Walerjan Wróbel - Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas

Children and Youth as
Victims of the Nazi Crimes
Seventy years ago, the National Socialists came to
power in Germany. During their rule, which lasted
until 1945, they persecuted and terrorized human
beings because of their origin, religion or physical
or mental handicap. The National Socialists attacked
many countries in Europe, occupied them and
murdered many millions, including six million Jews
from across Europe. On this web site, we wish to
remember five young people who became victims
of Nazi terror.
Walerjan Wróbel
from the Polish village of Falków
1925 –1942
www.stiftung-denkmal.de

Walerjan, under arrest in 1941. He was
photographed by the headquarters of
the Criminal Police in Bremen.
Source: State archive Bremen
Walerjan Wróbel
Walerjan Wróbel was born on April 2, 1925 in the
Polish village of Falków. He had a younger brother
and sister. His carefree childhood came to an abrupt
end with the German invasion of Poland in
September 1939. Five days after the beginning of
the war, many houses in his village, including that
of his parents, were destroyed in a bombing raid.
After that, most of the families lived in the ruins or
found shelter with relatives. At this time, many Poles
were deported to work as forced laborers in
Germany. Walerjan was also sent to Germany in
April 1941 at the age of 16 to work in forced labor 1
on a farm near Bremen. A few days after arrival,
he was already terribly homesick. He attempted to
flee but was caught.
Walerjan Wróbel Page 1 www.stiftung-denkmal.de

The farm near Bremen where Walerjan
was forced to work as a farmhand.
Photographed in 1942 by the Bremen
Criminal Police. Source: State archive Bremen
Walerjan Wróbel
Walerjan was brought back to the farm. He
immediately began to make plans to return home
in a different way. He thought that if he proved to
be a poor worker, his penalty would be that he
would be fired from the job. In despair, he decided
to set a fire in order to be sent back home to his
parents. Only a few days after his first attempt to
escape, he set fire to some hay in a barn on the
farm. The farmer’s wife discovered the fire right
away before it could cause any damage. Walerjan
even helped her extinguish the blaze. Nonetheless,
she reported the boy to the police for arson. After
interrogation by the Gestapo 2 he was arrested on
May 2, 1941. Until his arraignment in April 1942,
he was confined as a prisoner in the Neuengamme 3
concentration camp.
Walerjan Wróbel Page 2 www.stiftung-denkmal.de

Michal about his friend Walerjan:
»Walerek [Walerek is a nickname for Walerjan] was very young, very naïve. He didn‘t
have any experience either. He was so naïve: if you told him that something was true,
or that this is the way it was in the camp, he believed you right away. He would believe
anything. It‘s rough for people like that in the concentration camp, very difficult.
I mean, you have to be brutal there, not naïve. And Walerek was always naïve, very naïve.
He always talked about his parents, his sister, he’d talk about school.«
Walerjan’s friend Michal Piotrowski, whom he met in Neuengamme
concentration camp. The photo is of Michal in 1940 at the age of 17
when he was confined in Auschwitz concentration camp.
Source: Halina Piotrowska, Warsaw
Walerjan Wróbel
In the Neuengamme camp 3 , Walerjan was deployed
for nine months in exhausting manual labor in a
punishment platoon. He was in the so-called Elbe
platoon that was assigned to construct a canal four
to five kilometers in length from the Neuengamme
camp to the Dove Elbe river. Inmates were often
forced to stand all day long in deep mud in order to
straighten the canal banks. Others had to cart off
the soil removed in heavy wheelbarrows. Many died
of exhaustion and the poor living conditions.
Walerjan found a friend among the prisoners,
Michal Piotrowski. Michal was only two years older
than Walerjan and also came from Poland. Michal
survived the war and later told a journalist about
Walerjan and his story.
Walerjan Wróbel Page 3 www.stiftung-denkmal.de

Bremen, July 9, 1942
Bremen.
Dear Mom and
dear Dad,
brother and little sister.
Last words.
Walerjan Wróbel.
Walerjan painted this horse for his
parents and enclosed it with his farewell
letter, July 1942.
Source: Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial
Walerjan Wróbel
On April 8, 1942, almost one year after the fire in
the barn, Walerjan was remanded in custody to
Bremen. A trial before a special court 4 was initiated
to try him. Despite the fact that Walerjan was still
a minor, the court found him guilty of arson and
sentenced him as a »Volksschädling« 5 (lit. »pest
harmful to the people«) to death. The day after he
was sentenced he wrote a secret farewell letter to
his parents. The letter was successfully smuggled
out of the prison and sent to his family.
Walerjan Wróbel Page 4a www.stiftung-denkmal.de

Denial of the plea for mercy by
Roland Freisler, Berlin 1942.
Source: State archive Bremen
Walerjan Wróbel
Walerjan’s public defender submitted a plea for mercy, denied by
Roland Freisler 6 in the name of the Reich justice minister. Walerjan
was executed in Hamburg on August 25, 1942 at the age of 17.
The carrying out of the death penalty was announced publicly in order
to serve as a deterrent and warning to the population in Bremen.
In the 1980s, a historian came upon Walerjan’s story and investigated it,
publishing the findings of his research in a book. Today an association
for the indemnification of former forced laborers bears the name of
Walerjan Wróbel.
To inform the public about Walerjan’s execution, posters were pasted up
in Bremen at more than 250 places. They referred to Walerjan
euphemistically as an agricultural worker, but in actual fact he had been
deported to Germany as a forced laborer. Source: State archive Bremen
Walerjan Wróbel Page 4b www.stiftung-denkmal.de

Translation of Freisler´s denial:
Certified Copy
In the criminal case at the Special Court in Bremen
on 8 July 1942 against
Walerjan W r o b e l
found guilty of arson and sentenced to death as
a pest dangerous to the people, I have decided, by and on
authority of the Führer, not to grant him a pardon, but
rather to let justice take its course.
Berlin, 15 August 1942
Reich Minister of Justice
(seal) Signed Dr. Freisler (on behalf of the minister)
----
Certified as identical with the original:
Berlin, 17 August 1942
(seal)
[signed] Chief Secretary, Ministerial Chancellery
Walerjan Wróbel
Translation of the notice on walerjan´s death sentence:
Walerjan Wróbel Page 4b Translation www.stiftung-denkmal.de
Notice
On Aug. 25, 1942
Walerjan Wrobel
born on April 2, 1925, was executed, pursuant to a death
sentence handed down by the Special Court in Bremen.
Wrobel, a Polish agricultural worker, set fire to a German farm.
Bremen, August 25, 1942
Chief State Prosecutor, Head of Prosecution at the Special Court

Forced Labor
Immediately after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, there was a drastic deterioration in the living conditions
of the Polish population. A large proportion of produced goods now had to be handed over to the German occupiers.
The food which the German provided the Poles as rations was barely enough for survival. Widespread unemployment made
their economic situation even worse. The consequences were starvation and destitution. A short time after the occupation
began, Germans recruited Poles for work in the Reich. Many initially reported »voluntarily«, hoping in this way to assure their
own survival. A short time later every village was forced to provide a specified number of workers for the German Reich.
Down to 1941, most were deployed as farmhands in agriculture on German farms, but later were sent to work in large numbers
especially in the armaments industry. Many were forced to live under conditions that resembled those in the concentration
camps. Food and accommodations were often miserable, the working conditions frequently inhuman and even highly
dangerous. The Nazis used the policy of forced labor in all the occupied countries in Europe. Down to the end of the war, some
eight million persons were deported to Germany from all over Europe and exploited there as forced laborers.
Walerjan Wróbel Background Text www.stiftung-denkmal.de

1 Forced Labor
Even before the outbreak of the war, the labor offices organized forced labor for inmates in concentration camps, persons with previous
convictions and welfare recipients. During the war, some eight million civilians, POWs, concentration camp prisoners and Jews from
occupied Europe, including many youths who were still minors, were exploited as forced laborers in ca. 30,000 camps. They were
also deployed in the German construction and armaments industry as well as in agriculture. Many perished as a result of the inhuman
working conditions.
2 Secret State Police (Gestapo, Geheime Staatspolizei)
Established in 1933, placed in 1934 under Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer-SS and Chief of the German Police. It was used to persecute
political opponents. Without a court proceeding, the Gestapo handed down penalties, sentencing persons to imprisonment in jails and
concentration camps; it murdered political prisoners, foreign forced laborers, and POWs. The Gestapo was directly implicated in the
mass murder of the European Jews.
3 Neuengamme Concentration Camp
Built in 1938 near Hamburg, originally as a subcamp of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In 1940, it became an independent camp
with numerous auxiliary camps. Tens of thousands of prisoners from the occupied countries in Europe were confined in its perimeter,
including many resistance fighters. The prisoners had to do forced labor. Almost every second inmate in Neuengamme died. Five days
before the end of the war, the SS loaded the approximately 7,000 remaining prisoners on a ship that was mistakenly attacked by the
Allies (RAF) and sunk (Cap Arcona Tragedy).
4 Special Court
Established in 1933 for the speedy conviction of political prisoners. The accused had only limited rights, and there could be no appeal
against a judgment handed down by these courts. From 1938 on, the competence of these courts was extended to include jurisdiction
over all criminal offenses. Down to 1945 and the end of the war, some 11,000 death sentences were handed down by special courts
against regime opponents, Poles, Jews and so-called Volksschädlinge.
5 »Volksschädling« (lit. »Pest harmful to the people«)
From 1939 on a term used for persons who voiced criticism of the Nazi regime. The concept was also employed for »misfits« who in
the eyes of the Nazis harmed the »public welfare« of society, such as those involved in plundering after air-raids, etc. Initially a label
used mainly for Germans, later it was also employed to characterize Poles. A person so labeled could be sentenced to the most severe
punishment, in many cases the death penalty.
6 Freisler, Roland
Born in 1893 in Celle, died 1945 in Berlin. A legal expert, from 1925 on member of the NSDAP. In 1932, he was elected a deputy in the
Prussian House of Representatives in Berlin. In 1934, Freisler was appointed State Secretary in the Justice Ministry, and from 1942 served
as President of the People’s Court. Under his jurisdiction, there was a severe restriction of the rights of the accused and numerous death
penalties were handed down, in contradiction with any understanding of civil law. He was popularly known as the »blood judge«.
Glossary
Walerjan Wróbel www.stiftung-denkmal.de

Literature
m Aly, Götz (Hrsg.): Herrenmensch und Arbeitsvölker. Ausländische Arbeiter und Deutsche 1939–1945,
Beiträge zur Nationalsozialistischen Gesundheits- und Sozialpolitik 3, Berlin 1986.
m Berliner Institut für Lehrerfort- und -weiterbildung und Schulentwicklung (Hrsg.):
» ... die vielen Morde ...«. Dem Gedenken an die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus, Berlin 1999.
m Freyberg, Jutta v., Barbara Bromberge, und Hans Mausbach: »Wir hatten andere Träume«.
Kinder und Jugendliche unter der NS-Diktatur, Frankfurt am Main 1995.
m Herbert, Ulrich: Fremdarbeiter: Politik und Praxis des »Ausländer-Einsatzes« in der Kriegswirtschaft
des Dritten Reiches, Bonn 1999.
m Hraber, Roman, Zofia Tokarz, und Jacek E. Wilczur: Kinder im Krieg – Krieg gegen Kinder:
Die Geschichte der polnischen Kinder 1939–1945, Reinbek 1981.
m Martin, Angela: Ich sah den Namen Bosch. Polnische Frauen als KZ-Häftlinge in der
Dreilinden Maschinenbau GmbH, Berlin 2002.
m Schminck-Gustavus, Christoph: Das Heimweh des Walerjan Wróbel.
Ein Sondergerichtsverfahren 1941/42, Bonn 1986.
m Spanjer, Rimco, Diete Oudesluijs, und Johan Meijer (Hrsg.): Zur Arbeit gezwungen.
Zwangsarbeit in Deutschland 1940–1945, Bremen 1999.
m Spoerer, Mark: Zwangsarbeit unter dem Hakenkreuz. Ausländische Zivilarbeiter, Kriegsgefangene
und Häftlinge im Deutschen Reich und im besetzten Europa 1939–1945, München 2001.
m Wassiljewa, Tatjana: Ab jetzt zählt jeder Tag, Weinheim, Basel 1994.
Literature / Films / Links
Walerjan Wróbel www.stiftung-denkmal.de

Films
G »Das Heimweh des Walerjan Wróbel« (96 Min) Spielfilm, Deutschland 1990 (Regie: Rolf Schübel);
Der Film erzählt die Verfolgungsgeschichte des Walerjan Wróbel.
Erhältlich über Landesbildstellen oder Studio Hamburg, Postfach 101 560, 22039 Hamburg.
G »Die Kinder von Himmlerstadt« (30 Min) Dokumentation, Deutschland 1983 (Regie: Elke Jonigkeit);
Der Film erzählt über die Germanisierungspolitik der SS im Distrikt Lublin und das Schicksal der Kinder
aus dem Gebiet Zamosc (Polen). Erhältlich über Landeszentralen für politische Bildung.
Links
E http://berliner-geschichtswerkstatt.de
E http://www.lernen-aus-der-geschichte.de
E http://www.spurensuche-harz.de
E http://www.studienkreis-widerstand-1933-45.de
E http://www.sujet.de/zwangsarbeit-berlin/
E http://www.lwv-hessen.de
E http://www.step21.de
E http://www.erinnern-online.de
Literature / Films / Links
Walerjan Wróbel www.stiftung-denkmal.de

Research and text:
Annegret Ehmann, Stefanie Fischer
Editing:
Stefanie Fischer
Design:
sujet.design Claudia Winter, Oliver Temmler
Translator:
Bill Templer
Responsible for conception and layout:
Prof. Dr. Sibylle Quack
We are especially grateful to the following persons and institutions:
Richard Cossmann, Gymnasium Herborn, Germany
Laura Dostmann, Seifertshofen, Germany
Federal Archive Berlin-Lichterfelde, Germany
Hadamar Memorial, Germany
Sonja Haderer-Stippel, Austria
Gottfried Kößler, Fritz Bauer Institut, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Bertil Langenohl, Max-Ernst-Gymnasium of the city of Brühl, Germany
Anna Matthias, Kaltenkirchen, Germany
Memorial, Concentration Camp Neuengamme, Germany
Lidice Memorial, Czech Republic
Municipality of Hadamar, Mayor’s Office, Mr. Lanio, Germany
Halina Piotrowska, Poland
Scheuern Homes, Nassau / Lahn, Germany
Prof. Christoph Schminck-Gustavus, Bremen, Germany
State Archive Bremen, Germany
Prof. Karl and Anna Stojka, Austria
© Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas, 2003
Web Site Credits
Walerjan Wróbel www.stiftung-denkmal.de