Zgoda labour camp
Zgoda (Polish pronunciation:
Between 1943 and January 1945 during
Zgoda Labour Camp operation
The Nazi German camp was evacuated by the Germans before 23 January 1945. However, its infrastructure was left intact and after a few weeks the camp was restored by the NKVD, disinfected, and repopulated in February 1945 with Silesian prisoners from Kattowitz/Katowice, Bielitz/Bielsko and Neisse/Nysa.
Following World War II, the communist authorities of Poland decided that the Silesian
About 6,000 persons were imprisoned at the Zgoda camp, 1/3 of them Germans (1,733 in August 1945 along with those from Upper Silesia).[6][7] The first inmates were sent there by militia, security services and the Soviet NKVD.[6] Some families took children with them to the camp,[6] but such cases were marginal and concerned a few mothers who did not want to leave their children alone.[8] Statistics and witness statements speak of about 2 mothers with children below 1 to 5 years of age and perhaps 2 or 3 children 6 or 7 years old. This was a violation of a directive by the Security Department that forbade admitting prisoners along with children below 13 years old, who were ordered to be handed over to state care instead.[8]
Most camp inmates were over 40 years old.
Death toll
Documented figures show that 1,855 prisoners lost their lives at Zgoda camp from February until November 1945. Most died during the typhus epidemic, that reached its highest death toll in August,[6] claiming 1,600 victims.[9] No medical help was offered to prisoners, and no action taken, until the epidemic spread across the entire camp. The bodies of the dead were being piled up on carts at night and taken outside the camp to hastily dug out mass graves. Eventually, a medical team was sent in, which vaccinated the remaining population.[6]
The inmates were systematically maltreated and
The Zgoda camp was closed in November 1945 based on general order of the Minister of Security Stanisław Radkiewicz, issued 15 September 1945. The paper instructed to resolve all cases of detention of persons without prosecutor sanctions issued upon them.[8] According to Morel, the camp was no longer needed.[6] Almost all the remaining prisoners were released.[6] However, they first had to sign an oath, under the penalty of prison, to never disclose the events witnessed in the camp.[6] For years, the history of the camp lived exclusively in the memories of its former prisoners and their families, carefully hidden for fear of repressions for revealing how the native people of Silesia were treated.[6]
Legacy
The 2017 Polish film Zgoda , directed by Maciej Sobieszczański, is set at the concentration camp. The same year, Polish journalist Marek Łuszczyna published a book, Mała zbrodnia. Polskie obozy koncentracyjne ("The little crime: Polish concentration camps") about Zgoda and other Polish concentration camps that operated after the war.[10]
Maciej Świrski of the
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-908524-02-7.
- S2CID 219011342, retrieved 2020-12-23
- ^ ISBN 978-83-85338-74-1.
- ^ a b c The Polish Institute of National Remembrance Bulletin: "Salomon Morel and the camp at Świętochłowice-Zgoda", including Index of articles, copies of IPN documents and notes. Publication date: 21 July 2005. (in English)
- ^ Dr. Adam Dziurok, Obóz Pracy Świętochłowice-Zgoda. Archived June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, 2010
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q (in Polish) "Historia Obozu Pracy w Świętochłowicach" (History of the Labour Camp in Swietochlowice") Archived 2017-04-28 at the Wayback Machine The Institute of National Remembrance (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, web site, accessed 2009-04-29.
- ^ a b Salomon Morel and the camp at Świętochłowice-Zgoda. Archived June 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Response by the State of Israel to the application for the extradition. Publication date: July 21, 2005. Institute of National Remembrance. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Salomon Morel i obóz w Świętochłowicach-Zgodzie The Institute of National Remembrance, web site accessed 2010-07-28
- ^ Marek Klecel, "Dziedzictwo Auschwitz i Gułagu." Based on: Bogusław Kopka, Obozy pracy w Polsce 1944 - 1950. Przewodnik encyklopedyczny. Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza Nowa, Warszawa 2003.
- ^ a b c Majmurek, Jakub (18 February 2018). "Spójrzcie na polskich katów" [Take a look at Polish executioners]. KrytykaPolityczna.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ Gliszczyńska, Aleksandra; Jabłoński, Michał (12 October 2019). "Is One Offended Pole Enough to Take Critics of Official Historical Narratives to Court?". Verfassungsblog. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
A highly problematic trend has emerged just recently, creating a precedent in the Polish legal doctrine. In January 2017, the Polish edition of Newsweek magazine published an article by Paulina Szewczyk entitled "After the Liberation of Nazi Camps, Did the Poles Open Them Again? 'The Little Crime' by Marek Łuszczyna". The author of this article stated that after 1945 Poles reopened the Świętochłowice-Zgoda camp, a branch of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. A lawsuit against Newsweek's editor-in-chief was brought by Maciej Świrski, the president of the Polish League Against Defamation (RDI), based on the press law provisions. In January 2018, the court decided in his favour, ordering the editor-in-chief to publish a corrigendum admitting that the assertion of the existence of "Polish concentration camps" created by Poles is false. This initial ruling was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal and eventually the Supreme Court, the latter finding Newsweek's last resort appeal (cassation) to be unfounded.
- ^ "Wyborcza.pl". Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ "ZEIT ONLINE | Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl". www.zeit.de. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ "- "Wir wollen eine tief gehende Dezentralisierung"". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ "Wyrok dla "Newsweeka" za "polskie obozy koncentracyjne". Znając badania IPN, trudno się z nim zgodzić". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
Further reading
- (in English) ISBN 978-0465042142.
- (in German) ISBN 3-548-33099-1
- (in German) ISBN 3-8225-0339-8
- (in Polish) An online report by Institute of National Remembrance, including Overview, Chronology, Historical narrative, Camp layout, S.Morel, Statistics, Letters, and Documents.
- (in Polish) List of the victims
- (in German) Gerhard Gruschka: ZGODA. Ein Ort des Schreckens. ars una, Neuried 1997, ISBN 3-89391-607-5
- (in Polish) Gerhard Gruschka: Zgoda - miejsce grozy: obóz koncentracyjny w Świętochłowicach, Wokół Nas, Gliwice 1998, ISBN 83-85338-74-8
- (in German) Sepp Jendryschik: Zgoda : Eine Station auf dem schlesischen Leidensweg, 2000, ISBN 3-927933-67-8
- (in German) ISBN 3-8132-0702-1
- (in Polish) Adam Dziurok: Obóz pracy w Świętochłowicach w 1945 roku (a collection of documents), IPN, Warszawa 2003, ISBN 83-915983-6-5