Approximately 2 million Polish children tragically lost their lives during WW2. Among the earliest young victims was Erwina Barzychowska, a 10-year-old girl who suffered a horrifying fate at the hands of the Germans during one of the initial clashes of WW2.
Her story is intertwined with the heroic defence of the Polish Post Office in Gdańsk. Erwina was an orphaned child residing with the technical personnel of the office. She was present alongside her caretakers when the Germans attacked the building on 1 September 1939. The Polish Post Office in Gdańsk was considered extraterritorial Polish property within the free city of Gdańsk.
At 4:00 AM on 1 September 1939, the building was cut off from electricity. Inside the office were individuals from the volunteer security staff established in preparation for hostilities. Among them was the 10-year-old Erwina.
The defence, initially anticipated to last for 6 hours, extended throughout the entire day as the Poles valiantly resisted.
Shortly before the defenders eventually surrendered, Erwina was subjected to a horrific act by a German soldier who used a flamethrower on her. Remarkably, she survived and was transported to a hospital, where it’s believed that German medical personnel provided little care. She endured seven weeks of unimaginable suffering due to severe burns and succumbed to her injuries on 20 October 1939.
Erwina’s caretakers also met tragic fates. Jan Pipka, a technical office employee, passed away due to severe burns on 2 September 1939. His wife, Małgorzata, survived the war but faced persecution by the Germans, enduring imprisonment and time in concentration camps.
Erwina Barzychowska became a symbol of the extreme brutality exhibited by the Germans during the defensive war in September 1939. It was a war of aggression that spared neither civilians nor children.
Childhood is typically the most beautiful phase of human life. In 1939, the outbreak of war abruptly ended this idyllic world, replacing it with terror, unparalleled cruelty, and daily accounts of death and suffering.
Source: IPN
From the editor: It has been exactly a year since Poland showed its German neighbour the bill of war reparations. For the past 12 months, the Polish government has pressured Germany to obtain war reparations for the damages caused by the Third Reich to Poland during WWII. On 1 September 2022, “The report on the losses suffered by Poland due to the German aggression and occupation during the Second World War, 1939-1945” was published. The latter was prepared by the Parliamentary Team for Estimating the Amount of Compensation Due to Poland from Germany for Damages Caused During World War II, led by the Law and Justice MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk. A group of 30 scientists, including historians, economists, property appraisers, and reviewers, contributed to the large document. The abridged version of The War Report in English is available here.
