back...1st scientific and didactic conference of the Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism
The unsettled German crimes against Polish children and the war reparations inscribed therein, publication of the list of the child victims’ names, the unknown story of the commandant of the camp on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź, and the premiere of the latest book, entitled “Niezwykła polska rodzina. Losy Gertrudy Nowak – dziecka z obozu na Przemysłowej” [“An extraodrinary Polish family. The fate of Gertruda Nowak – a child from the camp on Przemysłowa Street”] – these are just some of the topics of the 1st scientific and didactic conference of the Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism. Polen-Jugendverwahrlager Litzmannstadt in the context of German crimes against Polish children during World War II”.
During the conference, held at the Borowiecki Hotel at 7/9 Kasprzaka Street in Łódź on September 9-10, 2022, the “list of the seven hundred” will be presented for the first time. Based on an archival search query, the Museum staff has compiled a list of 700 Polish children – victims of German camps located in Łódź and its vicinity. The list is the basis for supplementing the estimates of demographic losses in the Report regarding war reparations from Germany. It will also provide support for relatives of former prisoners of the Łódź camps. The database will be available on our Museum’s website.
The Museum’s collection will also be enriched with extremely valuable documents. Alicja Hetmańska and her brothers, the children of a former camp inmate – Gertruda Nowak, will officially hand over the only surviving full personal camp file of their mother. On the basis of these documents, the Museum’s staff has authored a book entitled: “Niezwykła polska rodzina. Losy Gertrudy Nowak – dziecka z obozu na Przemysłowej” [“An extraodrinary Polish family. The fate of Gertruda Nowak – a child from the camp on Przemysłowa Street”].
‘It’s a dramatic story of an entire family – the parents and siblings of Gertruda Nowak, whose peaceful, happy life was interrupted and brought to ruin by the soulless extermination machine of the Third Reich,’ reads the publication’s preface.
The conference is the first event of the series to be organized by the Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism. It is an opportunity to share research results for scientists from Poland and abroad whose studies focus on topics related to the suffering of the youngest victims of World War II. The issue of the German war crimes in occupied Poland being not settled yet will also be raised.
In the meantime the 2nd reunion of Survivors – former prisoners of the German camp for Polish children in Łódź and the members of the Association of Family Members of Former Prisoners, will take place.
The conference is organized by the Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism, an institution run by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna is the patron of the Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism.
The partners of the conference are: Mikołaj Pawlak, Ombudsman for Children; and Grzegorz Schreiber, Marshal of the Łódź Voivodship.
Media patronage is provided by Radio Łódź and TVP3 Łódź.
Admission to the event by invitation. The conference will be recorded and the recording will be made available on the Museum’s website.
A detailed program of the event is available at: https://muzeumdziecipolskich.pl/projekty/konferencja.
The press release for the media is available at https://muzeumdziecipolskich.pl/i-konferencja-naukowo-dydaktyczna-muzeum-dzieci-polskich-ofiar-totalitaryzmu.
