A few days ago, the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial received a letter as a gift from the family of Roman Kamieniecki. His grand-daughter Katarzyna Kozłowska presented the letter to Memorial Director Dr. Oliver von Wrochem during the Congress of the Amicale Internationale KZ Neuengamme (AIN).

Kamieniecki’s letter, which he wrote to his mother while imprisoned in the satellite camp Hannover-Stöcken, is from January 14, 1945. As it was required back then, the letter was written in German. The recipient, Anna Kamieniecka, was doing forced labour in a camp in Berlin.

In the letter, Roman tells that he received the last aid-package from the Red Cross in October. “If only it were possible, I could receive further [packages]. I ask you, dear Mother, not to send me any of your own, as you yourself also do not have too much.”

We are very happy to receive this valuable addition to our documentation.

Roman Kamieniecki, born on the 7 August 1925 in Warsaw, was as a young man active in the Polish Resistance against the German occupation, carrying out acts of sabotage as part of the Underground Army “Armia Krajowa”. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942 and was sent to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in November. In the summer of 1943, Roman was deported to the Neuengamme Concentration Camp and was forced to work in the Brickworks and Claypit work commandos. Roman Kamieniecki became sick, however he survived. He was transferred to the Neuengamme satellite camp Hannover-Stöcken, where he was forced to work in the battery works. Shortly before the end of the war, he was deported to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and was liberated by the British Allied Forces. After his convalescence in Sweden, he returned to Poland, obtained his school diploma and started a family. He was Chairman of the Association of former Polish prisoners of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp in Poland. Roman Kamienicki passed away in February 2021.