INTRODUCTION

After reading the book "A Wartime Memoir" by Karolina Lanckorońska a former prisoner in the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, I decided to learn more about circumstances surrounding the inhuman medical experiments conducted on 74 polish women, who were the political prisoners in the camp. I was particularly moved by the heroic stance of the survivors of the experiments and incredible support they received from all Ravensbrück's inmates.

I was disappointed, when I found how little is presented on the Internet on the subject in the English language. That is why, this website project had been started.
I tried to use the available resources on the gruesome subject of the Ravensbrück concentration camp; most of them were memoirs of the survivors. One of these is the book "And I am afraid of my dreams" by Wanda Półtawska. In the narrative form the author shows her personal experiences as a guinea-pig in the concentration camp. Mrs Półtawska was one of the first among 74 women to whom wounds were inflicted by the doctors followed by the artificially applied bacterial infection.

The most important source of information about the 74 cases of medical experiments in the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp is monography "Experimental operations on prisoners of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp" edited by Wanda Machlejd, published in Poland in 1960.

The information about other aspects of the concentration camp came mainly from four books, two by former prisoners of the camp; the first, the excellent source of facts about the camp with bibliography (unfortunately a book is available only in polish version), by Wanda Kiedrzyńska and the second by Tillion Germaine, both titled "Ravensbrück". The third book "Ravensbrück - Every day life in a Women's Concentration Camp 1939-1945" by Jack G. Morrison is a very interesting analysis of the social and cultural life in the camp, presented in a popular form. I recomend the book as the introduction to more serious studies on the subject of the camp. For those who are interested in the serious studies about the Ravensbrück concentration camp, I recomend the book by Bernhard Strebel "Das KZ Ravensbrück. Geschichte eines Lagerkomplexes"

The list of all my references is presented on a separate page of the website.

The main source of the biographical information about the Nazi doctors was "The Nuremberg Medical Trial 1946/47 Transcripts, Material of the Prosecution and Defence, Related documents" edited by group of German historians in form of microfiche.

The Internet became indispensable tool in my research. I keep e-mail contact with Janusz Tajchert from Poland who has been developing his own website about the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. A great amount of the information placed on these pages has come from him, and Mrs. Anna Hassa Jarosky, whose mother, Mrs. Jadwiga Dzido was a former political prisoner in the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp and a victim of the medical experiments conducted in the camp.

The information on the website takes primarily the Polish perspective when presenting facts about the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. From this, should not be inferred that the other national or political groups of prisoners and the role they played in the camp's community might be less important.

Jarek Gajewski