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Commemorating Young Victims of World War II in Poland: The Forgotten Children's Camp in Litzmannstadt/Łodź

East European Politics and Societies

Published online on

Abstract

This article analyses the public commemoration of young victims of World War II in Poland. In particular, it examines the various practices of remembrance associated with Polen-Jugendverwahrlager, the notorious children’s camp established by the Nazis on the territory of Litzmannstadt Ghetto in 1942. While investigating state-sanctioned and local initiatives, undertaken both under Communism and after its fall, this article poses salient questions about Poland’s politics of memory and the role of various actors, such as the state, survivors, and local nongovernmental organizations, in its making. Whilst acknowledging the historical and cultural significance of children, this article also contributes to the ongoing debate on the revision of history that occurred in Poland after the fall of Communism.