Memorial commemorating 8 Polish soldiers interned in Romania in 1939, buried in the local cemetery, photo Armenian Foundation, 2019
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ID: WOJ-000146-W/73646 (RO-0004a)

Memorial commemorating 8 Polish soldiers interned in Romania in 1939, buried in the local cemetery

ID: WOJ-000146-W/73646 (RO-0004a)

Memorial commemorating 8 Polish soldiers interned in Romania in 1939, buried in the local cemetery

In September 1939, more than 50,000 Polish refugees found refuge in Romania, including some 24,000 soldiers. Representatives of the supreme authorities of the Republic and all military personnel were interned. Initially, the plan was to locate the interned soldiers in the Danube delta region, presumably to hinder escapes. Approximately 12,000 soldiers were interned there, but by October the number of troops was reduced to around 4,000. The originally established "WP Delegation of the Tulcha District" was renamed "WP Delegation of the Babadag District" on 11.10.1939, and the officers interned in Tulcha were transferred there. The soldiers, among them numerous airmen, were placed in nearby villages up to 40 km from Babadag. Accommodation conditions, which were initially dire, improved somewhat over time, especially as escapes were undertaken en masse and the number of internees was reduced, despite numerous difficulties. As the escapes were difficult to hide from the Germans, it was decided to locate everyone in specially built camps in Targoviste and Targu Jiu. The final liquidation of the Babadag Internment Zone took place on 6.02.1940. 1,500 soldiers and officers were still there. The sanitary and climatic conditions in the Babadag Internment Zone were conducive to the spread of diseases, including malaria, dysentery and spotted fever. The dysentery was particularly dangerous, with 11 patients dying from it in the district. Some of them were buried in Babadag, others in Tulča.The graves in Babadag cemetery have not been preserved. In the 1990s the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Bucharest unsuccessfully searched for them. The 8 names identified were placed on a monument erected in 2000 with funds from the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Remembrance. It stands close to the fence of the cemetery. It is a granite boulder with an engraved text in Polish and Romanian, the names are inscribed on its base. The boulder was set on a concrete spout surrounded by a chain suspended from the corner posts. The text of the inscription: "TO THE MEMORY OF POLISH REFUGEES/ SOLDIERS OF SEPTEMBER 1939/ WHO DIED IN BABADAG/ AND ARE BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY".

Publikacja:

01.08.2022
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Memorial commemorating 8 Polish soldiers interned in Romania in 1939, buried in the local cemetery
Memorial commemorating 8 Polish soldiers interned in Romania in 1939, buried in the local cemetery, photo Armenian Foundation, 2019

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