64Th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

O Ś WIĘ CIM ISSN 1899-4407 PEOPLE

CULTURE HISTORY OF AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU 64TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 64TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION

no. 1 January 2009 Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009

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

It is not easy to explain what ”Oś” for Dialogue and Prayer. Each of the forming the consciences of people really is. The literal translation institutions sees the Auschwitz Me- who take responsibility for the fu- should be “axis,” but it does not morial in a different way, but these ture. That is why we decided to create show the obvious connection with perspectives are mutually comple- the English edition of the magazine.

the name of the town “Oświęcim.” mentary. The Museum protects the After more than sixty years, people That is we decided to keep the sites of the former camp, the IYMH from all over the world continue to Polish word. The rest is although promotes the idea of international visit the sites of the former concentra- Editor: clear: Oświęcim, people, history dialogue between young people tion camp and extermination center. Paweł Sawicki and culture. Generally speaking it through various activities; the Jew- In 2008 the Memorial was visited by Editorial secretary: is a project intended to present the ish Center look after the heritage more than one million people from Agnieszka Juskowiak activities undertaken to protect the of Jewish citizens of Oświęcim that around the globe. The message of Editorial board: Auschwitz Memorial – the real axis created its history and the Center of this place still has its strong mean- Bartosz Bartyzel of cooperation. The monthly news- Dialogue and Prayer concentrates ing and importance and we believe Jarek Mensfelt Bogdan Owsiany paper has been published in Polish on the sphere of sacrum and spir- that memory is crucial both to com- Jadwiga Pinderska-Lech language since May 2008. Now it is ituality in history. “Axis” is the memorate the victims and to learn Leszek Szuster time for the English version. symbol of collective co-operation our lesson for the future. Artur Szyndler that must be present at such place Columnist: The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Mu- to fully use this difference of per- Mirosław Ganobis seum is the publisher of “Oś” but spectives. Design and layout: this is in fact a joint project with the Paweł Sawicki Agnieszka Matuła, Graﬁ kon International Youth Meeting House, Auschwitz is a global symbol and it Editor-in-chief Translations: the Jewish Center, and the Center remains the most eloquent place for [email protected] William Brand Proofreading: Beata Kłos Cover: Paweł Sawicki A GALLERY Photographer: Tomasz Mól OF THE 20TH CENTURY PUBLISHER:

Auschwitz-Birkenau State 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 House www.mdsm.pl

IN COOPERATION WITH:

Kasztelania www.kasztelania.pl www.kasztelania.pl Factory workers. Photograph from the collections of Mirosław Ganobis, Gallery of the 20th Century

State Higher This photograph of machine-factory for the camera. The dynamism of la- by such stars as Jan Kiepura. After Vocational School workers in Brzezinka reflects the bor is absent; the figures in the fore- the war, the OMAG Mining Machin- in Oświęcim worldwide trend from the begin- ground are static while the impres- ery Spare Parts Factory operated www.pwsz-oswiecim.pl ning of the 20th century for “social sive factory interior and the outlines here, expanding from spare parts to documentation.” Its main goal was of the figures of other workers are in making cranes and drilling equip- to present human living conditions. the background. ment. In 1993, the company assumed Editorial address: The influence of such internationally its present name. Aside from mining „Oś – Oświęcim, Ludzie, Historia, Kultura” renowned photographers as Timothy The present Machinery and Equip- equipment, it also manufactures car Państwowe Muzeum O’Sullivan, George Bretz, or Gustav ment Factory in Brzezinka is the parts. Auschwitz-Birkenau Marrissaux can be seen. While they former Oświęcim United Machinery ul. Więźniów Oświęcimia 20 showed people “at work,” the anon- and Automobile Joint Stock compa- 32-603 Oświęcim ymous photograph of the Brzezinka ny, which produced the Oświęcim- More details at e-mail: [email protected] workers depicts its subjects posing Praga cars advertised before the war www.kasztelania.pl/galeria20.php

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009 Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

A CARICATURIST IN CAMP

he Museum art collection has been enhanced by a work by Auschwitz prisoner Tadeusz Myszkowski. It is a caricature of another prisoner, Jan Kowalski, camp number 99. Like Myszkowski, Kowalski, known in the Tcamp as “Grandfather,” came from Zakopane, and the two were related. The Germans arrested him in 1939 for displaying political cartoons by Myszkowski, featuring Hitler and Mussolini, in the Empire café in Zakopane.

For drawing the caricature, for fellow prisoners reveal Myszkowski was arrested him as an outstanding cari- and sent to Auschwitz. He caturist with a knack for was one of the deportees in picking out individual traits the fi rst transport of Polish and presenting them in an political prisoners on June amusing way. Caricatures 14, 1940, and obtained camp had a special function in number 593. the camp. They had a thera- peutic role. They warded His fellow prisoners valued off depression, soothing the painter and sculptor the aching for freedom, and from Zakopane for his sense also expressing self-defense of humor above all, and and defi ance of the cruel re- also for his psychological alities of Auschwitz. resilience and resourceful- ness. Myszkowski helped The reverse of the drawing set up the camp sculpture acquired by the Museum is studio, a haven for such an interesting scene, which artists as Bronisław Czech, also has a connection to Za- Xawery Dunikowski, the kopane. Myszkowski paint- Kupiec brothers, Wincenty ed a portrait of Auguste Gawron, and other per- Piccard ascending into the sons including the famous skies like a balloon, but the Captain Witold Pilecki accompanying symbols—a (in Auschwitz under the Polish fl ag, the Zygmunt’s name Tomasz Serafi ński). Column, and numerous Additionally, he worked stars—suggest that this is in the carpentry shop and not a depiction of Piccard’s the photographic studio. famous 1931 stratospheric His status as an artisan and ascent. It is a metaphor of employee of the SS photog- the pioneering attempt at raphy offi ce gave him rela- a stratospheric ascent by tively free access to artists’ The Polish Star. After an un- supplies. In all the labor successful attempt in 1938 details where he worked, (a great event in Zako- he covertly drew portraits pane), a renewed attempt of his fellow prisoners. He was scheduled for Septem- also made works, mostly ber 1939. The outbreak of paintings, engravings, and World War II ruled out this carvings, on orders from much anticipated launch. the SS. After the war, Myszkowski helped set up the future Myszkowski joined the re- Museum. He was one of the sistance movement inside founders of the Collections the camp. He belonged to Department, tracking down the Military Organizations art works made in the camp Union, set up by Captain by prisoners. In the fi rst Witold Pilecki for the pur- years after the war, he also pose of preparing an armed drew numerous caricatures mutiny. of the SS men and his fellow prisoners, which today rep- The fact that political cari- resent an important form of catures led to his arrest did historical documentation, not deter Myszkowski from supplementing the written continuing to draw them in accounts and memoirs. the camp. He drew numerous caricatures of his fellow prisoners, prisoner func- Agnieszka Sieradzka, tionaries, and SS men. The art historian, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

cards connected with vari- photo: A-BSM Collections Department ous occasions that he drew Caricature by Tadeusz Myszkowski

The Nazis put a great deal of effort into destroying every trace of Ausch- in possession of an item that could help save the victims of Nazi atrocities witz—the crematoria, the records, and anything that bore witness to the from being forgotten. Such items may ﬁ nd a place in the new permanent crimes they committed here. However, they did not manage to destroy main exhibition that we are creating, or in the planned exhibition of camp everything. Fewer and fewer eyewitnesses to this tragedy remain, but art. They can help warn the entire world: “Never again!” they have left their memories behind, on paper or on canvas. Every object Remember: all of us, throughout Europe and around the world, bear the or drawing is a history unto itself, a narrative about a speciﬁ c individual. responsibility for preserving the memory of Auschwitz. Each of these We cannot allow them to be forgotten. items contains authentic, individual emotions and experiences. We can Each object associated with the history of this place is evidence of and bring them back to life and permit them to testify to the crimes that the testimony about unimaginable suffering. If you have anything in your Nazis committed, here in the place with which they are inseparably con- home connected with the tragic history of Auschwitz, we urge you to nected. contact us. We are grateful for each donation to the Museum; you may be

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009 photo: A-BSM Reverse of the drawing

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009 International Youth Meeting House

THE IMPORTANT THING ISN’T WHERE YOU COME FROM, BUT WHO YOU ARE

fi rst-ever biographical video workshop, part of a Polish-German seminar for young people and young adults, titled History in Biography—Józef Paczyński, was held at the International Youth Meeting House in Oświęcim Afrom November 28 to December 4, 2008. It was devoted to the life and experiences of Józef Paczyński. For 6 days, 12 young peo- more than 60 years after the the documentary fi lm sce- ple from Poland and Ger- end of World War II. nario. many worked together on Paczyński’s life story in the Using fi lm to approach the The sketches were very ex- History in Biography—Józef biography was a conscious pressive of the life stories Paczyński program. Con- choice. Video production of- of the participants and their versations with the epony- fers broad scope for artistic families, showing that the mous eyewitness formed creativity, and visual work victim-perpetrator relation- the core of the project. fosters communication in ship did not fl ow in a con- Paczyński spent 2 days at multicultural groups, since formist way from German the Meeting House, and the image is foremost. or Polish nationality; the then invited the young borders were fl uid. During people to Cracow, where At fi rst, we tried to write the seminar, for instance, he showed them around down and sketch our expec- M., from Poland, whose par- his hometown. tations regarding our stay at ents fought in the Warsaw Uprising and were deported to Auschwitz, met T. from Polish-German seminars cannot, Germany. T.’s grandfather, and should not be limited exclusively whom he never met, was to historical knowledge, but rather raise an SS guard in Auschwitz. consciousness and build consensus in the J.’s grandfather belonged

to the German resistance photo: IYMH context of the stereotypes that are arising. movement and was imprisoned in Buchenwald. Today, Józef Paczyński Working in small groups the Meeting House and our J. works with young people. and drawing on their own motivations as participants In K.’s family in Germany, The History in Biography— our next-door-neighbor, the interests, motivation, and in this extraordinary semi- there was silence about the Józef Paczyński seminar Polish-German seminars biographies, the partici- nar. The next step was to subject. Only K. and her showed once again that even cannot, and should not, be pants worked in small, formulate questions about mother asked questions, sixty years after the end of limited exclusively to histor- mixed Polish-German the moment when we “fi rst trying to get to the truth. For the war, or perhaps precisely ical knowledge, but rather groups to develop a sce- encountered the subjects of B. and B. from Oświęcim, sixty years after the end of to raising consciousness and nario. They compared their National Socialism, World history was a part of their the war, the Polish-German building consensus in the own lives to Paczyński’s. War II, and the Holocaust,” lives from the very begin- meetings at the Interna- context of the stereotypes This helped them identify and about the “role of this ning, and they could not tional Youth Meeting House that are arising. and ponder the connections subject in my everyday life.” identify a specifi c moment continue to be held at a high between their own lives and These drawings and scenes when they fi rst encountered level and are necessary, es- Young Poles and Germans the former prisoner’s past, served as a partial basis for the subject. pecially at the present time have a shared responsibil- when there are representa- ity to pass on the account by The most important part of the seminar was the visit to The seminar and meetings with Paczyński the Meeting House by Józef Paczyński and the three- showed that, the more the Polish hour discussion with him, and German outlooks on the past which was translated into and the present seem to differ, the greater German. The discussion the importance of mutual exchanges, continued, of course, during meals and informal evening learning about and respecting other points conversations, which made of view, and removing obstacles the seminar an unforgettable to building a shared future and friendship. experience. The next day, the participants developed the themes from the discus- tives of Poland and Ger- Józef Paczyński, who told sion in three mixed groups. many on the political scene them his story. Paczyński The work centered on three who strike young people confi ded to the young peo- photo: IYMH main subjects, which would as irritating. Especially be- ple that he found the Ger- Young people meet with Józef Paczyński be used as the framework for cause they have to do with man language unbearable discussions with Paczyński the following day. The main points were: positive and JÓZEF PACZYŃSKI negative emotions, life before the camp, in the camp, Born on January 29, 1920 in Łękawica. Deported to Ausch- and after the camp, and eve- witz in the fi rst transport of Polish political prisoners on ryday life in the camp. As a June 14, 1940, he obtained camp number 121 and was supplement to the interview, assigned to forced labor in the camp barbershop. From they also shot footage with 1942, he was forced to act as camp commandant Rudolf Paczyński in Cracow. They Höss’s personal barber, and had to go to Höss’s villa also shot their own scenes each day. He was in Auschwitz until January 1945, when on the basis of the scenario, he was evacuated to Mauthausen concentration camp and edited them together by way of Wodzisław Śląski in the “death march.” He with the interview into a 30- worked in quarries near Melk. From there, he was trans- minute fi lm. German subti- ported to Ebensee concentration camp, where he was lib- tles were added and the fi rst erated. Like other ex-prisoners, Paczyński has extensive

photo: IYMH showing was held in early knowledge of Auschwitz and other concentration camps Józef Paczyński’s university degree 2009. where he was incarcerated for 5 years of his youth.

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after the war. Members of important thing, and not the crimes against humanity, The idea for the History in Biography—Józef Paczyński the staff of the Maximilian nations to which they hap- even if “the world” seems to seminar was developed by Anna Meier, deputy direc- Kolbe Work (Maximilian pen to belong. have learned nothing from tor of the Pedagogical Department at the International Kolbe Werk) of Freiburg and Auschwitz. Everything de- Youth Meeting House in Oświęcim, and she worked on a group of friends associated That idea is the ﬁ nal contri- pends on young people, developing it with the artist Thorsten Streichardt from with the Lagergemeinschaft bution of Józef Paczyński, and Paczyński would like Berlin, who was responsible for creative work with video Auschwitz organization and it is a leitmotif in his to leave a message for them, during the seminar. Mirko Wetzel, a colleague in the Art, contacted Paczyński, and he accounts and stories. There just as he has already done Space, Memory model program, was responsible for the remains in touch with them were also SS men who many times in conversation evaluation and documentation of the project. to this day. It is always indi- reached out a helping hand with young people. He has The seminar was part of the Art, Space, Memory model viduals who determine the to him in the camp, and he done this many times in program. The goal of the model program is opening up image of a nation, in either owes them a lot: his life. It is meetings with them, espe- and describing activities that have previously been re- the positive or the negative necessary to believe in this. cially in Germany. He has garded as marginal in the educational work at memorial sense. Each person makes a There is no other way, even only one wish—for under- sites, and integrating these ﬁ elds: historical education, contribution of their own. In if “the world” is tormented standing between Poles and cultural and pedagogical activity, and contemporary the end, individuals are the today by countless wars and Germans. artistic strategies. The Art, Space, Memory model pro-

gram develops formats that open up to a greater degree The seminar and meetings than heretofore the space of thought and action, mak- with Paczyński showed ing it possible for the addressees to express their emo- that, the more the Polish tions and ideas, personal experiences, and visual habits and German outlooks on the in conference with the history and present-day reality past and the present seem to of memorial sites, as well as to develop reﬂ ection upon differ, the greater the impor- ineffable impressions in an active and visible way. The tance of mutual exchanges, starting point for this kind of participation-based artis- learning about and respect- tic activity is the assumption that art is regarded as a ing other points of view, form of action and as a special kind of communication and removing obstacles to where the process itself, rather than the effect only, is vis- building a shared future ible and understood. and friendship. Admitting the existence of multiple perspectives for the percep- in exchanges with others, similarities can only be ex- tion of history is the basis in the context of different perienced during encoun- for healthy democracy and social backgrounds and life ters. photo: IYMH democratic action, which stories. Cultural differences, Workshops can be learned about only but even more so cultural Anna Meier PRO PUBLICO BONO PRIZE FOR THE IYMH

he list of winners of the tenth annual Pro Publico Bono Contest was revealed during the gala ﬁ nale of the Pro Publico Bono Civic Independence Festival at the Słowacki Theater in Cracow. Among the winners was the TFoundation for the International Youth Meeting House in Oświęcim, which won ﬁ rst prize in the category Civic Diplomacy (International, Interethnic, and Interreligious Cooperation) category.

“The Karta Center in War- Issues like human rights, tol- and refl ections derived on fi nals,” Szuster recalls. “The saw won the grand prize. erance, and stereotypes are both sides from participa- exhibition was an effort at We knew that the competi- constants in IYMH programs. tion in these projects, by condensing into a small tion was intense. We could The House offers a broad both the young people and package a certain part of have entered any of the spectrum of educational op- the former prisoners who our work—an impor- categories, since the House portunities: fi eld trips, the- are the main protagonists tant part, which is how puts on so many events matic international seminars, of the exhibition. Kazimierz we regard the meetings that it was hard to decide professional development Smoleń, Prof. Władysław between young people on one of them. However, it seminars for teachers, and Bartoszewski, Henryk Man- and former Auschwitz seemed appropriate to put workshops and programs as delbaum, August Kowal- prisoners. It seems that forward the Another Side of components of international czyk, Zofi a Pohorecka, and this prize can be treated the World exhibition, which youth exchanges. Civic and Hans Frankenthal are only a as a prize for all the work has made a name for itself cultural-educational work few of the many people who of the House.” internationally, in the civic in the interest of the town contributed to the founding Over the past year, the diplomacy category of the and region is an important of the IYMH, or who have IYMH has realized dozens of Pro Publico Bono Contest,” part of this work. The Open been closely connected with programs involving young The jury evaluates them said Leszek Szuster, direc- House, Encounters with Phi- its work over the last twenty people from Poland and oth- from the point of view of tor of the IYMH. The Another losophy, Festival of Cultures, years. The former prisoners er countries. Its main goal is both social ethics and their Side of the World exhibition International Biennale of are accompanied by young the education of the younger usefulness for the country, was organized in late 2006 Social-Political Posters, and people from Poland and generation on the foundation region, and local communi- to mark the 20th anniversary the Cracow Poetry Salon are abroad who cooperate with of the Auschwitz-Birkenau ty.” Its history reaches back of the founding and open- only a few of the permanent the IYMH: volunteers, semi- Memorial, out of the convic- to 1999, when Jerzy Buzek, ing of the IYMH. “Its title fi xtures in the Oświęcim cul- nar participants, and young tion that Auschwitz was too then prime minister of the alludes to a statement by a tural calendar. people from Oświęcim. painful an experience for Polish Republic, organized former Auschwitz prisoner, The meeting is one of the “Their life plans often mankind to allow it to fade a Pro Publico Bono Contest Baron Maurice Goldstein, most important categories change after a visit to the into oblivion, together with for the best civic initiative who used those words to de- in the IYMH educational IYMH. Many of them have the belief that lessons can during the fi rst decade of fi ne the House at the open- concept, Oświęcim as a Place enrolled for studies at uni- be learned from history for independence from 1989 ing ceremony in December of Study. Direct contact be- versities abroad, or work in the future, and that learning to 1999. Later, Jan Nowak 1986,” Szuster added. tween young people and the international institutions and about and working together Jeziorański and Professor The IYMH is an institu- last eyewitnesses to history organizations,” says Szuster. with history makes it possi- Andrzej Zoll founded the tion that uses its work with is a chance to learn about The exhibition won many ble to overcome fears, preju- Pro Publico Bono Contest young people to break down the history of Auschwitz admirers among the mem- dices, and hostilities among Foundation. This foundation prevailing stereotypes and through the individual expe- bers of the jury. “It was not people. was the fi rst recipient of the schematic thinking in inter- riences of the participants. known who would win the The goal of the Pro Publico Totus award for propagat- cultural relations. Sharing a The trilingual Another Side award until the very last mo- Bono contest is to “identify ing the teaching of Holy Fa- roof, the young people talk of the World exhibition is an ment. 25 institutions were in and honor the best work by ther John Paul II. about the past and the future. assemblage of impressions the semi-fi nals, and 12 in the civil society installations. Agnieszka Juskowiak

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WE WILL NOT FORGET! ”You are the last generation that will have the chance to compare your knowledge about Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Holocaust with the eyewitness testimony by survivors, the living participants in the history that altered their lives during the war and, in the case of the Jewish people, doomed them to the status of orphans,” former Auschwitz prisoner August Kowalczyk told the students. ”The intention of today’s anniversary ceremonies, with the theme ‘Listen to Every Word, Remember Every Word,’ is, on our part, a plea, and, on your part, a promise and a vow.” Former Auschwitz prisoners conveyed their message to the young people. Ceremonies held on January, 27 marked the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp. Sawicki ł photo: Tomasz Pielesz photo: Pawe Zoﬁ a Posmysz Former prisoners

The anniversary commemo- the Auschwitz I site, and at the Wall of Death and rations began on January 26, the Monument to the Liber- walked among the demol- when Museum staff placed ated and the Liberators—the ished crematoria of Birk- KORNELIA MOZGAŁA fl oral tributes at places grave of the fi nal Auschwitz enau. I could not fail to come – Student of class 3e commemorating the Death victims. here as pope.” March, which left the corps- Mass was said at Divine Father Bieleń noted in his In our school we are experiencing an extraordinary lesson in es of thousands of prisoners, Mercy Church for the inten- homily that Auschwitz is history, in memory. who had been shot or died tion of the camp victims and a place where people said of exhaustion or exposure, the living ex-prisoners. In “no” to the divine law and The texts you have given to us, similar in their permanent strewn along the roads and his sermon, the Rev. Robert denied the love of their and solemn form to the baton in a relay race, are an obliga- railroad tracks. Bieleń of the Salesian order neighbors. “Whoever be- tion upon us. January 27 saw fl owers quoted the words spoken gins to create his own com- Yes! We are the next runners in the relay of memory, the placed at the Monument to by John Paul II during his mandments will sooner or memory of Auschwitz and the Holocaust, and for us people the Victims of Auschwitz III- pilgrimage to Auschwitz later trample on the rights of Oświęcim, the memory of our grandparents, the People of Monowitz, the Monument in 1979: “I come here today of man, as we have wit- Good Will who rescued the health and lives of the prisoners of to the Destruction of the as a pilgrim. As is known, nessed here, at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Monowitz. Roma at Auschwitz II-Birk- I have been here more than Auschwitz camp,” he said. enau, the grave of the Soviet once… a great many times! Hail to their memory. Hail to memory and respect to your soldiers at the Oświęcim I have gone down many The main ceremony took suffering. That this memory and suffering may never fall into parish cemetary, the Death times to Maximilian Kolbe’s place at the Konarski Sec- oblivion, we pass them on to the next runners in the relay Wall and Crematorium I at death cell, knelt many times ondary School No. 1. Former race of memory. photo: Tomasz Pielesz March of memory

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ZOFIA POSMYSZ

”You were saved not in order to live, you have little time, you must give testimony.” So wrote Zbigniew Herbert in ”The Envoy of Mr. Cogito.” For the fact that I, and all of us who survived the slaughter, can follow his advice, we are thankful for the existence and work of such institutions as the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Mu- seum, the International Youth Meeting House, and the Center for Dialogue and Prayer. All praise to them. On January 27, 64 years ago, Auschwitz-Birkenau—a completely unparalleled product of human history—ceased Sawicki to exist. According to a camp song, and I am quoting ł here, this was a place where ”one degenerate brother torments another brother.” When the memories of this place come over me, I think of the people whose actions helped others to endure and survive […] On this photo: Pawe special day, when we return in our thoughts to those The main ceremony took place at the Konarski Secondary School No. 1 times and the world of criminality, I have permitted my- self to tell you this story, as personal as it is, in order Auschwitz prisoners attend- that, in the nearest future, here in the immediate vicin- to pay tribute to those who stood up to those crimes. ed, along with Polish parlia- it will be able to move into ity of the Museum are, more Thanks to them, the word “humanity” is not an empty mentarians and government its headquarters in the Old than anyone else, the custo- phrase, but rather, to paraphrase Juliusz Słowacki, it will offi cials, a representative of Theater.” Minister Merta dians of memory. It is in no live for generations in its deepest sense. the Polish president, mem- said that other examples of small part thanks to you that bers of the European parlia- this included ”the purchase the refl ection that Ausch- ment and the Knesset, diplo- of the bus garages adjacent witz-Birkenau was possi- mats, offi cials and residents to the Memorial as the site of ble—a lesson of horror about TADEUSZ SMRECZYŃSKI of Oświęcim, invited guests, new service facilities for the the dimensions of the crime, and all those desirous of many visitors who arrive a lesson of tears about the fate We had avoided death in Auschwitz-Birkenau; we did paying tribute to the victims from all over the world, and of the blameless victims— not know our future. The prisoners who survived the of the Nazi Germans. our deliberate and focused can be taught every day, and concentration camps owe their fates to the victory by Participants in the tragic involvement in the creation not only once a year on Janu- the Allies over the Third Reich, which needed us until events, including Zofi a of a new main exhibition ary 27.” the end to work in the factories and coal mines, and to Posmysz, Jacob Silberstein, that will make the Memorial In the second part of the repair the damaged rail lines and clear the rubble from Tadeusz Smreczyński, more comprehensible for, observances, the partici- the bombed cities. The hope is that knowledge about the Bronisława Horowitz-Kara- above all, the young people pants walked from the Gate tragic events of the 20th century can help to check the kulska, and Tadeusz Sobole- who visit the site. Finally, of Death at Birkenau to the dramatic rise in hatred and violence spreading through wicz, shared their recollec- there is the support for the Monument to the Victims the countries of our world, and lead to positive changes. tions. Roman Kwiatkowski, foundation inaugurated by of the Camp, where they Interrupting the series of atrocities requires actions aimed the president of the Associa- Professor Władysław Bar- placed wreaths commemo- at preventing the violation of elementary rights and re- tion of Roma in Poland, read toszewski, which will make rating the victims while specting the international principles of coexistence. out an account by Roma it possible for the countries a rabbi and clergy from vari- prisoner Edward Pacz- of Europe and the rest of the ous Christian denominations kowski. The survivors left world to contribute to pre- joined in reciting the 42nd BRONISŁAWA copies of their accounts with serving the authenticity of Psalm. About 2,000 people the students as a testimony this place, in awareness of took part in the March of HOROWITZ-KARAKULSKA to the younger generation. the fragility of peace and the Memory, including the pres- Deputy Minister of Culture political order.” ident of Malta Dr. Edward I have come to today’s observances at the request of the and National Heritage To- In a letter that she sent to Fenech-Adami. directorate of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in masz Merta also spoke about those attending the cer- In 2005, in view of the signifi - Oświęcim. Unfortunately, all such meetings and discus- fi nances and the need to emony, Ewa Junczyk-Zio- cance of the place and the im- sions about the Holocaust have been a traumatic expe- support the Museum: ”We mecka, Secretary of State in portance of the Auschwitz- rience for me for many years, and this also applies to support, and will continue the Chancellery of the Presi- Birkenau site as a symbol for you. Each of us knows how dramatic it was, with the to support the efforts of the dent of the Polish Republic, all humanity, the General uncertainty about living to see the following day. I was people we have entrusted wrote: ”I think with enor- Assembly of the United Na- a little girl then, and perhaps not everything got through with the mission of protect- mous respect and admira- tions designated January 27, to me, but I know how it affected my parents and the ing this place. An example of tion of all those who work the anniversary of the libera- rest of the family, most of whom are gone now. I think this support is the creation of every day at the Auschwitz- tion of the camp, as Interna- that this handful of people who have lived to see today’s the International Center for Birkenau State Museum in tional Holocaust Remem- ceremonies are making their descendants aware that Education about Auschwitz Oświęcim. All of you resi- brance Day. this should never happen again. Each stage of life has and the Holocaust. We hope dents of Oświęcim who live Paweł Sawicki its problems and needs, and I used to think that I was fortunate to be spared this. Alas, I was wrong. We keep returning to the past, and should talk about it with the young. As for results, we shall see.

TADEUSZ SOBOLEWICZ

I conclude these anniversary reﬂ ections with a plea to you—to you young people with the future ahead of you. Value freedom, safeguard peace, and try, through dialogue, to search for mutual understanding. The great shame of the 20th century left its mark within the bound- aries of Oświęcim, where you live. When the last eyewitness to the crimes committed here is gone, for life must end, let it be your moral obligation to convey the truth about this place. Remember the words of our Polish pope, John Paul II, who said that the only path to coexistence and peace is through the skill of forgiving. It will be eas- ier for you to live. In Poland, our homeland, life will perhaps be even better. This is my wish for you. photo: Tomasz Pielesz The observances at the site of former Auschwitz II-Birkenau

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LIBERATION

anuary 27, 2009 marked the 64th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. About 7 thousand prisoners from the Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Monowitz camps were freed. In a historical paradox, Jsoldiers formally representing Stalinist totalitarianism brought freedom to the prisoners of Nazi totalitarianism. In the Main Camp and Birkenau, Soviet soldiers found the bodies of about 600 prisoners who were shot by the SS as they withdrew from Auschwitz, or who died of exhaustion.*

Garnier because I preferred to die in my proaching men were the van- Irena Konieczna, ing the windows in the nearby (fi rst name unknown), sleep. I pulled the blanket over guard of a reconnaissance camp number 55037, blocks. Several German grenades camp number 47571, my head and dozed off. I woke patrol. Immediately there Archives of the Auschwitz- landed in the camp, in the vicin- Archives of the Auschwitz- up at the sound of people shout- were shouts of “Zdrastvuyte -Birkenau State Museum, ity of Block 11. The pile of coal -Birkenau State Museum, ing and calling. When I angrily tovarishchi”[Greetings, com- Accounts, vol. 113, p. 130 and briquettes next to the TWL Accounts, vol. 31, p. 135 asked the Austrian prisoner rades]. The Russians assured Several Soviet soldiers— warehouses began burning. At On the night of January 26 the lying above me why they had us that we had nothing to fear, scouts—entered the grounds of night, it cast a bright glow. artillery fi re drew nearer and woken me up, she cried, “Zofi a, since “Germantsov nyet” [The the women’s camp hospital with became continuous, and then Zofi a, the Russians, the Rus- Germans are gone]. their rifl es at the ready. The Andrzej Kozłowski, it stopped after a moment. We sians.” The block was going women rushed joyfully toward camp number 192805, heard the German trucks on crazy, and even the dying peo- Anna Chomicz, them. Some time later, a horse- Archives of the Auschwitz- the road to Bielsko. The Wehr- ple regained their strength for camp number 44174, drawn army cart arrived outside -Birkenau State Museum, macht was withdrawing. The a moment. Archives of the Auschwitz- the block. When the Soviet sol- Accounts, vol. 22, p. 103 sound of artillery gave way to -Birkenau State Museum, diers realized the situation we Russians on horseback rode machine-gun fi re. The artillery Danuta Drzazga, Accounts, vol. 75, p. 9 were in, they supplied us with towards the camp at night- began fi ring again, very close, camp number 26275, On January 27, we heard the food of the highest quality (ex- fall. There was a lot of snow, and we heard shots, explosions, Archives of the Auschwitz- detonation of a grenade in the cellent pan-baked army bread, but sick and enfeebled prison- and the machine-gun fi re was -Birkenau State Museum, vicinity of the camp gate. We melba toast, and natural fats). ers emerged from every corner closer and closer. Suddenly, it Accounts, vol. 33, p. 76 immediately looked outside and to see the “Ruskies.” The cav- stopped. Finally, at 3:30, all The fi rst Russian scouts en- saw several Soviet scouts com- Edward Czempiel, alry rode on. That was a night hell broke loose in the camp: tered the camp on January 27, ing our way from the direction camp number 79254, full of joy, but also worry, be- “The Russians are here!” 1945. They were dressed in of the gate, with their rifl es at the Archives of the Auschwitz- cause the fi rst Russian patrols white. From a distance, they ready. We waved a stick out the -Birkenau State Museum, might have withdrawn and Zofi a Jankowska-Palińska, looked like big, white splotches window with a sheet that had Accounts, vol. 33, p. 40 the Germans might come back camp number 68992, that were moving. red stripes sewn on it (from the I saw the fi rst Soviet soldiers in to fi nish their work. Soviet tanks Archives of the Auschwitz- block supervisor’s pillowcase), the Auschwitz Main Camp on appeared in the morning. -Birkenau State Museum, Wanda Dramińska, in the shape of a red cross. At January 27. Skirmishing could Accounts, vol. 85, p. 29 camp number 85374, the sight of us, the scouts low- be heard nearby. They came Anna Chomicz, It was almost midnight. I was Archives of the Auschwitz- ered their rifl es. Since I knew through the camp and began camp number 44174, so tired that I decided to lie -Birkenau State Museum, Russian, I called out to them fi ring in the direction of Rajsko Archives of the Auschwitz- down, even though the SS men Accounts, vol. 83, p. 182 “Zdrastvuyte, pobediteli i os- from risers placed against the -Birkenau State Museum, had announced that our lives We weren’t sure who they voboditeli!” [Greetings, victors wall. Outside the wall on the Accounts, vol. 75, p. 9 were about to end. I said my were. We were afraid that they and liberators!]. In response we Monopoly building side, the So- On January 28 or 29, the Soviet farewells to my best friends and were Germans who would heard, “Uzhe vy svoboniye!” viet artillery set up and opened military authorities delivered asked them not to wake me up, want to liquidate us. The ap- [You are free!]. fi re in the same direction, break- the fi rst shipment of food to photo: A-BSM Prisoners of the Auschwtitz camp after the liberation * www.auschwitz.org.pl

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009 photo: A-BSM After the liberation

the men and women prisoners in excessive quantities when cessive quantities of food could -Birkenau State Museum, the tough, half-raw meat, still in the Birkenau camp. A fi eld their organisms were badly be fatal. We screamed, “Did Accounts, vol. 85 red, and gulped it down. . . . kitchen drove into the grounds weakened, the men and women you survive the camp to die They all looked at us from a dis- Over the following days, there of the women’s infi rmary. Hors- had all the symptoms of second- now in such a senseless way?” tance, and somehow strangely. was great chaos in the camp. . . . es pulled the kettles. The ket- ary durchfall, which led to ad- However, our intervention was The soldiers began giving us After a week, a team of doctors tles contained very rich, meaty ditional deaths. Together with a failure. Famine was stronger their food rations, mostly dry and nurses arrived with the nec- soup. Despite my warnings, the Drs. Konieczna and Łaniewska, than reason. bread and canned meat. On essary equipment. The doctors men and women prisoners made and the orderlies, I was busy orders from their commanding began weighing and examining a dash for the kettles. I tried un- afterwards trying to bring the Zofi a Jankowska-Palińska, offi cer, the soldiers slaughtered the patients. I was 18 years old successfully to hold them back. situation under control. We ex- camp number 68992, a horse and began cooking it in and weighed 19 kilograms. Soon, as a result of eating soup plained to the prisoners that ex- Archives of the Auschwitz- kettles. The prisoners ripped at photo: A-BSM Liberated children

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009 Jewish Centerter

AN INTERVIEW WITH KAMILA NOWAK AND NATALIA GRZESIAK, PARTICIPANTS IN THE OSZPICIN: SAVE IT FROM OBLIVION PROJECT

The fi nale of the Listen We had to make a selec- and Remember project tion of the recordings. was held at the Jewish Some of our material is Center on December 9, in the introduction. 2008. What were your impressions? Who interviewed the former Oświęcim resi- A lot of people came. dents? They needed more chairs. We didn’t expect The material comes from so many people. We the Jewish Center. To- didn’t think there would masz Kuncewicz and be so much interest. The Artur Szyndler conduct- whole room was full. It ed about 40 hours of in- was very nice, because terviews. we realized that what we were doing means some- Was your experience thing not only to our and knowledge from the class, but also to other earlier projects useful in people. your work on the Listen and Remember project? How long have you been involved in this project Sure. It’s a fi lm about photo: Jadwiga Bucka by the Świderskis? the history of prewar Participants during the meeting Oświęcim. About cul- Since we enrolled at the tural diversity and the about their happy child- street, we know what specializations in his- Konarski School. We Oświęcim residents who hoods, and their friends was here before the war. tory and languages? were in fact required lived in harmony despite from before the war. Eve- Today, lots of informa- to take part in the class the fact that they were dif- rybody sees Oświęcim tion strikes us as obvious. K.N.: In part. I consid- project Oświęcim Land, ferent. Today, few peo- as a place of killing. It’s We wonder how it was ered three different Our Place of Residence—A ple know that Oświęcim a shame that everybody possible not to know so schools, but I picked Curse or a Stroke of Luck? was a lively place. It’s associates Oświęcim with many things before. Konarski in the end. The Under the direction of incredible that we didn’t the camp today. We have become more specializations probably our teachers, Halina know until recently what tolerant. Above all, we infl uenced my choice. Świderska and Wiesław went on here before the Do you think that’s un- learned how to work as a Świderski, we’ve been war. Aside from that, fair? team, and our whole class What will you do with involved since our fi rst we’re sensitive to confu- can work together. Aside what you learned in the year. In the second se- sion of the town with the It’s a result of certain co- from this, we saw that project? mester there was a sug- camp, to people who call incidences. If not for the something is happening gestion to take part in the town “Auschwitz” location and conditions, here, that we don’t have We make use of it eve- the I’ll Show You project, instead of “Oświęcim,” it would have certainly to be passive, that we can ry day. We cooperate where young people from and vice-versa. We are been somewhere else. be actively involved in with the IYMH, guiding Nowy Sącz, Cracow, and very self-aware residents The camp could have something every day. groups of young Ger- Oświęcim looked for of Oświęcim. been anywhere. mans around town, mak- traces of Jewish culture Were there any moments ing use of the program in their towns. That was Were there any surprises What do you get out of of crisis? that resulted from work- completely optional. The when you were working these projects? ing on the project. We Małopolska Education on the fi lm? There were. Sometimes went to workshops in Society only planned for Above all, we can now the subject was exhaust- Waren, in a Polish-Ger- fi ve places, but we man- Above all, the work imagine what life was ing, but the good things man exchange. We plan aged to get our whole showed us how little we like before the war, what about moments of crisis to become volunteers at class involved, because know about the history the local community was is that they pass quickly. the IYMH, but only after everyone applied at of the town. One Jewish like. And we know that graduation. fi rst. Later, some of them lady talked about how things are happening Did you choose your backed out. The Listen most of her friends were here. Walking down the school because it has Agnieszka Juskowiak and Remember project is Polish girls, and that a continuation of that in her traditional Jew- program. Now we’ve ish home, they put up reached the end of it. a Christmas tree for the holidays every year. An- The fi nal product of the other thing was a differ- Listen and Remember ent Jewish woman talk- project is a fi lm that has ing about how she was been shown on TV in attracted to the church Oświęcim and at a meet- because of the beautiful ing at the Jewish Center. stained-glass windows Who’s in it? there. Tovah from Israel said that she would come People from Oświęcim back to Oświęcim if she who remember the times were younger, because before the war, emi- she always felt at home

grants to Israel. Some of here. photo: Jakub Hurnik them live in Israel today. Many people also talked Participants of the project together with their tutors

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NEW LIFE IN ISRAEL hotography concluded in Israel in December 2008 for the New Life exhibition, which the Jewish Center in Oświęcim plans to open this April as a part of its commemoration of the deportation of Jews from the town Pduring the Holocaust. The exhibition is the culmination of a two-year Polish-Israeli project conceived and organized by the Jewish Center in Oświęcim. photo: JC Bat Yam. (From left) Hamutal Davidi and Ester Lahat (Kohane)

Stills and video were shot in Israel. The exhibition will “Aside from this, there will ﬁ lm consisting of brief state- or she survived the war and Israel in late November and feature both survivors and be several text panels with ments by prewar residents of got to Israel. early December. Next came their children who were born historical information on Oświęcim and their children, several weeks of working in Israel. “We want to show such subjects as why Jewish on such subjects as their rela- “Every session took an ex- on the material. The main the reborn Jewish life after survivors emigrated from tions to Oświęcim, Poland, ceptionally long time. The part of the exhibition in- the Holocaust, the new life Poland, the number of sur- and Israel. Visitors will hear oldest of the 18 subjects was cludes photographs of Jew- in a new state, and, in several vivors, and so on.” The per- about the degree to which 97. For most of them, it was ish residents of Oświęcim cases, the initial efforts to re- sonal stories will be rooted in these personal stories remain no small physical and emo- who survived the Holocaust, build life in Oświęcim after the context of Poland and Is- vital and important to their tional effort, but everything emigrated from Poland, and the war,” said Artur Szyn- rael. Visitors to the exhibition families and the succeeding turned out well, thanks in began building new lives in dler of the Jewish Center. will also be able to watch a generations. The issue of lan- large part to the support guage is an interesting one. from the Israelis.” Hamutal The émigrés from Oświęcim Davidi, a photographer who speak in Polish, and their has taken part in photogra- children and grandchildren phy workshops at the IYMH, in Hebrew. “It was a big coordinated the Israeli pho- problem to coordinate the tographers and ﬁ lmmak- meetings of all these people ers—Vladimir Margulis, Guy and the members of their Yitzhaki, Zoltan Soli Fordi, families,” said Szyndler. and Omer Polak—who were “They all have plans and responsible for the images. commitments. It was hard to “Without her help in organ- arrange the dates. We pho- izing everything, it would tographed the protagonists have been next to impos- in their natural settings, at sible,” added Szyndler. The home or in their gardens.” project has been supported so far by the Task Force for The common denominator International Cooperation for all these people is that on Holocaust Education, Re- they have roots in Oświęcim membrance, and Research, and have cast their lot with the Embassy of Israel in Po- Israel. The exhibition will land, the Consulates General also feature archival pho- of the USA and Germany in tographs and documents Cracow, and the Nicromet connected with prewar company. The Jewish Center Oświęcim and the begin- is seeking additional fund- nings of their lives in Israel. ing to complete the project. Next to each photograph, there will be a brief biogra- Agnieszka Juskowiak photo: JC phy of its subject—how he Bat Yam. (From left) Tomasz Kuncewicz, Vova (camera), Gita Weisler (Lowi), Artur Szyndler, Hamutal Davidi

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009 Center for Dialogue and Prayer Foundation

ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN OŚWIĘCIM t was no accident that Oświęcim was chosen as the site of a seminar marking the 60th anniversary of the proclamation by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Human Rights IDay. “The intention was to show the total absence of human rights in the places symbolized by the Auschwitz- Birkenau camp,” said Polish Human Rights Spokesman (Ombudsman) Janusz Kochanowski.

Among those 150 children of those people who were from the Kovno ghetto murdered here, we can who survived the war, 29 create a better society, a of them survived here, in society in which people the Auschwitz camp. They will not treat each other were brought to Ausch- like wolves—and, even if witz on August 1, 1944 in it is not a society in which a transport of 131 children people treat each other like from the Kovno ghetto. angels, let it at least be a so- Today, I stand here as the ciety in which people treat 132nd child. Apart from each other like human be- me, Micha Lindenstraus, ings. whose whole family was 2. Such is the background murdered here, is also of the historic United Na- present. tions Charter, the treaty Sawicki ł This is a difﬁ cult place. It that established the United is the embodiment of the Nations in 1945. In the Pre- most brutal kind of human amble to the Charter, we

photo: Pawe evil. It is a synonym for the read: Press conference ethical nadir represented “We the peoples of the by the planned murder of United Nations deter- Ombudsmen from all over the main Museum exhibi- The Universal humanity, regardless of mined . . . to reaffi rm faith the world gathered at the tion at the Auschwitz I-Main Declaration and the War sex, race, age, or national- in fundamental human Center for Dialogue and Camp site: Block 4, devoted on Terror from a Judge’s ity. It constitutes the most rights, in the dignity and Prayer on December 4, along to the Holocaust, and Block Point of View extreme expression of the worth of the human person, with government offi cials 5, with its collection of evi- mass murder of the Jew- in the equal rights of men from Poland and the Europe- dence of Nazi crimes includ- 1. This is a diffi cult moment. ish People. It is a symbol of and women and of nations an Union, clergy, and fi gures ing human hair, prostheses, It is hard for all of us gath- the unparalleled evil of the large and small . . . .” from the worlds of learning shoes, and suitcases with ered here today in this ac- Holocaust. Article 55 declares that and culture. Also present names on them. The Om- cursed place. This moment From this horrifying “the United Nations shall was Auschwitz-Birkenau budsmen also toured the is especially trying for me place—from its gas cham- promote . . . universal re- State Museum Director Dr. building containing the gas when I cast my thoughts bers, from the Death Wall, spect for, and observance Piotr M. A. Cywiński, who chamber and crematorium, back 67 years, to 1941. I was from the crematoria, from of, human rights and fun- stressed at a press confer- and placed a wreath at the 5, and all of us, the Jews the barriers, from the damental freedoms for all ence that World War II was Death Wall in the courtyard from Kaunas in Lithuania piles of hair, glasses, and without distinction as to entirely different from other of Block 11. and the vicinity, were con- suitcases in the Museum, race, sex, language, or reli- wars, and that this fact could The day ended with a concert fi ned in the Kovno ghetto. from the ashes of the peo- gion.” These provisions on best be understood precisely at the church of St. Joseph the About 5 thousand of us ple cremated here—voices the fundamental human here, in Auschwitz. “Para- Worker in Oświęcim, where were children under the reach us, saying: never right to dignity, equality, doxically, the roots of new the National Symphony Or- age of 14. When the Jews forget, never forgive! To- and freedom are connect- postwar legal and political chestra of Polish Radio in in the Kovno ghetto were gether with these voices, ed to two events. Those concepts, like the Declara- Katowice played Krzysztof being slaughtered, par- other cries reach us: never events occurred sixty years tion of Human Rights, the Penderecki’s Seven Gates of ticular pains were taken permit another Auschwitz; ago, and their origin was defi nitions of crimes against Jerusalem, with the composer to murder all the children. never, ever permit another here, in Auschwitz. humanity and genocide, or conducting. Among the 5 thousand Holocaust. The fi rst event was the the vision of a united Eu- children forced to live in These cries are the last will adoption of the Conven- rope, reach back to the tragic The Oświęcim session was the ghetto, only 150, or 3%, and testament of those tion on the Prevention and experience of Auschwitz,” organized by the Polish Om- survived the war. I am one who were murdered here. Punishment of the Crime said Cywiński. budsman, the Ombudsman of them. I pay tribute to Yet, at the same time, they of Genocide. The Con- of Israel, the Polish ministries two families of Lithuanian also represent hope for life. vention was adopted by The International Human of Foreign Affairs and Cul- farmers who risked their Thanks to these voices, we a resolution of the United Rights Day program consist- ture and National Heritage, own lives to save mine. know that, from the ashes Nations General Assem- ed of speeches, a lecture, and and the Auschwitz-Birkenau the awarding by the Polish State Museum. The honorary Human Rights Spokesman patrons were the President of his Paulus Vladimiri of the Polish Republic, Lech award to US Supreme Court Kaczyński, and the President Justice Antonin Scalia. US of the European Commis- Ambassador Victor Ashe ac- sion, Manuel Barroso. cepted the award on behalf of Justice Scalia. One of the most important speakers during the observ- After the ceremony at the ances of International Hu- Center for Dialogue and man Rights Day was Profes- Prayer, the guests visited sor Aharon Barak, former the Auschwitz Museum, chief justice of the supreme beginning at the Auschwitz court of Israel. His absorbing II-Birkenau site. They placed lecture alluded to personal roses on the ramp where and tragic experiences dur-

transports doomed for the ing the war. Oświęcim is a Sawicki ł gas chambers disembarked. place where such words are They also toured prisoner particularly signiﬁ cant. This barracks and climbed the is why we are publishing main guard tower at the Gate extensive excerpts from his photo: Pawe of Death. Next, they visited remarks. Session at the Center for Dialogue and Prayer

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Center for Dialogue and Prayer Foundation Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009

Modern democracies, real hell. The fascists took peace and security. If we are which alone have learned away our lives. However, not up to the demands of our the lesson of Auschwitz, they failed to rob us of the role in times of military action ask themselves: how essence of our humanity. and terrorism, then we will should we deal with such not be able to meet our obli- barbarism? How can we The Role of the Judge gations in times of peace and fi ght against terrorism, in the Defense security. It is a myth to believe while still remaining dem- of Democracy that there exists some possi- ocratic societies? This ques- bility of maintaining a clear tion has many answers. My starting point is that I distinction between the sta- The countless experts in feel that my role, as a jus- tus of human rights in times the fi eld of combating ter- tice of the supreme court or of hostilities, and the status rorism present their opin- constitutional tribunal in of human rights in times of ions; executive and legisla- a democratic society, is to peace. We are only fooling tive groups seek solutions, protect the constitution and ourselves if we believe that and fi nd them. However, democracy. We cannot take we can limit judicial decisions there is one more element the continued existence of in such a way that they apply of the state that has a role democracy for granted. This only in times of combat, or to play in contending with statement refers in an ob- that we can issue decisions photo: Bogdan Owsiany terrorism: the judicial au- vious way to newly arisen about the changes that occur Speech by Polish Ombudsman thorities in the democratic democratic systems, but it is in times of peace. The bound- countries. equally true for democratic ary between military action 5. I am presenting the judi- systems with an established and peace is a faint one; what cial point of view in my position and a long history. one person calls peace, an- remarks today. Judges in We can no longer accept the other person might call war. the democratic system, approach according to which In any case, there is no chance the same as the judges of “it can’t happen to us.” After of maintaining such a distinc- international courts and all, anything can happen. If tion in the long term. We tribunals, come face to face it happened in Auschwitz, should assume that any kind with this problem every it can happen in any other of decision that we undertake day: what should they do place. If democracy was at moments when terrorism within the framework of distorted and obliterated in endangers our security will the fi ght against terror- Germany—the homeland remain in force even when ism? In what way can they of Kant, Beethoven, and the danger of terrorism sub- photo: Bogdan Owsiany responsibly fulfi ll their ju- Goethe—then the same thing sides. In reality, justices must Orders of Merit dicial function? As a mem- can occur in any other place. act in a consistent, coherent ber of the Supreme Court If we do not protect democ- way. Bad decisions taken in bly on December 9, 1948. mon law. They are the of Israel, I had to deal with racy, then democracy will times of military and terrorist The seed of this conven- basis of two United Na- this problem for 28 years. not protect us. I do not know action lead to a loss of faith in tion was sown here in this tions Conventions on hu- To my great regret, I have if the judges of the supreme the courts after the end of the place, in Auschwitz. man rights. Subsequent considerable experience court in Germany were in a crisis. The second event was the international treaties and grappling with this cruel position to stop Hitler from In addition, democracy guar- adoption and proclama- regional conventions on dilemma. America had a coming to power in the 1930s. antees independence for us, tion of the Universal Decla- human rights are based on painful experience of inter- I do know, however, that one as judges. It strengthens our ration of Human Rights by the Universal Declaration. national terrorism on Sep- of the lessons to be drawn position in view of our politi- a resolution of the United The rights enumerated in tember 11. Israel had this from the Holocaust and the cal independence, in relation Nations General Assem- the universal Declaration experience on October 10 Second World War is the to changes in public opinion. bly on December 10, 1948. and in these conventions and September 9, as well need to possess a democratic The true test of this independ- One of the reasons given have also been included as September 12 and 13. At constitution, and to have jus- ence occurs while military in the Preamble as lying at in the constitutions and no moment since the crea- tices of the supreme court, operations and terrorist acts the basis of the Universal the domestic legal codes tion of the state of Israel whose fundamental task is are taking place. The mean- Declaration is the fact that of many states. Their infl u- has it been free of the dan- the protection of democracy, ing of our independence “disregard and contempt ence may also be discerned ger of terrorism. to ensure its execution. In the becomes clear in situations for human rights have re- in the Polish constitution. In fulfi lling the role of postwar period, this recogni- where there is a likelihood sulted in barbarous acts Auschwitz was the reason judges, we inquire par- tion has helped in the promo- that public opinion will be which have outraged the for the shedding of many ticularly into the propriety, tion of extending judicial re- nearly unanimous. Particu- conscience of mankind.” tears. The system of hu- from the point of view of view to the constitutionality larly in times when military These “barbarous acts man rights, together with the law and the constitu- of legislation and the actions operations are underway or which have outraged the the Universal Declaration tion, of the war on terror. of the executive authority, when acts of terrorism are be- conscience of mankind” that occupies a central po- What principles should and in placing human rights ing carried out, we must take are, above all, those com- sition there, is the response we judges follow? While in a central position. This is upon ourselves the entire re- mitted here in this place, in to those tears. my remarks concentrate what has shaped my point sponsibility for the protection Auschwitz. There exists a 4. In recent years, the system on the judges in national of view, in which the role of of democracy and the con- direct connection between of human rights has again or municipal courts, they the supreme court justice in stitution. We should always the inhuman deeds com- faced new challenges. One also apply to the judges in the democratic system is to epitomize history, not hyste- mitted during the Second of the greatest of these chal- international courts. maintain and protect the con- ria. The truth is that the fi ght World War and the procla- lenges is international ter- Consciously or not, my re- stitution and democracy. against the phenomenon of mation by the United Na- rorism. A brutal attack on marks refl ect the fact that I We should protect democ- terrorism changes our democ- tions of the Universal Dec- the United States occurred was the 132nd child. Such racy both against terrorism racy into a “defensive democ- laration of Human Rights, on September 11. Other is my experience. How- and against the measures racy,” or even into a “fi ghting which occurred 60 years countries all over the world ever, that experience is not that the state intends to use or militant democracy.” Nev- ago. experience terrorism every the basis for either hatred in the fi ght against terrorism. ertheless, the defensive and 3. The Universal Declaration day. In this very week, we or a lack of faith in hu- Of course, the way in which combative stance cannot be lends substance to the pro- have witnessed the attacks manity. On the contrary: justices cope with the protec- allowed to deprive our sys- visions of the United Na- in India. Terrorism is the I believe in the spirit of tion of democracy is tested tem of its democratic nature. tions Charter in regard to contemporary expression humanity, which is the es- on a daily basis, yet the most Justices at the highest level human rights. The rights of the barbarism of which sence of each person. Only important test of their work of the judiciary in a contem- that it lists are civil and Auschwitz was the most our faith in the possibility comes in situations in which porary democracy should act political, as well as social, outstanding expression. of overcoming diffi culties they must grapple with in- in a spirit of defensive com- cultural, and economic. Once again, we witness hu- makes it possible for us, stances of hostile and terrorist bat or militant democracy, as In view of the obligations man life being treated as if the survivors, to function acts. The protection of the hu- opposed to uncontrolled de- of the international com- it had no value; once again, despite the ubiquitous bru- man rights that should apply mocracy. munity as brought into we see human beings being tality. Only faith in people to every person is a far more force by the Universal murdered because of their and their dignity makes it serious obligation in situa- Declaration, almost all of race, religion, or national possible for us to live after tions of hostile actions or acts Bogdan Owsiany these rights have become allegiance. Once again, evil having passed through a of terrorism than in times of part of international com- and hatred have no limits.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 1, January 2009 History

of the occupation. He was a 20 in Block 11. The sum- courier and a member of the mary court sentenced him to PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL staff of the Oświęcim Dis- death on January 5, 1945. He trict of the Union of Armed was shot in Auschwitz-Birk- Struggle, using the pseudo- enau the following day. He ANTONI SZLACHCIC (1919-1945) nym “Laura.” He supplied was posthumously award- material aid to the prison- ed the Order of the Grun- He was born on March 2, ning his studies in law. ers in the Auschwitz camp, wald Cross Third Class. 1919 into a railroad work- The residents of Babice were helped prepare escapes, and er’s family in Babice near expelled in 1949, and Antoni furnished fugitives with Oświęcim, the son of Jan and Szlachcic and his parents identity papers and civilian Biographical sketch from: Maria née Piotrowska. He went to live in Oświęcim. He clothing. The Gestapo ar- Ludzie Dobrej Woli. attended primary school in worked as a photography rested him in the spring of Księga Pamięci Oświęcim and continued his technician at a drugstore 1944. He was imprisoned in mieszkańców ziemi oświęcimskiej education at the State Com- on the Main Square. Hav- Block 11 in Auschwitz and niosących pomoc mercial School in Biała Kra- ing access to amateur ﬁ lms held there until early Janu- więźniom KL Auschwitz, kowska, graduating in 1937. brought by German soldiers ary 1945. Despite the brutal Henryk He passed his matura exami- for developing, he created a interrogation, he never be- Świebocki, ed. nation at the Queen Jadwiga secret archive to document trayed his co-conspirators. Auschwitz-Birkenau Tenth State Gymnasium in the Nazi crimes. He cooper- Inscriptions by him, includ- State Museum Cracow. The Nazi German ated in this with the under- ing the words “Laura,” and Auschwitz invasion of Poland in 1939 ground movement, which he “Maria,” and “Babice,” can Preservation Society, prevented him from begin- had joined in the ﬁ rst months still be seen in cells 19 and Oświęcim, 2005

FROM THE GANOBIS’ COLLECTION HISTORY OF OŚWIĘCIM – JANUARY inding mementoes and treasures is of- • January 1, 1867 for Przemysław, and Za- Kończyce Małe Fields near ten a matter of happenstance. So it was 17 years after the sepa- tor for Wacław. Among Zebrzydowice. He was with a silver medallion in my collec- ration of the duchies of the many provisions of posthumously promoted F Oświęcim and Zator from the agreement was an ob- to major and buried in the tion. There is an extraordinary story behind the German Union and the ligation placed upon Duke family vault in Dwory. it. Someone found it in Birkenau. By whom, granting of broad-rang- Wacław to recover Barwałd no one remembers, but whoever found it ing autonomy to Gali- castle, which had passed • January 26, 1945 cia in November 1866, into Polish hands in 1440. Soviet soldiers of the 60th took it to a jeweler’s and sold it. As it turned the germanization of the Army of the First Ukrain- out, a friend of mine worked in that jewelry Oświęcim lands came to an • January 19, 1445 ian Front entered Zator, outlet. My friend bought it from the owner end. Polish was restored The last prisoner evacua- liberating the town and the as the offi cial language in tion transport left Ausch- vicinity from Nazi occupa- of the shop and put it aside. Several years Oświęcim town hall. witz - Birkenau Concentra- tion. later, he remembered that I collect all sorts tion Camp (Death March). • January 1, 2000 • January 27, 1782 of old things, and asked if he could give it to As a result of the recent • January 22, 1915 Habsburg Emperor Joseph me as a present. I agreed, of course, because, regional reorganization, Brigadier Józef Piłsuski, II granted the coat of arms as an exhibit, that medallion has great his- the rump Oświęcim land commanding offi cer of the of the Kingdom of Galicia (without Wilamowice) Polish Legions, entered and Lodomeria with the torical value. returned to Małopolska. Kęty. Duchy of Oświęcim and During the war, Jewish chil- the ground at Birkenau. Did Oświęcim Powiat, with 450 Zator. It was modeled on years of history, was re- • January 25, 1438 the heraldic device found dren being deported to the someone drop it, or lose it? stored. For services to his father, on the reverse of the silver camps received such me- Perhaps they dropped it de- Duke Kazimierz, Duke Oświęcim-Zator two-złoty dallions. It was clear that liberately, so that some trace • January 8, 1441 Wacław of Oświęcim coin minted by the Empress this one had been made us- of them would remain. No Wacław, the oldest son of awarded a łan of land in Maria Theresa from 1775 ing basic techniques. It is one knows. Its story is one of Duke Kazimierz (d. 1434) the ducal village of Dwory to 1777. The three fi elds shaped like a heart. There happenstance. It could have issued a proclamation in to Mikołaj Pokrzywka. This of the escutcheon beneath is a Jewish inscription on been melted down long ago, Zator thanking Polish king locality, under the patron- the crown presented (from one side, and I learned that or given to someone else. Władysław III for recover- age of St. Urban, was fi rst right) the coat of arms it reads, “May He bless you Somehow, nevertheless, it ing the town and adjacent mentioned in 1429. of Galicia (three golden and give you luck.” No one survived, and thus ended up demesnes, and expressed crowns on a blue fi eld), the knows whom it belonged in my collection. his readiness to render fe- • January 25, 1973 coat of arms of Lodomeria alty. The fi rst Olympic-sized (two silver-and-red check- to, or how it ended up on Mirosław Ganobis indoor swimming pool erboard stripes on a blue • January 12, 1782 in Poland was opened in fi eld), and, in a triangular Habsburg Emperor Joseph Oświęcim. It was built fi eld at the bottom of the II issued a decree ordering using funds from the escutcheon, the coat of the closing of a range of Oświęcim Chemical Plant, arms of Oświęcim-Zator houses belonging to men’s with signifi cant contri- (a black eagle on a golden and women’s mendicant butions from the town’s fi eld). religious orders. This was workers and residents. the basis for ordering the • January 27, 1945 closure of the Dominican • January 25-27, 1985 The Soviet Army control- monastery in Oświęcim; its The Love of Mankind Na- led Oświęcim and liber- property was assigned to a tional Non-Professional ated Auschwitz-Birkenau religious foundation. Film Festival was organ- Concentration Camp. The ized in Oświęcim for the following day, the Soviets • January 19, 1445 fi rst time. Since 1996, it has took Kęty. At the request of Duke been a biannual interna- Wacław of Oświęcim, tional festival. • January 29, 1882 Przemysław and Jan, the Tadeusz Makowski, one of sons of Duke Kazimierz • January 26, 1919 the leading Polish painters (d. 1434), issued a docu- The Oświęcim Powiat com- of the early 20th century, ment in Oświęcim that mandant of the Polish was born in Oświęcim. aw Ganobis ł served as the basis of the Army, Capt. Cezary Haller division of the extensive de Hallendurg, was killed duchy between the three in action during the de- By Leszek Żak,

Fot. Miros brothers, into the Duchy of fense of Cieszyn Silesia guide to the local area The medallion Oświęcim for Jan, Toszek against the Czechs at the and the Beskidy mountains.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 photo: Tomasz Mól photo: Tomasz Mól Photographer Lovely andchastelikesmoothwhitesand. Till earthisdressedinarobeofwhite Snow Giving magictothelifelessground. Falling Gentlyonawintersnight. Unspoken poemthehushofnight. Each snow Smiling beautythat’sspunafar. A veilofwonderlacedinlight Graceful beautyrainingdown fl akes spillfromheaven’shand by LindaA.Copp Snow fl TO THEEYESOFTOMASZMÓL ake likeafallingstar fl akes 1 2 3

photo: Tomasz Mól photo: Tomasz Mól photo: Tomasz Mól 4 5 6 7 8 O ś —O 9 ś wi ę cim, People,History,Culturemagazine,no.1,January2009 10 11 12 13 14 15 16