Polish conscripts to German army

The surname Fierek is most frequent in the town of Czersk (Pomerania) and its vicinity The area was attached to the Third Reich in 1939.

I am not surprised that Czersk has numerous persons by the name of Fierek as my father was the youngest of 13 !
I have also been made aware that my grandfather swapped his nationality to become German and many of my fathers brothers favoured differing political views.

So as a family they were very divided.
After his capture in Baden or Maestrich my father ended up in Scotland and took back his Polish nationality.
The history I am trying to piece together is followiing the battle of Merville ,his capture and resettlement in Scotland and Plymouth UK.
Any further information gratefully received. Thanks Fierekk

Hi. Dad who died in 1999 was conscripted by ss in Ukraine and despite his desertion and torture , eventually reached UK but suffered from ptsd. He had breakdown when Polish mum died early and I suffered malnutrition and close to death. Just surviving now almost alone with bad memories. Maybe lucky to eat well now when able!

I had pleasure of working with lovely old chap called Edwin in the eighties. In scotland he had been in the russian ,german and finally british army just a normal guy but you have to realise how brutal and awful the times were something we who were born after the war should not begin to comment on

Hi. I have started to look into my Grandfathers wartime history. I believe that he was taken from the family home in Kielbasin at aged 16, so 1942(ish) and forced into the German Army. He and another boy later "escaped" and travelled together making their way across Europe, eventually joining the 'Polish Free Army'. Somehow he ended up in Scotland and then later London after the War. I have contacted Rusholt to see what records they have so fingers crossed that will shed some more light on what went on all those years ago. One thing i remember as a child was that he had Scaring on one of his upper arms, almost like 3 or 4 circular marks in a square, not sure if he would have gotten these through that time, but definitely looked like they were caused deliberately, but could be unconnected.

Dear all,
I am researching this topic as part of an academic study attached to the University of Sussex. My own father also served in the Wehrmacht before joining the Polish Armed Forces. I have come across some of you on FB groups and thank you for providing information. I am researching in the Polish Archives to find wartime questionnaires that your relatives or their parents would have had to fill out. I am also working in the German archives to trace the German units they served in.

If you would like me to include your parent/grandparent in my search I am happy to do so. However I will need as much of the following information as you can provide:

Name
Date of Birth
Parents' names (if you have dates of birth too that would be most useful)
Family address during German occupation

If you would like me to find out what I can in the German archives also please provide the following:
Date of conscription (if you know it)
Unit in which your relative served
Date of desertion/surrender ( if you have it)

As I have mentioned previously, this will not be a quick turn around as the Polish archives are still closed to the public due to the pandemic. However I will do my best to provide as many answers as possible at the earliest possible date.

Thank you in anticipation

Came across this topic while searching the PRC graves at Newark on Trent. I have come across, 1 was as you have stated in the German Army before escaping or being captured and joining the Polish 2nd Army tragically he took his own life near Lincoln. The other is more interesting as although his grave states Polish Forces his death cert states POW Polish of the German Army with a POW number. He died of TB at Lincoln

My father was one of these conscripts with his 4 sisters and mother at home to protect. My brother found out by reading the immigration form he filled out when applying to come to Australia so this knowledge is very new for us. My understanding is that it would have been his greatest shame, and a huge fear that other Poles might find out. His only visit to Poland to see his sisters and mother wasn't until 1977 and as a child I'd been told that it would be dangerous for him to return to Poland. It is heartening to read that he was far from alone in this but for me it's unbearably sad that he lived his fairly short life with this terrible secret. Thanks to everyone who has posted and for the information on where to go for more information. I tried the German records about 10 years ago but they had nothing so I'll try the UK ones. He had a happy and successful life thankfully, even though he didn't make it to 60..

It wasn't actually a secret. There were about 200 000 of them, conscripted against the international law by Germany. Unless he volunteered that is..

As you say IS, there were.loads of them, one uncle of mine was among them because one of his grandmothers was German.
When he came to the UK he was a factory supervisor, his staff were mainly Poles and he suffered years of abuse from them.
Joining the German army was not a voluntary choice on his part..

My father was polish and conscripted by the Nazis from Łódź Poland and sent to Italy to cook for wounded soldiers recuperating in the Italian riviera. He was a young cook and suffered from rheumatic fever so he was not able to fight during WWII. Has anyone heard of this conscription taking place? Please let me know. Thanks.

Harry

My wife's grandfather was conscripted into the German Army and was never heard of again. His last name was Heller. His wife's name was Henrietta. She escaped Poland with their children after he was taken.