ZDZISŁAW GROT, WINCENTY OSTROWSKI DOCUMENTA OCCUPATIONIS VOL. III TEUTONICAE THE MEMORIES OF YOUTHS FROM WIELKOPOLSKA OF THE GERMAN OCCUPATION 1939 – 1945 THE MEMORIES OF YOUTHS FROM WIELKOPOLSKA OF THE GERMAN OCCUPATION 1939 – 1945 DOCUMENTA OCCUPATIONIS TEUTONICAE III THE MEMORIES OF YOUTHS FROM WIELKOPOLSKA OF THE GERMAN OCCUPATION 1939 – 1945 BY: ZDZISŁAW GROT AND WINCENTY OSTROWSKI WESTERN INSTITUTE PUBLISHER POZNAŃ 1946 Reprint of the 1946 edition Original title: Wspomnienia młodzieży wielkopolskiej z lat okupacji niemieckiej: 1939 – 1945 Editorial team: Bogumił Rudawski (editor) Monika Jania-Szczechowiak (proofreading) Maciej Grochowski (graphic design) Translation from Polish into English: Graham Crawford Thomas Anessi Krzysztof Kotkowski © Copyright by Instytut Zachodni PL ISSN 0860-4142 ISBN 978-83-61736-84-4 Poznań 2019 The publication was prepared thanks to co-financing by the National Programme for the Development of Humanities within the project “Documenta Occupationis Instytutu Zachodniego, t. I-VIII” (31H 13 0173 82). Due to their tragic experience and impact, the years 1939-1945 became a clear watershed in the history of many nations. Therefore, despite the elapse of more than seven decades, memory about the war, the cold-blooded mass genocide, extermination and discrimina- tory treatment of millions of people is still very much alive. Equally vivid are the memories of the heroism of many people, their life-sav- ing assistance, human solidarity and simple acts of kindness. Many tragic events have been recorded and described in a wide range of sources. Such sources include predominantly archive documents, collected and published memories and witness accounts acquired mainly in writing contest for the general public. World War II literature abounds with memories and accounts of all kinds. The large number of memoirs appearing in Poland is not unusual, as similar writings can be found in other countries of Europe occupied in 1939-1945, albeit on a smaller scale. That differ- ence in scale can be explained by Poland’s strong tradition of diary keeping, as well as the unique nature of the experience that many people had during those cruel years, whose impact will always be felt and can never be forgotten. Often utterly tragic, the experience was powerfully expressed by committing it to paper. The intention of those who inspired such writing, and the collec- tion of memories and accounts, was to provide previously unknown insights and paint a more complete picture of Nazi Germany’s poli- cies and its human extermination and discrimination system, based on more than merely official documents. Immediately upon the end of World War II, a campaign of col- lecting and partially publishing memories and accounts that reflect- ed the experience and fates of Poles in 1939-1945 began in Poznań. In the years that followed, further efforts were made to the extent of the capacities available in the People’s Republic of Poland. The outcome is certainly worthy of examination as, gathered over many years, the memories are of a documentary value that can hardly be overestimated. V Immediately after the Institute for Western Affairs was estab- lished, its staff mounted a massive effort to gather and publish ac- counts and journals, for which they deserve credit. As early as 1946, 90 accounts of school children of various lengths of wartime experi- ence were included in Volume III of the Documenta Occupationis Teutonicae series published by the Institute. In their Introduction, the editors wrote: “The highly valuable initiative of recording accounts by school children was undertaken in the summer of 1945 by Karol Strzałkowski, Head of the Poznań School District. His project was well timed. The occupation had only just ended, giving students their first opportunity to express their feelings. It had been very rare to record one’s memories during the war, due to the grave danger in- volved. Generally, it was not until the German yoke was thrown off that one could freely express one’s pent up emotions. The students’ testimonies show clearly how deep some of those emotions ran.” The published memories were preceded by two important, inter- esting and extensive introductions. One of them, entitled Memories as documents discussed and analysed the students’ experiences and the events they witnessed. The other used such memories to con- duct a psychological and sociological analysis of the experience and spiritual transformations of children and youths during the war. Further numerous, and precious initiatives to collect memo- ries and diaries were launched in the second half of 1946 by the Institute for Western Affairs, acting jointly with the Poznań Soci- ety of the Friends of Sciences, the Polish Sociological Institute and later with the Wielkopolska Cultural Society, the Poznań Publish- ing House, the editorial teams of the Głos Wielkopolski broadsheet and the Nurt weekly, and the Poznań Station of Polish Radio, with the support of the Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes Against the Polish Nation. The organisation of writing con- tests, and the publishing of the contest submissions over the years did not proceed without difficulties. Inevitably, censors intervened. Funding for the publication of the materials gathered often ran dry. The aim behind these writing contests was to collect documen- tation on the wartime fates of individuals, and on the events they VI witnessed or in which they participated. The resulting materials ad- ditionally formed the core of Section II (Memories and Journals) of the World War II Archive of the Institute for Western Affairs estab- lished in 1947. The achievements have since been seen as a major milestone in the effort to collect, if not publish, “real-time” accounts and unique documents concerning such events. Those involved in collecting, writing down and publishing the first post-war memories and accounts recognised the urgency of their endeavours. In 1946, before the post-war campaigns commenced, the Insti- tute for Western Affairs prepared and published special “Guidelines for the writers of reports on German occupation”. The journals com- piled on the basis of such guidelines were to be submitted to the Institute. As it turned out, one could not count on having a large number of people spontaneously write such reports. What helped produce unexpectedly good outcomes was the drawing up, in 1946- 1947, by the Institute’s staff, of a number of thematic questionnaires for contest participants. These concerned mainly: – the situation of Polish workers during the German occupation; – the history of Poznań during World War II and of the Główna camp for people to be expelled from Poznań and Wielkopolska; – German ethnic policies in the Polish territories incorporated into the Third Reich; – clandestine schooling and cultural and artistic activities in Wielkopolska during the occupation. On the first of the above topics, a valuable initiative was pro- posed by prof. dr Władysław Rusiński, then Adjunct at the Faculty of Economic History of the University of Poznań. His contest for journals on the experience of Polish workers during the occupation received a massive response from the University’s students. En- couragement for participating in the contest came from professors Jan Rutkowski, Janusz Deresiewicz and Karol Marian Pospieszal- ski (Pospieszalski was the architect of the World War II Archive of the Institute for Western Affairs). This helped acquire many jour- nals, which Prof. W. Rusiński then used in his book Położenie ro- botników polskich w czasie wojny 1939-1945 na terenie Rzeszy i „ob- szarów wcielonych”, (The situation of Polish workers during the war VII of 1939-1945 in the Reich and the “incorporated territories”), Part I, published by the Institute for Western Affairs in 1950. The writing contests held from 1945 to 1948 added an estimated total of 400 memories, diaries and accounts to the collections of the Institute’s Archive. Only a few of them have ever been published. The significance of this source for research into the German oc- cupation was later appreciated by the above-mentioned research in- stitutes, other institutions and editorial boards across Wielkopolska, which found it advisable to hold writing contests and gather further reports from school students, thereby shedding light on the dramatic experience of individuals and the martyrology of the entire Polish na- tion. From the methodological point of view, historical research can be helped greatly by relying on human memory as a historical source. Such reports can be invaluable for documenting events and civic at- titudes in the realities of life during the occupation. It is therefore worthwhile recalling some of the other contests held in Poznań starting in the late 1960s, after a break of many years, in an effort to obtain further reports and journals. The first of these was the 1969 writing contest for recollections of Wielkopolska residents from the years 1939-1945 under the general title: Oku- pacyjne losy [Occupation time fates]. The organisers also requested the authors to submit any documents they might have had together with their texts, the intention being to publish them once the con- test winners were announced. A particularly vivid and enduring mark in the memories of Wiel- kopolska inhabitants had been left by the mass expulsions to the General Government. Therefore, a year later, another writing con- test was held for the memories, diaries, journals or accounts by ei- ther victims or witnesses, regarding, as it was phrased: “the opera- tion of expelling the Polish population during the Nazi occupation from the Polish towns and villages administratively incorporated into the Third Reich”. The organisers requested “descriptions of the subsequent fates of the expellees”. The response exceeded all expec- tations. More than 240 submissions came in, predominantly from Wielkopolska, but also in relatively large numbers from other parts of Poland. The majority of the resulting material was published in VIII the 1976 book Wysiedlenie i poniewierka 1939-1945.