back...First meeting with found former inmate of the camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street.

“There are few Survivors left alive, and each year there are fewer and fewer of them. That’s why we are all the more pleased to have another found witnesses of the cruel history concerning the Nazi German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź,” said dr Ireneusz Piotr Maj, director of the Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism, in connection with the first meeting with Henryk Łyszkowicz, a Survivor of the camp on Przemysłowa Street.

On December 21, 2022, dr Ireneusz Piotr Maj, director of the Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism, travelled to Olsztyn to pay a visit to the recently found Henryk Łyszkowicz, a former inmate of the German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź. The man contacted the Museum via the “Rozmowy niedokończone” program broadcast on Trwam TV, reporting that he had been a prisoner at the camp on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź. According to the information our historians have reached, Mr. Henryk Łyszkowicz was sent to the camp on April 24, 1944, at the age of 10, where he stayed until the very end, i. e. January 18, 1945. He talked about the details during his first meeting with the Museum Director.

“There was one blanket for every five prisoners, we had our own bowl, a pot and a spoon. There were many terrible things in the camp, but my worst memory is of hunger. We used to eat everything we got or managed to get, but we still suffered from hunger edema, which caused the whole body to swell,”said Henryk Łyszkowicz, a survivor of the Przemysłowa camp.

In addition to hard labour, starvation rations, and longing for loved ones, each day the prisoners of the Przemysłowa camp were accompanied by the fear of harsh corporal punishment.

“My worst memories are of the young camp officers. We had to bow to them and greet them in German, but this still did not protect us from punishment. Physical violence was the order of the day, as it was the job of the camp officers to beat prisoners. The highest mortality rate was among the youngest children, as they were too young to cope independently under camp conditions,” the Survivor assessed.

The discovery of another former inmate of the German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street is of great importance to the Museum.

“There are few Survivors left alive, and each year there are fewer and fewer of them. That’s why we are all the more pleased to have another found witnesses of the cruel history concerning the Nazi German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź,”reported the facility’s director.