Poland's Struggle by Andrew Rawson

Author:Andrew Rawson [Rawson, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Poland, Military, World War II, Modern, 20th Century, World War I
ISBN: 9781526743930
Google: Wk8IEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2019-04-30T22:33:40+00:00

A Slave Labour Force

Adults had to register with the Work Office and were allocated jobs. They had to work until they were 65 in the General Government and 70 if they lived in the annexed territories. Children had to register when they turned 14 in the General Government and at the age of 9 if they lived in the annexed territories.

Those who were arrested in one of the many round-ups were taken to one of the thirty work education camps (Polenlager), many of which were located in the industrial area of Silesia. They then experienced the forced labour regime with a six-week stint in what the Germans called a ‘Labour Reformatory’. Work was physically hard and lasted twelve-hours a day, seven days a week. Roll calls were frequent, food was limited and punishments were harsh, and some succumbed to the mistreatment or malnutrition.

The survivors were then sent to the next factory which had requested more labourers. They continued to work long hours in dangerous conditions and were paid a fraction of what Germans received. Work groups were controlled by supervisors (either German helpers called Hiwis or privileged prisoners called Kapos) who meted out punishments in return for rewards.

The workers lived in basic barracks on a meagre diet of 700 kcal, consisting of watery soup, black bread and substitute (ersatz) coffee. Families were not allowed to send food or clothing to the camps and all mail was censored. There was little access to medical facilities when someone fell ill or were injured, and those unable to work were liable to be shot.

Many Poles were sent across the Reich to work and they had to carry their personal labour book with them, with a record of their work logged inside. They were allowed to leave the camp during their few free periods but a P badge (or Polish badge) on their clothes singled them out for abuse. They were forbidden to speak to Germans and sexual encounters carried harsh punishments. Polish men fraternising with German women would be shot while Polish women fraternising with German men would be made to work in a brothel.

Polish workers were often made to work in urban factories which were being targeted by the Allied air forces, while German workers were moved to safer rural locations. They sometimes endured round-the-clock bombing raids and often had to spend long periods repairing their places of work.

By 1945 hundreds of thousands of Poles of all ages (sources range from 1.5 million to 2.5 million) had been sent to the Reich for forced labour. Many more had worked across the General Government. They were all set free and gathered at a Displaced Persons camp for registration when the war ended, before heading back to Poland. Many returned to find their families dead, maimed or missing and their homes either destroyed or occupied. Many displaced persons were teenagers who had little education, just bodies broken by hard work. They never received any compensation for their hardships and had to start their lives from scratch.

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