Obóz przy ul. Przemysłowej w Łodzi i powojenne rozliczenia z jego historią
German Labour camp for Polish Children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź and the Reckoning with its Post-War History

Summary/Abstract: Polen-Jugendverwahrlager der Sicherheitspolizei in Litzmannstadt commonly referred to as the camp on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź, in operation between December 1942 and 19 January 1945 was a very special place. This is because it was the only place where exclusively children were held under conditions comparable to concentration camps. The article takes a closer look at the reality that minor prisoners had to face and the history of this cruel place. The most important theme, however, is the post-war reckoning with the history of the camp, mainly in the form of trials of child abusers. We also learn how the history of the camp was manipulated in the post-war era to achieve the desired propaganda effect and how its history and victims were being exploited. The author is highly critical of the content of the only monograph on the camp by Józef Witkowski and describes in detail the notorious court case of Eugenia Pol from 1970–1976. She was then sentenced to 25 years in prison. To this day, it is difficult to determine whether the camp supervisor was in fact a ruthless torturer or a victim of a judicial crime. Without settling the issue definitively, the author presents how the unreliable conduct of Eugenia Pol’s trial today hinders the search for the truth and is a pretext for further misrepresentations and manipulations.

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