back...78th death anniversary of Janek Tratowski
The camp on Przemysłowa Street is a symbol of the suffering of Polish children. However, it is also important to remember the tremendous tragedy that their parents experienced. June 30, 2022, marks the 78thdeath anniversary of 15-year-old Janek Tratowski.
In 1943, the boy was incarcerated in the camp along with his younger brother Teofil. In the death certificate a fictitious cause of death – pulmonary tuberculosis was recorded. An eyewitness to Janek’s death was his brother, who was subsequently singled out by the German Nazis for Germanization and deported deep into the Reich. For his mother and for Poland, he was to cease to exist as Teofil Tratowski. The boys’ mother was notified that both of her sons had died in the camp, and she lived with this conviction until the younger of them stood on her doorstep. According to Teofil’s account, his mother suffered a heart attack at the sight of the recovered child.
Notice of death of Jan Tratowski in the camp, reference no. MTN-Ł/A-7407.
Translation:
To Mr. Józef Tratowski
Nowe Gorzycko
Schwerin District
Your son, Jan Tratowski, born on May 25, 1929, in Międzychód, died on June 30, 1944, in the Polen-Jugendverwahrlager der Sicherheitspolizei in Litzmannstadt of pulmonary tuberculosis. He was buried in the Chojny cemetery in Litzmannstadt.
Photograph of Teofil Tratowski, Janek’s younger brother, the survivor of a camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź – from the collection of the Mosina Art Gallery.