Throughout much of World War Two, the Nazi regime strictly enforced the brutal practice of forced labor. With more than twelve million laborers from more than twenty different countries, the Nazi regime was using forced labor to make up large portions of its wartime workforce. When the war came to a close, these freed laborers were labeled as “displaced persons” and many were left without a home or country to return. In order to help the millions of Europeans with nowhere to call home, the International Refugee Organization was established.
As a result of the International Refugee Organization’s efforts, many of these displaced persons would end up in refugee camps across Europe. Many of these refugee camps were intended to be temporary, but the maintenance and continuation of these camps was left to be indeterminate. Yet, the IRO was bold enough to declare that “[European resettlement] was perhaps the greatest humanitarian achievement since the emancipation of the slaves” [1]. The comparison between a displaced person and a slave can be rather apt given the situations – especially given how countries after World War Two sought to essentially barter for the best possible workers.
I can see a parallel between displaced persons of Europe and slave labor, although the correlation isn’t as direct as the IRO put it (in my opinion). I think it’s a strange phenomenon that one can encounter throughout studying history to compare different conditions to that of slavery, even when the conditions are vastly different. Great clarifications from the reading!
I agree with you and Ashleigh in that there may be similarities between the treatment of slaves and displaced persons, but there is definitely a greater difference. I feel like a better comparison would be to indentured servants. Displaced persons may have had to work in deplorable conditions, but they were not held hostage in those conditions forever.
I agree with Courtney in that there is definitely a correlation between slave labor and the kind of work refugees were doing in the post war period but i do believe that a better analogy would be one to indentured servants.
Its interesting to see this analogy made in print. In our modern times, making a comparison to slavery would have to be more strategic and well-thought out than the way it was compared in the reading. I see many faults with the analogy, but can understand the line of reasoning.