Hiwi (volunteer)

Hilfswilliger (often shortened to Hiwi, translates as 'volunteer') was the name for people that Germany recruited in occupied territories during the Second World War. These people then helped German troops or they fought alongside German troops. Note that many of these people were not really volunteers, but they helped because it improved their situation.

After the war, the term was also used in different contexts, which are unrelated to the description above.In most cases, these were used for different kinds of research assistants at universities.