History / Information required on location of WW2 prisoner of war working parties ( arbeits kommandos ) in Poland [15]


Thanks for taking the time to look for me BB. I have got all the paperwork I could find from British sources.

I have military records, papers from ICRC and all records from The National Archives.

Sadly, my relative didn't complete a Liberation Questionnaire which would have been useful.


Yes, I've read that too. Stalag VIIIB was one of the largest and most notorious POW camps.


Done, but no joy.


Thank you BB, and for taking the time to reply.

* waves back*

Life / Owning a house in true countryside of Poland - stories [679]

Looks like a dog to me...

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1413]

Looks like pork but that would be way too easy!

History / Information required on location of WW2 prisoner of war working parties ( arbeits kommandos ) in Poland [15]


Most of it I already knew BB because of information contained in the Lamsdorf /Stalag VIIIB/344 website, now the prisoners of war museum website. The same goes for your wikibrief link but it did specifically mention E88 Kommando, the working party attached to the Prezydent mine:

E88 Hohenlohe Hut - Wełnowiec - (District in Katowice-1951) Coal Mine "Król" (King) East Shaft - "Agneschaft" - Agnes Hut Colony
prisoner of war (177); Shaft "Agnieszka" - eastern shaft of the mine "Król" ("Król-Święty Jacek") in the Agnieszka colony; ("Königsgrube" - Königshütte / mine "Prezydent" - Chorzów)


I see a lot of photos of Stalag VIIIB POW from various websites, so far I've not been lucky and spotted one of my family member but it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I was incredibly lucky to find mention of him in a fellow POW war diary which had been uploaded to a website along with hundreds of others. I picked one diary at random to read and found that not only was this POW in the same regiment as my family member but that both had been captured on the same day in the same place in France. Their POW numbers were consecutive too meaning it was likely they were both processed at the same time. What are the chances of that!

I have been told by a member of staff at the Centralne Muzeum Jencow Wojennych that the majority of records of Stalag VIIIB prisoners are in the Russian State Archives. They were seized by the Soviet Army after the camp had been evacuated. I did contact them using Google Translate and I did get a reply that confirmed that they did hold British POW records but didn't have the resources to search for them.

Thanks very much for your help :)

History / Information required on location of WW2 prisoner of war working parties ( arbeits kommandos ) in Poland [15]


It isn't BB as I've already run the article through GT, but it does contain some different information to the Polish link I provided.

I was wondering only if wartime records about this mine were kept but thanks for replying anyway :)

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation - part 2 [280]


Something occurring sooner rather than later, anytime now?

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation - part 2 [280]


Is it the same as in English? To do everything it takes and work as hard as you can to achieve something?

To leave no stone unturned and to pull out all the stops are similar idioms.

History / Information required on location of WW2 prisoner of war working parties ( arbeits kommandos ) in Poland [15]


I think I've got as far as I'm going to to be honest as I doubt anyone here will have an interest in old Polish mines or know anyone that does. Always worth an ask though :)

History / Information required on location of WW2 prisoner of war working parties ( arbeits kommandos ) in Poland [15]

As an update I have since found out that my family member was put to work in the East Field of this mine in Chorzów, although during WW2 it was known as Königsgrube Ostfeld.

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopalnia_W%C4%99gla_Kamiennego_Prezydent

More information but in German:

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopalnia_W%C4%99gla_Kamiennego_Kr%C3%B3l?fbclid=IwY2xjawF_loBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHV1Z5cdOJ0fwafKEgXZaHLIhWtDYq0CP9cWAFO19NIv5H6f0gru2MOBuVQ_aem_mWPZ0buFUuu1hJpDUKtaRw


The Eastern shaft of the mine was known as Agnieszka.

Maybe one day I'll go on the Industrial Monuments Route to see the hoisting tower of the Prezydent shaft.

Don't suppose anyone here would have any idea about how to find out if wartime records were kept about this mine? Long shot I know.

Probably about as likely as getting the rest of my family member's POW records out of the Russian State Archives.....

Off-Topic / Music Thread - part 2 [567]

[login to read]

Off-Topic / Arts and crafts [123]


I guess that's what people did. My parents took the carpets with them when we moved to a different part of the country. By then we had an expensive Axminster carpet although still equally hideous. Unbelievably, in yet another part of the country, I had the same carpet on the floor of my current home. First thing I did was to have it ripped out along with all the other carpets.


I find this obscene. What does a billionaire need yet more money for. Greed, pure and simple :(
I will read the link it came from later.


Me too. There's way too much snobbery in the art world.

Off-Topic / Arts and crafts [123]


I get that but for me it doesn't make any difference. The only thing the red scribbles suggest to me, other than being painted by a child, is that maybe the artist was angry and venting when he painted them.

Art is a very personal thing and I understand that you like abstract paintings but I can't see what you see in them. They go way over my head!


I agree and it seems to be all about what has become 'fashionable' at the time regardless of whether the art is actually any good. Damien Hirst and his sheep in formaldehyde springs to mind.......


That's almost a given although in his case he was hardly starving in a garret somewhere.


This is true but sad at the same time. If I wanted to make a profit on artwork I would definitely choose something I like that could be put on display. I feel anything otherwise amounts to little more than greed and is an insult to the artist. But then, I often have views contrary to other people.

Off-Topic / Best posters [875]


It doesn't and his last post was only 2 hours ago.

https://polishforums.com/index.php?action=userinfo&user=59689

Off-Topic / Music Thread - part 2 [567]

[login to read]

Off-Topic / Polish Music. [269]

Lenka originally posted the video and it is amazing. Can't find it online to download on my phone though :(

Here is a short but interesting article on the making of the video:

britishpoles.uk/732-instrumentalists-16-singers-1-song-what-a-concert-video/

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [525]


Yes, I edited my post:


They would look nice oiled and sanded.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [525]


I didn't think they looked much like mushrooms, they remind me of carved pieces of wood. I have a small box carved from wood that has those rings in it. I know that's not what this is though.


That could be anything then! I will have to think about this one.


Are they pieces of wood from the tree you cut down?

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation - part 2 [280]


Give them a piggyback?


Nah, you don't bore us to death........

I've repeated photo riddles on here so you're not alone :)

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [525]


I had to google that as I'd never heard the name. We would call them Jerusalem artichokes.


Are those 2 different types of mushroom or the same one showing the underside?

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation - part 2 [280]

Is it dive bombing? Like a cannonball?


Depends. Some of them I know, some I feel are similar to English ones, others I search for in Polish. Were my answers in #86 correct?

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation - part 2 [280]


Clue please.

Off-Topic / Polish Music. [269]

L.U.C. feat. Kwiat Jabłoni, Bela Komoszyńska - Koniec Lata



@ Milo, liked the Riverside and Akurat songs.

Off-Topic / Things We Love [288]


What can I say! I guess I don't think along the same lines as everyone else ;D


I guess people don't want to think they've wasted their weekend just doing chores when they've worked all week.

I like relaxing as much as doing, depends on the mood I'm in and time of year. I like being out when the weather's nice but I think I was a dormouse in another life. I could hibernate from October to April. Under a duvet. With a book of course :)


Sounds good to me!

Feedback / I love this forum - It's so Polish: tolerant, inconsistent, amusing [252]


Not anymore they don't :( we do.

Off-Topic / Music Thread - part 2 [567]

[login to read]

Off-Topic / Things We Love [288]


I don't know why but what you said made me think of the annual Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling event where participants from all over the world chase a cheese down an extremely steep hill:

soglos.com/event/outdoors/gloucestershire-cheese-rolling/17943/


I'd love a go in a Formula One car on a racetrack but speeding on public roads.......no.

I love hiking. Slower pace to take in beautiful scenery :)

Off-Topic / Arts and crafts [123]


I haven't found anything that I like yet......

I'm talking about abstract art like this by American artist Cy Twombly:

gagosian.com/exhibitions/2005/cy-twombly-bacchus/

Valued between 35 and 45 million dollars. For the life of me I cannot understand why and I would defy anyone on this forum to say it shows talent in any way whatsoever. I actually think that works like this are an insult to truly talented artists.


Definitely plain walls. Not white for me though, I think it can look too clinical, almost hospital like. I like pale colours, and like Alien, I have lots of paintings on my walls. More than him actually!

I loathe carpets and prefer wooden floors and furniture with brightly coloured rugs. Not dark wood though. Probably the result of growing up with things like sideboards and china cabinets :(


I really was traumatised by it!! When you've had to put up with an orange vinyl sofa followed by an extremely uncomfortable cottage suite to go with the brightly patterned wallpaper and hideously patterned carpets you will understand my pain ;D


I like those illustrations. Red riding hood for the 3rd one, not sure about the others.

Life / Owning a house in true countryside of Poland - stories [679]


You're going to use the chainsaw to saw the tree down as close to the roots as possible? No stump remaining.

Life / Owning a house in true countryside of Poland - stories [679]


I don't actually remember you mentioning them before but I wouldn't have got it anyway. I tend to think of hamsters as pets :)


Are you going to put protective fencing around the trunk and want to fence it below ground level to stop rodents burrowing beneath it?

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation - part 2 [280]


Don't allow anyone to tell you what to do, to push you around. Not taking sh!t from anyone.


A well matched pair. Two peas in a pod?


Is it similar/same as the idiom in post #62?