Remember
Every person has a name. I bring together names, dates and burial places from archival sources and make them publicly available – carefully and with the source stated.
Ostoja Pamięci · in English
Polish graves in Germany
I document the graves of Polish citizens who died in Germany during the Second World War and in the first years after it – so that their names are not forgotten and their families can find them.
- Database
- 8,012 people · 570 towns and municipalities
- Remember
- Names and graves from archival sources
- Reconcile
- Remembrance together with German communities
- Help
- Support for families searching for relatives
Why this work
A grave is a place of encounter
In many cemeteries across Germany lie Polish citizens who were brought here for forced labour during the Second World War, or who died here as prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners – often young, often far from their families. Many of these graves are hardly known today; some have been removed over the decades.
Families in Poland and around the world still ask the same questions: Where is my grandfather buried? Where was the child buried of whom only a name remains? Ostoja Pamięci looks for answers to these questions.
I do not see my work as an accusation. Knowing and preserving the graves of the victims creates a place where Poles and Germans can remember together. In the cemeteries in the middle of German towns and villages, reconciliation becomes tangible: a name on a plaque, a well-kept grave, a candle on All Saints' Day.
Remember · Reconcile · Help
Three ideas that have guided my work since 2017.
Reconcile
I work with German municipalities, cemetery administrations and archives – with respect for our shared history and with gratitude for every help on the spot.
Help
Families in Poland and all over the world find traces of their relatives in the database. For some it is the first news in decades.
How I work
For me an archival document is the beginning of the search, not its end. Wherever possible, I compare it with cemetery records, information from the authorities and the present state of the grave.
Archival research
Documents about the fate, death and burial of Polish citizens, among others from the Arolsen Archives.
Enquiries to the authorities
Correspondence with municipalities, towns, cemetery administrations and archives.
Documentation on site
Visits to the cemeteries and photographic documentation of the graves.
Publication
Verified information appears in the database. What is certain is clearly separated from assumptions, and the state of every grave is recorded with its source.
The records in the database are in Polish; places, cemeteries and authorities always appear in their official German spelling. Names are written as in the German documents of the time – it is worth trying several spellings (for example “Wladislaus” for Władysław). Polish special characters are not needed: “Wisniewski” also finds “Wiśniewski”.
State of the documentation
As of October 2026. The database grows with every answer from a municipality and every message from a family.
Baden-Württemberg · Hessen · Bayern · Nordrhein-Westfalen · Niedersachsen · Thüringen
Since 2026 I have been helped by Volunteers of Remembrance (“Wolontariusze Pamięci”): people who use a small app to visit graves near them, photograph them and report their present state – graves I would probably never have reached on my own. I check every report before it appears here.
Do you recognise a name?
If you find a relative in the database, or if you are looking for one, please write to me. You are welcome to write in English.
“No symbolic memorial stone can replace a real grave and a concrete place of burial.”