A song created and secretly sung by children at the Potulice camp
Text of a song transcribed by Maria Brylowska in 20091941/1944
Polish History Museum
Warszawa, Poland
The German resettlement and labour camp in Potulice was set up on February 1, 1942. At the end of 1941, beginning of 1942, the camp was subordinated to the Stutthof camp; then, as an independent entity, it was enlarged and expanded with branches in Smukała and Toruń. Displaced Polish families from Pomerania were put in the camp. Some of them were sent to the General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories, some of the prisoners were sent to forced labour in farms and factories of the Danzig-Ostpreussen district. Overall some 25,000 people went through the camp. According to German records, 1297 persons died in the camp, 767 of which were children.
- Title: A song created and secretly sung by children at the Potulice camp
- Creator: Text of a song transcribed by Maria Brylowska in 2009
- Date: 1941/1944
- Location: Potulice
- Transcript:In Potulice, in the camp there is a living place – Anyone who gets there finds out it is just a crying space. When they drove me there, I got quite a treat: They took off my dress and gave some rags to greet. They gave me some bread – just a little bit And they even wondered if I had eaten it. “No, I haven’t eaten it; I’ve put it at the door. Every time I look at it, my tears drop to the floor.” My father told me: oh my dear child, Do not be scared, our life’s far from being mild. I would not listen to my dad, my mum or my brothers, That’s how I’ve wasted my youth with the others.Hide TranscriptShow Transcript
- Collection: Imiłkowski family
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