Jawischowitz to Wodzisław Śląski

Members of the Boys were held in Nazi labour and concentration camps and used as slave labourers.

From 1933-1945 Nazi Germany operated over 1,000 concentration camps and subcamps in its own territory and across German occupied Europe. Among them was the Jawischowitz subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp complex.

As the camps were dissolved thousands of people among them members of the Boys endured horrific evacuations from the camps on foot, in freight wagons and open top trains, as well as perilous journeys across the Baltic Sea.

The Boys were teenage and child-Holocaust survivors, who were brought to the UK after the war for rest and rehabilitation.

^{The former Auschwitz concentration camp.}

The camp in the Polish village of Jawiszowice, then known by its German name of Jawishowitz. The camp was situated south of the main camp of Auschwitz I, which was located in Oświęcim.

In January 1945, about 1,900 prisoners were evacuated on foot to Wodzisław Śląski and from there loaded onto open-topped wagons and transported by train to Buchenwald and Mauthausen concentration camp on 22-23 January. Maurice Vegh one of the Boys was moved in brutal conditions to Buchenwald. Vegh was just 14 years old.

Date of Death March:

18-19 January 1945

Distance:

57km

Destination:

Wodzisław Śląski

Duration:

3 days

Number of Prisoners at Departure:

1,900

Number of Prisoners at Arrival:

Exact figure is unknown

Memorialisation:

There are a series of memorials along the route taken by the Auschwitz death marches

Death marches and trains from the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, which members of the Boys endured, that have so far been identified:

Auschwitz III-Monowitz to Gleiwitz
Blechhammer to Buchenwald
Fürstengrube to Gleiwitz
Gleiwitz to Various Destinations
Günthergrube to Gleiwitz/Gross Rosen
Neu-Dachs-Jaworzno to Gross Rosen
Laurahütte to Mauthausen
Katowice to Kłodzko

Associated Boys:

Moric Friedman
Richard Rosenthal

Map: