Joanna Krzemińska
Class 6b
[missing] November 1946
Memories of German crimes
On 1 September 1939, Poland was invaded by the Germans. Our cruel enemy, having entered Poland, began to destroy towns and villages and was cruel towards our people. The Germans imposed quotas on farmers and took away their belongings. They threw out the owners of mansions and larger farms and appointed their own commissars. The more educated people were captured and deported to concentration camps in the west. University youth were sent to labor camps. Children from elementary schools were not allowed to learn certain subjects, such as history and geography.
Every day people expected roundups, which meant deportation to the camps. We spent six years under the German occupation. The enemy treated [missing] meager pay. In the fourth year of occupation, the Poles could not bear it any longer and began an uprising in Warsaw. They fought bravely, but were defeated due to lack of planes, modern weapons, reinforcements and food supplies. The enemy knew that Warsaw was the heart of Poland and destroyed it completely. The insurgents were taken to the camps. They were starved and cruelly murdered there. Few people returned from the camps. Poles mourned the bombed capital. In the fifth year of occupation, the Germans took everything they could. Knowing that they could not hold out for long, they started stealing factory machines.
Fleeing our territory, the enemy left everything in ruin. How much blood was spilled on the battlefields, how many fathers died to protect their homeland! But after six years a free white eagle spread its wings over Poland, showing the power of our country.