Krzysztof Nowakowski and Dr Allan Dodds have highlighted a lesser-known aspect of Polish wartime history: thousands of Poles forcibly conscripted into the German Wehrmacht later fought for the Allied forces.
Nowakowski, vice-chairman of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, notes that around 90,000 Poles who had been forced into the Wehrmacht eventually served with the Polish Armed Forces in the west. These men either deserted to Allied lines or were captured as prisoners of war, after which intelligence debriefings led many to fight against the Nazis.
Dr Allan Dodds of Bramcote, Nottinghamshire, recounts the story of his former Polish boss, who chose Wehrmacht service over a concentration camp. He spent much of his time sabotaging his own equipment, a dangerous but common practice among his comrades.
The correspondence responds to a recent article on a second world war exhibition in Poland, which the writers say overlooked this significant contribution of Polish conscripts to the Allied war effort.
