Description
Object description
Polish civilian in Warsaw, 1939-1944; worked as nurse during the Warsaw Uprising, 8-10/1944; interned in Poland and Germany, 10/1944-4/1945
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of period in Warsaw, Poland, 1939-1944: family background; father refused to work for Germans following occupation and went into hiding; father's role organising attacks on German trains; pre-war life and education; reaction to outbreak of war, 1/Sep/1939; opinion of British guarantee of Poland's integrity; school closed and taken over by Polish military; radio announcements about invasion; Polish Air Force flew over city to boost morale; bombardment of city; used cellar as air raid shelter; streets dug up and barricades erected; radio stopped broadcasting; attitude to Polish cavalry attacking German tanks; reaction to invasion by Germans and Russians, Sep/1939; opinion of Russian Army; description of Germans marching into Warsaw and throwing bread to crowd; feeling of shame at surrender; teaching staff organised classes in private houses; matriculation and exams; German restrictions on public gatherings and access to education; description of daily life under German occupation, including random arrests and seizure of civilians for forced labour; reaction to arrest of headmistress; danger of informants; reason for intelligentsia being targeted.
REEL 2 Continues: formation of resistance units in countryside; strong bond between farmers and land; problem of unemployment in professional classes; scarcity of goods in shops due to German Army taking produce; problem of hunger and black market; story about Jewish school friend and father; various methods of resistance; studied medicine and undertook practical nursing training in hospitals; problem of obtaining information; hardships under German occupation including constant threat of arrest. Aspects of period as nurse during Warsaw Uprising, 8-10/1944: description of work treating wounded; story of plan to take over medical services in Silesia.
REEL 3 Continues: opinion of communications and organisation during Uprising; restrictions on movement in city; areas controlled by Polish Home Army; Germans occupied building on opposite side of street; description of makeshift hospital in vaults of Prudential building and treatment of wounded including former school friends; problem of having no electricity or water; types of weapons used by Germans including grenades, rockets and flamethrowers; story of seeing blackened corpse of woman in street; damage caused by heavy railway guns firing onto houses; condition of Prudential building after being bombed; story of bomb falling down lift shaft and exploding; reaction to narrow escape and casualties; description of conditions in vaults; problem of water tank bursting; use of German POW to carry medical equipment; story of man killed by piece of glass after bottle exploded; end of Uprising and cessation of fighting, 10/1944; auxiliary nurses also trained to fight. Aspects of period in Poland and Germany, 1944-4/1945: driven to interment amp with badly wounded women; story about aristocratic Polish woman physicist having arm amputated; description of camp and facilities; food and rations from Red Cross parcels; various nationalities in camp; description of three day train journey to camp in Germany, 12/1944; number of inmates in camp; continued treating wounded; problem of harsh winter; description of food rations; location of camp near Dutch border; use of older soldiers as camp guards; story of going to collect milk from farm with guards.
REEL 4 Continues: story of liberation by 1st Polish Armoured Div 12/Apr/1945; photographed in nurse's uniform; story of meeting family friend serving with Polish Army; story about uncle serving with Polish Air Force; story of visit by Canadian journalist to interview Polish women soldiers; story of being taken to reception in Nijmegen and hearing news of German surrender, 5/1945; seriously wounded flown to GB; opinion of equipment and medical facilities at Canadian hospital; story about Gen Maczek occupying German town and removing population; reason for wanting to go to GB; offered place at German university; story of illness and treatment at field hospital in village; arrived in GB, 1947; problem of being unable to continue medical studies; attitude to parts of Poland coming under Russian occupation after war.