During the second world war, Mauser, as well as all major industries worked with forced labor workers. Mauser mainly employed workers from France, Belgium and Holland, with additional forced labor from Russian and Polish women.
The Russian and Polish workers were housed behind barbed wire in dedicated, guarded camps.
The French, Belgian and Dutch workers were housed in barracks with little or no supervision. They were allowed to move freely in the surroundings and even to keep and work patches of land for growing crops. They were also allowed to purchase supplies directly from local farmers.
The local farmers were given pistols by Mauser so they could protect themselves against unwanted attention by free roaming workers, or escapees.
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