NOTICE! NOTICE! Text only wanted poster listing people sentenced to death for crimes against the German government in occupied Poland
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Warning announcement issued in Zakapone, Poland, on October 31, 1943, by the Chief of SS and Police in the Krakow District. The poster announces that the 27 listed persons have been charged with various crimes committed against the German government in Poland and sentenced to death. Persons 1-6 for participation in the roving bands, person 7 for illegal weapons possession, persons 8-9 and 11-27 for illegal activities, and person 10 for participation in a terrorist group. Although the sentence has been carried out on the first five people, the remaining people may be pardoned if no further acts of violence occur. If any of the above acts are committed within three months, and the individual cannot be found, the sentence will be carried out on 10 of the individuals listed. The non-German population is asked to participate in the capture of any perpetrators, to prevent the sentence being carried out on the persons listed to be pardoned. Kazimierz Wilk is listed as number 27. Wilk, age 27, a civil engineer in the Dept. of Transportation, was arrested on October 27, 1943, for his refusal to sign the Goralen-Volk list, which would classify him as an ethnic German. He had refused to sign because, as a Pole, he felt that would be unpatriotic. He was imprisoned in Montelupich Prison in Krakow, and was repeatedly interrogated and tortured. In July 1944, he was transferred to Gross-Rosen concentration camp; in February 1945, to Flossenbürg concentration camp, and in April 1945, to Dachau concentration camp, where he was liberated on April 29, 1945, by the 90th Division of the United States Army.
overall: Height: 24.750 inches (62.865 cm) | Width: 37.250 inches (94.615 cm)
Rectangular paper poster with red background and 2 columns of text in black ink. The text on the left half is in German; the right side repeats the text in Polish. The poster announces categories of crimes against the German Reich and lists 27 people and their offenses in 2 numbered columns.
Kazimierz Jan Wilk was born in Nowy Targ, Poland, on February 8, 1916. His father was a district engineer and his mother was a high school teacher; all four of their children received university degrees. Kazimierz graduated from the Polytechnic in L'vov, Poland, in spring 1939, with a degree in civil engineering. After the German invasion in September 1939, Wilk was employed by the Technical Department of the City Council of Nowy Targ in the Department of Transportation. After the Germans occupied L'vov in June 1941, his department came under German direction. He was repeatedly urged to sign the so-called “Goralen-Volk” list, which would classify him as an ethnic German. He refused to do so, as he felt this act was unpatriotic. In August 1943, he was appointed deputy chief engineer. He was told that he must sign the declaration as an a example to the other employees. He continued to refuse and on October 29, 1943, Wilk was arrested by the Gestapo and brought to the Zakopane prison where he was interrogated and tortured, along with other members of the town’s intelligentsia. He was not aware of the German policy of taking hostages and establishing collective responsibility for damaging the reputation of the German state. Though he was told that"with my behavior I caused great damage to the reputation of the whole Great German state" it was never made clear that his imprisonment was due to his refusal to sign the list. After a few days, Wilk was transferred to Montelupich prison in Krakow, Poland, where the interrogations and tortures continued. On February 27, 1944, he was taken to the Gross Rosen concentration camp. His prisoner number was 8322 and he did forced labor in stone quarries. On February 8, 1945, he was transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp and assigned prisoner number 86772. On April 14, 1945, Wilk was transferred to the Dachau concentration camp and given prisoner number 160771. On April 29, 1945, the 90th Division of the United States Army liberated the camp. During his years in the camps, Wilk occasionally received aid packages from his family. But at liberation, he weighed 80 pounds, from a usual weight of 175, and he was hospitalized for many months at the Dachau hospital, where one American doctor, in particular, provided extensive care. Kasimierz attempted to return to work several times after his initial hospitalization, for the American Graves Registration group, but found his physical and psychological state too fragile. In a letter to his mother, written after liberation, on May 3, 1945, he notes:"I went through terrible times, but you were always with me; I felt it and maybe this is the reason for my survival" On September 14, 1946, he married Janina Szafryk, a ballerina originally from Warsaw, Poland. They emigrated to the US in 1951and had two children. Wilk died, age 80, in Skokie, Illinois, on December 11, 1996.
The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 by Janina Wilk, widow of Kazimierz Wilk, on behalf of his Estate.