Nazi Germany used forced labour of people on the occupied territories since the beginning of World War II . In 1940 it initiated a massive project of enslaving the populations of Eastern European countries to use as forced labour in German factories and agricultural facilities . The Soviet government proposed the use of German labor as reparations in 1943 , and the issue was raised at the Yalta Conference by the Soviets . The USSR began deporting ethnic Germans from the Balkans in late 1944 , most of the surviving internees had returned by 1950 . The NKVD took the lead role in it via its department , the Chief Directorate for Prisoners of War and Internee Affairs ( GUPVI )
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union