Dr. Brandt
07-23-2004, 12:34 PM
DOCUMENTS ON THE EXPULSION OF THE GERMANS FROM EASTERN-CENTRAL EUROPE
The Expulsion of the German Population from the Territories East of the Oder-Neisse Line
Published by the Federal Ministry for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims, Bonn, 1952
No. 572
Letter of E. B, of the village af A., district of Sensburg in East Prussia
Certified copy: May 1949.
Compulsory option for the Polish state enforced by ill-treatment and violence on the part of the Polish administration in February 1949
I shall never forget the month of February in this year. Up to then there were still more than 12.000 of us Germans in the district of Sensburg. Then canvassing meetings were held, at which we were severely prohibited to make purchases or sales or to leave the places, where we were living, unless we exercised our option for Poland. Also the Poles and Masurians were threatened with punishment, if they bought anything from or for us Germans. The police carried out checks in the businesses and at the market, and took the few people, who had dared to come to the town without a Masurian identity card to the Police station. But even this measure did not bring the ; desired success.
Then the canvassers went with armed policmen to the different villages, and all Germans from 14-100years of age were urgently ordered to appear, in order to sign. If anyone was ill in bed, they came to his house, and anyone
who hid himself was hunted out, and brought to the authorities. All the inhabitants of our village refused to exercise their option for Poland. Therefore, 28 of us were put into a truck, and taken to Sensburg. I was among these people. Furthermore, there were men and women of different ages, even a another of 8 small children, of whom the youngest was five years old. Those, who remained behind, were ordered to report themselves after 2 days to the mayor, or else they would be arrested.
We were taken out of the truck in Sensburg, half of us being handed over to the political Police, and the rest being brought provisionally to the militia. First of all we were shut up in a concrete cellar. At short intervals a policeman came, and asked who had already thought things over. Later he brought us to a room next to the guardroom, he apparently did this, in order to be able to control us better. Here we were at least able to sit on the wooden floor, but we received no food.
The second evening an official said to us, that we ought to be reasonable and to sign, for, as he said, there had in January been a conference in --` Warsaw, at which there were representatives of the Russian, Polish, American and British governments, who had decided, that not a single German was to be allowed to cross the Oder, as there was famine there, and not enough houses. Indeed all those must come back from the Reich, who were from these parts, for it was at last time, that families should be reunited.
As, however, these parts were now Poland, and we as Germans were not allowed to live in Poland, we had got to exercise our option. Then we should have the same rights as the Poles, and within 4 days to 4 weeks our men would be back from the Reich, and would be with their families.
'Many women said that, if they exercised their option, they would never be reunited with their husbands, as the latter would get a divorce, and the 337
women would have toiled all these years in vain to maintain their children. They were then told, that the men would be called upon to come, and that, if they refused, the women would have a reason for divorce, and could marry I'oles. They were also told, that permits from outside to go to the Reich, would not save them from signing. All this excited us so much, that 3 had to go to the hospital with heart attacks. I had to go the next day to the political police, and was put into a brick cell, with other companions in misery. There they took everything away from us: rugs, sheets, shawls, belts, bags, handkerchiefs and towels, soap and combs and even shoe-laces. The men had to hand over their caps and braces. Those who signed received the things back. We were given nothing to wash and comb ourselves with, during the whole week. We were to make up for what we had missed, when we went to sign, but I did not take advantage of this. We received sufficient food.
One woman told me in the cell, that for the first 3 days she had been in solitary confinement in a coal cellar, and could not sit down, because there was so much coal slack there; she also got nothing to eat. When she came into the cell, in which I met her, she was so icy-cold, that she required nearly a whole day to get warm again. She was married to a man in the Rhineland, and wanted to go with her 3 children to him, but she had to sign. We were told, that, even if Americans or Africans were present, we should have to sign all the same. There was a mother with her z6 year old daughter in the cell who told us, what the last night at the police station in her village was like: all those in arrest had to undress, until they were barefooted, and only had a chemise on. Then they had to stand outside for an hour in an icy-cold February wind. They were told, that anyone who signed could come in, but they all remained outside. When they came back inside, they had to leave their clothes in the corridor, and remain naked in the cold room, until 8 o'clock in the morning. The woman was 55 years of age, and did not sign with her daughter, until her back was all bruised with truncheon blows. Also her face was all discoloured from the blows. She could neither lie nor sit down.
We were asked again and again, why we did not want to sign. Our answers were convincing and well founded, but all the same, no-one left the building without being compelled to sign. We were repeatedly told, that this land had been Polish 700 years ago, and that the people living here now must be reunited with the Poles, who were their ancestral forefathers. The Germans were only on the other side of the Oder.
When I was asked, I said that I could not sign, as I had been born in the Reich. Then they hesitated a moment, and asked me where my parents and grandparents were born, and I replied that these also came from the Reich, and that I had never had relatives here. First they Iooked at me in doubt, but then said to me, that I must sign, and I should then get my passport and could gu away. I, thereupon, replied that, if I could not go back home as a German, I was not going to do so as a Pole. I was then told, that I should hc put inW the forced labour camp. I was ready for this, and likewise all the others were put to the test.
When they saw, that we were serious, they said we could either rott in the cell, or sign. I was again several times questioned alone, and always replied to repeated questions: "My conscience forbids me doing this. I was German, when times were good for me, and I will remain so, when times are bad, even if it costs me my life".
Then my ears were boxed. The canvasser then threatened me in the following way: "I give you the order to sign, not as a Masurian, but as a Pole". Then I replied: "You put a question to me, which I have got to answer with 'yes' er 'not'; I cannot answer with 'yes' and will bear all the consequences which arise". Again my ears were boxed, and the hymnbook was put before me with the question, as to whether I could read it, as it was Evangelical. I said'no', as I could not read the Polish language. My ears were again boxed, with the words: "Here is Poland! Here is Poland!" When I still did not sign, I was ordered to take off my cloak and clothes, and the door was shut. Then I had to bend over a chair, and was beaten with a truncheon; I was continually cynically asked at intervals, if it hurt. I clenched my teeth, and did not utter a sound. There were two other officials in the room, but all three were wearing civilian dress. One of them sat opposite to me, who watched the whole proceeding with a malicious grin.
They would have continued to ill-treat me, but someone wanted to come into the room. I had to dress myself again, and was led back into the cell with 5 other women, who had been treated in about the same way. There were now about zi of us women in the cell. The next night one was fetched out every quarter of an hour; the next morning there were only 8 of us left in the cell, as all the others had already yielded to the violence. Some of them came back tottering, in order to tell their relatives that they had signed. As the sentry might have heard, we did not dare to put any questions to them, but we saw what they had been through.
The 8 of us remaining were shouted at, that, if we did not soon come on our own, we should see after 3 hours what would happen. We saw how hopeless the situation was, but all the same waited, until we were called. We then put our names underneath a form, on which were printed the words: "I request to be given Polish citizenship, and promise to be faithful and obedient to the Polish State". We felt, as if we had signed our own death sentence.
The men were treated even worse. They were shut up in a room, in which lime-dust had been strewn thickly. Here the poor fellows had to walk about day and night with their trousers in their hands as their braces had been taken away from them. They were forbidden to lie down or sit down, and were closely watched. They were only allowed to go out, in order to relieve themselves once in 24 hours, and this without considering whether they were old or sick. Many men and women had either heart, kidney or bladder complaints, or suffered from rheumatism, and had great pains to endure. Women were allowed to relieve themselves 3 times a day. During the cross-examinations those questioned were punched, received upper-cuts in the chin and kicks.
My foster father was 6o years old, and on one occasion he received "treatment" from y o'clock to zi ö clock in the morning, and in the course of this he was continually thrust with his head against the wall; when he said, it would be better if they shot him, they gave him a cord to hang himself up, and told him otherwise to jump out of a window on the third
fioor, for a bullet was too good for him. Finally he had to bare the lower part of his body and to bend over a chair. He fainted, however, before he began to feel the truncheon, for he had disease of the heart. These fellows did not even hesitate to beat women and girls on their bare bodies.
We had suffered very much, but now they had violated us in the very worst way. We had now only one wish, and that was to escape from such a condition of affairs, and to get to our fellow Germans in the Reich.
No. 374
Letter of R. G. f rom the village o f C., district o f Sensburg in East Prussia.
Original. 11. March 1949. Letter to a friend.
Methods employed by the Polish authorities to compel Germans to exercise their option for Polish citizenship
On Sunday, the 6.February 1949, at 5 o clock in the afternoon, there was a meeting of the Town-Council for us Germans. At this meeting a local schoolmaster (called Professor), a chief forester, and a member of the Polish party along with the mayor, said the following to us: "According to an agreement with the Powers of Occupation, no more German transports will go from here across the Oder. We, therefore, give you the good advice to take Polish citizenship''8), emphasizing that you have had 4 years to do so. We now appeal to you for the last time, without compulsion and without beating you, to give your signatures today!"
As not a single person did this, another meeting was convened for Tuesday, the 8. February. The Landrat, who had the rank of a kind of captain of the Secret Police, also the evangelical clergyman appeared at io ö clock in the forenoon. The clergyman said the following: "The Town Council has also called upor, me to say a few words to you: If anyone possesses a farm, he sees that order is maintained on it, and that it is kept clean, the young Polish State must do the same in its realm; it has failed to do so for 4 years. Consider what Joseph and Mary did, they went such a long way to give their signatures; you must do the same."
The Polish Landrat then said: "I demand that by tomorrow evening, at 6 o'clock, there is not a single German in C. By becoming Poles you obtain the Same rights, indeed even better ones than any other Pole. You can choose landed property, receive a horse, a caw, and people to work for you, you could even perhaps receive your farms back. Anyone who needs support, will receive it, also pensions". No-one was caught by this trick.
The next day at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the commandant appeared with a militia man at my house, and took me with my wife to the Town Council, for an examination before the captain: "No, we will not sign", we said, to which they replied: "Why not", we then added: "We have 4 grown-up children in the Reich, and as we are old people, we want to go to them".
A small truck was standing before the building of the Town Council. When rny wife was exarnined she said, she would do the same as her husband did. My wife was allowed to go home, but I was put into the truck. B., St. and a 19. year old tractor driver named G. ;were put in with me. Then we arrived in Sensburg at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and were put in the cellar of the Secret Police. The next day B., who was 78 years of age, was cross-examined and, of course, refused to give his signature. He then had his ears boxed a few times, was struck with a ruler on his knuckles, and then sent back into the cellar.
I cannot write you everything, my dear friend Fritz, because the whole performance continued day and night from the 8. to about the 25. February. Therefore, I will restrict myself to telling you, what I had to suffer. On the second day I was again fetched upstairs. Here there were 3 well-dressed men sitting, from 22-30 years of age. They offered me a chair, and one of them sat down close in front of me, with a cigarette in his mouth, and asked why I had not signed during the last 4 years. My reply was: "My father was German, I can't speak a word of Polish, and am going to remain a loyal German. My father would not rest in his grave, if I became a Pole; I want to go in my old years to my children in the Reich, in order that I do not need to work so hard any more." My face was then slapped, and I was ordered to clench the 5 fingers of both my hands, and then one of these men struck my knuckles with a ruler and also my bald head. "Are you going to sign?" "After this certainly not." I was again locked up.
I was 3 times beaten in this way, but the second time it was worse. Then I had to take off my boots and stockings, put my naked feet on a foot stool, and was beaten on the soles of my feet with rubber tubes. Twa men continued doing this, until my feet were black and blue. Then I had to take my trousers and pants down, and received a dosing. You can imagine how z men from both sides laid it in, as I lay over the chair. Then I had to sit on the floor, and they lifted me onto my legs by the hair at the side of my head. They then punched the tendons of my neck, and finally put my back to the wall, seized my chin, and struck the wall with the back of my head; this they did 10 or 12 times. This continued over an hour, so that I became quite dizzy.
As I still did not sign, they said to me: "You'll come back after an hour". The fourth time I was afraid they would cripple me or torture me to death, and signed after 5 days and 5 nights.
Now I am suffering very much with my heart, and I went to the Polish doctor, who at once asked, whether I had been thrashed. He gave me a medical certificate to the effect, that I can only do light work.
We only have one desire, and that is to publish all this, in order t hat we may get out, for the signatures cannot be regarded as valid. About 13.000 Germans in the district of Sensburg were treated in the same way. Many had their arrns and legs broken. See that the signatures of February are declared to be not valid. Why have so many transports departed, and the rest of us not? We have no idea, what the game is.
We now send you most hearty greetings from us enslaved Germans in C. I suppose, we shall never meet again.
Nr. 375
Letter of H. W. from the aillage of D., district of Sensburg in East Prussia. Certified copy. May 1949.
Incidents during the measures taken by the Poles in February 1949, in order to compel the Germans to choose PoIish citizenship
To all German authorities: how the Germans struggled to retain their nationality, but were all the same forced to sign for Poland.
Report on my own experiences and those of other fellow Germans.
Just as if hell had been let loose the Poles began to rave and rage and to subject the Germans to every form of chicanery, in order to force them to sign. All the Germans were at their wits ends, and ran to one another, but only secretly, as the Poles had forbidden them to go from one place to the other. Also we were not allowed to buy anything, and no Pole was allowed to give a German anything. We had got to starve or sign, but this could not shake us, for we Germans had already been through even greater hardships. We were Germans in good times, and we were going to remain Germans also in bad times.
One heard how the chicanery was exercised in one village after another, and how the Germans of one village after another signed. It was continually asked, why the Germans did not hold out. Many were locked up in cellars, but they were all reduced at last to signing, by means of truncheons, wire ropes and iron bars. Poles were specially employed to thrash the Germans, and received 13 000 zlotys a day for doing it.
Suddenly the order was issued, also in our village; all Germans were ordered to go at once to a meeting. Here they were received by 5 members of the Polish authorities, and by the police (militiz and secret police). The torturing began. I was asked: "Will you sign as a Polish woman?" "No." "Why not?" "Because I am a German woman". I was then asked, where I had been born, district and province. "District so and so, and province East Prussia". "You were born in Masurian Poland." "No." "Where is your mother?" "She is ill in bed." "She was also born here?" "Yes." "She is also a Polish woman like yourself." "No, I am a German, and the daughter of a German mother." "This is Poland here, and anyone born here is a Pole." "I am not a Polish woman; when I was born, all this belonged to the German Reich." Then he shouted at me not to be so impudent. I was threatened with being brought to the Police station. They asked me where my father was. "He was shot on the 23. March by Poles." I was told not to say that again, and they observed, that he was not shot by Poles but by bandits. "I am not going to sign. I am going to cross the Oder." I was put back into the cellar.
There were 80 Germans in our village, and they all remained steadfast. They were brought out, and put into a truck; those who did not get in were further tormented; then some of them signed. We then came into the cellar at the police station, every few minutes they tried to make us believe, that we must sign. In the cellar we met women, who had been there for 8 days without food. Some of them had permits to move into quarters across the Oder, and all the documcots for departing to their husbands. The Poles dealt particularly with these women. "Not one of you is getting out. If you don't sign, then you will be sent to Warsaw and Siberia, to be put into a forced labour camp." We were ready to suffer this, but as German citizens. We were then dealt with more severely. We all had to go to the Secret Police, and they would be sure to make us submit.
Then they said to us: "An order has come from Moscow, that all Germans have got to sign. The West Powers are in agreernent, and the English and the Americans have been in Warsaw, and have confirmed, that they are going to do nothing for the Germans here in Poland, and will receive no Germans into their zones, as there is a great famine there. Further, all East Prussians are going to be expelled by them, and sent here. If sve don't sign, we are not going to come out unscathed." That was shouted at us so violently, that our nerves could not stand it, and many of us women collapsed.
Then we were to be put in the hospital. When I recovered, I was determined not to sign; as far as I was concerned my life was finished, and I was determined to die as a German. But our votes were of great importance to them, and we were actually brought to the hospital. There I collapsed again, but by means of drops, injections and tablets, they restored me to consciousness. After 3 days we were fetched by the police, and conducted, like the worst criminals, through the street back to the cellar. In spite of being so ill, we were put into the coal cellar behind streng iron bars. Here things were lively, and we were examined every few hours.
There were very many men there, from youths to very old men. The Poles tore their clothes from their bodies, and beat them, naked as they were, with wire cords, sticks and iron bars. There was a father there with his two sons. The sons they did not beat, but the father so brutally, that he collapsed; a pail of water was thrown over his head, and they began to beat him again. He endured this for 14 days, and then came to his neighbour's wife, and said he had signed. Enough violence breaks iron wills.
A daughter, who was locked up in another place, came to her 65 year old mother, and told us that a young woman and a young girl had been brought outside to the woods and raped. Thereupon, they signed, and then reported everything to the authorities. I then heard, that this woman was taken away in the night by a truck, and that since then it was not known where she was.
Some women told us, that they had to stand outside in their chemises, and that young girls had to carry water, naked as they were, and this was in February. It was, therefore, a lie, when they told us again and again, that we should not come out of the cellar as Germans. The last night of the 8 days that I was there, there was hell upon earth. The men were so thrashed, that they could no longer endure it, and the next morning all signed. Women were fettered and beaten so hard, that the blood spurted up to the ceiling. We at last saw, that it was useless, for who would gain, if all our bones were broken, and at the end we had to sign.
I had to suffer all the more, because I could not speak a word of Polish, and always had to have an interpreter, and this made them hate me all the more, for I repeatedly said: "I canīt speak a word of Polish, and even if I sign you will keep me locked up in the cellar." "No", they said, "we shant do that." But now they lock up people, who speak German, for they maintain, that Polish is our mother tongue, and German a foreign language.
I was so ill, and did not know what to do. They observed this, and asked why I was risking my health. I must sign, and then they would help me. But I took no notice of this, for I knew what their help meant. All the same they gave me some pushes and blows in my face, and I was at last forced iro sign.
I was the last person in our village to sign. I came home, collapsed, and was unconscious for 3 hours, and then severely ill for 14 days. I cannot even recuperate today, nor console myself for having signed. Ort the form, which I signed, stood the words: "I request to be granted Polish citizenship." I also had to give two witnesses to testify, that this was true. They had blackmailed me, and this was no request on my part, but it was impossible to continue to resist such violence.
The district of Sensburg had a population of 12.000 Germans, and now there are only a few left here and there. The district of Ortelsburg was also compelled to sign. There the people were treated much worse. The Germans had to run the gauntlet between knives, and were continually pricked with needles. Many people paid for all this with their lives, went mad, hanged themselves in desperation, or died from the beatings.
I would now like to put the question as to whether we cannot be freed from the great wrong done us. Have we poor Germans really been forgotten? For although we were forced to sign, our hearts and blood remain German, and we appeal to heaven and to you for help and emancipation. Have mercy on our lot.
No. 382
Letter o f K. M, f rom the village o f K., district -of Sensburg in Easf Prussia
Photo copy. 24.January 1952.
Call for help against attenipts at polonisation made for years by Polish authorities in East Prussia
We are in the direst need, and appeal to our fellow countrymen in Western Germany, as we Germans are confronted with new excesses for the purpose of polonisation. As a result of years of experience, we know that the Polish authorities intend to force us to become Polish citizens, and that they will employ every form of cunning, deception and inhuman brutality, in order to attain their ends. We seriously fear, that the cruel excesses will be repeated.
This time it is a question of identity cards with photographs and finger*prints, which everyone must have. The police are carrying out the procedure, and anyone who refuses will be punished.
As long as we are compelled to live here, we recognize the need of identity cards, if they show our German nationality, as we are Germans, and want to remain such. The Poles, however, will never give us such identity cards.
We refuse to accept Polish identity cards, which stamp us as Poles, and we shall, there fore, again be thrown into prison.Here we shall suffer the same most inhuman treatment, as during the option procedure carried out in February 1949 and which, in spite of all our protests, is still regarded as a valid option.
How long are we to suffer this ceaseless persecution, without any protection being afforded us? Why are we not left free to decide for ourselves, but treated like slaves? Our health has suffered very much, as a result of the nerve-shattering life of the past years. In order to remain Germans, we suffered the expropriation of our farms in 1945, and worked for the Poles. We were robbed, insulted, beaten, ill-treated, and have starved and lived in rags with strange people.
We have applied, in our desperation, to the government of the German Democratic Republic (Soviet Zone), but expect no successful result. Our applications for resettlement, as also protests against the torture option of 1949, to all competent Polish authorities have been refused, and returned to us as unfounded. Are we condemned to live forever in these circumstances, which are breaking us, and are we never to be reunited with our relatives in Germany? We have not voluntarily remained here, but want to live as Germans, as long as we are waiting for our resettlement. We are bound by no ties to this Polish state. The certificate drawn up by the Federal government of West Germany, is not recognized by the Polish authorities as an identity card.
It would seem, that we are to remain defenseless victims of the arbitrary treatment of Polish despotism, unless help comes from somewhere.
The Expulsion of the German Population from the Territories East of the Oder-Neisse Line
Published by the Federal Ministry for Expellees, Refugees and War Victims, Bonn, 1952
No. 572
Letter of E. B, of the village af A., district of Sensburg in East Prussia
Certified copy: May 1949.
Compulsory option for the Polish state enforced by ill-treatment and violence on the part of the Polish administration in February 1949
I shall never forget the month of February in this year. Up to then there were still more than 12.000 of us Germans in the district of Sensburg. Then canvassing meetings were held, at which we were severely prohibited to make purchases or sales or to leave the places, where we were living, unless we exercised our option for Poland. Also the Poles and Masurians were threatened with punishment, if they bought anything from or for us Germans. The police carried out checks in the businesses and at the market, and took the few people, who had dared to come to the town without a Masurian identity card to the Police station. But even this measure did not bring the ; desired success.
Then the canvassers went with armed policmen to the different villages, and all Germans from 14-100years of age were urgently ordered to appear, in order to sign. If anyone was ill in bed, they came to his house, and anyone
who hid himself was hunted out, and brought to the authorities. All the inhabitants of our village refused to exercise their option for Poland. Therefore, 28 of us were put into a truck, and taken to Sensburg. I was among these people. Furthermore, there were men and women of different ages, even a another of 8 small children, of whom the youngest was five years old. Those, who remained behind, were ordered to report themselves after 2 days to the mayor, or else they would be arrested.
We were taken out of the truck in Sensburg, half of us being handed over to the political Police, and the rest being brought provisionally to the militia. First of all we were shut up in a concrete cellar. At short intervals a policeman came, and asked who had already thought things over. Later he brought us to a room next to the guardroom, he apparently did this, in order to be able to control us better. Here we were at least able to sit on the wooden floor, but we received no food.
The second evening an official said to us, that we ought to be reasonable and to sign, for, as he said, there had in January been a conference in --` Warsaw, at which there were representatives of the Russian, Polish, American and British governments, who had decided, that not a single German was to be allowed to cross the Oder, as there was famine there, and not enough houses. Indeed all those must come back from the Reich, who were from these parts, for it was at last time, that families should be reunited.
As, however, these parts were now Poland, and we as Germans were not allowed to live in Poland, we had got to exercise our option. Then we should have the same rights as the Poles, and within 4 days to 4 weeks our men would be back from the Reich, and would be with their families.
'Many women said that, if they exercised their option, they would never be reunited with their husbands, as the latter would get a divorce, and the 337
women would have toiled all these years in vain to maintain their children. They were then told, that the men would be called upon to come, and that, if they refused, the women would have a reason for divorce, and could marry I'oles. They were also told, that permits from outside to go to the Reich, would not save them from signing. All this excited us so much, that 3 had to go to the hospital with heart attacks. I had to go the next day to the political police, and was put into a brick cell, with other companions in misery. There they took everything away from us: rugs, sheets, shawls, belts, bags, handkerchiefs and towels, soap and combs and even shoe-laces. The men had to hand over their caps and braces. Those who signed received the things back. We were given nothing to wash and comb ourselves with, during the whole week. We were to make up for what we had missed, when we went to sign, but I did not take advantage of this. We received sufficient food.
One woman told me in the cell, that for the first 3 days she had been in solitary confinement in a coal cellar, and could not sit down, because there was so much coal slack there; she also got nothing to eat. When she came into the cell, in which I met her, she was so icy-cold, that she required nearly a whole day to get warm again. She was married to a man in the Rhineland, and wanted to go with her 3 children to him, but she had to sign. We were told, that, even if Americans or Africans were present, we should have to sign all the same. There was a mother with her z6 year old daughter in the cell who told us, what the last night at the police station in her village was like: all those in arrest had to undress, until they were barefooted, and only had a chemise on. Then they had to stand outside for an hour in an icy-cold February wind. They were told, that anyone who signed could come in, but they all remained outside. When they came back inside, they had to leave their clothes in the corridor, and remain naked in the cold room, until 8 o'clock in the morning. The woman was 55 years of age, and did not sign with her daughter, until her back was all bruised with truncheon blows. Also her face was all discoloured from the blows. She could neither lie nor sit down.
We were asked again and again, why we did not want to sign. Our answers were convincing and well founded, but all the same, no-one left the building without being compelled to sign. We were repeatedly told, that this land had been Polish 700 years ago, and that the people living here now must be reunited with the Poles, who were their ancestral forefathers. The Germans were only on the other side of the Oder.
When I was asked, I said that I could not sign, as I had been born in the Reich. Then they hesitated a moment, and asked me where my parents and grandparents were born, and I replied that these also came from the Reich, and that I had never had relatives here. First they Iooked at me in doubt, but then said to me, that I must sign, and I should then get my passport and could gu away. I, thereupon, replied that, if I could not go back home as a German, I was not going to do so as a Pole. I was then told, that I should hc put inW the forced labour camp. I was ready for this, and likewise all the others were put to the test.
When they saw, that we were serious, they said we could either rott in the cell, or sign. I was again several times questioned alone, and always replied to repeated questions: "My conscience forbids me doing this. I was German, when times were good for me, and I will remain so, when times are bad, even if it costs me my life".
Then my ears were boxed. The canvasser then threatened me in the following way: "I give you the order to sign, not as a Masurian, but as a Pole". Then I replied: "You put a question to me, which I have got to answer with 'yes' er 'not'; I cannot answer with 'yes' and will bear all the consequences which arise". Again my ears were boxed, and the hymnbook was put before me with the question, as to whether I could read it, as it was Evangelical. I said'no', as I could not read the Polish language. My ears were again boxed, with the words: "Here is Poland! Here is Poland!" When I still did not sign, I was ordered to take off my cloak and clothes, and the door was shut. Then I had to bend over a chair, and was beaten with a truncheon; I was continually cynically asked at intervals, if it hurt. I clenched my teeth, and did not utter a sound. There were two other officials in the room, but all three were wearing civilian dress. One of them sat opposite to me, who watched the whole proceeding with a malicious grin.
They would have continued to ill-treat me, but someone wanted to come into the room. I had to dress myself again, and was led back into the cell with 5 other women, who had been treated in about the same way. There were now about zi of us women in the cell. The next night one was fetched out every quarter of an hour; the next morning there were only 8 of us left in the cell, as all the others had already yielded to the violence. Some of them came back tottering, in order to tell their relatives that they had signed. As the sentry might have heard, we did not dare to put any questions to them, but we saw what they had been through.
The 8 of us remaining were shouted at, that, if we did not soon come on our own, we should see after 3 hours what would happen. We saw how hopeless the situation was, but all the same waited, until we were called. We then put our names underneath a form, on which were printed the words: "I request to be given Polish citizenship, and promise to be faithful and obedient to the Polish State". We felt, as if we had signed our own death sentence.
The men were treated even worse. They were shut up in a room, in which lime-dust had been strewn thickly. Here the poor fellows had to walk about day and night with their trousers in their hands as their braces had been taken away from them. They were forbidden to lie down or sit down, and were closely watched. They were only allowed to go out, in order to relieve themselves once in 24 hours, and this without considering whether they were old or sick. Many men and women had either heart, kidney or bladder complaints, or suffered from rheumatism, and had great pains to endure. Women were allowed to relieve themselves 3 times a day. During the cross-examinations those questioned were punched, received upper-cuts in the chin and kicks.
My foster father was 6o years old, and on one occasion he received "treatment" from y o'clock to zi ö clock in the morning, and in the course of this he was continually thrust with his head against the wall; when he said, it would be better if they shot him, they gave him a cord to hang himself up, and told him otherwise to jump out of a window on the third
fioor, for a bullet was too good for him. Finally he had to bare the lower part of his body and to bend over a chair. He fainted, however, before he began to feel the truncheon, for he had disease of the heart. These fellows did not even hesitate to beat women and girls on their bare bodies.
We had suffered very much, but now they had violated us in the very worst way. We had now only one wish, and that was to escape from such a condition of affairs, and to get to our fellow Germans in the Reich.
No. 374
Letter of R. G. f rom the village o f C., district o f Sensburg in East Prussia.
Original. 11. March 1949. Letter to a friend.
Methods employed by the Polish authorities to compel Germans to exercise their option for Polish citizenship
On Sunday, the 6.February 1949, at 5 o clock in the afternoon, there was a meeting of the Town-Council for us Germans. At this meeting a local schoolmaster (called Professor), a chief forester, and a member of the Polish party along with the mayor, said the following to us: "According to an agreement with the Powers of Occupation, no more German transports will go from here across the Oder. We, therefore, give you the good advice to take Polish citizenship''8), emphasizing that you have had 4 years to do so. We now appeal to you for the last time, without compulsion and without beating you, to give your signatures today!"
As not a single person did this, another meeting was convened for Tuesday, the 8. February. The Landrat, who had the rank of a kind of captain of the Secret Police, also the evangelical clergyman appeared at io ö clock in the forenoon. The clergyman said the following: "The Town Council has also called upor, me to say a few words to you: If anyone possesses a farm, he sees that order is maintained on it, and that it is kept clean, the young Polish State must do the same in its realm; it has failed to do so for 4 years. Consider what Joseph and Mary did, they went such a long way to give their signatures; you must do the same."
The Polish Landrat then said: "I demand that by tomorrow evening, at 6 o'clock, there is not a single German in C. By becoming Poles you obtain the Same rights, indeed even better ones than any other Pole. You can choose landed property, receive a horse, a caw, and people to work for you, you could even perhaps receive your farms back. Anyone who needs support, will receive it, also pensions". No-one was caught by this trick.
The next day at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the commandant appeared with a militia man at my house, and took me with my wife to the Town Council, for an examination before the captain: "No, we will not sign", we said, to which they replied: "Why not", we then added: "We have 4 grown-up children in the Reich, and as we are old people, we want to go to them".
A small truck was standing before the building of the Town Council. When rny wife was exarnined she said, she would do the same as her husband did. My wife was allowed to go home, but I was put into the truck. B., St. and a 19. year old tractor driver named G. ;were put in with me. Then we arrived in Sensburg at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and were put in the cellar of the Secret Police. The next day B., who was 78 years of age, was cross-examined and, of course, refused to give his signature. He then had his ears boxed a few times, was struck with a ruler on his knuckles, and then sent back into the cellar.
I cannot write you everything, my dear friend Fritz, because the whole performance continued day and night from the 8. to about the 25. February. Therefore, I will restrict myself to telling you, what I had to suffer. On the second day I was again fetched upstairs. Here there were 3 well-dressed men sitting, from 22-30 years of age. They offered me a chair, and one of them sat down close in front of me, with a cigarette in his mouth, and asked why I had not signed during the last 4 years. My reply was: "My father was German, I can't speak a word of Polish, and am going to remain a loyal German. My father would not rest in his grave, if I became a Pole; I want to go in my old years to my children in the Reich, in order that I do not need to work so hard any more." My face was then slapped, and I was ordered to clench the 5 fingers of both my hands, and then one of these men struck my knuckles with a ruler and also my bald head. "Are you going to sign?" "After this certainly not." I was again locked up.
I was 3 times beaten in this way, but the second time it was worse. Then I had to take off my boots and stockings, put my naked feet on a foot stool, and was beaten on the soles of my feet with rubber tubes. Twa men continued doing this, until my feet were black and blue. Then I had to take my trousers and pants down, and received a dosing. You can imagine how z men from both sides laid it in, as I lay over the chair. Then I had to sit on the floor, and they lifted me onto my legs by the hair at the side of my head. They then punched the tendons of my neck, and finally put my back to the wall, seized my chin, and struck the wall with the back of my head; this they did 10 or 12 times. This continued over an hour, so that I became quite dizzy.
As I still did not sign, they said to me: "You'll come back after an hour". The fourth time I was afraid they would cripple me or torture me to death, and signed after 5 days and 5 nights.
Now I am suffering very much with my heart, and I went to the Polish doctor, who at once asked, whether I had been thrashed. He gave me a medical certificate to the effect, that I can only do light work.
We only have one desire, and that is to publish all this, in order t hat we may get out, for the signatures cannot be regarded as valid. About 13.000 Germans in the district of Sensburg were treated in the same way. Many had their arrns and legs broken. See that the signatures of February are declared to be not valid. Why have so many transports departed, and the rest of us not? We have no idea, what the game is.
We now send you most hearty greetings from us enslaved Germans in C. I suppose, we shall never meet again.
Nr. 375
Letter of H. W. from the aillage of D., district of Sensburg in East Prussia. Certified copy. May 1949.
Incidents during the measures taken by the Poles in February 1949, in order to compel the Germans to choose PoIish citizenship
To all German authorities: how the Germans struggled to retain their nationality, but were all the same forced to sign for Poland.
Report on my own experiences and those of other fellow Germans.
Just as if hell had been let loose the Poles began to rave and rage and to subject the Germans to every form of chicanery, in order to force them to sign. All the Germans were at their wits ends, and ran to one another, but only secretly, as the Poles had forbidden them to go from one place to the other. Also we were not allowed to buy anything, and no Pole was allowed to give a German anything. We had got to starve or sign, but this could not shake us, for we Germans had already been through even greater hardships. We were Germans in good times, and we were going to remain Germans also in bad times.
One heard how the chicanery was exercised in one village after another, and how the Germans of one village after another signed. It was continually asked, why the Germans did not hold out. Many were locked up in cellars, but they were all reduced at last to signing, by means of truncheons, wire ropes and iron bars. Poles were specially employed to thrash the Germans, and received 13 000 zlotys a day for doing it.
Suddenly the order was issued, also in our village; all Germans were ordered to go at once to a meeting. Here they were received by 5 members of the Polish authorities, and by the police (militiz and secret police). The torturing began. I was asked: "Will you sign as a Polish woman?" "No." "Why not?" "Because I am a German woman". I was then asked, where I had been born, district and province. "District so and so, and province East Prussia". "You were born in Masurian Poland." "No." "Where is your mother?" "She is ill in bed." "She was also born here?" "Yes." "She is also a Polish woman like yourself." "No, I am a German, and the daughter of a German mother." "This is Poland here, and anyone born here is a Pole." "I am not a Polish woman; when I was born, all this belonged to the German Reich." Then he shouted at me not to be so impudent. I was threatened with being brought to the Police station. They asked me where my father was. "He was shot on the 23. March by Poles." I was told not to say that again, and they observed, that he was not shot by Poles but by bandits. "I am not going to sign. I am going to cross the Oder." I was put back into the cellar.
There were 80 Germans in our village, and they all remained steadfast. They were brought out, and put into a truck; those who did not get in were further tormented; then some of them signed. We then came into the cellar at the police station, every few minutes they tried to make us believe, that we must sign. In the cellar we met women, who had been there for 8 days without food. Some of them had permits to move into quarters across the Oder, and all the documcots for departing to their husbands. The Poles dealt particularly with these women. "Not one of you is getting out. If you don't sign, then you will be sent to Warsaw and Siberia, to be put into a forced labour camp." We were ready to suffer this, but as German citizens. We were then dealt with more severely. We all had to go to the Secret Police, and they would be sure to make us submit.
Then they said to us: "An order has come from Moscow, that all Germans have got to sign. The West Powers are in agreernent, and the English and the Americans have been in Warsaw, and have confirmed, that they are going to do nothing for the Germans here in Poland, and will receive no Germans into their zones, as there is a great famine there. Further, all East Prussians are going to be expelled by them, and sent here. If sve don't sign, we are not going to come out unscathed." That was shouted at us so violently, that our nerves could not stand it, and many of us women collapsed.
Then we were to be put in the hospital. When I recovered, I was determined not to sign; as far as I was concerned my life was finished, and I was determined to die as a German. But our votes were of great importance to them, and we were actually brought to the hospital. There I collapsed again, but by means of drops, injections and tablets, they restored me to consciousness. After 3 days we were fetched by the police, and conducted, like the worst criminals, through the street back to the cellar. In spite of being so ill, we were put into the coal cellar behind streng iron bars. Here things were lively, and we were examined every few hours.
There were very many men there, from youths to very old men. The Poles tore their clothes from their bodies, and beat them, naked as they were, with wire cords, sticks and iron bars. There was a father there with his two sons. The sons they did not beat, but the father so brutally, that he collapsed; a pail of water was thrown over his head, and they began to beat him again. He endured this for 14 days, and then came to his neighbour's wife, and said he had signed. Enough violence breaks iron wills.
A daughter, who was locked up in another place, came to her 65 year old mother, and told us that a young woman and a young girl had been brought outside to the woods and raped. Thereupon, they signed, and then reported everything to the authorities. I then heard, that this woman was taken away in the night by a truck, and that since then it was not known where she was.
Some women told us, that they had to stand outside in their chemises, and that young girls had to carry water, naked as they were, and this was in February. It was, therefore, a lie, when they told us again and again, that we should not come out of the cellar as Germans. The last night of the 8 days that I was there, there was hell upon earth. The men were so thrashed, that they could no longer endure it, and the next morning all signed. Women were fettered and beaten so hard, that the blood spurted up to the ceiling. We at last saw, that it was useless, for who would gain, if all our bones were broken, and at the end we had to sign.
I had to suffer all the more, because I could not speak a word of Polish, and always had to have an interpreter, and this made them hate me all the more, for I repeatedly said: "I canīt speak a word of Polish, and even if I sign you will keep me locked up in the cellar." "No", they said, "we shant do that." But now they lock up people, who speak German, for they maintain, that Polish is our mother tongue, and German a foreign language.
I was so ill, and did not know what to do. They observed this, and asked why I was risking my health. I must sign, and then they would help me. But I took no notice of this, for I knew what their help meant. All the same they gave me some pushes and blows in my face, and I was at last forced iro sign.
I was the last person in our village to sign. I came home, collapsed, and was unconscious for 3 hours, and then severely ill for 14 days. I cannot even recuperate today, nor console myself for having signed. Ort the form, which I signed, stood the words: "I request to be granted Polish citizenship." I also had to give two witnesses to testify, that this was true. They had blackmailed me, and this was no request on my part, but it was impossible to continue to resist such violence.
The district of Sensburg had a population of 12.000 Germans, and now there are only a few left here and there. The district of Ortelsburg was also compelled to sign. There the people were treated much worse. The Germans had to run the gauntlet between knives, and were continually pricked with needles. Many people paid for all this with their lives, went mad, hanged themselves in desperation, or died from the beatings.
I would now like to put the question as to whether we cannot be freed from the great wrong done us. Have we poor Germans really been forgotten? For although we were forced to sign, our hearts and blood remain German, and we appeal to heaven and to you for help and emancipation. Have mercy on our lot.
No. 382
Letter o f K. M, f rom the village o f K., district -of Sensburg in Easf Prussia
Photo copy. 24.January 1952.
Call for help against attenipts at polonisation made for years by Polish authorities in East Prussia
We are in the direst need, and appeal to our fellow countrymen in Western Germany, as we Germans are confronted with new excesses for the purpose of polonisation. As a result of years of experience, we know that the Polish authorities intend to force us to become Polish citizens, and that they will employ every form of cunning, deception and inhuman brutality, in order to attain their ends. We seriously fear, that the cruel excesses will be repeated.
This time it is a question of identity cards with photographs and finger*prints, which everyone must have. The police are carrying out the procedure, and anyone who refuses will be punished.
As long as we are compelled to live here, we recognize the need of identity cards, if they show our German nationality, as we are Germans, and want to remain such. The Poles, however, will never give us such identity cards.
We refuse to accept Polish identity cards, which stamp us as Poles, and we shall, there fore, again be thrown into prison.Here we shall suffer the same most inhuman treatment, as during the option procedure carried out in February 1949 and which, in spite of all our protests, is still regarded as a valid option.
How long are we to suffer this ceaseless persecution, without any protection being afforded us? Why are we not left free to decide for ourselves, but treated like slaves? Our health has suffered very much, as a result of the nerve-shattering life of the past years. In order to remain Germans, we suffered the expropriation of our farms in 1945, and worked for the Poles. We were robbed, insulted, beaten, ill-treated, and have starved and lived in rags with strange people.
We have applied, in our desperation, to the government of the German Democratic Republic (Soviet Zone), but expect no successful result. Our applications for resettlement, as also protests against the torture option of 1949, to all competent Polish authorities have been refused, and returned to us as unfounded. Are we condemned to live forever in these circumstances, which are breaking us, and are we never to be reunited with our relatives in Germany? We have not voluntarily remained here, but want to live as Germans, as long as we are waiting for our resettlement. We are bound by no ties to this Polish state. The certificate drawn up by the Federal government of West Germany, is not recognized by the Polish authorities as an identity card.
It would seem, that we are to remain defenseless victims of the arbitrary treatment of Polish despotism, unless help comes from somewhere.