In World War II, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy were allies. On September 8, 1943, Italy withdrew from the alliance. The Wehrmacht then took Italian soldiers and officers prisoner. About 650,000 were deported to the German Reich and the occupied territories.

The Nazi regime wanted to exploit the labour force of the Italians. Since a fascist puppet state dependent on Germany continued to exist in occupied Italy, the prisoners of war were declared military internees. Thus they were military members of a friendly state, but at the same time they could be used as forced labourers in the armament industry without regard to international law. Hunger, disease and violence characterized the prisoners' daily lives. In order to increase the labour yield, they were finally declared "civilian workers" in the summer of 1944. However, their living conditions improved only for a short time. About 50,000 died during the two years of captivity.

In Italy and Germany, recognition of the fate of the military internees came late. From the German side there was no compensation for most of the military internees.

The exhibition is the result of the recommendation of the German-Italian Historical Commission and was funded by the Federal Foreign Office.