A flower from Poland.

A flower from Poland. is a book written by Louis Rautenbach.

“I wrote about the massacre of the Polish people during WWII. The babies and children were kidnapped mostly to be killed, some to be raised by Germans (those with blonde hair and blue eyes, thin lips, etc). Some older children were used for slave labor. Then the leaders and politicians were killed in Public by hanging and others were shot. Then the intellectuals like teachers, preachers, academic persons. Later whole families and even whole towns were killed in front of each other IN Mass graves where they had to stand on dead bodies and murdered people who were shot before them. Why were these stories never being told to the world?
CZESLAWA KWOKA: A FLOWER FROM POLAND (KWIAT MAKU Z POLSKI)
The first time when I saw her photo, it felt as if I was hypnotized. I surely was in shock.
I stared at her face and experienced various emotions. This poor Polish girl, only fourteen years old fell victim to sadistic German officials and camp guards. I couldn’t sleep for a couple of nights in a row, just pondering about this brutality against innocent people.
I was busy at that time with research for my previous book titled Love under Fire, a love story that played out during WWII. That novel was born in the Te Papa Museum, War Exhibition in Wellington, New Zealand in January 2020. A. Young NZ couple who were in love had to go to war for six bloody years.
I search on the internet for certain information about WWII when the three photos of Czeslawa Kwoka popped up. This beautiful young girl was exactly the age of my granddaughter at that time. My heart went nearly into a still stand when I saw the expressions on her young face.
Just look at her. So pretty, so young, but with so many emotions expressed on her teenage face. She clearly was terrified. Look at her face. Fear, tension, heartbreak, confusion, pain, and hunger … a plea in her eyes probably for mercy … it looks as if she’d rather want to run away. Longing for any kind of humanity, but none. No mercy. At an age when she needed love, comfort, and guidance. Her humanity and dignity have been neglected, her dreams destroyed. She probably felt alone, abandoned, rejected … How cruel? How cruel can people be? There seems to be NO limit to Human cruelty.
She was humiliated when her hair was cut off. This was after a long devastating journey in a cattle wagon (train truck for livestock) without food, water, or sanitation. Too big clothes were given to her. She was separated from her mother, Katarzyna. The woman who raised and loved her was killed by the Germans only three weeks before.
She didn’t understand German, she was assaulted by the German woman guard because she didn’t react quickly enough as she didn’t understand what was said to her.
Her lip was bruised, and the skin was broken. The skin under her eyes glistened with tears she had shed shortly before. There were also marks on her nose, ear, and cheek. The Polish photographer ordered her to wash away the blood and tears before he could take these three mug shot pictures. She probably in fear wiped it away, washed it off. Hopefully for any sign of mercy. But none. Maybe she hoped for some dignity?
The emotions on her face remain. She couldn’t wipe the expression from her face. It is there in these photos for generations to come, to see it. To experience it. She was an innocent human being.
Let’s never forget.”

“What would her thoughts be? How would she have felt? Did she realize that everything was in vain? Was there any hope at all that maybe soon or perhaps one day, she will have an opportunity to play among the red poppies in the field near her village in the springtime again?

Czeslawa, the expression of this little Polish girl in three of these photos exposed what’s wrong in the world when savages are allowed to rule. Just like a flower bud, many children’s budding youth were trampled on mercilessly in Auschwitz long before they could blossom into adulthood.

Czeslawa. Only fourteen years old, but trapped and made brutally vulnerable to the barbarity of war and the sadism, hate and torture in a Nazi Concentration camp.

Czeslawa. All that remains were the three photographs taken of her just before her death.

The story of this once vibrant-cheerful girl was written with great respect and admiration to pay tribute to her and the other hundreds and thousands of children who not only lost their dreams and youth but their lives at the hands of the Germans.”

Any book written about the Holocaust is an important document. That is why I am endorsing this book.