back...Screening of the film "Geheime Reichssache Kinderlager – Schicksale in Polen"

"Geheime Reichssache Kinderlager - Schicksale in Polen (Secret Affair of the Reich – Fates in Poland) is probably the only known foreign documentary concerning the camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street and the martyrdom of Polish children during the Second World War," explained Dr Ireneusz Piotr Maj, director of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism, in connection with the screening of the documentary at the Institute of History at the University of Łódź. The event was organised in cooperation with the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Łódź.

On Friday, the 17th of May, the Institute of History at the University of Łódź hosted a screening of the German documentary entitled "Geheime Reichssache Kinderlager - Schicksale in Polen" by Klaus Bednarz, West German ARD television correspondent in Warsaw. The documentary premiered on ARD television on 21 November 1971. The screening was preceded by a historical introduction by Dr Andrzej Janicki, head of the Museum's Collections Department.

“The documentary Geheime Reichssache Kinderlager is another important piece of material documenting German crimes against Polish children during the Second World War.It addresses the subject of the camp on Przemysłowa Street, as well as the Germanisation of Polish children. The documentary contains unique accounts of Survivors from the camp on Przemysłowa Street and its branch in Dzierżązna. Dr Czesław Kempisty, a doctor dealing with victims of German concentration camps, and Dr Roman Hrabar, Polish Government Plenipotentiary for the recovery of Polish children, also spoke in the material,” said the director of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism.

The film screening was followed by a conversation with Ms Barbara Paciorkiewicz, who, as a Polish child during the Second World War, was subjected to Germanisation. The discussion with the witness to history was led by the Director of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism.