Historical story

They helped prisoners, the sick and "rabbits". Girl Scouts from Ravensbrück

It was a phenomenon on a global scale. In 1941, in the Ravensbrück concentration camp, the only such scout team functioning during World War II was established. It was composed of 7 hosts, and a total of 102 people worked in them until the liberation. Regular collections were held. Girl scouts helped other prisoners, the sick and the “rabbits”.

In November, the transport from Tarnów-Kraków ended its quarantine. Even on the last day, Hermina Kubitz follows every little movement of the prisoners. When it seemed that she had gone to the duty-room, Marysia Rydarowska got up to approach Ziuta Kantor, Kubitza grew up with her in the blink of an eye. She gave the girl a cheek. "You know you can't wander around the block!" She shouted.

And yet she did not manage to prevent the scout's plan from being implemented. In a fraction of a second, before the block supervisor had time to figure out, Marysia pressed a scrap of newspaper into Zieta's hand . Hours passed before the scoutmaster had an opportunity to unnotice it to take it out and read:"We're ready, waiting for a fundraiser." Again, time dragged on forever. Finally, the block supervisor let the prisoners out of sight for a moment. Józefa Kantor immediately took the opportunity to answer Marysia:"Today, after the roll-call, on the third bed, on Zosia's bunk".

Tomorrow could be even worse

The appeal is still going on for hours. They stand in fives with their hands along their sides motionless. Every whisper, shifting your weight from one leg to the other to feel relieved for a moment, may end up hitting and kicking. The functionaries cannot count the prisoners.

Eventually the procedure is over. Everyone dreams of a place on a hard bunk, with a mattress made of wooden shavings and worn straw, and a pillow stuffed with straw. About a dream that will allow you to break away from the reality of the camp for a moment, soothe the pain of overworked arms and legs, forget about a stiff neck. But they have to overcome this urge - it is unknown when the next opportunity to meet will be. Tomorrow could be even worse.

The camp prisoners at work

Besides, if it succeeds, it will be the first victory. The first advice of the team. Trzeciak is the third tier of bunk beds, the one near the ceiling. It's stuffy and uncomfortable there, because it's impossible to straighten up, but it's a relatively safe place in the camp world . Rangers have a hard time seeing what is going on there, and they don't want to climb. That is why later, on the third square, they will hide the weak and sick prisoners sought by the camp authorities from the selection, this will be the place where the hosts and team councils must be assembled. But first, the team has to rise…

"Stay awake!"

After the announcement of the silence of the night, it requires a lot of acrobatics to climb the third yoke imperceptibly. On the bunks of the 1st and 2nd levels, prisoners are crowded together. The bunks are narrow, there are no ladders. Vertical posts are not a sufficient support for the hands, and leaning against the bunk threatens to step on the sleeping person and a row if she wakes up. The slightest whisper can get the block's attention.

Bridesmaid Ziucie managed to defeat the first tier somehow, but the woman on the second tier whispers irritably: How many of you are sleeping there on this third tier? I think it's the fourth hatch already ” . Bridesmaid Ziuta tries to ease the situation:"I'm sorry, maybe you just thought", she wraps the woman in a blanket, strokes her hand. The woman calms down. "Maybe I was just imagining it," he murmurs.

One more level, one effort - and it is. He squeezes himself between his huddled, crowded friends. He greets them with a scout:"Watch!". This one word turns an uncomfortable bunk into a scout. They greeted him so many times at gatherings and camps.

The text is an excerpt from the book by Anna Kwiatkowska-Bieda "Harcerki z Ravensbrück", which has just been published by Bellona.

This word is used only by Polish scouts. It means the same as the scout call "Be prepared!" - be ready:to action, service for the motherland, work for others and for yourself. And yet in the Polish "Czuwaj!" you can hear the courage and tradition of Polish knights who called for this prolonged slogan during the night watch. Stay awake, stay alert, keep your eyes peeled…

Girl scouts, not scouts, were the first to use this call. The bridesmaid Olga Drahonowska-Małkowska - the founder of the first scouting teams in Lviv - came up with this idea. In 1912, at the summer camp of the 3rd Lviv Team of Emilii Plater, the bridesmaids decided to call "Watch!" replace the previously used military greeting:"Hello!" They associated it with obedience. "Watch!" it had a unique character.

Ghost of Scouting

"Watch!" - barely audible whispers answer the team bridesmaid on the third. They shake hands in a scout gesture of brotherhood. The first camp gathering begins. Finally they can talk, exchange thoughts, the sleepiness fades away. They talk in whispers. They are careful not to move, so that even a straw from the mattress does not fall on the lower tiers of the bunk.

The cries of "Stay awake!" scouts, not scouts, were the first to use. The bridesmaid Olga Drahonowska-Małkowska - the founder of the first scouting teams in Lviv (in the photo of Małkowska with girl scouts in the 1930s) came up with this idea.

After a few hours of whispering, they set the goals of the new camp team:watching over their own attitude so that it complies with the spirit of scouting, maintaining internal balance, dignity and serenity, supporting other female prisoners, mutual help, caring for the elderly and the sick, trying to distract the prisoners from their minds. from the nightmare of everyday life in the camp.

Everyone knows that they must pursue these goals on their own, look for female scouts, create groups. “Each of us searched for girl scouts based on our own observation. We recognized them by their attitude and behavior towards other female prisoners. There was almost never a mistake and the conversation did the rest, ”recalls Józefa Kantor at that time.

A dangerous enterprise by all means

Maria Franiel-Koziełowa remembered the day when Józefa Kantor invited her to work in the team. Born in 1922, she belonged to the Polish Scouting Association (ZHP) during her school days. Together with her younger sister Apolonia, they were transported to Ravensbrück on June 6, 1942 from Silesia, and after quarantine, they were assigned to work in a sewing factory.

“As it usually happens in new conditions, I started to be timid, but also to look around in an interesting way. I noticed that someone was closely watching me and was trying to get closer to my sister and me. It was our later team, our beloved Ziutka Kantor "- recalled Maria Franiel-Koziełowa.

An elderly prisoner took care of them. She talked with them about home, family, everyday matters. This is how she found out that Marysia came from a Polish family living in Silesia. Her father and grandfather took part in all three Silesian Uprisings. Just like brother Ziuta! They also talked about scouting, pre-war gatherings and camps.

Barracks of the women's block of KL Ravensbrück in 2008

One day the scoutmaster asked Marysia if she would also like to belong to the scouting movement now. "Amazed by this question, I immediately replied with melancholy, but also with youthful enthusiasm:" How else! " After a few days, Józefa Kantor invited her to a fundraiser with other girl scouts.

“At first I was stunned, and then I was overjoyed that the team bridesmaid found me worthy of such a distinction. When it comes to my young sister, we decided not to initiate her into this by all means dangerous undertaking . From then on, my normal work began - normal in quotation marks, of course, because in the camp conditions, but in the truest scout team "- recalled Maria Franiel-Koziełowa.

Stripped of individuality

Also for Wacława Andrzejak-Gnatowska from the Lublin transport, the meeting with Józefa Kantor was a ticket to the team. “For many of us, it was a source of strength, faith in a better tomorrow and a solace for longing for family and country. It was she who allowed me to survive, it was she who, together with the sacrificial help of the bridesmaids, allowed me to survive the worst, especially in the postoperative period and later when we were searched for "kings" in order to eliminate and cover up the traces of the crime "- recalled Wacława Andrzejak-Gnatowska.

Zofia and Maria Kucharskie joined the team at the end of 1942. They were brought to the camp six months earlier, in April 1942, in a 240-person transport from Radom, Kielce and Częstochowa. With time, the transports of women coming to Ravensbrück grew larger and larger , they came from Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, France - all German-occupied Europe.

The text is an excerpt from the book by Anna Kwiatkowska-Bieda "Harcerki z Ravensbrück", which has just been published by Bellona.

The camp, not adapted to such a large number of prisoners, was crowded. More bunks were added to the rooms. There were three people sleeping on one bed. Although in August 1941 new barracks were built in the camp, and in 1942 another eight blocks were completed, but it did not help much. Soon, in the overcrowded camp, even the camp striped uniforms were missing and the newcomers simply received civilian clothes, taken from other prisoners, with crosses and patches sewn on, so that it would be known that they were prisoners.

The accounts of women who came to Ravensbrück in 1939 or 1940 are very different from those in later years. Initially, the camp was organized, and the rules prevailing in it were clear, each prisoner had a specific assignment of clothes, her own bunk, mug and bowl.

With time and the influx of subsequent shipments, this order was deteriorating more and more. It was getting harder and harder to adjust to this crowd of newcomers. It was impossible to meet women from the same transport, let alone those who had been in the camp for a long time. The crowd perceived individuality, the women felt lonely and alienated in it. There was danger everywhere. Disease spread, there was hunger.

The secret of girl scouts

Frequent transfers from block to block and from commando to commando de facto made it impossible to establish ties with other inmates. That is why the initiative of girl scouts was so important to look for women in this crowd whose behavior was evidence of scout sensitivity and approach to life. Serene, open, willing to help others. And make contact with them.

“Over several months, working in different groups, we managed to notice and feel that there was some kind of self-help among female prisoners. However, we couldn't understand the whole action ”Maria Kucharska recalled.

"We", because she and her sister, Zosia, who were ten years younger, were in the camp. They came from Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Marysia belonged to the scouts during her school days. On the other hand, Zosia was active in the underground. In the camp, the team team Józefa Kantor, who was looking for candidates for the team, who often held Sunday services in block 13, caught the eye. P>

The team watched the candidates for the team not only during the services. She also collected information about them from other prisoners. This is how she found out that Marysia and Zosia gave one of the letters they were entitled to to send to the Cabaning Sisters and Collectors, who were forbidden to send and receive letters.

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Source:

The text is an excerpt from the book by Anna Kwiatkowska-Bieda "Harcerki z Ravensbrück", which has just been published by the Bellona publishing house.