Memory of resistance fighter: żukowski is honored 75 years later!

Memory of resistance fighter: żukowski is honored 75 years later!

On March 29, 1945, a nameless concentration camp inmate was shot near Fulda-Dietershan. 75 years later, this man was identified as Władysław żukowski, a Polish resistance fighter. Dr. Götz Hartmann, historian at the Volksbund Deutsche Wargräberfürsorge in Hesse, presented the life story of żukowski in a lecture in Kalbach-Heubach. This event was part of a memorial event that was reminiscent of the death march from the Adlerwerks in Frankfurt after Hünfeld in the Cor week in 1945.

żukowski, who was 43 years old at the time of his death, fell victim to a shot in the back of the head. He was one of over 70 forced laborers who were killed by SS guards during the march. Around 360 prisoners started in Frankfurt on March 24, 1945, but only about 280 made it to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Those who could no longer run were shot without hesitation and left in a bomb funnel.

memorial events and identification

After his death, żukowski was buried at the Dorffriedhof in Dietershan weeks later. In the 1960s, his body was released, but a transmission error led him to be buried as a "unknown dead man" at the Ludwigstein Ehrenfriedhof in North Hesse. It was not until 2021 that Dr. Hartmann to clarify the mistake in identification. The identification had made it more difficult.

żukowski had previously been arrested in 1944 after the Warsaw Uprising was suppressed and deported to various concentration camps. He left a woman and at least one son, but it remains unclear whether his widow has ever been informed about his death. Hartmann is still looking for relatives of żukowski to learn more about his fate.

commitment to memory

As part of the memorial event in Frankfurt, a stele was inaugurated for the deceased inmates of the Adlerwerke KZ. Hartmut Zimmermann, chairman of the association, inflamed candles for żukowski and for Janusz Garlicki, who survived the death march. On the occasion of memory of the victims of the Second World War, numerous events took place in the region. These included film screenings, exhibitions and memorial actions, which particularly addressed the fates of the prisoners of the "Katzbach" concentration camp.

In particular, the following events were carried out in Frankfurt and the surrounding area:

• 2. March 2025: Film screening about Janusz Garlicki in Club Voltaire
• 6. March 2025: Exhibition management via the "Katzbach" concentration camp in the History of Adlerwerke
• 14. March 2025: Memorial campaign for Adam Golub and Georgij Lebedenko on the Golub-Lebedenko-Platz
• 18. March 2025: Reading on survivors of the "Katzbach" concentration camp in the novel factory
• 21. March 2025: Inauguration of a new memorial stele at the main cemetery
• 29. March 2025: Memory at the station forecourt in Hünfeld

The combined effort of these events is faced with the task of not being forgotten the dark history of the Katzbach concentration camp and the associated human tragedies, but instead to integrate them into the collective memory. Osthessen-news and Frankfurter info report extensively about these important memorial events.