Stanislawa Wasilewska, 42, was taken prisoner by Nazi German troops in Warsaw on August 31, 1944. She was sent to the Ravensbruck women’s concentration camps. She was then sent to the Neuengamme Forced Labor Camp, where she received prisoner number 7257, and her valuables were confiscated.
In an emotional ceremony held in Warsaw on Tuesday evening, the Arolsen Archive in Germany returned Wasilewska’s jewelry to her great-granddaughter and grandson. The families of 12 Polish prisoners of Nazi German concentration camps during World War II were also given their confiscated possessions.
As they received mementos from their long-gone and often unknown relatives, some relatives cried. There are more such ceremonies planned.
Wasilewska’s family received her two amber crucifixes, a part of a bracelet made from gold, and a wristwatch inscribed with the initials KW and the date 7-3-1938. This was probably to mark her marriage to Konstanty Wasilewski.
Malgorzata Korys, Wasilewska’s 35-year-old great-granddaughter, said: “This is a momentous occasion in our lives because we were not aware of this story and now it has come to light.”
Wasilewska, who was captured by Nazi Germany in 1945 and taken to Sweden by the Red Cross, was later brought back to Poland. She is buried near Warsaw, in Grodzisk-Mazowiecki.
Adam Wierzbicki (29), a married sister of Stanislaw Wierzbicki’s great-grandfather Stanislaw Wierzbicki was gifted two rings that belonged to Zofia Strausinska, a gold chain, and a tooth filling by Jozefa Skorka. The sisters were captured together on August 4, and like Wasilewska, they also passed through Ravensbruck, Neuengamme, before being taken to Sweden by the Red Cross.
Wierzbicki told a family story about a Swedish man who fell in love and promised to care for both sisters. However, they chose to return to Poland.
Wierzbicki, an AP reporter, said that the return of their jewelry was “important not only for sentimental but also historical reasons”.
Arolsen Archives, an international center for Nazi persecution that holds data on 17.5 million people, returned the items. The Arolsen Archives stores 2,000 items that were taken by Nazis from inmates of concentration camps in over 30 countries and intended to be returned to their families.
The valuable items of the prisoners, such as wedding rings, gold chains, earrings, and watches, were confiscated, and placed in envelopes with the names of their owners. The items were returned to their families 80 years later.
Wierzbicki recalled that it was a gratifying moment when he was contacted by the volunteers, but he also had the feeling that “history would catch up to you.” I felt like my aunts from the past were watching me.
The archives launched their restitution campaign “Warsaw Uprising – 100 Untold Tales” to mark 80 years since August 1, 1944, marked the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising. Their goal was to reach the families of the 100 victims and revive the memory of these people through their possessions.
The Archive Director Floriane Azoulay stated that they were only custodians and should return the belongings to their families.
Azoulay stated that “every object we return is a personal one.” It’s also the last thing that a person carries with them before becoming a prisoner or a number. It is therefore a very valuable object for any family.
Manuela Golc, a volunteer from Poland, has located more than 100 Polish Families. Each time there is an emotional moment.
Golc stated, “It is common that we share information with the family that they were not aware of. This phone conversation is very difficult. We are happy to see the memento returned to the family.”
She would visit cemeteries if she couldn’t find a family through online records or official records. She would leave waterproofed notes on graves for families whose data matched the ones in the archives and ask them to contact her.
The underground resistance Home Army launched the Warsaw Uprising to capture the capital before the Soviets advanced. After 63 days, a heroic battle that claimed the lives of 200,000 civilians and fighters, it fell. In retaliation, the Germans drove out the remaining residents of Warsaw and left it in ruins.
During German occupation in 1939-45, Poland lost some 6 million residents, half of them Jewish, and suffered huge material losses.
