![Attribution: By János Balázs from Berlin, Deutschland (memorial concentration camp sachsenhausen) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://roseseilerscott.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/sachsenhausengatecropped.jpg)
Attribution: By János Balázs from Berlin, Deutschland (memorial concentration camp Sachsenhausen) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
…the train pulled up to another prison camp surrounded with barbed wire. A wrought iron sign at the gate stated “Arbeit Macht Frei.”
Liesel was dismayed. This again? She thought of Michal. His family had not been made free by work; she had not been made free by work. Freedom was only at the whim of the authorities and the only thing that would make her free was patience. Maybe. (p. 343 Threaten to Undo Us)
During the late 1930’s and throughout the Second World War, millions of people, mostly Jews, lost their lives at the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, Potulice and other infamous locales. What is not so well known, is that after the war, a number of these camps were re-opened by the Office of State Security under the administration of Polish communists. Ethnic Germans in Soviet-controlled Poland and other Eastern European countries were detained and mistreated in these camps, along with anyone remotely suspected of subversive activities against the new regime.
More info: John Sacks, An Eye for An Eye.
Alfred deZayas, A Terrible Revenge.
August 1, 2015 at 4:53 pm
I wish you well with sales of your book. I’ve read a large number of books on the ‘Flight and Expulsion’ and have a considerable number still to read. The growing number of books on this topic may one day lead to people knowing more about the horrible events that occurred between 1944 and 1950.
All the best,
Phil Thomas
August 1, 2015 at 8:37 pm
Thanks Phil! When I first started researching this topic, the internet was in its infancy and I couldn’t find out much. I see that is changing. A balanced view of history is important so we can learn from it!
August 7, 2015 at 11:10 pm
Interesting. Love learning this history. Thought I had a pretty good, though far from encyclopedic knowledge of the subject but this is new.
Thank you.
August 7, 2015 at 11:20 pm
Thanks for stopping by Jeffrey! I think your experience is representative of most people.