Wspomnienia Z Pobytu W Dachau. Organizacja Pracy "Naukowej" w Obozie (Memories of a Stay in Dachau. Organization of "Scientific" Work in the Camp)
Krakow: Nakladem Ksiegarni S. Kaminski, 1945. First edition. Softcover. Large octavo. 32pp. Tan wrappers with black lettering on the covers. Scarce first edition of Polish biologist Stanislaw Skowron's memoir of his tragic experiences as a prisoner at the Dachau concentration camp during WWII. The author's story was one of many similar, experienced by Polish academics as part of the operation known as "Sonderaktion Krakau", which was part of "Intelligenzaktion", the Nazi's plan to eradicate the Polish intelligencia. The work can be see not only as a personal account but a comprehensive testimony on the tragic events that befell this larger group of Polish intellectuals and professors. At the time of his imprisonment he was 39 years old.
On November 6th 1939, only a few months after the German invasion of Poland, the SS ordered Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński the rector of the Jagiellonian University, in Krakow, to call all of the professors to a lecture on the topic of German plans for education in Poland. The entire faculty (including Skowron) gathered for the meeting and found that instead of the expected lecture, they encountered SS-Obersturmbannführer Bruno Müller and his men, there to condemn them as enemies of the state and arrest them. In total 184 academics (and a few other university employees) from around Krakow, including Lehr-Spławiński himself, were arrested with most ultimately ending up in the Dachau and Sachsenhausen concentration camps. After huge efforts to petition their release, most of the surviving members of this group were released by 1941.
Wrappers with some rubbing, creasing and chipping to extremities. Age toning to the edges of the wrappers and pages throughout. Interior with a few sporadic minor waters strains throughout. Wrappers in good-, interior in very good- condition overall. Protected by modern mylar. g- to vg-. Item #47130
Stanislaw Skowron (1900-1976) was a Polish biologist, embryologist and professor. Througout his life, including before and after WWII, he had a long association with the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, first as a student then as a professor. Fom 1947 to 1954 he served as an associate professor and as head of the Department of Biology and Embryology at the Jagiellonian University. He was also the organizer and head of the Department of Experimental Zoology at the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Price: $500.00