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Emilia B.: Polish forced laborer in Berlin battery factory

Emilia B., 2005 in Polen

Emilia B., 2005 in Poland

Plant ID card, Berlin 1943

Plant ID card, Berlin 1943

Emilia B. was deported to Berlin to perform forced labor in 1943. She returned to her hometown and lives today in a three-generation household in her parents’ house. Out of a longing for her home, she began writing poetry in Berlin.

  • Born in 1921 in the countryside (near Zamość); grew up with two younger siblings in a small farming family and among a polyethnic and multiconfessional community
  • 1942 – In the course of expropriations by the Germans, the family flees in order to escape deportation
  • December 1942: Arrest and internment of Emilia B. and her siblings in Zamość
  • Early 1943: Deportation to Berlin
  • Slave laborer at the Pertrix GmbH, a Quandt family battery factory
  • Detained in a barrack camp, frequent contact with her minor brother who was housed and working in another part of Berlin
  • Returns to her hometown after liberation in April 1945
  • 1947: Marries a "repatriate" from the East (from the region annexed by the Soviet Union), three children
  • Management of parents’ farm
  • Even in her old age she actively participates in the social life of her community and writes poetry.

Interview Data:

 

During her period of forced labor for Pertix in Berlin, Emilia B. wrote a new text to the melody of a Polish soldier’s song "Wojenko, wojenko, cóżeś ty za pani"

Wojenko, wojenko cóżeś uczyniła,
Żeś biednych Polaków na Pertrix rzuciła!
"In die Reihe!" - ryczy byk co siły,
Żeby wybiegł z baraku kto cały i żywy.
Niedobrze majstrowa patrzy, niby sowa,
Żeby nikt przy pracy nie powiedział słowa.
Nieraz majster krzyczy, my się nie boimy
I choć pracujemy, alarmu prosimy.
My wierzymy mocno, nam się nic nie stanie,
Z berlińskiej fabryki gruz się pozostanie.