m Maria Matlak, No. 39847: The Darkest Corner of Nazi Germany’s Only Children’s Concentration Camp and the Story of a 14-Year-Old Girl Who Survived 658 Days in Litzmannstadt!

Shocking Historical Mystery: Maria Matlak and Her Childhood Life in the Infamous ‘Polish Children’s Concentration Camp’!

Maria Matlak, a name you may not have heard, but the story of this Polish girl born in 1928 in Łodygowice is a horrifying and haunting piece of World War II history. A short, dry paragraph, but containing a ‘hell on earth’ that humanity needs to talk about: the fate of Polish children in the concentration camp!

The text is just a few lines long: “1928 | A Polish girl, Maria Matlak, was born in Łodygowice. In #historical from April 2, 1943. No. 39847 ,,She was transferred to the camp for Polish minors in Litzmannstadt. She was liberated there on January 19, 1945.”

Concentration Camps for Children: The Forgotten Cruel Truth
Stop and think about the phrase: “camp for Polish minors in Litzmannstadt” (Łódź). When mentioning the crimes of the Nazis, people often think of the Jewish victims in Auschwitz or Treblinka. However, few people know about the existence of a concentration camp set up SPECIFICALLY FOR NON-JEWISH CHILDREN – mainly Polish children – whose official name was Polen-Jugendverwahrlager Litzmannstadt.

This was not a ghetto or a regular labor camp. This was where the Nazis detained and punished Polish children accused of crimes, children of resistance fighters, or those arrested during raids. Instead of being treated as minors, they were subjected to torture, forced labor, and systematic deprivation of childhood.

Did you know? In Litzmannstadt, children, some as young as 8-10 years old, were made to do the same hard work as adults, lived in terrible sanitary conditions, and suffered barbaric punishments. This is a dark chapter that history often overlooks, making people shudder: genocide not only targeted at a group of people, but also at the most vulnerable!

Maria Matlak’s Fate: 658 Days of Terror
Maria Matlak was transferred to the camp on April 2, 1943, when she was 14 and a half years old. Her prisoner number was 39847 – an insensitive number representing a specific person.

From 1943 until the day of liberation (January 19, 1945), Maria spent almost 22 months (about 658 days) of horror in the camp.

14 years old: What did the little girl witness and endure?

Łodygowice: How did her family survive the war and wait for her back home?

Prisoner 39847: How many other similar stories, with different numbers of prisoners, have been buried in oblivion?

Maria Matlak’s very survival on January 19, 1945, just days before the Red Army liberated the region, was a personal miracle. But that miracle was exchanged for the indelible physical and mental scars of a stolen childhood.

A Call to Talk: What Are We Doing About This?
The story of Maria Matlak is more than just a historical fact. It is a reminder that we need to dig deeper into the hidden corners of the Holocaust and World War II.

Responsibility to Remember: Are we doing enough to remember the victims of Litzmannstadt? Or are we focusing on the more “notorious” concentration camps?

Survivor’s Memoirs: What was Maria Matlak’s life like after 1945? How did she cope with those horrific memories?

Human Rights Lesson: The existence of a concentration camp for children is a chilling testimony to the inhumanity of the Holocaust, a stark warning to protect children’s rights in all circumstances.

Maria Matlak’s story is a wake-up call. It forces us to ask: How can the world remain indifferent to the crimes against the most innocent of people – children?

Share this article and let’s talk about it, so that Maria Matlak and the thousands of other children in Litzmannstadt concentration camp are never forgotten. The truth must be told, and the pain must be acknowledged!