exploring the streets and searching for these traces, we felt a profound sense of sorrow – silent yet loud, echoing through the city. It is as if what forced labourers endured has been muted by the noise and bustle of urban life. Through these pictures, we want to offer them a moment of remembrance, a moment of silence.
Irmak Beren Köker / Doğukan Kambur
Oblivion and Remembrance
This collection of photographs explores the state of places of forced labour and memory. Some have vanished entirely, some are forgotten, some are being rediscovered, and others are now being commemorated. This chapter of history lingers in both light and shadow.
Lorenzo Catena
The Empty Chair
Tijana Radomirović