Wasserpolacken. Relacja Polaka w służbie Wehrmachtu
Wasserpolacken. An Account of a Pole Serving the Wehrmacht

Author(s): Joachim Ceraficki
Subject(s): History, Political history, Social history, Recent History (1900 till today), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949)
Published by: Ośrodek KARTA
Keywords: Wehrmacht; Pole; Eastern Front; Grudziądz; Pomerania; ethnic third class; occupation; army service; German Army; Kerch; reminiscences; Hitler; Third Reich; fascists
Summary/Abstract: A reminiscence of a Pole from Grudziądz about his forced service at the Hitler Army. An important testimony of how much the wartime fates of Poles from Silesia and Pomerania could differ from stereotypical ideas. Joachim Ceraficki was forcibly conscripted into Wehrmacht in May 1942. As a third-class citizen of the Reich he spent almost three years in the German Army. He deserted in January 1945. He tried to be a good soldier, because it was a way of minimizing the risk of death. In the trenches his patriotic attitude would be of no relevance. Comradeship was the most important thing there. Ceraficki describes his experiences of that time without pathos: he writes about his pals, fear, girls, leaves at home, and living conditions of German soldiers on the front. He does not try to defend any thesis or excuse himself. He simply writes how it was.

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