15. Forced Labor in the 20th Century
The 20th century saw new and brutal forms of slavery emerge under totalitarian regimes. Forced labor camps, such as Nazi Germany’s concentration camps and the Soviet Union’s Gulag system, enslaved millions for political repression and economic gain. These systems institutionalized mass exploitation, blurring the lines between punishment, genocide, and labor, and reminding us that slavery can adapt to modern ideologies.
