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We would like to present you with a publication which aims to tell the story of Polish " stolen" children. It consists of two texts. The first, by Anna Malinowska, presents the main principles of the German policy of stealing children from occupied countries. She discusses them on the example of activities of Lebensborn, one of the main Nazi organisations responsible for obtaining racially suitable children. The second, by Katarzyna Kaczorowska, describes post-war attempts to restore stolen children to Poland and shows how today, in Poland and Germany, these children, no longer children but very old people, are treated - also in legal terms.

Both texts appeared in an English-language collection of essays on the history of "stolen" children from Central and Eastern Europe, which is available on our website: A collection of historical essays about the “stolen” children. English language version.

We would like to present you this publication, whose aim is to present the history of the “stolen” children from Central and Eastern Europe. It consists of texts written by authors coming from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine. They present the policy of the Nazi authorities, the process of capturing and Germanising children and, by showing the fates of particular people, how strong a mark these events left on them. The presentation of these issues from the perspective of authors coming from these four countries is also an opportunity to see how the contemporary memory of these events has been shaped in different ways.

As Dr Tomasz Skonieczny, editor of the publication, stressed in his introduction: “For many years, the story of the stolen and uprooted children was pushed to the margins of our knowledge and interest in World War II. Over the last decade, the fate of these children has, fortunately, been brought to light in Germany and Poland, thanks in part to the involvement of journalists from both countries, who discovered that many of the stolen children were still alive and ready to share their stories. It was also revealed that there is virtually no public awareness of this issue. (…)

We are very happy to announce that the project of the Krzyżowa Foundation "Dialogue of Generations. A programme for the social activation of seniors in Lower Silesia" has received funding from the Multiannual Programme for the Elderly "Aktywni+" for the years 2021-2025, edition 2022. The aim of the project is to develop the social activation of older people through intra- and intergenerational integration. Seniors from the districts of Świdnica, Dzierżoniów and Wałbrzych will take part in the activities.

From 18 to 25 April this year we hosted the Polish-German-Ukrainian exchange "SuperHeroes". Planning it, we had no idea how true this name would be and how difficult it would be for us to meet. But we did it! Young people from the Ukrainian Romanów came to us despite the war to meet their peers from IB Mitte in Ebersbach and the Youth Sociotherapy Centre No. 2 in Wrocław. Together we got to know the heroes of Krzyżowa and Wrocław, and we talked about what courage means in modern times. There were also opportunities to develop 'super skills' - we took part in circus workshops, wood carving and stop motion film making.

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The creation of this website was supported by:

Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe

Krzyżowa 7, 58-112 Grodziszcze, Poland

phone: +48 74 85 00 300

fax: +48 74 85 00 305

e-mail: sekretariat@krzyzowa.pl

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