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File:Polish victim of German Luftwaffe action 1939.jpg

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Description
Deutsch: Die zehnjährige Polin Kazimiera Mika trauert um ihre ältere Schwester, die auf einem Feld nahe der Jana-Ostroroga-Straße in Warschau bei einem Angriff der deutschen Luftwaffe ums Leben kam.

Der Fotograf Julien Bryan beschrieb die Szene wie folgt: "Als wir zu einem kleinen Feld am Stadtrand kamen, waren wir nur ein paar Minuten zu spät, um Zeuge eines tragischen Ereignisses zu werden, des unglaublichsten überhaupt. Sieben Frauen wollten Kartoffeln ausgraben. Es gab kein Mehl in ihrem Bezirk und sie suchten verzweifelt nach Nahrung. Plötzlich erschienen zwei deutsche Flugzeuge aus dem Nichts und warfen zwei Bomben auf ein nur zweihundert Meter entferntes Haus. Zwei Frauen im Haus fanden den Tod. Die Kartoffelernterinnen warfen sich flach auf den Boden in der Hoffnung, unentdeckt zu bleiben. Als die Flugzeuge fort waren, setzten sie ihre Arbeit fort. Sie brauchten das Essen.

Aber die Nazi-Flieger waren noch nicht zufrieden mit ihrem Werk. Nach ein paar Minuten kamen sie zurück und fielen auf 200 Meter Höhe ab, wobei sie das Feld mit Maschinengewehrfeuer durchpflügten. Zwei der sieben Frauen starben; die anderen fünf schafften es irgendwie zu fliehen.

Während ich die Leichen fotografierte, kam ein kleines zehnjähriges Mädchen und starrte wie gebannt auf eine der Toten. Sie war ihre ältere Schwester. Das Kind hatte nie zuvor eine Tote gesehen und konnte nicht verstehen, warum ihre Schwester nicht mit ihr sprach.

Sie sah uns verwirrt an. Ich legte meinen Arm fest um sie, um sie zu beruhigen. Sie weinte - ebenso wie ich und die polnischen Polizisten, die bei mir waren."

[Quelle: Bryan, Julien: "Warsaw: 1939 Siege; 1959 Warsaw Revisited."]
English: Kazimiera Mika, a ten-year-old Polish girl, mourns the death of her older sister, who was killed in a field near Jana Ostroroga Street in Warsaw during a German air raid by Luftwaffe.

Photographer Julien Bryan described the scene: "As we drove by a small field at the edge of town we were just a few minutes too late to witness a tragic event, the most incredible of all. Seven women had been digging potatoes in a field. There was no flour in their district, and they were desperate for food. Suddenly two German planes appeared from nowhere and dropped two bombs only two hundred yards away on a small home. Two women in the house were killed. The potato diggers dropped flat upon the ground, hoping to be unnoticed. After the bombers had gone, the women returned to their work. They had to have food.

But the Nazi fliers were not satisfied with their work. In a few minutes they came back and swooped down to within two hundred feet of the ground, this time raking the field with machine-gun fire. Two of the seven women were killed. The other five escaped somehow.

While I was photographing the bodies, a little ten-year old girl came running up and stood transfixed by one of the dead. The woman was her older sister. The child had never before seen death and couldn't understand why her sister would not speak to her...

The child looked at us in bewilderment. I threw my arm about her and held her tightly, trying to comfort her. She cried. So did I and the two Polish officers who were with me..." [Source: Bryan, Julien. "Warsaw: 1939 Siege; 1959 Warsaw Revisited."]

In September 1959 Julien Bryan wrote more about it in Look magazine:

In the offices of the Express, that child, Kazimiera Mika, now 30, and I were reunited. I asked her if she remembered anything of that tragic day in the potato field. "I should," she replied quietly. "It was the day I lost my sister, the day I first saw death, and the first time I met a foreigner - you." Today, Kazimiera is married to a Warsaw streetcar motorman. They have a 12-year-old girl and a boy, 9, and the family lives in a 1 1/2-room apartment, typical of the overcrowded conditions of war-racked Poland. She is a charwoman at a medical school (she told me her biggest regret is that her education ended when the war began), and all of the $75 earned each month by her husband and herself goes for food. Kazimiera and her husband, like most Poles, supplement their income with odd jobs, and are sometimes forced to sell a piece of furniture for extra money. But they celebrated my visit to their home with that rare treat, a dinner with meat.
Česky: Kazimiera Mika, desetiletá Polská holčička truchlí kvůli smrti své starší sestry, která byla zabita v poli poblíž ulice jana Ostroroga ve Waršavě během německého vzdušného náletu Luftwaffe.

Fotograf Julien Brian popsal scénu:"Jak jsme jeli kolem malého pole na kraji městečka, jen několikaminutové zpoždění nám zabránilo stát se svědky tragické události, té nejneuvěřitelnější. Sedm žen kopalo na poli brambory. Neměly žádnou mouku a zoufale potřebovaly jídlo. najednou se z ničeho nic vynořily dva Německé letouny a shodily dvě bomby na malý dům jen 200 yardů daleko. Dvě ženy v domě byly zabity. Kopáčky brambor zalehly a doufaly že si jich letadla nevšimla. Poté co bombardéry zmizely, ženy se vrátily ke své práci.Musely sehnat jídlo.

Ale nacističtí piloti nebyli spokojeni se svou prací. během pár minut se vrátily a kulometnou palbou zametly 200 stop pole. Dvě z těch sedmi žen byly při náletu zabity. Ostatním se nějak podařilo uprchnout.

Když jsem fotografoval těla, přiběhla malá, desetiletá holčička a zůstala stát jako přikovaná u jedné mrtvé. Ta žena byla její starší sestra. Dítě ještě nikdy předtím nevidělo smrt a nemohlo pochopit proč s ní její sestra nebude mluvit...

Dítě se na nás zmateně dívalo.natáhl jsem k ní ruku a pevně ji držel abych ji utěšil. Plakala. Stejně jako já a dva Polští důstojníci kteří byli se mnou.
Polski: Dziesięcio-letnia Kazimiera Mika z domu Kostewicz nad zwłokami siostry, zabitej przy ul. Ostroroga w Warszawie podczas niemieckiego nalotu.

Fotograf Julien Bryan opisuje scenę: "Jechaliśmy przez małe pole na obrzeżach miasta, ale byliśmy tylko kilka minut za późno, aby być świadkiem tragicznego wypadku. Siedem kobiet kopało ziemniaki na polu ponieważ zabrakło mąki i nie miały co jeść. Nagle dwa samoloty niemieckie pojawiły się znikąd i zrzuciły dwie bomby na mały dom jakieś dwieście metrów dalej. Dwie kobiety w domu, zostały zabite. Kobiety na polu schowały się mając nadzieję ze nie zostaną zauważone. Gdy bombowce odleciały, kobiety wróciły do pracy, bo musiały znaleźć żywność. Ale hitlerowscy lotnicy nie byli zadowoleni ze swojej pracy. Po kilku minutach wrócili lecąc jakieś 60 metrów nad ziemią, grabiąc pole kulami karabinów maszynowych. Dwie z siedmiu kobiet zostały zabite a pozostałe pięć jakoś uciekły.

Kiedy fotografowałem ciała, mała dziesięcio-letnia dziewczynka podbiegła i znieruchomiała koło jednego z ciał. Kobieta była jej starszą siostrą. Dziecko nigdy nie widziało śmierci i nie mogło zrozumieć, dlaczego jej siostra nie odzywa się do niej. Dziecko spojrzał na nas w zakłopotaniu. Objelem ją trzymałem mocno, starając się ją pocieszyć. Płakała. Ja tez płakałem i dwóch polskich oficerów, którzy byli ze mną ... "[Źródło: Bryan, Julien. "Warsaw: 1939 Siege; 1959 Warsaw Revisited."]

Kazimiera Mika zostala zidentifikowana dzięki apelowi zamieszczonemu przez Juliena Bryana w "Expressie Wieczornym" w 1959 r.
Date 13 September 1939
Source
  • Jerzy Piorkowski (1957) Miasto Nieujarzmione, Warsaw: Iskry, pp. 14 no ISBN
  • Julien Bryan (1959) Warsaw: 1939 Siege; 1959 Warsaw Revisited., Warsaw: Polonia Publishing House, p. 120 OCLC: 8990324. ASIN: B000O2AEBY
  • Julien Bryan (September 1959). Poland in 1939 and in 1959. Look magazine. Archived from the original on 2005-10-28.
Author

Licensing

Public domain This image is in the public domain because according to the Art. 3 of copyright law of March 29, 1926 of the Republic of Poland and Art. 2 of copyright law of July 10, 1952 of the People's Republic of Poland, all photographs by Polish photographers (or published for the first time in Poland or simultaneously in Poland and abroad) published without a clear copyright notice before the law was changed on May 23, 1994 are assumed public domain in Poland.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it meets three requirements:

  1. it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days)
  2. it was first published before March 1, 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities
  3. it was in the public domain in its home country (Poland) on the URAA date (January 1, 1996).
To uploader: Please provide where and when the image was first published.
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This image has been assessed under the valued image criteria and is considered the most valued image on Commons within the scope: Victims of German air raid. You can see its nomination at Commons:Valued image candidates/Polish victim of German Luftwaffe action 1939.jpg.
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This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details may not fully reflect the modified file.
Orientation Normal
Horizontal resolution 100 dpi
Vertical resolution 100 dpi
Software used Adobe Photoshop 7.0
File change date and time 11:29, 16 December 2004
Colour space Uncalibrated

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