Educational trip on Nazi Forced Labor
In September 2025, we conducted our first educational trip on the topic of forced labor under National Socialism, with a special focus on how historical responsibility can be lived out in today's professional life.
A cooperation with the Museum of Forced Labor under National Socialism and the Gustav Stresemann Institute.
A total of 16 participants from various professional backgrounds took part in the educational trip, including representatives from DAX companies, associations, the social sector, and academia.
The educational trip included visits to key sites of remembrance and historical-political education in Weimar and Erfurt. The participants engaged intensively with the exhibition at the Museum of Forced Labor under National Socialism. They analyzed historical contexts and discussed individual approaches to Nazi history and questions of value orientation in professional conduct.
For the participants, engaging with history was a starting point for active social engagement, as one participant said:
“Engaging with history is not an end in itself, but we should take something from it and develop our own activities for democracy.”
To explore the role of companies in National Socialism in greater depth, the group visited the Topf & Söhne memorial site in Erfurt. The exhibition there and biographical case studies enabled a nuanced view of corporate responsibility in a historical context. A supplementary workshop on the history of I.G. Farben gave participants the opportunity to examine economic developments and their links to the Nazi regime using archive sources from the Bayer Archive.
The trip concluded with a visit to the Buchenwald Memorial. During a tour of the grounds, the history of the camp and the connections between companies and the urban population of Weimar were discussed. In addition, current challenges for memorial sites, especially with regard to political influence and attacks on remembrance culture work, were critically reflected upon. A key finding of the educational trip was the realization that historical responsibility has a lasting effect and must be actively shaped, as one participant said at the end:
“What will I take with me for the future? Never again is always. We must understand the context and apply it to the future, as well as strengthen the culture of remembrance.”
The educational program will take place again from November 9 to 13, 2026, and is specifically aimed at working professionals. Further information will be published here on the website and on our LinkedIn channel.
