Conferences

On 28-29 September this year, a scientific conference was held entitled "Childhood in wartime. Polish Children under German Occupation 1939-1945”. The event was organised by the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism and the Łódź Cultural Centre. The scientific conference was supported by the National Reconstruction Plan. This is the second event of this kind in the Museum's history.

The fate of Polish children during the Second World War is a subject that still needs to be studied and popularised. This time, these issues were addressed by both Polish and German historians at a scientific conference organised at the Łódź Cultural Centre by the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism.

“The main themes of this year's academic conference were Germanisation, displacement, forced labour in the Third Reich and concentration camps. All these issues were raised in the context of the tragedy of Polish children under the German occupation,” explained Michał Hankiewicz, a Germanist and Museum employee.

Speakers at the conference included representatives from the Polish Academy of Sciences, the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Bayreuth, the University of Łódź and the University of the Commission for National Education in Cracow. The staff of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism also presented the results of their research.

“The subject of child martyrdom, broadly understood, in the context of the history of the Second World War is still an issue that’s not properly reflected in the general historical consciousness. Basic figures should be mentioned in this context: out of more than 5.2 million citizens of the Second Republic of Poland who lost their lives as a result of the actions of the Third Reich alone, as many as approximately 40 per cent were children. If we also include the children who lost their health as a result of the war or became orphans or half-orphans while their families lost all their possessions, we realise the scale of the sacrifices suffered by the youngest citizens of the Polish state. The second scientific conference organised by the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism was aimed precisely at presenting these aspects of wartime history,” said Dr Ireneusz Piotr Maj, the Museum’s director.

In addition, two author meetings were held as part of the conference. The first one was the meeting with Margot Löhr, psychologist and author of the two-volume publication entitled “Die vergessenen Kinder von Zwangsarbeiterinnen in Hamburg, ermordet durch Vernachlässigung und Unterernährung”, dedicated to the children of forced labourers in Hamburg. The second meeting was honoured by the presence of Professor Johannes Dieter-Steinert, co-author of the publication entitled “Industrial Concentration Camp: The Camp, The Children. The Trials”, and was dedicated to the history of the German camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź.

The scientific conference was supported by the National Reconstruction Plan.