Forced labor badge, yellow with a purple P, worn by a Polish Catholic kidnapped into forced labor service
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm)
Creator(s)
- Joseph S. Wardzala (Subject)
Biographical History
Joseph Wardzala was born on October 11, 1923, in Smigno, Poland. He was the youngest of five sons in a Roman Catholic family. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Joseph was no longer able to attend school. One of his brothers joined a partisan group and provided food for Polish Jews in hiding. Joseph began to help his brother with these activities and was arrested three times from 1939 to 1941. In April 1941, Joseph was kidnapped from the street in Tarnow and taken to a labor camp in Watenstedt-Salzgitter in northwest Germany, where he was forced to work in construction for the German Army. In April 1945, the camp was liberated and Joseph was taken to a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency camp. He remained there for five years while attempting to acquire a visa to the United States. In 1950, he was able to emigrate to the US where he settled in Connecticut. He married Dorothy Gutrick in 1946 and they had two sons. Joseph dedicated himself to church and commnuity charity work and received many awards for his service. Joseph, age 91, died on November 1, 2014.
Archival History
The badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by Joseph Wardzala.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joseph Wardzala
Scope and Content
Forced labor badge, yellow with a purple P, issued to 18 year old Joseph Wardzala in 1941 to identify him as a Polish forced laborer in the Watenstedt-Salzgitter labor camp in northwest Germany. German regulations required the workers to wear the badge with the purple band visible around the P on the right chest to keep them separate from the German populace. During the German occupation of Poland, 1939-1945, many non-Jewish Polish people were sent to Germany as conscript labor for civilian labor details on farms and factories. Workers sometimes volunteered for the forced labor service, but the majority were forcibly recruited and conditions worsened as the war continued. In April 1941, Joseph, who was Roman Catholic, was kidnapped on the streets of Tarnow, Poland, and deported to the labor camp in Germany, where he was forced to work in construction for the German Army. He was liberated by American troops in April 1945. Joseph was taken to a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (UNRRA) refugee camp. After five years, he acquired an American visa and, in 1950, emigrated to the US.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Laminated, square, yellow cotton badge with a dyed purple border and purple P in the center, that is worn in a diamond orientation.
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Germany--Personal narratives, Polish.
- World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Polish.
- Forced labor--Germany--Biography.
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
- Foreign workers, Polish--Germany--Biography.
Genre
- Object
- Identifying Artifacts