Crime without Punishment Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- The German Policy of Extermination and Germanization of Polish Children during World War II
- A Crime without Punishment: The Extermination of Polish Children during the Period of German Occupation from 1939 to 1945
- Polish Children and Youth in Auschwitz
- Suffering of Children in Auschwitz – Biological and Mental Extermination
- When There Were No More Tears Left to Cry: The Tragic Fate of the Polish Children Displaced from the Zamość Region in 1942–1943
- Children of the Zamość Region in the Majdanek Camp (in Selected Archive Files and Personal Accounts)
- The German Camp for Juvenile Poles in Łódź at Przemysłowa Street
- The Role of Gaukinderheim Kalisch in Germanization during World War II
- The Germanization of Polish Children and Youth in Gdańsk Pomerania and the Role of the Stutthof Concentration Camp
- Children’s Experiences in the German Displacement and Forced Labor Camp in Potulice and Smukała – Memories of Female Prisoners
- The Fate of the Children of Białystok under Soviet and German Totalitarianism during World War II
- Extermination of Juvenile Scouts in the Lands of Poland during the German Occupation of 1939–1945
- The Fate of Polish Children in Allied-occupied Germany in the Years 1945–1950
- The Returns of Polish Children from German Lands and Scouting Activity at the Transitional Center in Munich. The Polish West State Banner Established by Władysław Śmiałek and Its Role in Simplifying the Fate of Polish War Orphans
A Crime without Punishment: The Extermination of Polish Children during the Period of German Occupation from 1939 to 1945
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- The German Policy of Extermination and Germanization of Polish Children during World War II
- A Crime without Punishment: The Extermination of Polish Children during the Period of German Occupation from 1939 to 1945
- Polish Children and Youth in Auschwitz
- Suffering of Children in Auschwitz – Biological and Mental Extermination
- When There Were No More Tears Left to Cry: The Tragic Fate of the Polish Children Displaced from the Zamość Region in 1942–1943
- Children of the Zamość Region in the Majdanek Camp (in Selected Archive Files and Personal Accounts)
- The German Camp for Juvenile Poles in Łódź at Przemysłowa Street
- The Role of Gaukinderheim Kalisch in Germanization during World War II
- The Germanization of Polish Children and Youth in Gdańsk Pomerania and the Role of the Stutthof Concentration Camp
- Children’s Experiences in the German Displacement and Forced Labor Camp in Potulice and Smukała – Memories of Female Prisoners
- The Fate of the Children of Białystok under Soviet and German Totalitarianism during World War II
- Extermination of Juvenile Scouts in the Lands of Poland during the German Occupation of 1939–1945
- The Fate of Polish Children in Allied-occupied Germany in the Years 1945–1950
- The Returns of Polish Children from German Lands and Scouting Activity at the Transitional Center in Munich. The Polish West State Banner Established by Władysław Śmiałek and Its Role in Simplifying the Fate of Polish War Orphans
Summary
Abstract: The subject of this article is the martyrdom of Polish children during the period of German occupation, 1939–1945. The crimes that Germans committed on children on Polish soil have usually been described within a broader context and this specific subject has not been thoroughly discussed to date. It has been embedded in the general context of war crimes, and it is also worth noting that historians have focused on the infanticides of Jewish children. As for the ordeal of Polish children, worthy of note is the literature on the “Children of Zamojszczyzna”. Polish children at large, however, remain to an extent the forgotten victims of the war. Many of those crimes were never punished or were even utterly ignored by German courts. Therefore, remembrance of those past atrocities not only fills a historiographical gap but can also be seen as a duty to the youngest victims of the war.
Keywords: The Second World War, War crimes, Polish children, extermination, German Occupation
Word War II was an event without a precedence in history, the main reason for this being its total nature. In earlier martial doctrines, the goal of the army was the destruction of the enemy's military capability, control over its territory, access to its natural resources etc. The war that broke out in September 1939 in Poland was waged with the aim of destroying the Polish nation and reconstructing the social order according to the dogmas of National Socialism.
Hitler clearly declared his plans for the destruction of Polish society. On August 22nd, 1939, he ordered his soldiers to kill all Poles without mercy – men, women and children alike – because it was the only way for Germans to gain their lebensraum (Lucas, 2012, p. 25).On another occasion he reminded his subordinates that the war they were waging was supposed to be a “war of annihilation” (Lucas, 2012, p. 26). These are only a few examples of Hitler's statements, proving that Polish children were not accidental victims of the war. They suffered according to a precise plan.
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- Crime without PunishmentThe Extermination and Suffering of Polish Children during the German Occupation 1939–1945, pp. 31 - 44Publisher: Jagiellonian University PressPrint publication year: 2022