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Inventory works are under way on the donated to the Museum memorabilia of Second Lieutenant Kazimierz Załęski. Among them, there is a POW postcard sent 80 years ago – on 1 May 1942! However, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the whole collection which was donated by the officer’s son, Jerzy.

Second Lieutenant Kazimierz Załęski, a teacher by profession, was a liaison officer at the Łódź Army Headquarters in September 1939. During a flight with orders to the command of Kraków Army, his plane was shot down and he himself was taken a prisoner-of-war (number 2157). Due to his wounds, he was initially held in hospitals in Łódź, and then in Warsaw.

The memoirs of Second Lieutenant Kazimierz Załęski from oflags II A Prenzlau, II E Neubrandenburg and II D Gross Born represent a valuable source of knowledge. Here is an excerpt from them: "Each prisoner-of-war was photographed having the paraphernalia of his identity hanging on his chest. From then on roll calls were ordered, during which the prisoners approached one by one a table on which boxes with photographs of prisoners-of-war were placed, and the German examining the presence of a prisoner-of-war at roll call glanced at his face, then at the photograph in the box and in this way ascertained the presence of a gefangen in the camp...".

In addition to the war and captivity memoirs, the Museum received a calendar with notes and a detailed record of correspondence sent, together with POW correspondence, from 1939-1945. Also, worthy of note are prints with Christmas wishes made in captivity for his wife Regina, wooden photo frames, a decorated casket, family and captive photographs, and a POW identity card from Oflag II A Prenzlau.

Thank you!