Childhood Behind Barbed Wire by Bogdan Bartnikowski
Born in 1932 in Warsaw. During the Warsaw Uprising (August 1944), when the district of Ochota, where he lived, was captured by the RONA (Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armia - The Russian National Liberation Army, collaborating with the SS), he was, together with his mother, imprisoned at the prison camp in Pruzkow near Warsaw (Durchgangslager 121).
On 12 August they were both sent to Auschwitz Concentration Camp, where he was registered as Prisoner 192731. At first, he stayed at Auschwitz-Birkenau in the women's camp and then in Sector "Blla" of the male prisoners' camp, together with other boys from Warsaw.
On 11 January 1945 he and his mother were evacuated to Berlin-Blankenburg (the labour branch of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp), and they stayed there until until the liberation on 22 April 1945. He worked there clearing rubble from the streets of Berlin. When the war ended, he and his mother returned to Warsaw and discovered that his father had been killed during the Uprising. He continued his education that had been interrupted by the war, and enrolled the Stefan Batory College in Warsaw. After completing his conscription in the army, he became a journalist.
Bogdan Bartnikowski wrote several books dealing with the fate of children during WWII based on his own experiences during the war and in particular on his imprisonment in concentration camps: a collection of short stories Childhood Behind Barbed Wire (printed in Polish under the title Dziecinstwo w pasiakach in 1969, 1972, 1977, 1989) and novels: Daleka droga [A Long Way] (1971), Powrot nad Wisle [Return to the Vistula] (1972), Dni dlugie jak lata [Days As Long As Years] (1989).
Presently, he is retired and works as a volunteer in the Polish Union of Journalists and at the Association of Veterans. He was awarded the Auschwitz Cross and the Knight Cross and the Officer Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Hardback
01 Jan 2009
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Edition: First English Language Edition
English
8360210896
9788360210895
Condition: Very Good
A book that has been read but is in excellent condition. No obvious damage to the cover, with the dust jacket not included (not sure if this edition was released with dust jacket or not). No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, and no underlining/highlighting of text or writing in the margins. Very minimal wear and tear.