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Background history
The Museum is in possession of a very large and abounding in information collection of archival materials, which – in the everyday circulation – is referred to as WASt transportation lists (Wehrmachtauskunftstelle für Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene) [Wehrmacht Information Office in charge of War Losses and Prisoners-of-War.] The collection consists of several thousand pages rendered in the form of tables which include data on Polish POWs. It is on their basis that it is possible to trace the route that each Polish POW followed within the German system of oflags and stalags. The cards contain data concerning the place of birth, address of the contact person to be informed, the place and date of being taken captive, the manner and place of relocation. The lists were made by Germans on the basis of information given by POWs themselves. Each transfer or an attempt to escape, release from the camp or death of a POW was recorded with great care and accuracy. Despite that, a large number of lists are difficult to read clearly today, mainly because of the lapse of time, but also due to illegible writing of the person who was putting down the data and gaps resulting from poor ink quality. Nevertheless, from the point of view of history, the lists provide a mine of information to people who might be looking for their nearest and also to researchers dealing with the German POW system. One of the more interesting transportation lists is that from Oflag VIII E Johannisbrunn (Jánské Koupele near Opava), which was organized by Germans in July 1940 as an international POW camp designed for generals. It accommodated about 70 generals, including ones from Poland, France, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain, and a colonel from Norway. The list presented on this exhibition contains the names of the most outstanding officers of the higher ranks, who took part in the Polish Defensive Campaign in 1939. Among others, it includes the data concerning Gen. Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Gen. Władysław Bortnowski, Gen. Juliusz Rómmel, Gen. Aleksander Radwan-Pragłowski, Gen. Zygmunt Podhorski, or Gen. Roman Abraham. These officers played a considerable role in the fights for free and independent Poland in September and October 1939, resisting two aggressors at the same time. After being taken captive, they were brought to Oflag VIII E Johannisbrunn as the first place of their internment, before being transferred to the next one – Oflag VII A Murnau. No other transportation list, besides the one presented here, features so many well-known names of the members of the Polish Staff.
Prepared by: Bartosz Janczak
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Transportation list with the names of generals of the Polish Army
Source of acquisition
The Chief Commission for Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Poland.
Description of the item
A transportation list on a standardized German form of 30cm x 43cm, consisting of 9 A3 pages. The title page includes the basic information on the transport, the name of the camp, ordering number, date of preparation, and also information on transfers between camps. The next pages feature tables, in which the POWs’ names are written, accompanied by basic data (nationality, number of military unit, family name, first name, date and place of birth, father’s name, mother’s maiden name, address of the person to be notified, army rank, army unit, German annotations, place and date of taking captive, health state and comments). The document is rendered in the typewritten form.
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