T h e When a person having a certain degree of knowledge on historic events in Europe E x t listens to the contemporary academic, publicist, or political discourse, they are faced e r m with a great lie on the topic of World War II, which consists, among others, in narra- i n a tives using the phrase “Polish death camps” and accuse Poles of participation in the t i o Holocaust of Jews. This assumption, held by modern Western people, contradicts n a historic facts and yet appears to be so common that even the President of the United n d S States, Barack Obama, spoke of “Polish death camps”. The Western world of the pres- u ff ent day does not seem to notice that these camps were built by the Germans within e r i Polish territory under occupation; that it was the Germans who exterminated, first n g and foremost, Polish citizens. ofCrim P oe The present book aims to provide a comprehensive outline of the issues of extermina- l w i tion, Germanization, and the suffering of Polish children under the German occupation. sh Citho The authors realize that German crimes against Polish children were accompanied by hilut d P crimes against Poles committed by Soviets and Ukrainians (the massacre of Poles in reu Crime without Punishment… nn Volhynia and Eastern Galicia lasted from 1943 until 1947). dish um r With this monograph, we wish to pay tribute to Polish child victims of World War II. ine The Extermination and Suffering gn The whole world knows about the child victims of the Jewish Holocaust and justly tt… h e of Polish Children commemorates them. Yet, the world has remained silent on the holocaust of Polish G e children, silent on the subject of their extermination and martyrdom. Will the world r m during the German Occupation 1939–1945 still refuse to know? a n O from The Introduction c c u p a t i o n 1 Edited by Janina Kostkiewicz 9 3 9 – 1 9 4 5 Jagiellonian University Press Crime without Punishment… The Extermination and Suffering of Polish Children during the German Occupation 1939–1945 Crime without Punishment… The Extermination and Suffering of Polish Children during the German Occupation 1939–1945 Edited by Janina Kostkiewicz Jagiellonian University Press Reviewer Prof. dr hab. Zenon Jasiński Cover designer Sebastian Wojnowski Proofreading Matthew Dundon Atominium Specialist Translation Agency With the fi nancial support of the Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Philosophy at the Jagiel- lonian University in Kraków © Copyright by Janina Kostkiewicz & Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego First edition, Kraków 2020 All rights reserved No part of this book may by reprinted, or reproduced, or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means now known, including photocopying and re-cor- ding, or in any information storage, or retreival system without prior permission in writing from the Publishers. ISBN 978-83-233-4806-1 ISBN 978-83-233-7093-2 (e-book) Jagiellonian University Press Editorial Offi ces: ul. Michałowskiego 9/2, 31-126 Krakow Phone: +48 12 663 23 80, Fax: +48 12 663 23 83 Distribution: Phone: +48 12 631 01 97, Fax: +48 12 631 01 98 Cell Phone: +48 506 006 674, e-mail: [email protected] Bank: PEKAO SA, IBAN PL80 1240 4722 1111 0000 4856 3325 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction (Janina Kostkiewicz) ......................................................................................... 7 Janina Kostkiewicz, Th e German Policy of Extermination and Germanization of Polish Children during World War II ........................................................................ 13 Andrzej Kołakowski, A Crime without Punishment: Th e Extermination of Polish Children during the Period of German Occupation from 1939 to 1945 ................ 31 Helena Kubica, Polish Children and Youth in Auschwitz .................................................. 45 Beata Gola, Dorota Pauluk, Suff ering of Children in Auschwitz – Biological and Mental Extermination ................................................................................................ 71 Beata Kozaczyńska, When Th ere Were No More Tears Left to Cry: Th e Tragic Fate of the Polish Children Displaced from the Zamość Region in 1942–1943 ............ 99 Magdalena Gajderowicz, Ryszard Skrzyniarz, Children of the Zamość Region in the Majdanek Camp (in Selected Archive Files and Personal Accounts) ........... 115 Krzysztof Ledniowski, Beata Gola, Th e German Camp for Juvenile Poles in Łódź at Przemysłowa Street ....................................................................................................... 131 Dawid Wieczorek, Th e Role of Gaukinderheim Kalisch in Germanization during World War II ....................................................................................................................... 151 Danuta Drywa, Th e Germanization of Polish Children and Youth in Gdańsk Pomerania and the Role of the Stutthof Concentration Camp ................................. 163 Aldona Molesztak, Children’s Experiences in the German Displacement and Forced Labor Camp in Potulice and Smukała – Memories of Female Prisoners ............... 179 6 Table of Contents Elwira Kryńska, Th e Fate of the Children of Białystok under Soviet and German Totalitarianism during World War II ............................................................................. 197 Adam Massalski, Extermination of Juvenile Scouts in the Lands of Poland during the German Occupation of 1939–1945 .......................................................................... 225 Andrzej Ryk, Th e Fate of Polish Children in Allied-occupied Germany in the Years 1945–1950 ........................................................................................................................... 247 Małgorzata Michel, Th e Returns of Polish Children from German Lands and Scouting Activity at the Transitional Center in Munich. Th e Polish West State Banner Established by Władysław Śmiałek and Its Role in Simplifying the Fate of Polish War Orphans ...................................................................................................... 257 INTRODUCTION “Crime without punishment”1… a laconic description of German crimes against Polish children presented in the second chapter of the present monograph by Andrzej Kołakowski. Crime without punishment would not be possible if it was not for Th e Forgotten Holocaust2 of the Polish Nation during World War II. When a person having a certain degree of knowledge on historic events in Europe listens to the contemporary academic, publicist, or political dis- course, they are faced with a great lie on the topic of World War II, which consists, among others, in narratives using the phrase “Polish death camps” and accuse Poles of participation in the Holocaust of Jews. Th is assumption, held by modern Western people, contradicts historic facts and yet appears to be so common that even the President of the United States, Barack Obama, spoke of “Polish death camps”. Th e Western world of the present day does not seem to notice that these camps were built by the Germans within Polish territory under occupation; that it was the Germans who exterminated, first and foremost, Polish citizens of various ethnic origins: Polish, Jewish, Roma, and others; it is also hardly ever mentioned that the fi rst prisoners of Auschwitz were Poles. German historical policy, implemented during the period of enforced communism in Poland, resulted in the fact that the Germans have “shared” their responsibility for waging World War II… with the nation they harmed the most, the Poles. At present, German publicists, academicians, and politicians hardly ever protest against lies assigning guilt to the Polish 1 Th e title of our book refers to the well-known Fiodor Dostojewski’s novel Crime and Punishment (see e.g. F. Dostojewski, Crime and Punishment, transl. Philip McDonagh. Dublin: Arlen House 2017). 2 Th is is a reference to Richard C. Lukas’ book titled Th e Forgotten Holocaust: Th e Poles under German Occupation 1939–1944 (1986). 8 Introduction nation3, which had been attacked militarily, exterminated, ruined, and robbed and which had been the fi rst to fi ght against the German conquest, for the holocaust of the Jews in the fi rst place. Particularly painful was the German crime against children, Pol- ish citizens, committed during the occupation years of 1939–1945. Th is is a tragic period in the history of childhood in the Europe of the modern era. Th e present book focuses on children of Polish ethnicity, since exter- mination of children of Polish citizens of Jewish origin has been discussed in great detail by numerous sources released all over the world within the scope of research on the Holocaust of the Jewish nation.4 However, publica- tions and research on the extermination, Germanization, and the suff ering of children of Polish ethnicity are scarce. Researchers devoted to the subject of the extermination of Polish children write that the losses during World War II “totalled no less than 2,225,000 children” (Hrabar, Tokarz, Wilczur, 1979, p. 190). Th is number in- cludes Polish child citizens of Jewish, Polish, Roma, and other nationalities. In order to be able to speak of extermination and suff ering of Polish children, we must remember that this took place within the scope of the forgotten holocaust of the Polish nation. Before we can discuss this, the background situation of Poles during World War II should be recalled. Let’s begin with the Munich conference (1938), after which the world soon realised that the Germans wanted war. Th is was confi rmed by the Mol- otov-Ribbentrop Pact (August 1939), whose confi dential part described a joint aggression on Poland and division of its territory between Germany and the Soviet Union. Th en, there came the German aggression on Poland 3 A German newspaper, “Frankfurter Rundschau”, has been ordered by Warsaw dis- trict court to issue an apology to Maciej Świrski for publishing an article in which the Poles were accused of collaboration with the Germans and participation in the Holocaust (https://kresy.pl/wydarzenia/polska/sad-nakazal-niemieckiej-gazecie-pub- likacje-przeprosin-za-posadzenie-polakow-o-udzial-w-holokauscie/?utm_source=no- tifi cation&utm_medium=browser) (access: 25.06.2019). 4 Th e list of sources on the suff ering of Jewish children is long: see for example: I. Olejnik (2018), Bibliografi a getta łódzkiego 1945–2017, Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy “Nomos”. Retrieved from: https://docplayer.pl/113528234-2-bibliografi a-getta-lodzkiego.html (ac- cess: 20.06.2019); A. Buchowska (2006), „Te dzieci są moje!” Losy białostockiego transportu dziecięcego z 5 października 1943 roku w relacjach świadków. „Studia Podlaskie”, vol. XVI, pp. 179–208; Zagłada Żydów, https://pamiec.pl/pa/edukacja/wystawy/ii-wojna-swia- towa/zaglada-zydow/39136,Siostry-matkami-zydowskich-dzieci-Siostry-Franciszkan- ki-Rodziny-Maryi-wobec-Zagl.html (access: 20.06.2019); R.C. Lucas (2018), Dziecięcy płacz. Holokaust dzieci żydowskich i polskich w latach 1939–1945, Warszawa, Replika. Introduction 9 on September 1st 1939 and the USSR’s aggression on Poland on September 17th 1939. Th e armed resistance of Polish armies lasted until October 3rd 1939; the Polish government fl ed to London; and in the spring of 1940, Sta- lin shot approximately 22,000 Polish offi cers – POWs (in Katyn, Kozielsk, Starobilsk, Ostashkhov, Mednoye, Bykivnia). Th e Polish lands remained under occupation, a solely German occupation from June 22nd 1941 until the end of the war (after the German aggression on the USSR). Under the German occupation, Poles organised the Polish Underground State which had no matching equivalent in the world. Th e State featured a secret judiciary, secret educational system, postal service, organisations providing aid, and, fi rst and foremost, the largest underground (secret) army in the world, known as the Home Army (established on February 14th 1942, disbanded on January 19th 1945), consisting of roughly 380,000 sworn members, the National Armed Forces (1942–1947), and state authorities in exile (President, government, military authorities). Each activity of these bodies which was discovered was punished by the Germans by means of mass public executions of civilians. Th e Poles fought against the German and Soviet occupiers unaided. Treaties signed before September 1st 1939 on mutual military aid were breached both by England and France. After this breach of faith, these coun- tries were bold and immoral enough to accept military aid from the Poles: the military intelligence of the Home Army (including decoding the Enigma encryption device), diversionary and sabotage actions against the Germans, participation of Polish soldiers and Polish military units in a number of battles of World War II, for example the contribution of Polish pilots to the Battle of Britain (despite which repayment for fuel and equipment was demanded from the ruined Poland), participation in the battle for France, the Normandy landings, and the battle of Berlin. It was the Polish army to whom the victorious outcome of the Monte Cassino, Tobruk, and a number of other battles should be assigned. An army formed in the USSR by Polish exiles in Siberia marched alongside Soviet armies from Lenino to Berlin; General Anders’ army marched along a trail of combat through Asia, Africa, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Th e Poles constituted Europe’s fourth largest allied army. During the Yalta conference (February 1945), Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin handed Poland over to be governed by a communist international represented by Stalin. Th e allies did not permit the Polish army to participate in the victory parade in Berlin. Th e levy paid in Polish blood that contrib- uted to the victory over Nazism was disregarded (until the present day, the