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During a session of the Sejm's Culture and Media Committee, members of parliament approved an act on establishing September 10th as National Day of Polish Children of War. The session was attended by Ireneusz Piotr Maj PhD, who gave statement of reasons for the date of September 10th suggested by the Museum of Polish Children - Victims of Totalitarianism as the most appropriate date for the celebration of the National Day of Polish Children of War.
The sight of a grisly murder of a child by the German occupant or death in a gas chamber was the tragic fate of many Polish mothers during WWII. The situation was quite different in the Third Reich, where German mothers with many children received the Cross of Honour of the German Mother (German: Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter) from Adolf Hitler.
We cordially invite you to the Night of Museums, which will take place on May 13, 2023. The event will begin at 6 p.m. in the Museum at 90 Piotrkowska Street.
On the initiative of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism, a monument to Polish children who were victims of German crimes will be erected at the St. Wojciech Catholic Cemetery in Łódź. The construction of the monument will be financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. – the Museum's patron – has also pledged its support. On April 20, a press conference was held in the Museum to announce the open competition for the design of the monument.
Cooperation in organising exhibitions, conferences, publications and joint research are the main premises of the agreement between the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism and the Jan Karski Institute for War Losses. The agreement was signed on 4 April 2023 at the Museum.
A Little Way of the Cross dedicated to the former prisoners of the German concentration camp on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź set out from the parish of St. Mary of Grace in Łódź on March 31. Stations of the Way of the Cross are located on the site of the former camp. Participants began the penitential service after the 8 p.m. Mass. The Little Way of the Cross was under the patronage of our Museum.
The Academy of Social and Media Culture (AKSiM) in Toruń is another institution with which the Museum has recently established cooperation. One of the terms of the agreement is the organisation of competitions for students of the Toruń-based academy. The forthcoming competition will concern the preparation of short films about the German concentration camp for Polish children in Łódź.
Archive workshops for young historians and the participation of students in selected historical source material searches are the most important points of the cooperation agreement signed between Muzeum Dzieci Polskich – ofiar totalitaryzmu [eng. the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism] and the Public High School of the Łódź University of Technology.
"Some Germans, SS men from the camp staff, working in leading positions, maintained constant terror – they beat and tortured prisoners. I have in mind here the notorious August (...). He would beat the prisoners not only at work, but he would come after the assembly, order you to lie down or assume a certain position and he would torture you," reads the testimony of Stefan Marczewski, a former prisoner of the camp on Przemysłowa Street. The profile of Edward August (a camp guard) and the latest findings of the Museum's historians were presented at a press conference on 23 March 2023.
"Zapłakana Polska" [eng. "Weeping Poland"], "Nielegalne kwiaty" [eng. "Illegal Flowers"], "Sierpniowa piosenka" [eng. "August Song"], "Taki kraj" [eng. "Such a Country"] and "Żeby Polska była Polska [eng. "Let Poland Be Poland"] are the titles of just some of the songs heard today during Jan Pietrzak's concert at the All Saints' Church in Gieczno.
"I lived and worked in a hole near the mill. Together with other girls I collected stones, harvested potatoes and worked in the house of the owner of the Fuge estate. For minor offenses we were punished in such a way that we were sent to dig up tree stumps, were not given supper, were locked in the cellar..." recalled Danuta Kęsik, a former inmate of the Dzierżązna sub-camp. This is one of the quotes you will be able to read on the board of the Museum's new open-air exhibition entitled "Only work and hunger. The history of a branch of the German concentration camp for Polish children." The opening of the exhibition took place on March 17 this year in the manor park in Dzierżązna.
The memorial plaque, which was unveiled at the Łódź Board of Education, is an expression of our remembrance of the youngest victims of German crimes in Łódź. We know that the subject of the German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street is very important, especially from an educational point of view. By addressing this issue, we are meeting the need to supplement the core curriculum in history," said Dr. Ireneusz Piotr Maj, Director of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism.
"As part of the procedure for admission to the camp, the children had their heads shaved. They were stripped of their civilian clothes. In return, they received gray denim uniforms – a sweatshirt, pants and cap for the boys and a dress and sweatshirt for the girls. Instead of shoes, the children were given wooden clogs," reads the Museum's publication "An Extraordinary Polish Family. The story of Gertruda Nowak – a child from the camp on Przemysłowa Street", which was presented together with an exhibition of the same name on March 9 in Gminny Centrum Kultury, Sportu, Turystyki i Rekreacji [eng. the Municipal Center of Culture, Sport, Tourism and Recreation in Dzierżązna].
"It doesn't end there... The story of the childrens’ camp on Przemysłowa Street" and "Geheime Reichssache Kinderlager Schicksale in Polen” are the titles of the films presented today by the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism during a screening at the Łódź Cultural Center.
On March 2 this year, Muzeum Dzieci Polskich – ofiar totalitaryzmu [eng. Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism] hosted a meeting of high school students in Łódź with Mr. Janusz Niemiec-Żubryd, a representative of Stowarzyszenie Dzieci Żołnierzy Wyklętych [eng. Association of Children of Cursed Soldiers], also known as the youngest political prisoner of the Stalinist era in Poland.
Janusz Niemiec-Żubryd was born in 1941. He was the son of Antoni Żubryd, a commander of the Independent Operational Battalion of the National Armed Forces (NSZ), alias “Zuch”. In June 1945, at the age of four, he and his grandmother were arrested for the first time by the Security Office. He was released a few days later, however, after his father issued an ultimatum to the communist authorities, threatening to execute seven captured Civic Militia officers if his son and mother-in-law continued to be detained. In 1946, after the Security Office agent Jerzy Vaulin carried out the assassination of the Żubryds, their son Janusz was arrested again by the Security Office, making him the youngest political prisoner of the Stalin era in Poland.
Cooperation regarding the distribution of films produced by Muzeum Dzieci Polskich – ofiar totalitaryzmu [eng. Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism] by Łódzki Dom Kultury [eng. Łódź Cultural Center] is the main objective of concluding a cooperation agreement between the two institutions. The signing of the letter of intent for the implementation of joint activities took place on February 28, 2023 at the Museum at 90 Piotrkowska Street in Łódź.
A screening of the documentary films “To się nie kończy... Historia dzieci z obozu na Przemysłowej” ["It doesn't end there… The story of children from the camp on Przemysłowa Street"] and "Geheime Reichssache Kinderlager Schicksale in Poland" will take place at 6 pm on March 3 at Łódzki Dom Kultury. If you wish to attend the event, please sign up by email: filmy@muzeumdziecipolskich.pl. Admission to the screening is free.
"I was so exhausted that I cried and prayed for death," wrote Halina Cubrzyńska-Kryszkiewicz, a former inmate of the camp on Przemysłowa Street, in her memoirs. Similar quotes can be found at the Museum's exhibition “Nauczono nas płakać bez łez...” ["We were taught to cry without tears..."], which was presented today in the main square of Zgierz. The event is part of a series of commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the establishment of a branch of the camp for Polish children in Dzierżązna. The exhibition was followed by a historical debate at the Zgierz Municipality Office.
“I find it hard to understand how Eugenia Pol could hide two, so drastically different faces. Working at a day care facility, she was an unflawed and kind person. She was so caring towards children (…). This is beyond my comprehension that, a few years back, Eugenia Pol was capable of doing so terrible and cruel things to kids as a guard at a concentration camp for Polish children,”said Marianna Tomasik, who had worked at the same nursery as Eugenia Pol, in her conversation with a historian.
“On 10.09.1943, my entire family was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to concentration camps. Together with my sister and brother, I was sent to a camp for Polish children and adolescents on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź," said Janina Bajroszewska, the youngest former inmate known by name of the camp on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź, thanks to the Museum historians' research.
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the demonstration funeral organized by residents of Siedlce for the "Children of Zamojszczyzna" who died during one of the transports.
On 19 January 2023, the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism entered into a cooperation agreement with the Łódź Board of Education. The institutions will undertake joint activities to promote knowledge about the tragic fate of children imprisoned in the German concentration camp on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź. The main idea behind the agreement is the organisation of historical competitions and the promotion of the Museum's first multimedia exhibition „Mamo czemu nie przyjeżdżać? Listy dzieci z obozu na Przemysłowej” [“Mother, why aren't you coming?
“In the last days of the camp, we were terrified. We were afraid that the Germans would kill us, so we hid under the lower bunks (...). On the last day after waking up, when I went outside, I noticed that there were no guards on the camp grounds," recalled Henryk Łyszkowicz, a former prisoner of the camp on Przemysłowa Street, in an interview with Dr. Ireneusz Piotr Maj, director of the Museum.
“The issue of a stamp dedicated to the German concentration camp for Polish children in Łódź is further evidence of our remembrance of the victims of this place. The tragedy of the minor prisoners, for which the German occupiers were responsible, requires that we talk about it," stressed Dr. Ireneusz Piotr Maj, Director of the Museum, in connection with the presentation of the postage stamp "German camp for Polish children in Łódź (1942-1945)". The event took place on the eve of the 78th anniversary of the end of the camp on Przemysłowa Street.
A music video for the song "The Children from Przemysłowa Street" has just been released. The song, performed by Czeslaw Mozil and the choir and orchestra of the Stanisław Moniuszko Music School Complex in Łódź, promotes the Museum's latest documentary film, "It Doesn't End There... The Story of the Children from the Camp on Przemysłowa Street".
The 11th of December 2021 marks the 79th anniversary of the first transport of the little prisoners to the German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź. On that day, the 25-month period of the torment of the youngest victims of the Nazi regime started.
This touching animated film tells the story of a little girl who is taken from the present to the German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź, where her fate could have been changed forever.
On the 1st of December 2021, 79 years have passed since the establishment of the concentration camp for Polish children in Łódź. Those who managed to survive it had to endure the psychological and physical anguish from the trauma they had experienced in the camp for many years after the war ended. To commemorate these events, the museum organised a solemn meeting with the participation of the survivors themselves, featuring a premiere of the historical fiction film, Nauczono nas płakać bez łez… (“We Learned to Cry Without Tears”), and a publication bearing the same title.
Historians from the Museum of Polish Children - Victims of Totalitarianism have discovered the burial places of child victims of the German concentration camp in Łódź that had previously remained unknown. The tormented Polish children were buried at the St. Wojciech Roman Catholic Church in Łódź. So far, the researchers have managed to locate 77 such locations. Two graves have remained intact, while the burial places of the other 75 victims are now the graves of other people. The decision on further steps will be made by the Institute of National Remembrance.
Hunger, humiliation, pain and death from exhaustion – it is hard to imagine the endless suffering of the child prisoners of the camp in Łódź on Przemysłowa Street. We are obliged to make sure that this tragedy will never be forgotten.
We have the first school visit behind us! The classes, prepared by a team of educators and historians from the museum, help youths learn the history of their city and the fate of children who were held prisoner in the German camp on Przemysłowa Street.
A unique journey for more memories. In Mosina, we met survivors of the Przemysłowa Street camp – Bohdan Kończak and Wojciech Skibiński – and their families.
"Please send me some grey soap and a spoon because I have nothing to eat with. Please send me some saccharin and fry me 20 pancakes, Mummy..."
The significance of the recently found letters of children from the Przemysłowa Street camp was discussed during today's press conference by the Head of the Museum, Ireneusz Maj (PhD) and Andrzej Janicki (PhD).
We are beginning cooperation with the Museum of Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners of the Polish People's Republic! Thanks to the courtesy of the host – Jacek Marian Pawłowicz, the Head of the aforementioned museum – our Head of the museum, Ireneusz Maj, had an opportunity to familiarise himself not only with the collections of the museum in Warsaw, but also with the experience of its team.
Thank you. We thank our wonderful guests – the former prisoners of the Przemysłowa Street camp – for this meeting, a wonderful time and for all of the great emotions and memories. It was an invaluable source of knowledge. At the same time, we want to thank the friends of the museum for their presence and support during these two days. We know how important you consider our work to be because history is something that needs to be remembered.
We are at the end of the road of life. (...) we have no time left for the future – the survivors, former prisoners of the German concentration camp for Polish children, urge the authorities of the city of Łódź to transfer a building in aid of the museum.
Today marks an important date in the history of Łódź – the 77th anniversary of the liquidation of Litzmannstadt Ghetto. During the celebrations commemorating this event, Ireneusz Maj (PhD), Head of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism, laid flowers and read a letter addressed to the ceremony’s participants on behalf of Professor Piotr Gliński (PhD), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport.