Many commenting on the exhibition entitled “Our Boys. The inhabitants of Gdansk Pomerania in the 3rd Reich army”, organized by the Museum of Gdańsk, did not even see it. All they needed was a subject and a task title.
As far as the subject is concerned, this case is widely known, but as if it's been shy for years. As historians calculate, over 400 1000 Poles from Gdansk Pomerania, Wielkopolska or advanced Silesia served in Hitler's army. After the German attack on Poland in September 1939, these areas were taken from Poland and incorporated into the Reich. Young men surviving in Pomerania or advanced Silesia were obliged to be recruited into the army and were forced to enter the Wehrmacht. Refusal was a death sentence.
The mass recruitment of Poles into the German army began in February 1942, erstwhile the 3rd Reich army faced the problem of filling up individual states.
There are many historical works on this subject describing the tragic destiny of Poles forced to fight in German uniforms. Many of them, as shortly as chance arose, were deserting the Allied army. Poles from Wehrmacht stationed in western Europe as early as 1943 fled to the local guerrillas, and in 1944 even massively to the Polish Armed Forces in the West, i.e. to the formation of General Anders and General Maczek. It is estimated that as many as 30 percent of Polish soldiers in the west were created by prisoners or deserters. They were a valuable asset due to the fact that they were highly trained soldiers.
Courtesy of respective families from Pomerania who have agreed to share souvenirs of grandparents or uncles incorporated into the German army, we get to know the destiny of these people. We see their photographs in German uniforms, photographs depicting life in barracks, military IDs, calling cards, weapons, and even first marching shoes.
The exhibition prompts reflection on the destiny of the individual who, stuck in the mills of history, did not have much to say. any critics attack not so much the exhibition as its title: “Our Boys”. due to the fact that ours are those from the Warsaw Uprising, not those in the 3rd Reich Army uniforms.
Only in the areas of Gdańsk Pomerania incorporated into the Reich there were more than 1.5 million Polish citizens. So those taken to the Wehrmacht by force are besides “ours”. We're expected to pretend they weren't Poles?
The symbol of these complicated fates is Tony Halik, 1 of the most celebrated Polish travelers. Inducted into the Wehrmacht in 1943, in France he deserted the opposition and then joined Polish armed formations and found himself among Anders' soldiers in Scotland. For the remainder of his life, he hid the fact that he was a Wehrmacht soldier.
Today we are mature adequate and "adults" that we can talk openly about these matters without counterfeiting. The exhibition must be viewed. In peace, in focus and without political hysteria.
