In his paper, the author undertook to discuss the subject of inquiries and trials in connection with crimes committed in the labour camps which were organized in Silesia after the Second World War, that is those located in the following places: Jaworzno, Łambinowice, Mysłowice and Świętochłowice. All the inquiries and trials were rich in many details and were also accompanied by elements of the political character. At first, the author analyzes the Labour Camp based in Łambinowice, which makes an unprecedented case as regards the number of inquiries and trials, as there were – in total – seven inquiries and three court trials carried out in Poland and in the Federal Republic of Germany. The first inquiry was conducted as early as in the years 1945–1947, and the last trial of the former commander of the camp – in the years 2001–2006. In the case of the other three camps, inquiries were instigated in Poland after the transformations of the socio-political system of 1989. They lasted, with shorter or longer intervals, until 2011, that is for over 20 years. All of them have been discontinued, in contrast to those run in the FRG, where two of the inquiries and trials ended in two prison sentences for former the so-called German camp functionaries. The discontinuation of the trials in Poland resulted, in many cases, in lodging complaints by the wronged, which started a complicated appellate procedure and – in turn – considerably prolonged the prosecutor’s procedure. In the end, the author forms precise conclusions that follow from the inquiries and trials presented in the paper, poses certain questions and postulates the need of further studies into this problem area.
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