Lodz, Radogoszcz (Radegast) district of the city, World War 2 and martyrdom of Polish nation memorial - so called “The Burned Factory“, the former factory of Samuel Abbe at Zgierska Street turned into the criminal prison for Poles who broke the law of 3rd Reich and for Poles being expelled and resettled from the Western Poland incorporated into the Reich (Warthegau or Wartheland) to General Gouvernment (land for Polish slaves). The prison was established at the end of 1939. As for the criminal offences against the state, that was smuggling, illegal border crossing (between Warthegau and GG) or being a Polish caught in the round up on the street. The place was also a transit camp for the political prisoners (usually Polish elite and people involved in the resistance) on their way to the concentration camps or places of executions (Lucmierz, Zgierz). Despite the very brutal prison crew it wasn’t a concentration camp itself (or place of extermination) it was just a prison until the day before liberation… At night of 17/18th of January 1945 the German guards set the prison on fire - nearly 2000 people was burned alive, and only 30 survived. A few hours later there was no more Litzmannstadt and Nazis in Lodz. You can imagine the response that faced those ethnic German citizens who were late to run away to the west.
That was the end of multicultural and multi-national (Polish, Jewish, German and Russian) Lodz. The city of Lodz committed suicide.
Camera: Samsung GX10, HDR
Nice shot with a beautiful feeling !
I teach about the Holocaust and would really like to know more about the events in Radogoszcz during that period of time(1939-45) could you PLEASE foward data to: ERIC BENOIT 330 AVENUE LOUPRET ST-JEAN SUR RICHELIEU QUEBEC CANADA J2X4M8 THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. ERIC BENOIT
Dear Sir,
Where is the mass grave of the 2000 cadavers of Radogoszcz???
Experience of firestorming of Japan of 1944-feb 1945 show us that human corpses loose about 10% of body weight in fires.
retired Medical Examiner from Connecticut, raised in Lodz from 1946 until 1964. Mosts of them could not be identified thus buried in one mass grave.