History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

Great information on this site thankyou. hope to hear from some veterens poss. still alive from upper Silesia .

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

He did say that he was in a Russian pow camp and thay had one piece of bread per day. Could he have been in Italy in 1945, Mum says that he was in Italy towards the end of the war. He was also in France and Holland according to Mum.My Mother joined the army at 18 and was in the ATS for the duration working on radar on the South coast of England.

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

My Dad was proud of his country and had a hatred for Germans and Russians , I doubt that he would have chosen to stay in a pow camp.In spite of being in England for the rest of his life he always talked of his home as being Poland and missed it until he died.He must have been in Italy because he talked about it with fondness but said that there were a lot of Italians that were starving and remembers children begging for food from the troops.

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

Thankyou for your info. By the time he was demobilised to England he came there in a Polish uniform and there was a polish camp set up in "Leek'which is a small town in Staffordshire . This camp had previously been built for American GI's but had been condemed as unfit for the Americans to live in. The Poles lived in this camp until around 1970 when municipal housing replaced the army shacks. My Father would not live there after1947 which was when the Poles were allowed to leave the army. My Dad did all the worst hard labour jobs that most English would not do ,to try to better his life and I remember a lot of racial prejudice to our family from the English people. However The poles had no problem getting hired as they soon were known to be tough and hard working.There were a few Poles that were at the camp who came from the same village as my Dad which seems remarkable .The village is just outside 'Imelin '.

History / Polish conscripts to German army [132]

My father did tell me that he was in Russia and almost starved there. After the war he met my Mother in England and she said it was 2 years before he could eat normally and he was very thin in photos taken during that time. He also said that the germans came to get him with a threat that they would send the rest of the family to a concentration camp if he refused to fight for Germany. Many children that had blonde hair and blue eyes were stolen from his village and taken to Germany.He said that the Germans took everything even family photos.I know that he was also in Italy and eventually was in the Polish army but dont have information as to how all this came about. My Father was tough and hard working but suffered all his life with bouts of depression and insomnia. I would really like to know what happened to these young men after they were conscripted.