Contract labour was organised by the state.
East Germany concluded agreements for employing foreign workers. The Federal Foundation’s account lists Poland in 1963, Mozambique in 1979 and Vietnam in 1980, among others. These dates refer to agreements; they do not describe the whole personal history of everyone from those countries.
Employment was accompanied by state rules concerning residence, work and accommodation. The term contract workers helps distinguish this organised form of labour migration from other reasons for being in East Germany.
The other three answers
This question tests each complete group of countries.
France, Romania, Somalia.
France, Romania and Somalia is not the group sought by the question bank. This does not imply that no individual from any of these countries ever worked in East Germany.
Chile, Hungary, Zimbabwe.
Chile, Hungary and Zimbabwe is incorrect as a complete answer. Crucially, Hungary does belong to the documented history of labour agreements. One relevant country does not make the whole group of three correct.
North Korea, Mexico, Egypt.
North Korea, Mexico and Egypt is not the correct group. A blanket dismissal would again be wrong: the historical overview does list an agreement with North Korea. What matters is the complete exam option.
The exam wording is not a complete statistical account.
The question’s “mainly” should not be read as an exact ranking of the three largest groups for every year. The composition changed over East Germany’s history. The correct selection names three relevant countries together.
People were more than a workforce. Their experiences included restricted rights, separate accommodation and discrimination. A list of countries does not fully explain those lives and permits no assumptions about people today.
GDR contract labour · Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung ↗East Germany question: Vietnam · Poland · Mozambique.
Remember the correct combined selection; additional countries of origin remain part of the history.
Three words for this question
- die Vertragsarbeitcontract labour
- Here, employment of foreign workers arranged by the East German state.
- das Abkommenagreement
- An arrangement, here between states.
- die Unterbringungaccommodation
- The organised provision of a place to live.