no. 20 August 2010

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EDITORIAL BOARD:Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine

Editor:Paweł SawickiEditorial secretary: Agnieszka Juskowiak-SawickaEditorial board:Bartosz Bartyzel Wiktor BoberekJarek MensfeltOlga OnyszkiewiczJadwiga Pinderska-LechArtur SzyndlerColumnist: Mirosław GanobisDesign and layout:Agnieszka Matuła, Grafi konTranslations: David R. KennedyProofreading:Beata KłosPhotographer:Paweł Sawicki

PUBLISHER:

Auschwitz-BirkenauState Museum

www.auschwitz.org.pl

PARTNERS:

Jewish Center

www.ajcf.pl

Center for Dialogue and Prayer Foundation

www.centrum-dialogu.oswiecim.pl

International Youth Meeting Center

www.mdsm.pl

IN COOPERATION WITH:

Kasztelania

www.kasztelania.pl

State HigherVocational School in Oświęcim

www.pwsz-oswiecim.pl

Editorial address:„Oś – Oświęcim, Ludzie, Historia, Kultura”Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenauul. Więźniów Oświęcimia 2032-603 Oświęcime-mail: os@auschwitz.org.pl

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Our Oświęcim river park! Once, the only place of recreation on Sundays for the inhabitants of our city. A green, ecological breath with an additional serving of clean “Soła” water!Every Sunday, in the sum-mer months, under almost every big and small tree in the river park, on the blan-kets, with food and drinks, families from Oświęcim camped out. On the small knolls and groves, on the banks of the river, we all enjoyed the sun, water, and freedom during the hard times in the general poverty and oppression.The river park slowly be-came civilized. In some

lanes, there appeared benches, some small and primitive points of hand-made gastronomy. In the vi-cinity of the stadium stood a wooden dance platform, and there never was a lack of those willing to dance to live music or from an album played!Beer wasn’t poured non-stop, because those weren’t those times... The kings were lemonade and or-angeade in a so-called “Krachela”—a bottle that was closed with a rubber seal, pressed to the open-ing with a well-thought out wire mechanism.Season opened fully with the May 1st festival, full of

unique “May Day” goods and pleasures. In the river park there were sometimes quarrels and fi ghts, but civil police from a nearby Jagiełło Street intervened quickly and effectively. Without shouting and the choir of singing in the streets, was something the returning partiers obviously could not do! Disturbing the stillness of the night was threatened with serious sanctions, but the First of May was the only night where this was not enforced.The 1950s. A time of great plans and the building of Socialism—Nowa Huta!—together with the pinnacle of slavery and repression.

Years of state holidays and celebrations, joyful parades, festivals, and dances. Enter-tainment for those days and that culture. Of course, all under the watchful eye and supervision of the socialist authorities of order and se-curity.Our river park in those years was a place of cultural entertainment, spontane-ous fun, attractions for the working-class masses and folklore? To some extent, yes, as much as was pos-sible at that time and to that degree.That’s the way it was—be-cause it could not have been any other way!

Andrzej Winogrodzki

The number of visitors to the Ausch-witz Memorial in the last decade has increased threefold. Last year saw another record—1.3 million people, mainly from abroad, visited the Mu-seum. In the near future, the adjacent bus station will be transformed into a new visitors center. In the com-petition to develop this plan, KKM Kozień Architekci was awarded fi rst prize. Here you can see what the modern reception base will look like. In this Oś, we also cover of the com-memoration of Day of Remembrance for the Extermination of the Roma,

which was held at the former Birke-nau camp on August 2—the anniver-sary of the liquidation of the so-called family camp for Sinti and Roma. We also recommend reading the inter-view with Piotr Kadlčik, President of the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland and member of the Ausch-witz-Birkenau Foundation Council.

On the pages of the International Youth Meeting Center you can read about the visit of the new volunteers from the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace to memorial sites, as well as the Jewish Foundation for the Righ-

teous, whose scholarship winners—American teachers—were hosted in Oświęcim during their two-week study trip to Germany and Poland.

We also recommend the refl ective ar-ticle written by a young volunteer for the Center for Dialogue and Prayer, Max Sundermann, and we invite you to the events connected with the 10th anniversary of the Jewish Center in Oświęcim.

Paweł SawickiEditor-in-chief

os@auschwitz.org.pl

A GALLERY OF THE 20TH CENTURY

EDITORIAL

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Photo from Mirosław Ganobis’s collection “A Gallery of the 20th Century”

Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 20, August 2010

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“The award recognizes the subtle but expressive concept for the layout of the visitor ser-vice center, based on the idea of below-ground entry to and exit from the Museum,” said Jolanta Banaś-Maciaszczyk, head of the Conservation De-partment and a member of the competition jury. The jury felt that the overall composi-tion and the proposed nature of the architecture combine to produce the feeling of calm and refl ection essential at a Museum of this type. Addi-tionally, the design retains the historical appearance of the original camp slaughterhouse

building and envisions the re-moval of later additions; the hotel building is designed as a neutral background for the original structure.Commenting on this impor-tant event, Museum Director Piotr M.A. Cywiński said that “the new reception area will make it easier to receive and cater to the needs of visitors, whose numbers have tripled over the last decade and re-main at a very high level. In 2009, 1,300,000 people came to the Auschwitz Memo-rial. Over 700,000 came from abroad. In many cases, this was the sole reason for them

to come to the country. The worldwide remembrance of this most tragic episode in the history of Europe and the world cannot fail to inspire hope.” Visitor Service Center. Mate-rials: KKM Kozień ArchitectsRelocating visitor services will also make it possible to create a new introduc-tory exhibition in the original building that now serves as a reception facility. That exhi-bition is intended to provide visitors with essential knowl-edge about the history of the 1930s, the rise of Nazism, pro-paganda, and the totalitarian

system, and fi nally the start of the war and the German poli-cies in occupied Poland. The International Ausch-witz Council has approved the construction of the new visitor center at the site of the PKSiS bus garage, and fi -nancing is possible thanks to exceptional support from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Ground should be broken next year. The fi rst stage envisions the renovation and adaptation of the original camp slaughter-house and dairy buildings.All competition sumbmis-sions can be watched in the

loundry building of the for-mer Auschwitz I camp until August 31.

Paweł Sawicki

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

Visitor Service Center. Materials: KKM Kozień Architects The results of the competition for the architectonic-urban design of the new Visitor Service Center at the Auschwitz Memo-rial have been announced. The contest aimed at developing a complex solution including

a service center, hotel, parking facilities, and the accompanying infrastructure. Thirty submis-sions arrived by the deadline. The winner was the Cracow fi rm KKM Kozień Architekci, whose previous designs include the Przemyśl Regional Museum and the Radio Koszalin building.

WINNER OF DESIGN COMPETITION FOR NEW VISITOR SERVICE CENTER

AT AUSCHWITZ MEMORIAL ANNOUNCED

MAREK KOZIEŃKKM KOZIEŃ ARCHITEKCI

It is a very important award for us. When we heard about this competition and yet we did not know the conditions we told ourselves that we want to do it, we want to make an ef-fort because taking part in a competition deal-ing with such a delicate matter must be seen as a challenge. When you look at the subject itself, organizing proper visitors service, you must take into consideration the importance and size of the place. It creates a need for a delicate and subtle architectural design which does not interfere the original space. Our ef-forts concentrated on creating a certain mood through creating passages—entry and exit from the former camp. We wanted to create an opportunity for people who need some time to pass from hustle and bustle of the city and a parking lot to a completely differ-ent space. This long walk that ends with an

opening to the sky when you leave the visi-tors center through an underground passage gives time to create this inner mood of peace and adjust yourself to being in a completely different and unique place. Returning from the crematorium is equally important—a pas-sage under the road and exit in a landscape closed with green space that is also opened to the sky. Those two elements are the key to our concept. We tried to minimize expansion of new building elements. That is why even the building that is scheduled for the second stage of the project, that is the hotel for vol-unteers, for us is an element that adds to this mood and closes the whole project instead of being a single architectural object. We also tried to design the building in the foreground, the visitors center, as a historical element close to its authentic condition because it is a relic of those terrible times. It was a diffi cult challenge as it was a different way of architec-tural thinking.

CAMP SLAUGHTERHOUSE AND DAIRY BUILDINGS AND THE SURROUNDING GROUNDS

Before World War II, ammunition bunkers for the Polish Army barracks were located at the future site of the camp slaughterhouse and dairy buildings. The area belonged to Auschwitz Concentration Camp throughout the war. Initially, it was the site of the gravel pit where the Germans shot forty Poles on November 22, 1940. This was the fi rst execution by shooting in Auschwitz. The gravel pit site was designated in 1941 as the location for the camp slaugh-terhouse and dairy. These facilities underwent expansion until 1943. The task of the slaugh-terhouse was to supply meat and sausages to the SS garrison and the camp. Nearby were vegetable gardens for the SS and motor vehicle workshops, and part of the terrain was used to grow livestock feed. The Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Board in Oświęcim (Zentralbauleitung der Waffen SS und Polizei Auschwitz O/S) also used part of the site.

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Visualization of the Visitor Service Center

Visualization of the Visitor Service Center

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Results of the competition for the architectonic-urban de-sign of the new Visitor Service Center at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

First Prize

KKM KOZIEŃ ARCHITECTSMarek Kozień, Magdalena Kozień-Woźniak, Katarzyna Kozień-Kornecka

Second Prize

Tomasz MAREK, Piotr Adamczewski, Krzysztof KoziorowskiThird Prize

STELMACH AND PARTNERS ARCHITECTURALPRACTICE L.L.C.Lead designer: Bolesław StelmachDesign partners: Marek Zarzeczny, Zbigniew Wypych, Rafał SzmigielskiCollaborators: Jacek Grudziński, Krzysztof Łopucki, Konrad Opasała, Michał Rakowski, Paulina Filas, Ryszard Siata

Distinction (ex aequo)

ATELIER LOEGLER L.L.C.Lead designer: Romuald LoeglerCollaborators: Łukasz Ruda, Piotr Woliński, Bogdan Pszo-nak, Anna Pszonak, Rafał Kłos, Piotr Lutarewicz, Joanna Ostrowska (interior design), Karol Wiśniewski

Distinction (ex aequo)

PERBO-PROJEKT L.L.C.Concept designers: Piotr-Rudolf Łabowicz-Sajkiewicz, An-drzej Poznański

Honorable Mention

A + U Przemysław Szymański

Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 20, August 2010

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Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

THIS IS A PLACE YOU HAVE TO LEARN

Piotr Kadlčik, chairman of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland visited the Auschwitz Me-morial. He also sits on the Council of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, whose aim is raising funds to preserve the authenticity of the former Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp. Piotr Kadlčik

met with the director of the Museum, Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński and visited the conservation workshops.

You’re the President of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, and for some time you have been a member of the Council of the Auschwitz-Birke-nau Foundation. The Jewish Community also helps the Foundation by providing it offi ce space. Why was it that you agreed to join the board of the Council of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation?Piotr Kadlčik: For me it was just obvious. I am deeply convinced that to preserve this place and, more importantly, to preserve the memory of what happened here, is fundamentally impor-tant.

From what perspective?You can approach this from very different an-gles. I can approach this from a purely selfi sh mo-tive, as a Jew, a large part of my family perished either here or in Treb-

linka. Therefore, for me, preserving the memory, in a sense, is preserving the memory of the Jewish family. However, con-sidering what happened here to the Poles, what those of many other na-tions experienced, and even the Russians, this is something that needs to be remembered.

You are a frequent visi-tor to the Auschwitz Me-morial and certainly you experience this place dif-ferently than the average visitor. What emotions and thoughts accom-pany you during these visits?My impression is that to go deep into this is impossible. I know one thing: each time I discov-er something new here. Sometimes I am here with friends, I can show them different things and talk about this, because I really try to be here. I try to remember; I try to learn as much as possible,

but I feel that learning about this place is a road without end.

What lessons for today and tomorrow can be learned from this place? There can be many les-sons. From the most ob-vious, though sometimes not clear to us, namely that it was possible to build and create some-thing like this. Recently, I have thought quite a bit about: what must be done to a man that they come to the extermina-tion camp like to work? I mean men who returned home after an eight-hour working day—the wife would pour a bowl of soup and ask, “So, dear, how was work?” Just as it happens today within any family in the world. And this gentleman, un-buttoned his uniform jacket, pulled off his cap and says, “Oh it was a tough day.” To which his wife says, “Well, you do have a diffi cult job.” They

sat down to dinner and this is an absolute mys-tery to me. I am able to understand the different types of momentary cru-elty, done impulsively. Sometimes this leads to a crime, when the group becomes bloodthirsty, people who came to work, clocked in… I don’t know, if it was clocking in, but in reality he re-turned after eight hours to his wife, his children and said, “Oh, it was a diffi cult day.” I’m not able to understand that, but when I come here, I try very hard to do so.

It is very striking that a man could change his system of ethics and that “work” here became a perfectly normal, legiti-mate thing and that he did not experience any misgivings here. He just went home, talked with his wife, raised his chil-dren...Exactly. It was one of the fi rst questions that my

daughter asked when I brought her here when she was about thirteen. Moreover, a few people were very surprised that I did that. One of the fi rst questions she asked was whether they lived here by themselves, or were they also here with their wives and families. Well, after fi nding out more and more, for ex-ample, where Höss lived, where his family lived, that they were so close to the crematorium, the entire time you wonder how this could be? What must be done to a man? Perhaps nothing needs to be done? Maybe peo-ple have such layers of something that makes it possible to kill in suitable situations, because he believes that he’s carry-ing out diffi cult, valuable work?

Auschwitz is regarded worldwide as a symbol of the Holocaust. Since the establishment of the Memorial in 1947, the sites of the former Nazi German Concentration Camp of Auschwitz have been maintained by the Polish state. Sometimes you can hear voices saying that this place should be ad-ministered by the Jew-ish community. What is your opinion on this matter?This is complete non-sense. Many Jews were killed here, but that does not mean that Poles, Roma, Russians and oth-ers did not die here as well. This type of think-ing is wrong. The Jew-ish community—who is that? The Jews of Israel, Jews of Poland, Jews from the United States, maybe some sort of a council? I cannot imagine that. I believe that a solution where the Memorial Site is cared for by the state, not local or other gov-ernments, is important. I believe that there are countries that have very strong moral obligation to look after this place. It happened on Polish territory, and Poland has both a right and an obli-gation because this is in-tertwined with it, to take care of this place. How-

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Piotr Kadlčik

Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 20, August 2010

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Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

AUSCHWITZ IN THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF POLAND

AND THE WORLD—SEMINAR FOR EDUCATORS “Auschwitz in the collective memory of Poland and the world. The role and meaning of remembering Ausch-witz-Birkenau for Jews and Poles.” Twenty fi ve educators from Israel took part in a twelve day seminar orga-nized from 18-29 of July by the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust at the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau.

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Among those taking part in the seminar were the staff of the Yad Vashem Memorial Instititue in Jerusalem, tour guides of their historical mu-seum, tour leaders coming with Israeli youth to Poland, as well as educators from other Israeli institutions.

The seminar program in-cluded, among others, a study tour of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camps and those of the sub-camps at Jawischowitz, lectures and workshops dealing with the history of the Ger-man occupation of Poland, the history of Auschwitz, as well as issues of confl ict in Polish and Jewish memory, Polish-Jewish relations, and the history of the political and social situation in Po-land after 1989. The seminar participants met Kazimierz Smoleń, former prisoner of Auschwitz.

The guests from Israel took part in workshops in the Museum Archives, Collec-tions Department, and Con-servation Department. They also visited other memorial sites in Poland, among them, the former Bełżec Death Camp, where from March to December 1942 around 500 thousand people, mainly Jews from Poland, but also Jewish citizens from Germa-ny, Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, were murdered.

During the seminar, the ICEAH staff and Museum guides had the opportunity to exchange views and share experiences on the subject of education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.

In addition to lectures and visits to places associated with the history of Ausch-witz and the Holocaust, the

seminar program also in-cluded visiting sites connect-ed with Polish culture and history, such as: the Wawel Royal Castle, Wieliczka Salt

Mine, and the Warsaw Ris-ing Museum.

The seminars organized by the State Museum Ausch-

witz-Birkenau since 1993 have hosted over 270 par-ticipating educators from Israel.

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Opening of the seminar

ever, assistance and sup-port from the countries connected to this, fi rst of all, the countries that are morally responsible for the fact that this place existed at all, this is one thing, and secondly help from countries that feel morally obliged because this ground is the ceme-tery of their own citizens. This commitment is one thing, and responsibility for the place is another.

In the past it hap-pened that this place has caused controversy, one example being the matter of the Carmel-ite convent. This was caused by a multiplicity of meanings Auschwitz has—it is an important place for Jews, but also for Catholics, Roma and others. Do you still manage to reconcile the multiple symbolisms and to avoid a confl ict of memory?I suspect that such con-fl icts are likely to per-sist, because from time to time, different people do different things. Let us be frank: this will not change. I am a strong supporter that we watch this very carefully. Peo-

ple who were thrown into this place, where dressed in striped clothing, were rushed to the cremato-rium, or to work—they were not citizens of anything. They were not followers of differ-ent religions. They were a crowd of Häftlingen (prisoners) and that is why this place should not change. Here we re-member these people.

Since September 2006, the director of the Me-morial is Piotr Cywiński. Much has happened since that time: a plan has been developed for comprehensive pres-ervation and mainte-nance of the Memorial, work has started on the creation of a new main exhibition, and there is preparation to create a large permanent exhibi-tion of camp art. Soon, in a new large building called the Old Theatre, International Center for Education about Ausch-witz and the Holocaust will probably begin to work on a large scale. There are also plans to create a new visitors center. How do you as-sess the direction cho-

sen by the Museum ad-ministration?I think that this is the right direction. This is a gigantic task. Never has anything like this taken place, because taking into account the mainte-nance of what needs to be preserved, no one, as far as I know, has known how to do this, until now twentieth-century bricks and concrete have not been conserved. We have seen hundreds of tooth-brushes in the preserva-tion workshops... Who has the knowledge of preserving toothbrushes and plastic, which breaks down after sixty years? No one took this into account. I think that the current direction chosen by the administration of the Museum, trying above all on the one hand to maintain what can be preserved and do every-thing to make that hap-pen, on the other hand to create a place where peo-ple who have less and less knowledge of the history of this place can come together, can talk, they can learn—because, this is a place you have to learn—this is very im-

portant. I have known Director Cywiński for some time. I have talked with him many times about what is happen-ing here. I fi nd that these are things that are very much needed.We talked about one thing which you did not mention, and it seems to me that it is worth bring-ing up, namely the perpe-trators. We show the di-saster, the prisoners and their misery, death, hu-miliation, etc. However, the executioners in this exhibition represent the passport photos, which look like they come from the albums of Cesare Lombroso. A person looks at it and sees some kind of “monsters.” And yet they were not mon-sters. They were normal people and I think this must be shown, because this is very easy to for-get. When people look at these horrifying murders conducted by the SS in their elegant uniforms, people feel that they could not be able to do anything like this…, but I, in my shirt, so pleasant and smiling, certainly not. In my opinion this

is very much missing and it should be shown, because here there was no need for any kind of Frankenstein.

How do you assess the cooperation of the Ausch-witz-Birkenau State Mu-seum with the Jewish population in Poland, especially with the Union of Jewish Religious Com-munities in Poland?Basically, when Piotr Cywiński came to me when the Foundation was being created and said that it will need of-fi ce space, I replied that of course I would ask col-leagues on the board of the Community in War-saw, because it is a dem-ocratic institution, but I could tell right away what the outcome of this conversation would be. If we are capable of doing so—we help. If we can do anything, we try to do it and I suspect that if the Museum returns to us asking for some help, if we can help, certainly no one will say no—inde-pendent of whether it be me or anyone else from our community.

Interview by Paweł Sawicki

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International Youth Meeting Center

From late June to the end of July 2010, visits to memorial sites took place for new volunteers of the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP). During the three seminars, participants visited former German camps: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, and Stutthof.

The stays were organized and carried out, as every year, by Anna Meier, Depu-ty Head of Education at the International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim, along with volunteers from the memorials at Stutthof and Majdanek, and the Interna-tional Youth Meeting Cen-ter in Oświęcim. The central point of seminars was the history of the Nazi extermi-nation plans and the con-centration camps connected to this policy. In addition to the historical teachings and reminders at the dif-ferent memorial sites of the crimes committed there, the participants looked for con-nections to the contempo-rary world as well as their own identities, which is an important element in pre-paring young people to take up voluntary work with the ARSP abroad.Visits to the memorials are connected to the founding, over 50 years ago, of the Ac-

tion Reconciliation Service for Peace at the memorial site of the former concentra-tion camp, whose aim was to work for the commemo-ration. In 1967 the fi rst Pol-ish volunteers came to work together at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. Among them was also the poet and longtime director of the ARSP, Volker von Törne.The idea for the creation of Action Reconciliation Ser-vice for Peace in Oświęcim at the International Youth Meeting Center, was born at that time. Volker von Törne formulated it in 1967 in his essay entitled Youth between history and the future: “The purpose of the International Youth Meeting Center will be to host young people from around the world and give them the opportunity to discuss, based on histori-cal events, relevant issues relating to understanding and reconciliation between nations. Because without an

awareness of history, which also includes knowledge about Auschwitz, Service for Peace is impossible.”This year, the visits to me-morial sites were from June 27 to July 3, starting with a seminar at Majdanek in Lublin and fi nishing at Stut-thof near Gdańsk. The sec-ond seminar was held from July 25 to 31. The seminar at the International Youth Meeting Center took place from July 11 to 31.Aware that the conse-quences of National Social-ism are still felt and can be overcome only through in-tensive dialogue, the ARSP strives for agreement be-tween the generations, cul-tures, religions, and nations. Rooted in the Christian faith ARSP is trying to cooperate with all who are in favor of a more peaceful and fair world.

Anna Meier

ACTION

The ARSP pursues its objectives through concrete ac-tion, that is, above all, the practical work of its volun-teers who work in various social and political projects in 13 countries. This creates an awareness that people act-ing together are close to each other, learn to get to know themselves and others, to change and thus create some-thing new.

SIGN OF PENANCE

The term “Sign of Penance” symbolically means to as-sume responsibility for the consequences of National Socialism. Nazi crimes that cannot be undone, nor can they be repaired. However, this can start the process of reconciliation.

SERVICE FOR PEACE

The ARSP is committed to a comprehensive and a just peace. In connection with this we take part in projects which are directed at the discrimination against people because of their religion, political views, national or so-cial origin, race, language, physical appearance, sexual orientation and identity, age or gender.

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VISITS TO MEMORIAL SITES BY VOLUNTEERS OF ACTION

RECONCILIATION SERVICE FOR PEACEFo

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ARSP volunteers

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International Youth Meeting Center

One of the participants of the IYMC project, Jan Phillip Hamm, future vol-unteer of the Action Reconciliation

Service for Peace in the United States, wrote about his experience and feelings:

More than 60 years separate the present from the past of National Socialism. Years full of breakthroughs and de-velopments. At sites where people of different origins, because of their religion or political activity were forced to live together, denied hu-man dignity, museums and memorials were created.

These important places caused the past to come back to life inside of me, hidden feelings and perceptions that I had no idea existed before. Perceptions were created by the stimulating, buoyant words of the speakers who led the seminars, which al-lowed me to understand the enormity of that past, but none of us were able to re-produce images of that time in our minds.

When most of our group tried to fi nd the causes of the Holocaust or in any way try-ing to understand this phe-nomenon, I reminded myself that this requires an active imagination, which was not given to anyone in any way.

During the tours of the Main Camp, Auschwitz I, and Birkenau we were confront-ed with the genuine reality of those times. In addition to the barbed wire surround-ing both the camps and the watchtowers, there is noth-ing in the form of concen-tration and extermination camps that indicated cruelty.

Individual buildings stand-ing close to one another form a peaceful complex of build-ings. Both the grass and the trees gave the area a gentle air of normality. Paved roads intersected each other, close to the brown houses. All of this produced a complex whose terrible past cannot be seen by looking only at its cold external shape. Only mind’s eye advances the grim reality to a dramatic, colorful image. An image that directly opened our eyes to the brutality and cruelty of that time period.

As in this case, many times we felt that the objects per-ceived by our eyes were identifi ed and grew in im-portance only through the carefully chosen words of

a guide or our own knowl-edge uncovering their his-torical background. Each subsequent experience dur-ing the visit to the camps, lectures on the economic objectives of the National So-cialists and the role of pris-oners in this context as well as while exploring the city of Oświęcim, allowed us to imagine a contemporary di-mension of those events.

At the same time we were ac-companied by a feeling that, on the one hand we were ap-proaching a complete under-standing, but on the other, that desire was hindered each time by the limited pos-sibilities of our imagination. We were enveloped by the inevitable and unrelenting experience. Intense emo-tions surrounded us and constantly affected us at all points during the program and in all places marked by the history.

It was simply impossible that at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp the history of those days in the

concentration camp could be reconstructed in peoples’ imagination. The actions of the Nazis were overly inhu-man. Image of the inhuman actions of perpetrators, and the madness of their con-centration camps created to murder thousands of people, stands in contrast to the ab-stract reality that becomes clear at this historical site.

In an interview with the prisoner survivor Kazimierz Smoleń, our ideas about

everyday life in Auschwitz-Birkenau became more tan-gible, and yet more vivid. He told us about his life in the camp as a political prisoner in a poignant way, clearly outlining the living condi-tions and the resulting daily camp existence. At the same time, he spoke about the brutality of the Nazis against detainees and clearly dem-onstrated how he reacted to it. And again, the images presented were diffi cult to understand. They, however, left an impression on us, a shadow of what had hap-pened here.

After many memorable mo-ments in Oświęcim we went to Cracow to learn about, on the one hand, about the history of city, and on the other, the fate of its Jew-ish community. During the

tour of the former ghetto and the surrounding camps, new experiences and feel-ings were added to those we had already had. However, there was a certain differ-ence. While at Oświęcim buildings and objects from the era of National Social-ism for the most part have been preserved, here in the majority they no longer ex-ist. The former concentration camp near the ghetto was, without resistance by hu-mans, absorbed by nature.

The former ghetto dwellings are currently inhabited. At the same time in Oświęcim, mainly in Monowice, you can make similar observa-tions.

Barracks inhabited by pris-oners were demolished, building material was in-tended for re-use, or convert-ed into chicken coops for ex-ample. Here, each one of you asks, how it was possible that objects of such historical value did not become places of remembrance. There has to be absolute agreement about their historical value. The Poles, however, con-tinue their lives on land that belonged to their families be-fore the Nazi invasion, land that was confi scated from them, so they have treated this as a natural coexistence with history. We certainly

have to get used to dealing with history in this form; however, this context chang-es our general impression of Poland as a country that was fully affected by the Nazis. Both at the factual and hu-man level, we have been enriched with such insights and experience.

Exploration by the Ger-mans of their own history, the history of their ances-tors has led to a type of self-exploration that results

in the fact that we not only know our own history, but we have also experienced it and have seen it with our own eyes. Therefore, it is for us—as Germans—easier to judge our common history, as well as to identify it. With the awareness of the many people who still have insuf-fi cient knowledge about the Nazi era, comes a challenge for me to fully commit my-self and try to change this.

With my experiences and impressions from Poland, I will return to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States and take up civil ser-vice at the “Jewish Com-munity Center of Greater Pittsburgh.” In Pittsburgh, one of my tasks will be to educate people about the period of National Socialism and attempt to better their understanding of this topic. Thanks to my deep impres-sions and experiences, I am able to authentically share my knowledge of National Socialism and its conse-quences.

Ultimately, my goal is to provide knowledge that comes from my own obser-vations and experience in the hope that it will enrich oth-ers, thus benefi ting society as a whole. History for me is an expression of the pres-ent and future. We can learn from it to avoid such terrible consequences as the times of National Socialism. And even if we know the his-tory well, we must be aware of the fact that the past can catch up with us again. And then we will make our mark on the endless course of his-tory, and we will leave it as people who are more help-less in the face of the past than ever before, surprised by the arrival of what was considered impossible.

Jan Phillip Hamm Project: Jewish Community Center

of Greater Pittsburgh

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ARSP volunteers

THE PAST HAS CAUGHT UP WITH ME

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International Youth Meeting Center

July 21-25, 2010, for the fi fth time, we hosted a group of teach-ers of high schools and universities from the United States at the International Youth Meeting Center. They came to Oświęcim

while on a two-week study tour of memorial sites in Germany and Poland.

The organizer of the edu-cational program is Stanlee J. Stahl, vice president of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) in New York. Through the Founda-tion, people who rescued Jews during World War II, four times a year receive fi nancial support, which is important for these often ill, now elderly people. To help the Polish Righteous, JFR has already given $2,000,000.

In addition to providing the fi nancial assistance, the Foundation is also active in preserving the memory of the Righteous and protect-ing their legacy through the implementation of the national education program about the Holocaust. The purpose of this program is to provide teachers with sec-ondary and higher knowl-edge about the Holocaust and to provide them with materials that can be used in classes at their schools.

This year’s program was attended by teachers from various U.S. states, includ-ing Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania. The fi rst part of the program was a one-week training seminar at Columbia University in New York, in which partici-pants enriched their knowl-edge about the fate of the Jewish community as well as the Holocaust. In addi-tion to the comprehensive knowledge and numerous educational materials, pre-pared by Prof. Robert Jan van Pelt, who then accom-panied the group during the study visit, they also re-ceived a list of books to read before leaving for Europe.

The study visit began with Munich—the former cradle of the National Socialism. The group then went to the Documentation Center in Nuremberg, and followed the visit by going to: Wei-mar, Buchenwald, Berlin, Warsaw, Tykocin, Treb-

linka, Majdanek, Oświęcim and Cracow.

July 18, the JFR organized a celebratory dinner at the Marriott Hotel in Warsaw for the Righteous Among the Nations from Warsaw. About 50 Righteous par-ticipated in the dinner, their families and guests of honor: Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, U.S. Ambassa-dor Lee Feinstein, the Israeli Ambassador Zvi Rav-Ner, and the authorities of the Polish Society of Righteous Among the Nations. Each of the teachers from the U.S.A. had the honor to sit with several of the Righteous at their table.

A visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum was the last point of the study program. During the four-day visit to Oświęcim, the American teachers vis-ited the former Auschwitz I Main Camp, Birkenau, and Monowitz. There were also

historical walks through Oświęcim, and in their spare time they could read publi-cations and archival mate-rial related to the Holocaust in the library of the IYMC.

The next group of teachers from the U.S.A. will come to Poland—as Stanlee J. Stahl guarantees—in July 2012.

Olga Onyszkiewicz

HELPING AND REMEMBERING THE RIGHTEOUS

HAROLD M. SCHULWEIS

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) was created in 1986 by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, in order to fulfi ll the tradi-tional Jewish commitment hakarat hatov—search for and identifi cation of good-ness. For this purpose, JFR is committed in helping those Righteous Among the Nations who are in need. Often in diffi cult cir-cumstances they gave help, without expecting any re-ward. Neither then, or now. But Rabbi Schulweis said that honoring and supporting the Righteous is our duty.

At the beginning of its activities, the JFR fi nancially aided eight people who had helped Jews during the Second World War. But soon the number rose to 1,750. Now, when the Righteous are growing old and dying, the number of people who are supported fi nancially is declining, while the foundation continues to receive new requests from the Righteous who have been recently rec-ognized by Yad Vashem. JFR currently supports over 900 people in 23 countries, including 450 in Poland.

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Center for Dialogue and Prayer Foundation

Guilt for the crimes of the Holocaust is a very impor-tant part of German con-sciousness after World War II. The topic of the Holocaust is not only important for his-tory lessons, but also during German language classes, social sciences, religion, as well as in music and art. In many German cities there are monuments dedicated to the people who were sent to concentration camps. In my hometown, which is not too large, there is an organiza-tion that searches for Jewish families that had lived there before the war. Since 2004, the monument in the heart of Berlin commemorating the murdered Jews of Eu-rope provides tangible proof that even the second, third and fourth post-War genera-tions still feel responsible for the events of the past.

In the eyes of many people, Auschwitz has become a symbol of all the evil associ-ated with the National So-cialist regime. Often, when talking about the Holocaust, in one breath the name of Auschwitz is said, so for some time I have wanted to see this place. In 2007 and 2008, the youth organization from my town tried to orga-nize a study tour to Ausch-witz for young people. Local authorities subsidized the project, but in these cases the two trips were not held due to an insuffi cient number of volunteers. Twice I signed up for this trip and I also tried to fi nd more partici-pants for the trip, so that it would come to fruition. And twice I was wondering why it was not possible to gather a group who would be will-ing to go to Oświęcim.

However, I still wanted to go. After graduating from high school in the spring of 2009, I, like others my age, were bound to do military service. When I heard that it is possible to satisfy this ob-ligation through a different service, such as a volunteer abroad, I signed up to work for the Center for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim.

This is why, since October 2009, I work in the educa-tional department of the Center.

My main duties at the Cen-ter include accompanying groups arriving for study visits in Oświęcim. I carry out the organizational meet-ings with them, at which I present the general issues related to the history of the camp, the town of Oświęcim, as well as the present mis-sion, which the Center for Dialogue and Prayer does in this place. I help in the preparation of programs for groups and meetings with survivors of the Holocaust.

One of my tasks is also to guide groups around the city. I explain the history of this city, which in the past was not always associated with a concentration camp. Oświęcim is a really fasci-nating place. When I fi rst came here, I was surprised that this is basically a nor-mal city. All the informa-tion that I acquired from books about Auschwitz, al-most never mentioned the city. It seems that the image of Oświęcim, that people all over the world have is only linked to Auschwitz. Usu-

ally, when I talk about this, people from Germany sim-ply cannot believe that this is an ordinary Polish town, where people live their lives, where they can have fun just like in any other city. Oświęcim wants to be like any other ordinary city, but due to its past will nev-er be like other cities are.

I thought being here and seeing the former camp with my own eyes, the existence of this place would be more understandable to me—that I would understand how all this was possible. I thought I had an idea how many people died here. The fi g-ures given in my school text-books have been unimagin-ably high. Now, after almost a year’s stay in Oświęcim I know that being here does not make it at all easier to understand. I came here to get answers to my questions: How was this possible? How could Germany do this? How could people commit such terrible crimes without any regret? I learned a lot during this year and during this intense period, when I came in contact with the subject of the Holocaust and genocide in Auschwitz. It is defi nitely easier for me now to understand those times and the conditions that pre-vailed in the camp, but at the same time there were many other aspects that interested me. I am sure I will return home with even more ques-tions.

One of the greatest experi-ences while here was meet-ing former prisoners. I am

grateful that I still had the chance to get to know them. Belonging to the last gen-eration, which has had an opportunity to meet people who survived the horror of Auschwitz, I personally consider it a great respon-sibility. Once these people are gone, then we will bear the responsibility to inform

younger generations about the greatest crime in human history. Witnesses are pass-ing on the mission to my generation now and I am going to take this task and return with it to my home in Germany. Meetings with former prisoners have al-ways been for me a very unique and moving expe-rience and their openness and friendly attitude still surprises me. They never had any ill will towards me despite the fact that I am a German, a descendant of the nation from which the perpetrators came. Their openness, despite their terrible life experiences aroused great respect in me.

The time that I spent there, I will defi nitely remember for the rest of my life. Refl ecting

on what a person experienc-es here, and putting myself in this context can make one wonder: What would you have done? How would you have reacted?

I met so many different, interesting people here. Auschwitz was a place where more than one mil-lion people died. Today, Oświęcim is a place where foreigners are sincerely wel-come. People from all over the world meet today in Oświęcim to commemorate the people who were im-prisoned and who died in this place. Today, Oświęcim has become a place of re-membrance and hope. This is how I will remember this place.

Max Sundermann

Before my arrival in Oświęcim, most of the information I had about this place came from school history lessons. I knew the pictures of the mountain of hair, piles of shoes and suitcases,

I knew the words “Arbeit macht frei” above the gate in the main camp, the crematoria in Birkenau and Death Gate. All these images gave me a picture of a place that could not really exist. The cruelty that took place on this earth was inconceivable for me and knowing what my countrymen did to the Jews, Roma, Poles and other na-tions across Europe, is for me a great burden.

Belonging to the last generation, which has had an opportunity to meet people who survived the horror of Auschwitz, I personally consider it a great responsibility. Once these people are gone, then we will bear the responsibility to inform younger generations about the greatest crime in human history. Witnesses are passing on the mission to my generation now and I am going to take this task and return with it to my home in Germany.

A YEAR IN OŚWIĘCIM

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During the 66th anniversary of the liquidation of the so-called Familienzigeunerlager, family camp for Sinti and Roma in Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a ceremony took place on Day of Re-

membrance for the Extermination of the Roma. The ceremony was attended by several hundred people, among them former prisoners of Auschwitz and other Nazi camps and ghettos, Roma from Po-land and those from abroad, government offi cials including Minis-ter Elżbieta Radziszewska as the representative of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, representatives of the European Commission, the dip-lomatic corps, directors and employees of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, and local authorities.

“March 13, 1943, the Nazis took me here, to Auschwitz. I was arrested together with my parents and four siblings in our family home in Ko-blenz. It was here that I was tattooed number Z-2201, here I also lost my entire fam-ily. Out of my entire family, I was the only one to get out

of this hell,” former Ausch-witz prisoner Rudolf Stein-bach told those gathered. “I do not even go to a cem-etery, because there are no graves of my loved ones, so that is why I come here to Auschwitz, because here at this huge cemetery lie the ash-es of my parents and siblings.”

“The memory of the exter-mination of the Roma came out of the oblivion of World War II, but there still remains quite a bit to be examined, even the number of victims varies between different studies within several per-cent. This is an enormous challenge facing us all. We cannot allow this period, this genocide, to remain so unknown,” said Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Director Piotr M.A. Cywiński. He also pointed out that history should be refl ected today in our own responsibility. “If you observe the situation of Roma in the last decade in Europe, deep concern can be expressed. We are proud of the progress of uniting in peace within the borders of Europe, but the situation of the most excluded and most vulnerable—among them representatives of the Roma community—remains in very many ways a measure of our effort,” the director said. “Every representative of the

Sinti and Roma minority in each country must get a chance to participate actively in society and the possibil-ity of consciously protect-ing their rights,” stated the President of the Council of German Sinti and Roma, Ro-mani Rose. “Citizens’ rights and minority rights are indi-visible. Sinti and Roma have been living for centuries in European countries and their culture is an integral part of European culture. Discrimi-nation and persecution of Sinti and Roma has to disap-pear forever from life in the nations of Europe, just as anti-Semitism must disap-pear. Only a partnership of minorities and nations can fully guarantee the achieve-ment of equal rights as well as the peaceful life of the Sinti and Roma and the vi-sion of a European home.”“We are here to pay tribute and swear eternal remem-brance, to all those whose ashes were left here, whose spirit still watches over us

and to give a clear commit-ment, that we, living today, will teach the next genera-tions about these horrible, cruel times so that never again in any country, any land, any representative of the nation does not do this again, that which was then done in Auschwitz, Birke-nau, Majdanek, Bełżec, in the Gypsy ghettos, and in all places where people were di-vided into better and worse,” said Minister Elżbieta Radziszewska.A day earlier, on the site where crematory pyres ex-isted, next to the ruins of the crematorium and gas cham-ber V, in which on August 2, 1944, the Germans killed the last of the Roma prison-ers, a granite plaque with the inscription in the Roma language was offi cially un-veiled, commemorating the people killed there. “To the memory of the men, women and children, who fell victim to the Nazi genocide. Here lie their ashes. May their souls rest in peace,” we read.

TO HONOR AND SWEAR ETERNAL REMEMBERANCE…

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Similar granite tablets with inscriptions in Polish, Eng-lish, Hebrew, and Yiddish, are in symbolic locations at the Birkenau camp, includ-ing by the crematoria and places where the bodies of murdered were burned. President of the Associa-tion of Roma in Poland, Ro-man Kwiatkowski said in his speech: “When I was a child my mother brought me to this place, she wept, re-membering her mother, her father, her sisters, brothers, and cousins. Similarly, other Roma wept. Their loved ones were murdered here too. This place is sacred for us. We stand at the grave of our relatives, our ancestors. I saw the Jewish families who came here too. They wept like we did. We were brought to-gether by this tragic fate. This place symbolizes the annihi-lation of the Jews imprisoned and murdered at Birkenau, but also in many other cen-ters of mass murder. It also symbolizes the destruction of the Roma people. We shared a common fate. I would like to express my gratitude that precisely in this place, where the tragedy of our people took place, there is a last-ing commemoration in the form of a memorial. I would like to thank Director Piotr Cywiński for supporting our efforts for inclusion of a tab-let, commemorating the hell that befell our people during the rule of the Nazi regime.”“Being here, I think on the one hand about my relatives, on the other hand of those who share our fate. People who, like us, because of the shape of the skull, skin com-plexion, perhaps the shape of nose, and only for those reasons, were sentenced to death. Were sentenced to stop existing. And there was no problem to kill men, women, children, old people,

to devote so much attention to this, so many forces, and so many resources,” said Piotr Kadlčik, chairman of the Union of Jewish Commu-nities in Poland. He stressed the importance of maintain-ing the memory of the vic-tims and the role the descen-dants of survivors play in this process. “If we do not do this, if we do not take care to commemorate these places, those times, what happened then, in a couple of years no one will come here.”

Paweł Sawicki

THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THE EXTERMINATION OF THE ROMA FALLS

The Day of Remembrance for the Extermination of the Roma falls on August 2—the anniversary of the liquidation at Auschwitz II-Birkenau of the so-called Gypsy family camp (Zigeunerfamilienlager). On the night of August 2/3, 1944, the Germans extermi-nated 2,897 Roma children, women, and men in the gas chambers of Birkenau. Overall, more than 20,000 Roma out of the total of about 23,000 deported to Auschwitz were killed in the camp.

Today, at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, in block 13, there is an exhibition commemorating the extermination of the Roma and it reveals the extraordinary dimen-sion of Nazi genocide of the Roma in Nazi-occupied Europe. In the former Birkenau camp, in the BIIe sector, there is a monument commemorating the Roma victims, were wreaths were laid and those murdered were remembered.

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After a brief introduction at the Museum of Jewish Heri-tage in New York, the par-ticipants arrived in Poland, where they spent intensive three weeks. For most of them, it was the fi rst contact with our country, which had previously been associated primarily with the topic of the Holocaust.In the fi rst part of the pro-gram the scholarship partici-pants were in southern Po-land, where they visited both Jewish and non-Jewish Cra-cow historical monuments, including the newly opened Museum of Oskar Schindler’s factory, where an exhibition “Cracow Under Nazi Occu-pation: 1939-1945” is located. They also visited Kazimierz, Podgórze, Old Town as well as Wawel Royal Castle.In Kielce, they took part in a meeting with Bogdan Białek, the president of the Jan Kar-ski Association, after which the students took part in the

march remembering the vic-tims of the Kielce Pogrom. The visit to the region was accompanied by a tour of the old Jewish towns including Chęciny, Szydłów, Chmiel-nik and Działoszyce.Next, the participants spent three days in Warsaw, visit-ing the former Jewish district and the site of the former ghetto. The program also in-cluded a visit to the Warsaw Rising Museum and the new Museum of Frederic Chopin. Free time could be divided between visiting museums and getting to know contem-porary Warsaw.The next stop was Łódź, the city of the nineteenth-cen-tury industrialists. Showing Polish-Jewish history from a slightly different perspective was the local Jewish cem-etery, Piotrkowska Street; Manufaktura, where the mu-seum of Izrael Poznański fac-tory is located, made a strong impression on the group.

In Oświęcim, the students visited the Jewish Center and Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot synagogue, the Castle and municipal Museum. Special attention was given to the study visit and workshop in Archives, Collections De-partment and the Interna-tional Center for Education about Auschwitz and the

Holocaust at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.At the Jewish community in Bielsko-Biała, a meeting with the Chair, Dorota Wiewióra, took place and in nearby Pszczyna the participants met the local Jewish cem-etery keeper, Sławek Pas-tuszek. Particularly moving was the visit to the former

Nuhim Cukerman house of prayer in Będzin, where Piotr Jakoweńko, who to-gether with his wife Karo-lina takes care of this unique place, guided the group.

The program ended with tours of old Jewish towns in the south-western Poland: Tarnów, Łańcut, Leżajsk, Bobów, and Nowy Sącz, where students met with Ho-locaust survivor Mr. Jakub Mueller, who comes each year from Sweden to spend the summer in his hometown and take care of the local Jew-ish cemetery.

During the three weeks of the “Bridge to History” our students got to know a large part of Poland and its his-tory, inextricably linked to the centuries-long presence of the Jewish people and their tragic fate during the Holocaust. In addition to the remaining, in various states, traces of the Jewish past, the participants saw the devel-oping institutions and places connected with Jewish cul-ture: the Jewish Community in Cracow, Warsaw and Biel-sko-Biala, the Jewish Com-munity Center in Cracow as well as the Tel-Aviv Deli in the capital.During the evening, discus-sions touched upon the not always easy episodes of the common history of Poles and

Every year the Jewish Center in Oświęcim organizes an educational program, “Bridge to History,” that is

aimed at foreign students and dedicated to history and to contemporary Polish-Jewish relations. This year fi ve students attended the program from the United States and one student from the U.K.

BRIDGE TO HISTORY

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In a Warsaw cafe “Tel –Aviv”

Participants of the “Bridge to History” program

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Walking with Jakub Mueller

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Program participants during a meeting with Jakub Mueller

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On the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish Center in Oświęcim, a new website has been created:

www.ajcf.pl.

NEW WEBSITE OF THE JEWISH CENTER

IN OŚWIĘCIM

SEPTEMBER 5, 2010

12 p.m. – Performance by young Israeli and Polish artists (Tal Alperstein, Raz Gomeh, Adam Gruba, Jakub Falkowski) Cooperation: Adina Bar On (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design,

Jerusalem), Prof. Artur Tajber (Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow)

5 p.m. – Disposition – performance by Adina Bar On (Israel)

Location: 5 Jan Skarbek Square, Oświęcim Event organized as part of the European Day of Jewish Culture 2010

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

11 a.m. – Workshop for kids led by Maciek Zabierowski.12 a.m. – Synagogue without Secrets led by Dr. Artur Szyndler.2 p.m. – What Was Oshpitsin? led by Dr. Artur Szyndler. Simultaneously Workshop for kids led by Maciek Zabierowski4 p.m. – Israeli Dance Workshop led by Awa Cybulska*7 p.m. – DJ Jungle Feelings (Warsaw Balkan Madness)*8 p.m. – Concert: Kroke*9-10 p.m. – DJ Jungle Feelings (Warsaw Balkan Madness)*

Location: *All events at Jan Skarbek Square, Oświęcim

PROGRAM OF EVENTS FOR THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE JEWISH CENTER IN OŚWIĘCIM

Free admission. All are welcome.All events are organized as a part of the Days of Oświęcim 2010.

The three main parts in-clude: the Jewish Museum, Synagogue, and Educa-tion Center, which contain both historical information, photos, news, as well as a description of the latest proposals for education of the Jewish Center. All set in an attractive, transpar-ent, and modern form. We cordially invite you to fa-miliarize yourself with the new site.

In addition, work is pro-gressing on a multime-dia internet portal which will cover the history of Oświęcim Jews. Apart from the factual site, it will con-tain a rich photographic collection, interactive maps, including a virtual walk through Jewish Oświęcim, as well as video and educa-tional packages. The proj-ect is funded by the Dutch Joods Humanitair Fonds.

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Jews, and did not underes-timate the commitment of non-Jewish Poles, who self-lessly dedicate themselves to preserving the memory of their Jewish neighbors. Spe-cial attention was devoted to our city and its residents who, by no fault of their own, were confronted with the Nazi past of the camp.Each day the program pro-vided fresh discoveries and opportunities to confront their previous views based on new experiences. The pur-pose of “Bridges” was, and is, not to offer readymade an-swers, but to provide encour-

agement to ask even more new questions as well as to examine perspectives in the perception of Polish-Jewish and Jewish-Polish relations, both past and present.In summary of our schol-arship program, the par-ticipants agreed that their visit was a very important experience that profoundly changed their view of Po-land—a modern country in the center of Europe, as well as of Oświęcim—a city with a long history as well as Jew-ish presence.

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Meeting with former prisoner Zofi a Łyś

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Historia

The photograph shows a wooden ashtray with a fi g-ure of an owl that was found after the War in a house once inhabited by SS men. On the orders of the SS, prisoner-carpenters made more of these small wooden objects: chess sets, wooden goblets, and decorative boxes. These types of things, like other works of art, were made by prisoners with the hope of another portion of soup, or simply not to get a beating for refusing to do this. But there were reasons as well.“These miniature and me-ticulous items, through the roofers and electricians Kommandos as middlemen, were smuggled to Birkenau to bribe the SS there. Thanks to this, our fellow-female prisoners received a lighter work and had it better,” former prisoner Bolesław Jaromiński testifi es. It is highly likely that ashtrays like this with fi gures of other animals were also cre-ated. It is known that in a person’s private collection there survives an ashtray from the camp in the shape of a dog. A narrow circle of trusted people made

wooden items illegally for

people who helped prison-ers in Auschwitz. Stanisław Hantze, Auschwitz pris-oner, recalled an ashtray after the War, known today only from the testimonies, meant for Irena Ptaszyńska, who lived in Oświęcim and was involved in helping prisoners: “It was probably 1942, when the inmates of my Kommando tried to get a wooden ashtray, which was of course secretly carved by one of the prisoners. ... The gift came from a larger group of prisoners who ben-efi ted from help provided by Ms. Ptaszyńska. We wanted to somehow acknowledge this offering. ... Well, on the back to the ashtray the num-bers of the prisoners from our groups were engraved.” For the safety of the prison-ers, it was agreed that the numbers were carved in the form of a spiral that, at fi rst glance, looked just like a geometric pattern. After the war, the ashtray was in the possession of Irena Ptaszyńska.

Agnieszka SieradzkaCollections Department

A-BSM

Born on September 1, 1897 into a peasant family in Po-lanka Wielka near Oświęcim, he was the son of Jan and Marianna, née Noworyta. He fi nished three years of gim-nazjum and a range of courses in agronomy and cooperative administration, and farmed in his native village. He mar-ried Franciszka Boba on June 23, 1925. They had two sons and two daughters.He became affi liated with the peasant movement in his youth. He was active in the Wici Union of Rural Youth, and afterwards in the Peasant Party (SL), in which he served as powiat chairman in Biała Krakowska.

During the occupation, he was active in the underground peasant movement. He was one of the three-man “Roch” leadership cell in Biała powiat. Later, he became its leader and played a large role in expand-ing that organization in the Land of Oświęcim. Employed as a postman, he knew the lo-cal people and knew whom to trust. In the course of his job, he also distributed the under-ground press.After the establishment of Auschwitz Concentration Camp, he became active in try-ing to save the people behind the barbed wire. He supported the relief effort and donated food to the organizer, Janina Kajtoch. On many occasions, he helped Auschwitz escap-ees by sheltering and feeding them at his home in Polanka Wielka, and then placing them in the hands of Peasant Battal-ions (BCh) couriers, who led them across the border into the General Government. In an effort to expand the ac-tivities of the SL “Roch” or-ganization and make direct contact with other regions, he got in touch with the indepen-dence movement in Silesia. It turned out that the under-

ground activists in that orga-nization were Gestapo double agents. Thanks to them the Gestapo arrested Franciszek Żurek in March 1944. They fi rst took him to Bielsko, and then placed him in the inves-tigative prison in Mysłowice, which was run by the Kato-wice Gestapo. He underwent a brutal interrogation there. He managed to get word of what he had told the Gestapo to an-other prisoner in Mysłowice, Kazimierz Jędrzejowski, one of the leaders of the Biała Re-gional BCh. Jędrzejowski, in turn, used covert channels to warn his organization on the outside about Żurek’s interro-gation. This saved the lives of many people.Franciszek Żurek also sent several secret messages out of Mysłowice prison to his wife, in which he advised her about what she should do in case of his death.The Gestapo sent Żurek to Auschwitz. On October 28, 1944, he was transferred to the Leitmeritz camp (now Litoměřice, Czech Republic). He died in 1945 at a camp somewhere in Germany.

Helena Śliż

FRANCISZEK ŻUREK(1897-1945)

PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL VESTIGES OF HISTORYFROM THE COLLECTIONS

OF THE AUSCHWITZ MUSEUM

The Museum collection contains a few decorated ashtrays made by pris-oners of the Auschwitz camp. Most

of them were for the SS or functionar-ies, while others were created as a kind of thank you for the locals who provided help for prisoners.

On my way to work in one particular house, I did not realize that a surprise await-ed me there. When I entered the attic to see how the work was progressing, out of the corner of my eye I noticed,

among the many objects ly-ing around, a strange wood-en box. My intuition did not disappoint me. The workers joked, “When Mirek’s in his element, then the job is done.” Carefully, I opened

the box. It was empty, but inside, on the lid, I noticed a piece of paper that bore a stamp with a swastika dat-ing back to 1942 as well as inscriptions in a gothic font. I asked the homeowner if I could buy the old wooden box in the attic. At fi rst he thought that I was talking about the old chest of draw-ers and declared that it is not for sale. He added that he also has an old radio at home, but it was also not for sale. But when I showed him what item I was talk-ing about, he allowed me to take it free of charge. At home, I cleaned and pre-served the box. I also started to search for information and wonder about what it could have been used for. I remembered having seen similar items several times at antiques markets, so it was most probably an am-munition box. I wonder if when I had access to other houses that contain various historical items, could I fi nd something them just like this one? I would certainly hope so, though it would be a bit worse if I could not get or buy the item.

Mirosław Ganobis

FROM GANOBIS’S CABINET

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Ashtray with fi gure of an owl

An ammunition box

In connection to my work I frequently visit old houses and ask the owners about their history. Sometimes I have the possibility

to peer into the attic, the basement, as well as other nooks. When I have to deal with a pre-War house, my adrenaline level increases.

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Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 20, August 2010

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PhotographerOś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 20, August 2010

PHOTO JOURNAL

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Between September 18-25 the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust hosted 25 educators from Israel. They par-ticipated in a seminar titled “Auschwitz in the Collective Memory of Po-land and the World”. Among the participants there were staff members of Yad Vashem Institute, guides from its historical museum, as well as educa-tors from other Israeli educational centers. You can fi nd more information about their visit on page 5 of the magazine.