Letter Smuggled Out of Ravensbrück

Letter Smuggled Out of Ravensbrück

Letter IX, of 9 October 1943 

Written by Zofia Pociłowska


“Don’t be surprised at our arranging our correspondence in this particular way. When we were last there, we told one of you the reason behind it, and now we want to describe the situation and examine it closely. You surely know yourselves that we are not a completely homogeneous group. We include comrades from a variety of backgrounds, of a range of intellectual levels and even different attitudes and impact. These differences are naturally not so very important in respect to our outward aura, our solidarity etc. – but it is clear that some things can only be realised from within an extremely unified and well-practised group. And in this case, here I mean the gang, it is more that it has been made up by coincidence, and although we are a good team in our everyday work and understand each other, it is not possible to attempt more serious things together. By chance, this gang includes some people from our ideologically unified group, and it is up to us to get in contact with you and to give it this or that shape. 


After considering all the circumstances, we have decided to resolve our matter as follows: we will write a general letter that can be read by the whole gang and a wide circle, and an extra sheet just from us. We ask you most sincerely to do the same. And now to business. As you know, we are all (i.e. those of us writing to you) imprisoned for an organisation, and although some are more involved than others, everyone will be drawn into the work in this way, and if any of us now came to freedom, she would certainly be bound to play an active part in the life of our nation. Although we are locked up here, robbed of freedom and liberty, we still have our work and our goal. 

Regardless of whether we will return or not, the history of the Polish women of Ravensbrück and the history of the camp in general – the true and undistorted history – must see the light of day as precisely and comprehensively as possible. We must not permit our enemies, who are counting on a lack of evidence, some day to attempt to hide or veil their crimes from the world. We are conscious of the fact that if we do not get away from here, there will be those who may portray the camp in another light, quite simply because they might be unaware of many facts, or because they are not interested in them. We have been of this view for some time now and we have been trying for a long time to reach our goal in any possible way, and although we have as yet achieved it to a certain point, that is not yet everything, because the task is very difficult. It is only now that circumstances are favourable enough for us to be able to put all our plans into practice, with your help.


We hope that you will not refuse us that. Do not think that you are dealing with inexperienced and frivolous girls, who are not capable of things of this nature (I think that is how our group leader describes us, but please do not pay any attention, she is very good to us, reliable, but we are not very close to her, she is not well-versed in our affairs and has nothing to do with them). As for us, there are also in our midst, older, highly experienced and level-headed women, apart from that, we have experienced so much ourselves that we have the right to take on our work with full responsibility. By the way, although we are indeed surrounded by enemy elements and subjected to all kinds of surprises and harassment, such as reviews etc., we are already so well versed in the situation that, considering all precautions, we always understand how to ward off or escape misfortune, in which at the moment of danger all important papers are immediately destroyed. And in our opinion, the most important thing, our duty and yours, is, regardless of the great danger, to conclude the business.
 

And now we’d like to describe the way we imagine you can help. Above all, we would like to know what resources you have, i.e. whether or not you are well organised and well connected. If this is not the case so far and you have no opportunities concerning this matter, your help would consist solely of preserving these things unchanged (i.e. in the original) and bringing them out to freedom. Should you be organised, however, we would like to know what resources you have and in which direction they extend, whether you have a permanent contact with some kind of organisation, or whether it is a case of occasional chance contacts, more private in nature. And finally, if perhaps you have some kind of opportunities and are now able to use them working together with us, we would be able to give you a few points in reference to contacts that you might be able to make use of!
 

In any case we are resolved, independently of everything, not to wait passively for an unknown end, we believe that all of you, dear boys, will be in agreement with our position and that, as far as you are able, you will help us and give us an honest description of your options. Our material is very extensive and we would like to let all of it come to you (of course we can’t do that all at once); we will await your answer. We would also like to know whether your letters to us are always written by one and the same person (we do not always get answers to our questions). We arrange things so that the same girls are always busy with the exchange of letters. We would very much like to ask you, as a precaution, not to prepare the cargo for us until you have checked whether one of us or somebody else is authorised for it. When we come, one of you must absolutely try to come past or to let himself be seen near us. If you then hear the watchword ‘be prepared’ – everything is fine, if not please don’t leave anything behind! That is all for now, we are waiting impatiently for you answer.”