Memories of a Polish worker of his stay beyond the Arctic Circle in Norway in the years 1943-1944

Abstract

The article is based on the account by Bronisław Jagodziński who for one year stayed in the region of Fauske-Engan in the north of Norway, where he did forced labor. He was sent there by the Nazi paramilitary Todt Organization (OT) through the agency of the German Employment Office (Arbeitsamt) in Tarnopol. The situation that obtained in Galicia under the German occupation aided by Ukrainian troops is presented first, and then Jagodziński's way through the Polish territories destroyed by the war to Norway and his work for German industry beyond the Arctic Circle are shown. Thanks to an opportunity offered by the favorable situation, he made his way to Germany through Denmark, and then via Wrocław, Krakow and Przemyśl he reached Lvov. Arrested by the NKWD, thanks to his good command of Russian he managed to avoid repression. He joined General Zygmunt Berling's army and participated in its victorious campaign reaching Berlin. After the war he settled outside Wrocław.