Introduction

The fist political prisoners of Auschwitz were Poles brought from the prison in Tarnów on June 14th, 1940 numbering 728 men, among whom there were at least 67 boys under 18 years of age. At least one of them, Stanisław Klimek (camp prisoner number 468), was only 14 years old. Teenage boys, including high school and university students, were also taken in subsequent transports of Poles to Auschwitz from Wiśnicz, Kraków, Warsaw, and the Silesia region. They were arrested in the spring of 1940 as part of the terrorizing repressive measures taken against Polish society, such as the so-called Extraordinary Pacification (Ausserordentliche Befriedungsaktion – AB), or captured during raids or street roundups. Many of them were involved in underground activities against the German occupiers, for example, distribution of leaflets or illegal press. Some were arrested for trying to cross the Slovak and Hungarian borders to join the Polish army forming in France (Strzelecka, 1983, pp. 69–144).

That political prisoners and juvenile persons were sent to the camp is confirmed by the surviving fragments of the lists of registered and newly arrived prisoners in Auschwitz (the so-called Zugangslisten), which include dates of birth. The documents covering the period from January 7th to December 22nd, 1941 state that there were at least 398 adolescents and children among the 16,762 Poles imprisoned in Auschwitz during that period, the youngest of whom were aged from twelve to fourteen (APMA-B, Z. Zugangsliste, v. 1–5).