The Ostarbeiter were the Eastern workers, primarily from Reichskommissariat Ukraine. They were marked with a badge reading "OST" (East, similar to Poles from Kresy) and were subject to even harsher conditions than the civilian workers. They were forced to live in special camps that were fenced with barbed wire and under guard, and were particularly exposed to the arbitrariness of the Gestapo and the commercial industrial plant guards.