OST. The vanished traces of the forced labourers from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus in Luxembourg 1942-1944

The exhibition shows the vanished traces of 4,000 forced laborers brought to Luxembourg during World War II from Nazi-occupied territories of the Soviet Union. Half of them were from Ukraine, a third from Russia, and a fifth from Belarus. A large proportion were young women, teenagers, and children. Their daily lives in barracks and working conditions in steel mills, mines, agriculture, and private homes were reconstructed as part of a research project by the University of Luxembourg and published in a book by Inna Ganschow “Nobody cried, there were no tears left” (in German), Luxembourg 2025.  

Through maps of the numerous camps in Luxembourg, objects preserved from them, and the personal stories of individual forced laborers, visitors gain insight into the fate of Ukrainians, Russians, and Belarusians under German occupation and how these experiences shaped their later lives, both after the liberation of Luxembourg and upon their return home. 

The official opening of the exhibition is on Thursday, 23 October 2025 at 19.00.