Eberhard Polednik

About Eberhard Polednik

Eberhard Polednik was born on 28 January 1922 in Langburkersdorf near Dresden. Although his father was a communist, Eberhard had as little knowledge of the politics of the time as he did of the sentiment against Jews. When he began his training in a forestry business, he had to join the Hitler Youth, and at the age of 17 he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht.

Eberhard Polednik only learnt from his father that Jews were being imprisoned and murdered when he was around 20. He finally understood the extent of the crimes when he was shown footage from concentration camps during his three and a half years as a prisoner of war. He later returned to what was then East Germany, where he found work and became the father of a daughter.

Eberhard Polednik spent the last years of his life in a retirement home, where he also cared for other residents for many years.

Eberhard Polednik died in August 2018.