80th anniversary of advanced Silesian Tragedy and Communist concentration camps in post-war Poland

Zdjęcie: 80. rocznica Tragedii Górnośląskiej i komunistyczne obozy koncentracyjne w powojennej Polsce

On the 80th anniversary of the defeat of German troops by the Red and People's Army, it is crucial to remind Poles and the planet of the destiny of the Silesians and the steadfast soldiers who died in communist concentration camps in post-war Poland, and thousands of workers, mainly men, were forced out of Silesia after 1945 into the russian Union for mines and labour camps. The victims of the advanced Silesian Tragedy were not only people deported inside the russian Union, but besides full families, due to the fact that most of the men sent in left their wives and children at home.

"The people of advanced Silesia have become Stalin's war prey – a surviving war reparation. The journey of the people of advanced Silesia and the death of more than half of the deportees triggered a process of profound changes affecting families and the full region."

– b. Archbishop Viktor Skworc

The concept of advanced Silesian Tragedy and the widely cultivated and expressed memory of it appeared in public space respective years ago. This period shall be specified. events related to the russian army's entry into advanced Silesia in January 1945: murders, robberies and rapes, theft of equipment of industrial plants, displacements and – what we want to draw attention to in this "Archival Flash" – export, abduction or even theft of people for forced labour, among others, in the mines of the russian Union. The internment and deportation of men aged 17 to 50 lasted from February to the turn of April and May 1945, and the people taken were lied that at most a twelve days would work in the back of the front. The victims of the operation led by the NKVD and the Military Counterintelligence of the Red Army “Death” were almost 50,000 men and consequently their families, deprived of (or forever) the care of the sole host. More than 25% of the deportees no longer returned, and those who survived returned from mid-1945 to the late 1949-1950s. The last labour camps were those who, despite mediocre surviving conditions, maintained comparatively good wellness and could work. The case of exports to forced labour in Soviets could not enter the public debate until 1989. Since then, the subject of the advanced Silesian Tragedy has been constantly present and devoted to many studies, publications and exhibitions. Families return to hard memories and share them. Others are searching for information about missing fathers or grandparents. quite a few news comes from the late 1940s, due to the fact that in those institutions of the household that were exported, they tried to find the missing individual dead. At the hearings, colleagues who were happy returned frequently testified, but thousands of miles from home were at the death of their friends. There have been cases where a individual who was officially declared dead came home and had to prove that he was alive or, worse still, reconciled with his wife’s fresh relationship. 2 stories from the OA IPN files in Katowice deserve attention. The first tells about destiny locksmith Paul Prauze of Siemianowice, which was taken straight from the Huta Laura mine on 9 April 1945. He left his wife and 4 children at home. The female was forced to take a occupation in a steelworks in Siemianowice, and in 1948 she applied for designation of her husband as dead to receive a pension after him. In April 1949, the Grodzki Court in Katowice issued a decision to declare a man dead. The following year, the widow was about to get married, and then a letter came from the supposedly dead Paul. The procedure started (completed in May 1952) with the repeal of the erstwhile order, and the erstwhile widow had already complained that her husband was making her feel bad about her planned marriage. A bit different is the communicative Ernest Krzyszczyk from Chorzów, who – like thousands of another advanced Silesians – was forced into the Wehrmacht. In early 1945 his wife received the last letter from him, and in July 1950 she received a paper from the Grodzki Court in Chorzów confirming her husband's death. However, it turned out that the mediocre man got into russian captivity and stayed there until 1956. After his release, he went to his mother's home in Berlin and tried, as he himself put it, to “bring me back to life”. The letter addressed to the Chorzów court was accompanied by a paper with the comment “I join the foundation of my existence”. The court made up for his request in May 1957. A copy of papers relating to the aforementioned cases can be found at: Tragedy-Gornosla_IPN (source of the Katowice branch of IPN)

A small crime. Communist concentration camps in post-war Poland

Editor's comment: The author uses the adjective “Polish” in his work, but he will usage more precise terms of communist camps in post-war Poland (PRL was formally created in 1952).

No 1 had to build the camp. They were a remnant of German infrastructure. specified camps as described below the Consent and Łambinowice were in Poland and Silesia over 200. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people were left behind to die. The camps were, to a tiny extent, a criminal function, alternatively part of post-war revenge on the German people.

It was said that the time had not come to compose a book on camps that arose in Poland after the war on the site of the German death infrastructure. They say time was never favorable. To the People's Poland – it is known. After 1989, we had something else on our mind. In 2016 – it cannot be revealed that Germany was the victims of reopened camps. Well, not only Germany, but besides Poles, and Slaves.

What's the name? Little crime? As author Marek Szczyszyn writes in his book A small crime. Polish concentration camps (NONE OF THE POLISH, BETTER PRLL-OWS, COMUNISTIC) – postwar camps were a smaller crime, which occurred immediately after the top Crime in human history. I think that not only politics and Polish states had and have influence on the fact that post-war camps are spoken of so little. They are in the shadow of unimaginable human harm and tragedy which Nazi Germany has prepared for another nations. 1 could say – alternatively of scratching the oily scab, let us focus better on clearing true criminals.

Where did communist concentration camps come from?

No 1 had to build the camp. They were a remnant of German infrastructure. specified camps as described below the Consent and Łambinowice were in Poland and Silesia over 200. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people were left behind to die. The camps were, to a tiny extent, a criminal function, alternatively part of post-war revenge on the German people. The complicated national situation in advanced Silesia has made the victims of camps located in Silesia were mainly autochthons, which were wrongly taken for Germans.Polish camps formed were subject to the Ministry of Public safety and the Central Management Board of Coal Industry

Who are the criminals who murdered after the war ended?

This. Czesław Gęborski, an officer of the Polish safety apparatus who led the camp in Łambinowice between May 1945 and October 1946. He was celebrated for:

He tortured the prisoners to death, allowed multiple rapes, murdered pregnant women, hit a pulp, shot a two-year-old girl laying flowers on her mother's grave, cut off her sick teacher's leg with a saw, allowed a defender to drive a truck over the head of a prisoner. Above all – he set fire to the barracks and under the pretext of suppressing rebellion personally He shot 48 people. The accused of crimes died during the 2006 trial at the age of 82.

This. Solomon MorelOfficer of the Polish safety apparatus. From February to November 1945, the commander of the camp in Świętochłowice Zgodda, at the site of the erstwhile Auschwitz-KL Eintrachthütte KL camp. He created what he said. sanatorium conditions for prisoners. Among another things:

He introduced a mandatory morning prayer When the wounded rise, forced his father to torture his son, knowingly allowed cannibalism due to the famine, did not respond to the decimating typhus epidemics, beat the inmates with batons, created pyramids from people placed on 1 another.

Morel defended his master's thesis in 1964 entitled "The Work of Prisoners and its Meaning". In 1996, he was accused of genocide. He died in 2007 in Israel, whose authorities refused extradition.

These are besides many others who have run out of space in this short article.

Who knows about communist camps in postwar Poland?

Poland as a country and Poles as a nation did not rework adequate events which took place in Silesia and in Poland after 1945. The run for correct naming of concentration camps located in Polish areas occupied by the Reich, CAN NOT exclude discussion and investigation on this, what they were and who led the camps after WWII. Silesian pain towards Poland and Poles is inactive present in our homes and hearts, even though it is not spoken out.

Marek Psoriszyna in the book A small crime. Polish concentration camps with the usage of the coverage touches the past of respective people who have more or little witnessed past events. It's a surviving story, not a dry fact, that's the most fascinating thing about this book. In post-German concentration camps throughout the country, not only the Silesians and Germany were tormented, but besides the alleged Cursed Soldiers, political opponents and all those who were then considered a threat.

Polish communist crimes were silenced for apparent reasons during the PRL. There is inactive no political will in free Poland to admit the cruelty committed to Poles, Silesians and Germans. It is at stake: morality – admission to crime and politics – the theoretical anticipation for Germans to search compensation, who, as the authoritative communicative says, were only perpetrators, not victims.

for: IPN, tuudi.net

photo of the movie "Tragedy Górnośląska 1945"