Pracovný zbor národnej obrany 1940-1945

The Labour Corps of National Defense was a special military organized part of the Slovak military forces in 1940-1945 created for organizing the labor units within the army forces. The Labour Corps consisted of Jewish and Roma soldiers (conscripts) who were not allowed to conduct military service due to the policy of the regime towards Jews and Roma population as well as of so-called „Aryans“ who were not allowed to conduct normal military service due to the disciplinary and health reasons. The Labor Corps were created after the adoption of the Defense Act in January 1940. Its first official title was The Labor Corps of the Ministry of National Defence. Based on this law, Jews and Roma were expelled from the regular military service, deprived of military ranks and included into the units of Labor Corps. In April 1940 there were around 6,300 persons serving in the Labor Corps. Until January 1941 only small labor units existed within the Labor Corps. These were attached to the regular military units, but in terms of command and administration, they were separated. Jews and Roma serving in the Labour Corps could not be promoted and were distinguished from the other members of the Corps by different uniforms. Jews had to wear the sign of crossed strips of blue color on their uniforms, while Romani were wearing the same sign but of red color. The Labour Corps of the Ministry of National Defence underwent additional organizational changes in January 1941. It consisted of 2 labor groups, 6 labor battalions, and 24 labor companies. One of the battalions was the infamous VI Labour Battalion with 2 Jewish and 2 Roma companies. Further changes took place in 1942 and 1943 when the official title was changed to The Labour Corps of National Defence. In May 1943 Ministry of National Defence ordered the Labour Corps to transfer all Jews serving in the Corps to the Labour Camps for Jews and Labour Centers for Jews (under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior) and only 49 Jews considered to be irreplaceable experts remained to work for the Labor Corps. Last Jews were expelled from the Labour Corps at the end of October 1943.

The fonds was transferred to the Military History Archive from the Military History Archive in Prague in 1993 in 175 boxes. Due to the great interest of researchers, it was reorganized in 2000. This processing was finished in December 2001.