I SSN 1899- 4407
PEOPLE
CULTURE
OŚWIĘCIM
HISTORY
ARBEIT MACHT FREI
SIGN REASSEMBLED
OSHPITZIN—A GUIDE
TO JEWISH OŚWIĘCIM
POLES AND GERMANS
ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS
no. 30
June 2011
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Oś—Oświęcim, People,
History, Culture magazine
EDITORIAL
Conservators from the Auschwitz
Memorial Site have reassembled and
restored the original sign, bearing the
inscription Arbeit macht frei, which was
destroyed by thieves. In Oś you can
read about how the restoration work
progressed as well as see photographs
documenting the work that was done.
Among other issues relating to conservation, recent meetings devoted to this
subject were held by the Board of Trustees of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation and The International Auschwitz Council. In this issue you will
find reports from both events. We also
report on the meeting of experts who
Editor:
Paweł Sawicki
Editorial secretary:
Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka
Editorial board:
Bartosz Bartyzel
Wiktor Boberek
Jarek Mensfelt
Olga Onyszkiewicz
Jadwiga Pinderska-Lech
Artur Szyndler
Columnist:
Mirosław Ganobis
Design and layout:
Agnieszka Matuła, Grafikon
Translations:
David R. Kennedy
Proofreading:
Beata Kłos
Cover:
Paweł Sawicki
Miejsce Pamięci Buchenwald
Photographer:
Paweł Sawicki
met to discuss the future of the Memorial Site located in Ponary, Lithuania.
Among those joining in this discussion
was Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński, the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State
Museum.
Human Rights Yesterday—Human
Rights Today. The Resistance Movement
and Civil Courage—is the title of the
second meeting in the Polish-German
youth exchange, which can be read
about on the pages of the International
Youth Meeting Center. There you will
also find information about a seminar
on forced migration of Germans and
Poles.
From this month’s edition, we begin
the presentation of the guide Oshpitzin,
which has been prepared by the Jewish
Center. In the middle of this publication
you will find a map and a description of
the first of several buildings and sites,
thanks to which you can learn about
the Jewish history of Oświęcim. In this
Oś, we also publish an interview with
David G. Marwell, the director of the
Museum of Jewish Heritage in New
York, which is affiliated with the Jewish Center in Oświęcim.
Paweł Sawicki
Editor-in-chief
[email protected]
A GALLERY OF THE 20TH CENTURY
During the spring season we will once
again—in the freshness and warmth—
look at the palace on Jagiełły Street. We
have been there many times before—
both around and inside of it—so this
time it will be our last, farewell visit!
In today’s palace, once generally known
as the “Mrs. Doctor’s Villa,” there lived,
for a time, a well-known and regarded
Oświęcim pre- as well as post war teacher, named Kunegunde Etgens. She came
from a family of teachers—her brother
was the headmaster of the school on
Chrzanowska Street. After some time
she left her home in the palace, and
moved to the neighboring building, in
other words, “to my building.” Neighborly and social contacts were sometimes frequent in nature and interesting,
full of difficult current issues, but also of
various stories and reminiscences. Well,
here is one of the historical tales—as it
is so beautifully said today—a tale told
by Mrs. Kunegunda and one I managed
to remember, concerning Dr. Maria
PUBLISHER:
Auschwitz-Birkenau
State Museum
www.auschwitz.org.pl
PARTNERS:
Jewish
Center
www.ajcf.pl
Center for Dialogue
and Prayer
Foundation
Ślosarczykowa from the years of youth.
This historical narrative, a story about
Maria, was heard by Mrs. Kunegunda
from Dr. Maria herself, during one of
the many neighborly meetings and conversations. In the life of Mrs. Maria, who
was already married at the time, there
was a period where she traveled and
took many trips to various countries, especially to the Mediterranean area, such
as, Italy, Greece, the Balkans... The creative yield of these voyages, most probably resulting from the needs of Maria’s
artistic soul and the desire to experience
many sensations and emotions, was a
rich collection of artworks painted by
the lady herself: landscapes of the Italian
coasts and its islands, the panoramas of
towns, and even portraits. She also kept
a diary, but we do not know anything
about its contents. The watercolors and
oil paintings of various sizes decorated
her apartment and were—thanks to
their quantity and colorful nature—the
cause of my delight when I happened,
from time to time, to spend time in the
doctor’s home!
These trips—but under what circumstances and at which point, we do not
know—were the beginning of an acquaintanceship between Mrs. Maria and
the then very famous prose writer and
playwright Tadeusz Rittner! This author’s work still appears in the theater
and in televised plays: In a Small house,
Dumb Jakub, and Wolves in the Night.”
The nature or type of relationship, Mrs.
Kunegunda could not, or did not want
to talk about. Were they just acquaintances, friends, was it an artistic relationship, or perhaps somehow intimate and
romantic? It was short-lived and it was
intense, just that...
The villa, known as the palace today,
was thickly overgrown with vines and
housed within itself this mysterious and
enigmatic figure, of whom we know
something, but not very much...
Andrzej Winogrodzki
www.centrum-dialogu.oswiecim.pl
International Youth
Meeting Center
www.mdsm.pl
IN COOPERATION
WITH:
Kasztelania
www.kasztelania.pl
State Higher
Vocational School
ol
in Oświęcim
Editorial address:
„Oś – Oświęcim, Ludzie,
Historia, Kultura”
Państwowe Muzeum
Auschwitz-Birkenau
ul. Więźniów Oświęcimia 20
32-603 Oświęcim
e-mail: [email protected]
Photo: kasztelania.pl
www.pwsz-oswiecim.pl
Jagiełły Street, 1940s. Photo from Mirosław Ganobis’s collection
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Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
T
CONSERVATIONISTS AT THE MEMORIAL
PUT THE ARBEIT MACHT FREI SIGN
BACK TOGETHER
Photo: Paweł Sawicki
he Arbeit macht frei sign over the historical gate of the Auschwitz I main camp has been put back together
after being destroyed by thieves. Detailed analysis and expert advice enabled conservationists to restore it to
almost exactly the condition it was in before the theft. Further measures will be taken to protect the inscription, which will probably be placed in the Museum exhibition in the future.
Conservation works on the Arbeit macht frei sign
rial conservators were also
Andrzej Jastrzębiowski and
Margrit Bormann.
Conservationists first set
about making a detailed
record of the state that the
object was in, photographing it in visible, ultraviolet,
and infrared light. They
also scanned it in three dimensions and analyzed the
makeup and tensile strength
of the various components.
Use of a borescope and a
magnaflux
defectoscope
made it possible to identify
the smallest flaws in the metal, which were not visible to
the naked eye. The protective coating was subjected
to separate testing. All of
this made it possible to work
out a safe program for the
conservation work. “It’s also
Photo: Paweł Sawicki
“The theft and destruction of
the Arbeit macht frei sign was
a symbolic attack on remembrance. In this case it was not
only a matter of an object of
extraordinary historical significance, but also one of the
most infamous slogans of
totalitarian propaganda, an
especially powerful warning today against the madness of nationalism, racism,
and antisemitism. The perpetrators nearly achieved
their heinous goal, but they
did not succeed,” said Museum Director Dr. Piotr
M.A. Cywiński. “We were
mindful that the conservation work had to be carried
out in the best way possible.
After all, the number of historical heritage objects that
exist in Poland today and
are so well known all over
the world can be counted on
the fingers of one hand,” he
added.
The sign was in very bad
shape when it arrived in
the conservation workshop.
“The thieves cut it into few
pieces, bending and fracturing the metal tubes. We
therefore had to deal not
only with bending in the
horizontal plane, but also
with twisting and crushing. Many of the components were deformed, and
the surface of the sign was
scratched and dented,” said
Agnieszka Żydzik-Białek,
who coordinated the conservation process. In the team
of the Auschwitz Memo-
important that the research
conducted on this object will
have enormous significance
in the conservation of other
original metal objects from
the camp in the future,” said
Andrzej Jastrzębiowski.
The discovery of historical
tubing with the same crosssection and made from an
identical alloy of steel was
a great help in selecting
the method for reassembly.
“Thanks to this, we were able
to carry out a range of tests
on the method of welding,
above all. This kind of material is very hard to obtain
today because low-carbon
rimmed steel is hardly ever
produced. With historical
material of the same properties we were able to choose
with great precision the
optimal method for joining
the components, the proper
brazing, and the welding
technique and parameters,”
said Żydzik-Białek.
The sign was straightened
under the supervision of a
master locksmith with vast
experience in working various alloys of metal. Two
complementary methods for
welding were selected. “We
first joined the components
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Reassembled sign
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by welding them with TIG,
which made it possible to
retain the maximum amount
of the original material as
well as make very strong
welds. In order to obtain the
best visual effect, we applied
the finishing touches with a
laser. This method made it
possible to perform exceptionally precise spot welds,
thanks to which they are in
effect invisible. That was
our objective. We wanted
to eliminate all the damage
inflicted during the theft, returning the sign to its original condition,” said Andrzej
Jastrzębiowski.
The conservationists will
complete the job by carrying
out a final examinations of
the protective surfaces and
applying measures to protect the object from corrosion. In the future, the original inscription will probably
be located in the new main
exhibition at the Memorial,
which is currently in development. “Conservation considerations and the overall
security of the object will
be decisive,” said Director
Cywiński.
Paweł Sawicki
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
TWENTY-FIRST SESSION
OF THE INTERNATIONAL
AUSCHWITZ COUNCIL
Photo: Paweł Sawicki
T
Twenty-first session of the International Auschwitz Council
extermination centers. In
many cases, the subsidies
appropriated by the Polish
government do not cover all
the fixed costs of these institutions, let alone providing
any possibility of carrying
out large investments, longterm conservation work,
or educational projects. In
the case of the AuschwitzBirkenau State Museum, the
subsidy is sufficient to cover
only half the fixed costs.
The Secretary of the International Auschwitz Council
reported on talks conducted
on this subject at government level and announced
that work has been renewed
on systematic changes to
the way the Memorials are
financed.
The Council familiarized
itself with the progress of
work on the new main exhibition at the Memorial and
also with the outlines of the
scenario for the new Russian
exhibition at the AuschwitzBirkenau State Museum,
which is being prepared by
the Museum of the Great
Patriotic War in Moscow.
The Council recommended
the continuation of work in
the direction indicated by
the scenario, as well as designating three representatives to observe the succeeding stages in the preparation
of this exhibition.
The Council also heard a
summary of the work of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, which has the task of
raising €120 million for the
Emergency Fund to generate income for the conservation of relics of the former
camp. After somewhat more
than two years of operation,
the Foundation has collected
pledges for almost €85 million.
ps
Photo: Paweł Sawicki
During his report on the
work of the Memorial over
the last half year, Director
Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński
spoke, among other things,
about the very high levels of
attendance at the Memorial
and the associated challenges, conservation work, and
the perspectives for education. He also submitted to
the Council members expert
opinions on the future of the
historic Arbeit macht frei sign
by conservationists who
have almost finished work
on the object.
The experts state that the
optimal temperature for
preserving the sign is between 17 and 19 degrees
Celsius. Humidity must also
be maintained at a constant
level, and this cannot be
ensured if the sign remains
in the open air. For this reason, the original sign will
become part of the future
new main exhibition at the
Memorial, where it will be
accessible to all but secure.
Members of the Council
voiced no reservations in regard to this proposal.
The most difficult subject
on the International Auschwitz Council agenda was
the financial situation of
Memorial sites established
in Poland on the grounds
of former German Nazi
concentration camps and
he financial situation of museums located at the sites of former
German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers,
work on the new main exhibition, the new Russian exhibition,
and the state of the preservation of the historic Arbeit macht frei sign
were some of the subjects that the International Auschwitz Council considered. The two-day meeting in Oświęcim on June 1-2 was
chaired by Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski.
Twenty-first session of the International Auschwitz Council
THIRD SESSION OF THE BOARD
OF AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU
FOUNDATION
A
lmost €85 million has been pledged to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Perpetual Fund. That is
almost three-fourths of the money necessary to ensure financial security for a long-term plan for the
conservation of the grounds of the Auschwitz Memorial. The Foundation Board met at the chancellery
of the president of the council of ministers in Warsaw. Professor Władysław Bartoszewski chaired the meeting.
The members of the Board
approved the Foundation
Report for 2010 and the
annual financial plan pre-
sented by Finance Committee Chairman Józef Wancer.
The audit of the Foundation’s finances for 2009 and
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2010 by the KPMG firm,
which contained the best
possible finding, “without
reservations,” was also pre-
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sented to the members of
the Board.
Such countries as the United States, Great Britain, and
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The Netherlands declared
their support during the
second year of the Foundation’s work. “In the near-
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Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
Photo: Jan Mencwel
est future further talks will
be held with Canada, New
Zealand, Australia, and several other countries,” said
Foundation General Director Jacek Kastelaniec. “We
also want to raise money
from individuals, companies, and corporations.”
An important item on the
agenda was the current
preservation condition of
the Auschwitz Memorial.
The approved Foundation
annual plan envisions the
beginning of the first large
projects financed by the
income from the Perpetual
Fund in the coming year.
The priority will be securing 45 brick barracks on the
grounds of the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp.
The task of the AuschwitzBirkenau Foundation, established in 2009, is to
amass a sum of €120 million
that will earn income making it possible to preserve
the remains of the former
German Nazi Concentration and Extermination
Camp Auschwitz which are
endangered by the passage
of time.
FAB/ps
Third session of the Board of Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation
ABOUT PONARY IN VILNIUS
A
t the invitation of Andrius Kubilius, the prime minister of Lithuania, a group of experts met in Vilnius with
the goal of holding a debate with the persons in the Lithuanian government responsible for the reorganization of the Memorial in Ponary. Among the group of experts were Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, director of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Jacek Nowakowski of the Washington Holocaust Museum, Avner Shalev, director of the Jerusalem Yad Vashem Institute, and Piotr Tarnowski of the Stutthof Museum.
Also participating in the
meeting were Arunas Gelunas, Lithuanian Minister of
Culture, and ambassadors
and diplomats from Poland,
Israel, the United States, and
Germany, as well as representatives of Jewish circles
and Vilnius Poles and Lithuanian institutions concerned
with remembrance and monuments. It was the first international working meeting
in contemporary Lithuania
that considered the form of
the commemoration of the
victims of extermination in
Ponary.
“Today the space of the place
of the mass execution in the
forest outside Vilnius is built
around with various monuments from various epochs,
sometimes bearing contradictory contents,” says Dr.
Piotr M. A. Cywiński. “This
causes disorientation among
the few visitors and makes
it difficult to understand
the course of the tragedy
that occurred in this place
during the war,” adds Piotr
Cywiński.
The meeting was part of the
Lithuanian effort to create
a completely new concept
for the Memorial at Ponary.
Experts told about the role
of authenticity and personal
experience in teaching about
genocide, the many dimensions of education among
today’s generation of young
people, and the role of memory in shaping identity. Above
all, however, they all felt that
there is no sense in creating a
new legibility of a Memorial
if no concrete educational
policy comes into being, if
Lithuanian teachers are not
prepared for lessons on the
Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński at the meeting of experts
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subject of the Holocaust and
extermination policies during the war, and Lithuanian
schools do not visit the new
commemoration in Ponary
on a mass scale.
As a result of this meeting Rolanda Kvietkauskas,
the advisor to the Lithuanian culture minister who
is in charge of the project,
announced ambitious efforts aimed at formulating
the first proposals for concrete suggestions before the
end of this year on the basis
of guidelines based on the
priority of respecting the
authenticity of Ponary as a
site that should take its place
in the awareness of future
generations and the decided
linking of this place with the
Lithuanian educational system.
The Germans, with considerable help from Lithuanian
collaborationist units, committed the murder, according to estimates, of about
seventy thousand Jews, more
than ten thousand Poles, and
smaller groups of Red Army
prisoners of war and Lithuanians.
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
HUMAN RIGHTS YESTERDAY—HUMAN
RIGHTS TODAY. THE RESISTANCE
MOVEMENT AND CIVIL COURAGE
U
nder this title, in the surroundings of the picturesque scenery of the castle in Bad Liebenzell, the second meeting
took place of the German-Polish youth exchange, which has been organized cooperatively by the International
Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim and the Internationales Forum Burg Liebenzell in Bad Liebenzell.
The participants were undergraduates from Weil der
Stadt, as well as from Kęty,
Tychy, and students of German studies from the Higher
Vocational State School in
Oświęcim.
During the seminar’s December meeting in Oświęcim,
the participants analyzed
the subject of resistance and
civil courage from a historical perspective, mainly that
which occurred during the
Second World War. During
their weeklong stay at the
International Youth Meeting Center, the participants
had the opportunity to learn
about the acts of civil courage carried out by prisoners
of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and
the forms of resistance in the
Cracow Ghetto, as well as
the structure of the resistance
movement in Nazi occupied
Poland.
The main subject of the May
meeting in Bad Liebenzell
were
the
contemporary
forms of opposition that are
available to citizens living
in democratic societies. The
participants worked together
in the attempt to answer the
Brochure
B
h
created
d by
b the
h group working
ki on “F
“Forced
d prostitution”
i i ” project
j
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pants, but also their thoughtful analysis of current world
events. The phenomena most
troubling to the young people included: social divisions,
poverty and unemployment,
discrimination,
prejudice,
wars, the exploitation of
minors, illegal organ transplants, forced prostitution,
and systematic bullying.
The next stage of the project
was to start work on one of
the selected topics. Partici-
Photo: Olga Onyszkiewicz
Participation in the seminar entitled Resistance and
Civil Courage held in Bad Liebenzell in May 2011, was
a wonderful experience for us. It provided us with an
unforgettable week of a multitude of experiences, and
led us to reflect upon and consider the issues that affect
society. The knowledge we gained during the media
workshops will certainly be useful to us in the future.
Analyzing the examples of civil courage, in the context
of forced prostitution, made us aware of the sad and
tragic fate that awaits the young and vulnerable girls,
doomed to a life of pain and suffering. Fully dependent
on their “recruiters,” they are stripped of all rights and
dignity; they become the possessions of people who
are strangers to them. With the information gained, we
could prepare a presentation and, thus, illustrate to others that a problem exists and work together in considering how to combat this. This is what our moral courage
is based upon.
Another aspect that we will warmly reminisce about
was the incredible atmosphere that permeated our joint
meetings. We were pleasantly surprised by the openness of the participants, their creativity, and ingenuity. Our cooperative work fostered the strengthening
of Polish-German ties. Despite cultural differences and
the language barrier, we worked well together and
the friendships we made are ones that we will try and
maintain. This trip was extremely valuable to us and
will long remain in our hearts. We hope that next year
we will return to Bad Liebenzell, so that we can continue to work on international and intercultural cooperation.
Participants of the project: Monika and Iza
questions: What is civil courage today? What is necessary
to show civil courage? What
brings about your outrage?
The answers to these questions not only showed the
civil maturity of the partici-
Participants of the seminar at the office of BUND organization in Stuttgart
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Photo: Olga Onyszkiewicz
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
Participants working on their project
ing the relationship between
Germans and the Turkish
minority to the entire group.
Comments relating to the
entries by the young Turkish
woman were various, however, dominated by words of
sympathy and understanding
for her difficult situation as
well as wonder at how well
she is coping within her new
reality. There also appeared
upsetting, aggression filled,
and very clear statements
suggesting that she should
get out of Germany as quickly
as possible.
The second group decided to
prepare a multimedia presentation in which on one side
they presented the problem
of forced prostitution and on
the other, the social attitudes
to the victims of this crime.
Participants also developed a
brochure aimed at encouraging action in this area. It contained information about the
organizations supporting victims of forced prostitution as
well as the people who would
like to help these victims. This
folder was handed out on the
streets of Stuttgart, while the
group performed interviews
with the public. The recorded
material, to the surprise of
this working group’s participants, showed there is a low
level of awareness when it
came to the problem of forced
prostitution and the opportunities to help the victims
of this crime. It also revealed
that most respondents would
prefer not to engage in the
fight against negative phenomena. They remain passive and pretend that nothing
for many months now, it is
also the cause of disputes between his supporters and opponents. The discussion with
Mr. Merks made the young
people aware of the forms of
opposition that are available
to citizens living in democratic societies, the great power
of collective opposition, and
the importance of working in
cooperation towards a good
cause.
An important element of the
youth exchange—above and
beyond the cooperative work
on the project—is the integra-
Liebenzell as well as trips to
Stuttgart, they had the opportunity to see Calw’s beautiful
Old Town and also visit the
Museum of Herman Hesse. “I
sincerely thank you for such
a wonderful exchange. This
is the first time that I feel so
good away from home that I
do not even want to return,”
wrote one of the Polish participants in her evaluation of
the project.
The seminar was possible
thanks to the financial support of the Bundesvereinigun
kultureller
Jugendbildung
Photo: Olga Onyszkiewicz
pants were divided into two
Polish-German groups. One
of the groups chose the topic
of integration of foreigners
into German society, and the
second addressed the issue of
forced prostitution. Both topics required the young people
to gather extensive information on the project they had
selected. Young people took
advantage from not only the
resources of the internet, but
also conducted the interviews
with the public and met with
a representative of the German-Turkish Forum in Stuttgart. Then, during the media
workshops—together with
media specialists: Gianna
Scharnber and Henrike Zeller—they selected material
and the methods of presentation.
The first group decided to
create and run a blog. Together, along with a young female
immigrant from Turkey that
the group met online, the participants analyzed the blog’s
entries. Next, they presented
selected fragments illustrat-
Presentation of the blog of the “Integration” project
Photo: Olga Onyszkiewicz
Participants working on their project
Participants’ answer to the question: What brings about your outrage?
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wrong is happening around
them “for their own safety.”
An important element of the
program was also a meeting in Stuttgart with Jürgen
Merks, responsible for the
issues of environmental protection in the BUND organization, who highlighted the
problems associated with the
plan to build a new railway
station in Stuttgart, the socalled “Stuttgart 21” as well as
“K21,” the alternative project.
This subject is the cause of
numerous discussions among
politicians, environmentalists, as well as investors and
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tion of the group, by learning
more about their partners,
their background as well as
everyday life. The participants agree that both the atmosphere within the group
and the Polish-German cooperation in the development of
the selected subject areas was
entirely positive. The participants enjoyed the accommodations at the castle, praised
the good organization of the
seminar, great food, and the
opportunity to learn about
the surrounding area. In addition to the walks around
the charming retreat of
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[Bundesvereinigun
Cultural Youth Education], the
Polish-German Youth Cooperation
[Polsko-Niemiecka
Współpraca
Młodzieży],
Vereinigte Volksbank, and
Sparkasse Pforzheim Calw.
Gertrud Gandenberger conducted the project in cooperation with Olga Onyszkiewicz
(of the International Youth
Meeting
Center),
Elmar
Kurz (apprentice), and Anna
Lachendro (translator).
Author and Photographer:
Olga Onyszkiewicz
Jewish Center
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
OSHPITZIN. A GUIDE
B
elow we publish the first part of the first guide to the Jewish history of Oświęcim—”Oszpicin.” This is the result of
ten years of historical research and collecting materials by
the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oświęcim. The publication is accompanied by a www.oszpicin.pl website which presents a virtual map of the Jewish town, accounts of former residents of the
town, videos, photos as well as lesson plans for educators. On
the next page of the magazine you can find the city map with all
the objects on it.
OSHPITZIN
The Jews in Oświęcim named their town Oshpitzin,
which means “guests” in Yiddish (from Aramaic Ushpizin). The term Oshpitzin is derived from a Jewish tradition according to which biblical figures known as the
Seven Faithful Shephards (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David) visit the sukkah during
the festival of Sukkot. The story has it that Oświęcim
was always a friendly town for all persecuted Jews seeking asylum.
places where Jewish people were gathered before
deportations to ghettos in
1941.
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KORNREICH
AND
DATTNER
FAMILIES HOUSE
Before WWII, four families lived in the house at
Kościelna Street, including
two Jewish families, the Kornreichs, and the Dattners.
Zvi Elimelech Hirsch Kornreich was born in 1924 and
grew up in this house. Zvi
celebrated his bar mitzvah
at the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot synagogue in 1937.
In 1945 he returned to his
hometown. Unfortunately
he was the only survivor
from the entire family of
over 100 people. Today
Hirsch Kornreich with his
descendants lives in the
United States. Descendants
from the Dattner family
also live in the U.S. Since
2000, the Auschwitz Jewish
Center has been located in
the house.
JAN SKARBEK
(15.Jun 1885-2.Feb 1951)
Kościelna Street (today Father Jan Skarbek Square),
with the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue (left)
and Kornreich and Dattner Families House (today Jewish Center).
Photo wasprobably taken during
the deportation of Oświęcim Jews, 1941
influenced by different historical events, inclduing
Tatar and Swedish invasions from the 13th and 17th
centuries, respectively, and
numerous fires. The present
appearance of the building
is from the end of the 19th
century.
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CHURCH
OF THE ASCENSION
OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY
JAN SKARBEK
Most likely, a wooden
church was in place of the
SQUARE
present building during
the 12th century. The ap- During the war, Jan Skarpearance of the church was bek Square was one of many
Kościelna Street (today Father Jan Skarbek Square), 1901
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was born in Paszczyna (then
Dębica district, Rzeszów
County). He studied theology at Jagiellonian University and was ordained as a
priest in 1909. He was also
a Law alumni at the same
university. In 1926, he was
transferred to Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
in Oświęcim. Since coming to Oświęcim, he had
friendly relations with the
local Jewish Community.
Thanks to him, to a large
degree, both Christians
and Jews have remembered
Oświęcim as a place of good
relations between these two
communities. The priest
also became friends with
Eliyahu Bombach (18831943), the Chief Rabbi of
Oświęcim. In 1934, as a
member of Oświęcim’s City
Council, Skarbek received
the title of Honorary Citizen of Oświęcim. He was
unanimously voted in by
Christian and Jewish members of the council. The
resolution which assigned
the title to the priest was
adopted on June 20 and the
Mayor of the town, Roman
Mayzel, introduced him
as “a citizen who does not
recognize any religious or
social differences between
the citizens.” Well-known
Jewish daily from Cracow
“Nowy Dziennik” called
him a man with “crystal
character.”
Priest Jan Skarbek was active in many charity, social
and educational organizations. During the Second
World War, he and his fellow priests were involved
in helping the prisoners of
KL Auschwitz. As a result
of his activities, at the end
of 1942, he was arrested
by Gestapo and kept imprisoned. He returned to
Oświęcim in 1945. He be-
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Father Jan Skarbek
Kluger family: Fryda, holding
Bronia, Moshe (foreground), Icchak,
Szymon and Helena (maid),
holding Melech. 1930’s
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Jewish Center
ter
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
came involved in looking
after liberated prisoners at
PKC hospital in Oświęcim.
After the war, he stayed in
touch with former Jewish
residents of Oświęcim who
survived the Holocaust and
lived abroad. He passed
away on February 2, 1951.
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KLUGER
FAMILY HOUSE
The Kluger Family House
(located behind the Chevra
Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue), was most likely
constructed at the turn of
the 20th century and belonged to the Wulkan, Leser, and Teichner families.
In 1928 it was owned by Ber
Teichman and his daughter
Fryda Kluger nee Teichman, who purchased the
house from a baker named
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Jakób Teichner. In 1962
its owner became Szymon
Kluger, son of Symcha and
Fryda. During the Holocaust Symcha, Fryda and six
of their children perished.
Only Szymon, Moshe, and
Bronia survived. After
WWII, Bronia and Moshe
emigrated to the United
States. Szymon settled in
Sweden and worked there
until 1961, at which point
he returned to Oświęcim.
He worked for chemical
factory in Oświęcim for a
short time. Szymon was the
last Jew of Oświęcim and
lived solitarily in his family residence and received
support from his siblings.
He could count on support from a small group
of his friends and peers in
Oświęcim. Szymon Kluger
died on May 26, 2000 and
was buried in Oświęcim
Jewish cemetery. There is
a mezuzah mark on the upper right part of the door.
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Kluger House, c. 1904
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Jewish Center
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
THE POWER OF PLACE
I
Photo: Private archive
n June, the Jewish Center in Oświęcim hosted a group of young journalists and lawyers,
participants of the project Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics. This is
an educational program for students of certain disciplines, aimed at addressing contemporary ethical problems that are examined through a particular historical context. The Museum
of Jewish Heritage in New York, which is affiliated with the Jewish Center, conducts this
project. Paweł Sawicki interviewed the museum’s director, David G. Marwell, who came to
Oświęcim together with participants of the project.
David G. Marwell
What kind of work does
The Museum of Jewish
Heritage in New York,
which you direct, do?
The other part of the
name of our institution
is “the Living Memorial
to the Holocaust.” Our
museum exists to educate
about Jewish history of
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as well as,
of course, the history of
the Holocaust. What distinguishes us from other
Holocaust museums is
that we put these horrifying events in their crucial
context; we start by presenting what happened
before as well as afterwards. We are talking
not only about the years
of death and destruction.
We believe that to understand the Holocaust, you
must first find out who
the Jews were and the
lives they led. To understand the enormity of the
loss, you need to explain
what has been destroyed.
Our permanent exhibition is divided into three
floors. On the first level
we talk about life before
the Holocaust. We present the diversity and richness of Jewish life, the
hopes and aspirations of
the Jewish community.
The second floor is devoted to the Holocaust as
seen from the Jewish perspective. This means that
instead of the narrative
being: “This is what the
Nazis did to the Jews,” we
focus on stories that speak
about “what happened to
me, my family, and my
community.” If possible,
we try to talk about these
things in first person, and
therein lies the difference
between this approach
and others. The third
floor is about the dramatic story of rebirth: the
creation of Israel, emigration to many countries,
the development of postWar Jewish communities
in the United States; as
well as how Jewish people look at the Holocaust
in modern times. This is
the core of our mission.
Because this is a fairly
wide field, we can also
deal with other things.
We have many different
programs relating to Jewish life today. I always
say that if someone wants
to learn about how Jews
were murdered, there are
better perhaps museums
than ours. However, if
people want to learn how
Jews lived and what their
reactions were during the
Holocaust and in the aftermath, then we are perhaps the best place.
What do the individuals
accompanying you on
this visit do?
One group consists of
young journalists, who
are
learning
about,
among other things, the
media during the era of
National Socialism. The
program deals with professional ethics and how
journalism responded to
the events within Nazi
Germany as well as the
Holocaust. This is to
be a reference point for
contemporary issues in
professional journalism.
While the second group
consists of lawyers who
are learning about how
their “professional colleagues,” in a sense, had
gone astray. We hope that
this insight into their own
professional group as
well as the various ethical
challenges related to their
work, will be very helpful; and that in the future
there will be a little person
on their shoulder who
will whisper into their
ears: “Wait a moment,
consider and think about
how to behave decently in
this situation.”
How did the idea of
working in cooperation
with the Jewish Center
in Oświęcim originate?
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At some point, we learned
that the Center was looking for a “home,” which
could provide it with institutional support; and
activities of the Center are
the perfect expression of
our mission—it actually
focuses on Jewish life in
a broader historical context. This allowed us to
develop programs, which
connect New York and
Oświęcim. Here, we send
students, young professionals, as well as cadets
from the military colleges.
How is Oświęcim, as
both a symbolic site and
a place of education, seen
from the distant perspective of New York?
Looking at the American
perspective, quite a lot
of ignorance can be seen,
and the same can be said
of the Jewish communities, when it comes to
the subject of Oświęcim.
There are truly few individuals who understand
that Oświęcim was once a
town in which, for example, most of the city council consisted of Jews and
that there used to be dozens of houses of worship.
They do not even think
about it as a place where
Jews once lived. For them
this is a place where these
people were murdered.
To a person you meet
walking down the street
in New York this is a total
novelty.
That indeed is the case
with many visitors from
western countries—for
them the word Auschwitz is unambiguously
associated with the Holocaust and the existence of
the city is quite a surprise
for them.
When it comes to the
Memorial Site itself, the
narrative about the Holocaust in the United States
treats the Auschwitz Concentration Camp as the
dominating place, sometimes forgetting that the
Holocaust did not only
take place here. There are
things omitted, for example, the mass executions,
and, for many people,
the activities undertaken
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by the Einsatzgruppen is
something new. Auschwitz has truly become a
symbol of the Holocaust
in the United States. One
of the main reasons behind this is the fact that
the narrative of the Holocaust has been shaped by
Western European Jews,
as well as those from Poland— along with other
survivors of Auschwitz,
including those whose
family history has been
connected to this place.
It is, of course, important
that this had been the
largest camp, in terms of
all aspects: the number of
victims, its physical size,
and the completeness of
its history. The discovery
of aerial photographs of
the Concentration Camp
in the U.S. was a very
important event. Another
vital element is that the
site has remained intact.
A visit here to see and
imagine what happened
here, is something very
important.
How does this look from
the educational standpoint? What benefit does
visiting this site give you
and how does teaching
about the Holocaust differ when it is done in
New York, rather than
here, at this authentic
site?
There is something I call
“the power of place.” Of
course our work can be
done with groups in New
York. However, teaching
the same subject and even
using the same words is
different in the context of
this place, because people
perceive things differently when they are able
to be at the original site.
This stimulates the imagination and enhances the
whole experience. This
will not happen when
we are sitting in a classroom at the museum in
New York. The physical experience of being
here operates in a specific
manner—consciously or
even subconsciously— on
some part of us that deals
with empathy. The power
of place is extremely important— it moves us.
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What has had the greatest impression on you?
The first time I was here
was in January 1981,
while I was working at
the Department of Justice.
Those were completely
different times. I stayed at
the Museum and worked
within its archives. And,
in fact, I could feel the
power of this site. I was
completely alone and it is
an experience that is very
difficult to try and explain— being in the place
where it all happened.
This moves you.
In your opinion, what are
the most important challenges connected with
education about the history of this Genocide?
One of the most important challenges is, of
course, how to tell this
history when those who
experienced this story are
no longer with us. A conversation with a witness
is an extremely important experience for young
people. Another aspect is
teaching this history as a
unique event, while, at the
same time, taking from
it universal conclusions
about the present. We
cannot say that the Holocaust of European Jews
was the same as the genocides in Rwanda or Cambodia. These were not the
same types of events and
we must speak about the
uniqueness of the Holocaust, but then the question arises as how this
lesson can help us explain
other historical events and
help shape modern citizens. You have to formulate such lessons that can
help young people move
through life. Many young
people pass through our
museum, and I always
say that, while such an
experience may not be
life-changing, it can for
many be a stimulus to act
differently in some situations.
More information about
the FASPE project
can be found on-line at:
http://www.mjhnyc.org/faspe/
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International Youth Meeting Center
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
WE WANTED TO SHOW
THAT COOPERATION BETWEEN
OUR NATIONS IS POSSIBLE…
T
he Polish-German seminar for students of the Pedagogical University in Cracow and the University of Rostock,
entitled The Forced migration of Poles and Germans during the Second World War and in its aftermath. The memory of
Auschwitz and the Holocaust, historically as well as today, took place in two parts: the first session was held April 10-16,
2011 in Waren and Rostock, while the second was held May 22-29, 2011 in Oświęcim and Cracow.
tures, as well as ask questions
while engaging in intense
discussions. Many emotions
were aroused by a lecture
given by Dr. Mirjam Seils, entitled, “The displaced, driven
out, the fleeing...: The forced
resettlement of Poles and
Germans during the Second
World War. Foreign elements:
integration and acceptance of
refugees and the displaced
in the allied zones of occupation.” While in Waren, we also
had the opportunity to get to
know students from Rostock,
who studied the history of the
resettlement their families had
faced.
One of the German participants conducted an interview
before coming to the seminar
with his grandparents, who
in 1945 were resettled from
Równa (grandmother) and
Elbląg (grandfather) to Germany. Although he asked
both of them the same questions, these two individuals
responded with different
answers. In this manner, we
were able to examine the difference in the opinions and
knowledge of German resettlement. For example, one of
the questions was: “In your
opinion, what were the reasons for expulsions of the Germans?”—which the grandfather of the student answered
thusly, “The Poles simply
wanted to take our valuables and land,” however his
grandmother laid the blame
on the Russians and said, “It
was all because of the Russian
occupation. After them, the
Poles came…” Meanwhile,
both of them knew very little about the subject of the
deportation of the Poles. For
us, students from Poland, this
was an interesting vision to
confront history, or facts that
we already know, through
the testimony of people who
were personally affected by
the stigma of resettlement.
Part of the seminar in Waren
was to get to know the Mecklenburg countryside. We visited the town and met with
the Germans from Volhynia
living in Linstow. The history
of the Volhynian Germans
moved us very much. Where
did the Volhynia Germans
come from? And why is there
a museum dedicated to their
history currently open in Linstow, Mecklenburg? It was
at this very museum that we
were able to have all our questions answered. On the last
day of the seminar a group
of our German colleagues
showed us Rostock as seen
through the eyes of young
people. On our return journey to Poland, we also visited
Berlin.
After less than a month, we
once again met in Oświęcim.
The second part of the seminar, about the memory of
Auschwitz and the Holocaust,
took place at the International
Youth Meeting Center. Upon
arrival in Poland, the group
began gathering materials for
a presentation on one of our
four subjects: “The planning
and perpetration of the Holocaust in Europe in the twentieth century,” “The post-War
trials of National Socialist
criminals,” “Perpetrators, victims, and bystanders: an analysis of selected biographies,”
and “Memory about Auschwitz and the Holocaust from
the Polish and German perspective. The concept of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memori-
Photo: IYMC
The first part of the seminar
was devoted to the forced
resettlement of Poles and
Germans during World War
II and that, which occurred
shortly thereafter. Work was
done in four groups, which
worked on more fully developing the following topics: “Forced migration after
World War II. Political goals,
ambitions, and its legal basis,”
“The loss of their homeland.
The organization and implementation of forced resettlement during the years 19451950,” “Within the unwanted,
strange house. The displaced
find a new homeland. Having
lost their roots and the need
for adaptation, integration,
and assimilation in Poland as
well as Germany,” and “Testimonies and historical research. Escape and expulsion
in individual and collective
memory: the everyday life,
dreams, and personal reflections of witnesses.”
One of the objectives of this
study was to develop a united
Polish-German view on selected issues. This involved
many
negotiations
and
lengthy discussions as well
as concessions about a common history, however it was
worth to learn the opinion of
“the other side.” Polish and
German history has always
been “synchronized” in an,
unfortunately, often negative
manner. But we did not want
any antagonisms to cloud our
vision of the true picture of
history. While in Waren, we
wanted to show that cooperation between our nations is
possible.
Apart from working in groups
every day, we had the opportunity to hear a number of lec-
Participants of the Polish-German seminar
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al Site and its historiography.”
The task of the German participants was to develop the theoretical part, in other words,
to put together an outline of
historical events. In turn, we
dealt with the practical matters, which consisted creating
lesson plans. An extremely
important aspect for us was
to learn the detailed history
of this place. We came to understand the transformation
of a peaceful city into a site of
mass extermination of Jewish people and individuals of
other nationalities, thanks to
a lecture by Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, entitled, “The expulsion
of the Polish population and
settlement of Germans in the
so-called Auschwitz Interest Zone. The model city of
Auschwitz.” In the first days
of the seminar, we also participated in a study visit to the
Auschwitz Memorial Site.
In the evenings we shared our
thoughts and observations
with each other, these talks
filled us with a lot of passion
and emotions. During the following days of the seminar,
many students (mainly from
the German group), returned
to the former Concentration
Camp to learn more as well
as to be able to get to know
this place in greater depth. In
addition to our daily seminar
activities, we endeavored to
appreciate the beauty of the
bustling city of Oświęcim today, in the context of its multicultural history. Our meeting with witnesses of history,
former Auschwitz prisoners,
had a lasting impression on
us. We intensely viewed the
camp photographs taken by
Wilhelm Brasse as we breathless were listening to his story.
At the same time, the German
group listened to the history told by Mr. Kazimierz
Smoleń, a former prisoner
who worked in the admissions office of the Political
Section [Politische Abteilung].
He had been able to secretly
create lists of the numbers of
prisoners arriving in the transports.
While working on this joint
project we did our utmost to
find common ground in the
historical and educational
contexts. This was not a difficult task, since these areas
are so closely interrelated. All
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of the projects were met with
a positive reception and were
widely discussed, while during the forum, the strengths
and weaknesses of each
presentation and educational
concepts were analyzed. During our work, we were in
direct contact with our advisors, who always provided
us with good advice. Taking
into account the fact that we
are combining our work on
this project with our future
professional work as educators in schools, we found the
lecture dealing with these issues by Dr. Piotr Trojański
extremely important and useful, entitled, “Education about
the Holocaust in Poland in the
historical perspective.”
The culmination of the seminar was our stay in Cracow,
during which we heard a report by Professor Dr. Marek
Wilczynski about the current
problems dealing with the
Second World War in Poland.
In spite of the bad weather,
we showed our friends magical Cracow. The seminar ended with a gala dinner.
We would like to thank all
those without whom this conference would not have been
able to take place, especially
the “mother and father” of
the project, Dr. Anna Zapalec and Dr. Günter Kosch as
well as all of our other advisors: Dr. Jerzy Ciecieląg,
Adrian Szopa, Ela Pasternak,
and Andreas Hand. We also
extend our gratitude to the
organizers: The European
Academy of Waren and the
International Youth Meeting
Center in Oświęcim. We wish
to thank the sponsors: Polsko-Niemiecka Współpraca
Młodzieży [Polish-German
Youth Cooperation], Bundeszentrale für Politische
Bildung MV [Federal Agency
for Civic Education], and
Förderverein für die IJBS
Auschwitz [Foundation for
the IYMC in Oświęcim].
We hope that next year will
see the fifth edition of the
seminar take place, which will
serve as a pretext for all the
participants of the previous
projects to meet and perhaps
there will be an opportunity
for the organization of a joint
conference.
Ewa Dyngosz
and Katarzyna Odrzywołek
International Youth Meeting Center
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
I TRIED TO SAVE EVERYONE
A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE WILM HOSENFELD BOOK
O
Photo: Bartłomiej Senkowski
Photo: Bartłomiej Senkowski
n May 13, 2011, the International Youth Meeting Center in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation
in Poland and the Center for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim held a Polish-German conversation about the
Wilm Hosenfeld book, I tried to save everyone. The life of a German officer through his letters and diaries.
Dr. Halina Szpilman
time calling attention to his
heroic stance. The culmination of the discussion were
the statements by Dr. Halina
Szpilman, who spoke about
subjects, such as, Władysław
Szpilman’s meeting with
Wilm Hosenfeld, his relationship with the Hosenfeld family, and the circumstances
that led to the popularization
ner, which would be the most
appropriate and most often
used here. But I am grateful
that I have to do it, because I
can mend some of this.”
(Wilm Hosenfeld, fragment
of a letter to his family, Warsaw, August 23, 1944)
Wilm Hosenfeld, an officer
in the Wehrmacht during the
Second World War, helped
Photo: Bartłomiej Senkowski
The discussion, moderated
by Professor Dr. Eugeniusz
Cezary Król—the research
co-editor of the Polish edition
of the Wilm Hosenfeld book,
was attended by: Dr. Halina
Szpilman—the widow of
Władysław Szpilman, Winfried Lipscher—the translator
as well as research co-editor
of the Polish edition of the
Wilm Hosenfeld book, and
Fr. Jan Nowak—the Director
of the Center for Dialogue
and Prayer in Oświęcim. Before the start of the discussion, KAS director, Stephan
Raabe, addressed a few
words to the participants.
During the first part of the
meeting there was a screening of the documentary
film Thanks to Him, We Survived, directed by Marek
Drążewski, based largely on
the accounts given by Hosenfeld’s children. Prior to this,
Professor Król presented an
introduction that included a
historical summary of German-Polish relations, as well
as the function of stereotypes
about Germans, especially
in the context of their postwar use within Communist
propaganda. In this part of
the meeting the audience actively participated, especially
young people, and Professor
Król moderated the discussion.
Throughout the discussion,
Fr. Jan Nowak referred to the
issues relating to the concepts
of guilt and forgiveness, as
well as to accountability and
responsibility in light of the
teachings of the church and
the Christian faith. A later
speaker, Winfried Lispscher,
also alluded to these topics,
and showed Wilm Hosenfeld as an example of a “good
German” and at the same
Discussion about Wilm Hosenfeld’s book
Prof. Eugeniusz Cezary Król
many persecuted Poles and
Jews survive the occupation:
he created false documents,
provided shelter, brought
food to those in need… There
were few German soldiers
and officers who, like Hosenfeld, were willing to risk their
lives and save innocent individuals. Initially, Hosenfeld
was neither anti-Nazi, nor a
pacifist. In September of 1939,
as a member of the NSDAP,
he believed that he was taking part in a necessary war.
The terrible experiences he
had faced in Poland, personally witnessing the criminal actions of the occupiers,
outraged the conscience of
this deeply religious Catholic. Hosenfeld helped save
individuals from death,
including, among others,
Władysław Szpilman, a
Polish-Jewish composer and
pianist; after years his fate became the backdrop for direc-
Thomas Vogel, Researcher
at the Military History
Research Institute in Potsdam
Photo: Bartłomiej Senkowski
of Wilm Hosenfeld through
the book and, later, the Roman Polanski directed movie
The Pianist. To fill the gaps
within the subjects raised,
there was a discussion that
included audience participation.
“Every day I have to carry
out an interrogation. Once
again today, I had an insurgent and a 16-year-old girl.
Nothing could be gotten out
of either of them. Perhaps
I will manage to rescue the
girl... These people are guided by patriotism in its purest form, but we cannot save
them. I try to save anyone
who is not beyond redemption... I am not the right man
to conduct these interrogations, or at least to carry them
out in such a ruthless man-
tor Roman Polanski’s famous
film The Pianist. His diary
entries and the letters he sent
to his family reveal the inner dilemmas and evolution
of views of a German officer
whose actions testified to his
humanity in times of great
evil and hatred.
Wilm Hosenfeld, born in
1895 in Mackenzell in Hesse,
later wounded in the First
World War, worked as a
teacher at a rural school near
his hometown. During the
Second World War he served
as an officer in the Wehrmacht for five years in occupied Poland. While in Soviet
captivity, he was sentenced
to 25 years of forced labor. He
perished in 1952 at a camp
near Stalingrad.
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Participants at the IYMC
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International Youth Meeting Center
Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
THE INTERNATIONAL
BIENNIAL
OF SOCIO-POLITICAL
POSTERS AT THE WILSON
MINESHAFT GALLERY
F
rom May 12 to June 8, at the Wilson Mineshaft Gallery in Katowice an exhibition of posters was presented, which is the
fourth and current, edition of the International Biennial of Socio-Political Posters in Oświęcim that is organized by the IYMC. For
the first time, almost all the posters from the previous three editions
of the Biennial were shown in one space.
Municipal Centre for Sport,
Culture and Recreation in
Chełmek and the Jewish Culture Center in Cracow.
Since 2006, the competition
has been held in the Meeting Center and is one of the
most important and prestigious projects of the IYMC.
From the first edition it has
become very popular among
the participating artists as
well as the audience. During
the three previous editions
a total of nearly a thousand
posters have bee submit-
WINNERS
OF THE PREVIOUS BIENNIALS
2006 – Li Hai-Ping (China) for the poster: Victory
2008 – Vladimir Chaika (Russia) for the poster: Think
global. Act local
2010 – Bangqian Zheng (China) for the poster: Confrontation & Reflexion
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Poster exhibition at the Wilson
sium of the Oświęcim Academy at the IYMC in January
2010, Professor Jerzy Buzek,
President of the European
Parliament, said, “Civilization based on human rights
needs the support of a culture, created with respect
for human dignity, the individual’s innate freedom, and
in the public arena—nationally and internationally—respecting the principle of solidarity.”
These words fully express
the idea of the poster bien-
Second prize of the 3rd International Biennal
of Socio-Political Poster: WŁADYSŁAW PLUTA (Poland),
Coexistence
First prize of the 3rd International Biennal
of Socio-Political Poster: BANGQIAN ZHENG (China),
Confrontation & Reflexion
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ted from over 20 countries.
Each time the exhibition is
accompanied by the PolishGerman-English
catalog,
featuring all the current
posters on display. In 2010,
the third edition of the Biennial took place, which was
attended by 101 artists from
17 countries (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China,
the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Germany, Great Britain, Iran,
Lithuania, Mexico, South Korea, Poland, Russia, Serbia,
Taiwan, the Ukraine, and
U.S.A.).
Creatively for Human Rights—
this is the main idea behind
the third edition of the biennial and corresponds to the
educational program goals
of the International Youth
Meeting Center, which are
based on the history of Auschwitz-Birkenau and include
activities for building a civil
society. During the sympo-
Photo: Barbara Daczyńska
The opening ceremony,
which took place on May
12, included a performance
by the outstanding Pisarski Trio, featuring: Ryszard
Pisarski—acoustic
guitar,
Tomasz Mucha—violin, Andrzej
Krośniak—acoustic
guitar. The well-known and
highly esteemed gallery in
Katowice, established in 1998
at the former mineshaft of
the “Wieczorek” coal mine,
was the subsequent institution that presented the Poster
Biennial this year, after the
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nial. The modern-day message communicated from
Auschwitz can lead the
public discourse in places
where human rights are violated. The artistic expressions touch a wide range of
issues: tolerance, ecology,
gender equality, the impact
of policies on citizens’ lives,
the problems of racism, violence, as well as violations
of children’s, women’s, minority’s rights.
Joanna Klęczar
Third prize of the 3rd International Biennal
of Socio-Political Poster: DMITRY ZAKHAROV
(Russia), No Title
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Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
History
PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL
MARIA BOBRZECKA
(1898-1957)
Born into a railroad man’s
family in Tarnów on February 4, 1898, the daughter
of Bartłomiej and Tekla née
Trycht. Attended St. Anne’s
Public School in Cracow,
where her parents moved
a year after her birth. She
continued her schooling at
The Queen Hedwig Women’s Gimnazjum. In 1916, she
enrolled in the Pharmacy
Department of the Philosophical Faculty at the Jagiellonian University. At the
same time, in the 1917/1918
academic year, she attended
a one-year course at the
Commercial Academy in
Cracow. In 1918, she was
an intern at Franciszek Ksawery Mikucki’s Pharmacy
Under the Golden Crown in
Cracow. The Polish-Soviet
War interrupted her studies
when she was in the third
year, and she graduated in
1923.
After graduation, she left
Cracow and began working
as an assistant in Franciszek
Schneider’s Pharmacy Under the Guardian Angel in
Brzeszcze, near Oświęcim.
She bought the pharmacy
in 1927. In mid-1938, she
moved the pharmacy to
a new building near the
Brzeszcze coal mine. Aside
from her professional duties, she was also active in
the community, volunteering for educational and lecture work.
The Germans confiscated
her pharmacy in the first
months of the occupation,
in the fall of 1939. However, she remained there
as its manager. Auschwitz Concentration Camp
was established in nearby
Oświęcim in 1940. From almost the very first moment,
she joined the effort to help
the prisoners. She began
spontaneously, on her own,
and later as a part of the
underground. Jan Nosal of
Brzeszcze, a well-known
prewar socialist organizer,
recruited her for clandestine
work. She became a member
of the Polish Socialist Party
(PPS) Brzeszcze Group, using the pseudonym “Marta.” Within the relief effort,
she was in charge of feeding
the prisoners, and cooked
hot meals for them herself.
Her greatest contribution,
however, was in the field
of supplying them with
medicine, which she de-
livered herself or through
PPS couriers and “people
of good will,” the civilians
who worked to aid the prisoners in the area around the
camp. She stayed up late
at night preparing large
consignments of medicine,
issued under the cover of
prescriptions filled out by
doctors who cooperated
with the underground. On
many occasions, she ran the
grave risks associated with
distributing medicine not
recorded in the prescription
book. She also took delivery of, and then distributed,
medicine obtained illegally
from the warehouse in Katowice and carried to her
by courier or mailed to her
address. Her pharmacy also
issued medicine to other organizations, including the
local Peasant Battalions and
the Home Army Oświęcim
District, which were part of
the relief effort. Another important part of her work in
connection with Auschwitz
was acting as intermediary in illegal correspondence between the prisoners and the outside world.
Her pharmacy contained a
clandestine “post office” for
receiving secret messages
from prisoners and the letters that their families wrote
to them.
Immediately after liberation
in 1945, she provided medicine free of charge to the
Polish Red Cross hospital
in Brzeszcze, which treated
liberated Auschwitz prisoners. She worked at the pharmacy as its manager until
the 1950s. Documents at the
Medical Academy Museum
of Pharmacy in Cracow indicate that she was active
before and after the war
in a wide range of associations, including the Polish
Universal Pharmaceutical
Society, the Maritime and
Colonial League, and the
Polish Tatra Mountain Society. Never having married,
she died in Cracow on July
23, 1957.
She was decorated with the
Gold Service Cross for her
underground work during
the war. After her death,
the pharmacy in Brzeszcze
and a street in Cracow were
named for Maria Bobrzecka.
Barbara Bochenek
FROM GANOBIS’S CABINET
T
his exceptional desk was once at the former Jakób Haberfeld
vodka and liqueurs factory, which was not only known in
Poland, but around the world. It was the 1990s and I learned
that in the old Haberfeld factory (known as such, even after it was
nationalized and the family had no legal right to the estate) there
were still some items, such as documents, labels, bottles, which
were in the attic. I decided to take action… I got a job at this factory.
them, I considered proposing an exchange to the president of PSS Społem—the
company that at the time
owned the factory: I would
take the old furniture and replace it with new equipment.
I later realized that this was
probably not possible and I
threw the thought aside.
Several years passed and the
furniture still stood and was
wasting away in the factory.
Then came a moment when
it was decided that the factory was to be closed down.
That is when I thought: what
about the furniture? I knew
they would either be destroyed as junk, end up in
a private home, perhaps in
some warehouse where they
will deteriorate even further,
and I decided to act. I had
contact with the Haberfeld
family in the U.S.A. I informed them about the decision to close the factory
and what end their furniture
may meet. The family’s reaction was immediate—they
sent me power of attorney to
protect the furniture, which
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made it easier for me to acquire them. I remember the
day we removed them from
the factory. I had no idea
they would be so heavy.
They waited in the garage
until a member of the Haberfeld family could come to
Poland. When they arrived,
they came to the conclusion
that the cost of their restoration and transport was a bit
too steep, so they proposed
that they stay in my hands.
Later when I met with the
Haberfeld family again, I
presented them the renovated furniture—which pleasantly surprised them. The
doors of the furniture bore
the logo of the firm that had
made them (a company that
had been in Vienna).
Behind this desk sat the
owner of the company
that produced the vodkas
and liquers—Jakób Haberfeld. Quite a lot of time has
passed and now I sit behind
this desk—when I write my
articles for you.
Photo: Mirosław Ganobis
This, however, was not a
vodka factory, but a sparkling water, soft drink, and
beer bottling plant. Working
there, my eyes were peeled
for anything that would in
anyway be interesting for
me, that had to do with the
Haberfeld family and that
time period. Not once, did
I wonder as I wandered
around the factory’s buildings, what was original and
what had been reconfigured.
There were many original
details still present. The
furnishings drew my attention, those that were in the
office of the factory where
I worked. The unassuming black furniture, among
which was: a desk, cabinet
with glass doors, small table,
coatrack, and wardrobe with
sliding doors.
Wondering where this furniture was from, I came to the
conclusion that these were
original furnishings from the
time when the owners of the
factory were the Haberfeld
family. Knowing that there
is no way for me to acquire
Mirosław Ganobis
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The desk from Jakób Haberfeld’s factory
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Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 30, June 2011
Photographer
PHOTO JOURNAL
H
Photo: Bartosz Bartyzel
Photo: Paweł Sawicki
Photo: Paweł Sawicki
Photo: Conservation Depatment
Photo: Paweł Sawicki
Photo: Conservation Depatment
aving been destroyed by thieves, the historical sign bearing the infamous inscription above the main gate
of Auschwitz I has been repaired and reassembled. Conservators from the Museum were able to restore it
almost completely to its condition before the theft. The inscription will remain under protection and in the
future it will most likely become a part of the Museum’s exhibition.
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