Mannheim

The first prisoners of war in Mannheim were Polish soldiers from the 1939 September Campaign. Contrary to international conventions, most of them were deprived of their prisoner-of-war status and were sent to companies in Mannheim or to farms on the outskirts of the town as forced labourers. In the spring of 1940, the first transports with Polish civilian forced labourers arrived in the town. In November 1942, 13,700 citizens of all the European countries conquered by the Third Reich, representing more than 20% of the total workforce in Mannheim, were engaged in forced labour. Poles were the second largest group of prisoners after Russians. In addition to typical work, prisoners of war were used for heavy and dangerous work of removing the damage caused by Allied Forces' bombings and disarming unexploded bombshells. By February 1945 Mannheim, an important centre of the arms industry, was bombed 151 times by the Allied Air Force. In January 1944, 800 Poles and in March 1,428 Poles were assigned to work for the so-called immediate assistance. For nearly 150 Polish men and women the town remained the place of final rest; they were buried at four cemeteries in Mannheim.

After the end of the war, there were about 30,000 Poles staying in Mannheim. Before the creation of organised camps for Displaced Persons, they lived in the remaining camp barracks, tents and empty bunkers. The Poles who died after the end of the warfare were mostly buried at the main cemetery in the Polish plot. They included, among others, members of the Polish Guard Squads being under the authority of the U.S. Army. The plot is also the burial place of:

JANUSZ JULIUSZ STANISŁAW, chaplain of the Polish Army reserve, after the liberation the Chief Chaplain of the Polish Guard and Technical Companies, dean and parish priest of the Polish parish in Mannheim, built an orphanage, from 1975 member of the Committee for the Pastoral Care of the Polish Community Abroad

* 4.5.1906 Łuczyn district Nowy Sącz

† 7.9.1978 Mannheim