This book explores one of the most notorious aspects of the German system of oppression in wartime Poland: the only purpose-built camp for children under the age of 16 years in German-occupied Europe. The camp at Przemysłowa street, or the Polen-Jugendverwahrlager der Sicherheitspolizei in Litzmannstadt as the Germans called it, was a concentration camp for children. The camp at Przemysłowa existed for just over two years, from December 1942 until January 1945. During that time, an unknown number of children, mainly Polish nationals, were imprisoned there and subjected to extreme physical and emotional abuse. For almost all, the consequences of atrocities which they endured in the camp remained with them for the rest of their lives. This book focuses on the establishment of the camp, the experience of the child prisoners, and the post-war investigations and trials. It is based on contemporary German documents, post-war Polish trials and German investigations, as well as dozens of testimonies from camp survivors, guards, civilian camp staff and the camp leadership
Author(s): Katarzyna Person, Johannes-Dieter Steinert
Series: The Holocaust and its Contexts
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 252
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 The Sources: German Contemporary Documents and Personal Accounts
1.2 Research Questions/Methodological Remarks
1.3 Historiographic Context
Chapter 2: The Camp
2.1 The German Criminal Police
2.2 Planning the Camp
2.3 Building the Camp
2.4 Camp Leadership, Staff, and Guards
2.5 The Prisoners
2.6 The Number of Children in the Camp
Chapter 3: The Children
3.1 Arrival in the Camp
3.1.1 Admission
3.1.2 Clothing
3.2 Life in the Camp
3.2.1 Daily Routine
3.2.2 Homesickness and Support from Home
3.2.3 Accommodation
3.2.4 House 8
3.2.5 Food
3.3 Forced Labour in the Camp
3.3.1 Construction Work
3.3.2 Workshops
3.3.3 Maintenance and Service Work
3.3.4 External Work
3.3.5 Work in Dzierżązna
3.4 Hygiene and Diseases
3.5 Torment, Homicides, and Murder
3.5.1 Daily Violence
3.5.2 Deaths in the Camp
3.6 Leaving the Camp
3.6.1 Escapes and Attempted Escapes
3.6.2 Release and Deportation
3.7 Liberation
3.8 Post-War Suffering
Chapter 4: The Trials
4.1 Trials in Poland
4.1.1 First Trials
4.1.2 The Trial of Eugenia Pohl
4.1.3 Eugenia Pohl
4.1.4 The Trial
4.1.5 Prosecution and Defence
4.1.6 Witnesses: Former Prisoners
4.1.7 Other Witnesses
4.1.8 The Aftermath
4.2 Investigations in West Germany
4.3 Memory of the Camp
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Archives and Interviews
Archives
Interviews
Bibliography
Name Index
Place Index
