The main motivation for a German prisoner of war (POW) to work was to stay alive. It was very simple, if the prisoner of war was working then he/she was going to live, if the prisoner of war was not working then he/she would have been killed. In order to survive, the German prisoners of war had to work, and they did so, as they wanted to live. What was driving them the most was the hope that the Germans would be defeated and that they will be released, so that they can return to their normal lives. Lot of prisoners did managed to stay alive for that they, and the Germans did got defeated, so they were released and started with their lives all over again.
