Jarosław Sellin

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Jarosław Sellin Jarosław Sellin Wprowadzenie Introduction Holokaust jest wyjątkową zbrodnią w dziejach The Holocaust is an unexampled crime in ludzkości. Historia nie zna takiego precedensu, the history of mankind. The first murder jak ów pierwszy w historii człowieka mord, zapla- that was planned systematically, industrially, nowany systematycznie, przemysłowo, na chłodno cold-heartedly and with the involvement of the i z zaangażowaniem całego aparatu niemieckiego entire apparatus of the German state has no prec- państwa. Szacuje się, że w obozach zagłady, zało- edent in the past of humanity. It is estimated that żonych przez państwo hitlerowskie na terytorium in the extermination camps established by the podbitej Polski, funkcjonariusze III Rzeszy pozba- Nazi state on the territory of conquered Poland, wili życia blisko 3 mln Żydów. functionaries of the Third Reich killed nearly W SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor zostało 3,000,000 Jews. zgładzonych około 180 tys. Żydów – najwięcej pol- About 180,000 Jews were murdered in the skich (90 tys.), holenderskich (34 tys.) i słowackich SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor – most of them (24 tys.), ale byli wśród nich także Żydzi austriaccy, Polish (90,000), Dutch (34,000), and Slovak (24,000), białoruscy, czescy, francuscy, litewscy, niemieccy but the number also includes Austrian, Belaru- i rosyjscy. sian, Czech, French, Lithuanian, German, and To straszliwe dziedzictwo obcego mocarstwa Russian Jews. zobowiązuje nas wszystkich do nieustannej troski This horrendous legacy of the foreign empire o pamięć o ofiarach, naszych współbraciach, obliges us all to incessantly care for the remem- współobywatelach. brance of the victims, our brethren, fellow citizens. Dlatego w 2008 r. Izrael i państwa, z których It was for this reason that in 2008 Israel pochodziło najwięcej ofiar – to jest Polska, Holan- together with the countries from which the great- dia i Słowacja – nawiązały porozumienie, którego est number of victims were deported – namely, celem było trwałe upamiętnienie tego miejsca Poland, the Netherlands, and Slovakia – reached przez utworzenie Muzeum i Miejsca Pamięci byłe- an agreement aimed at creating the Museum and go niemieckiego obozu zagłady w Sobiborze. Od Memorial of the former German death camp in 2000 r. pod nadzorem rabinicznym prowadzono Sobibór that would permanently commemorate badania archeologiczne, aby zabezpieczyć prochy the site. In 2000, under rabbinical supervision, zamordowanych oraz na nowo ustalić topografię archaeological research commenced in order to obozu, bowiem zgodnie z decyzją Himmlera nie- secure the ashes of the murdered and to rede- mal doszczętnie go zniszczono, aby ukryć i wyma- fine the topography of the camp, as, according to zać dowody zbrodni. Himmler's decision, it had been almost entirely Od 2012 r. pieczę nad terenem byłego obozu demolished with the aim to conceal and obliterate zagłady w Sobiborze sprawuje polska państwo- the evidence of the crime. wa instytucja kultury – Państwowe Muzeum na In 2012, the protection of the area of the Majdanku, które opiekuje się odkrytymi w czasie former death camp in Sobibór was entrusted badań artefaktami. Są wśród nich szczególnie to a Polish state-owned cultural institution, the poruszające drobiazgi dziecięce: broszki i przy- State Museum at Majdanek, which looks after the pinki, ale także przedmioty osobiste ofiar, jak artefacts discovered during the research. Among utensylia higieniczne czy zdjęte z drzwi tabliczki them are particularly touching children's trinkets: z nazwiskami mieszkańców, klucze do pozosta- brooches and pins, but also personal belongings wionych daleko domów, do których mieli już of the victims, such as hygiene utensils, plaques nigdy nie powrócić. Wśród sobiborskich znalezisk removed from apartment doors that bear the mamy m.in. tabliczkę z drzwi Fransa Bloemen- names of the residents, and keys to their houses dala, który zanim trafił do Sobiboru – podobnie that were left far away and to which they were nev- jak jego ojciec Marcus Izak, matka Olga i starszy er to return. The Sobibór artefacts include, among brat Johan Erich – mieszkał w Amsterdamie przy other things, the name tag from the door of Frans VARIA / majdanek.eu / wydanie specjalne / special edition / 2020 6 Rijnstraat 13 I. Nic natomiast nie pozostało po Bloemendal, who before being deported to Sobibór obywatelu Słowacji, Tiborze Wohlsteinie, synu – similarly to his father Marcus Izak, mother Olga, Henricha i Frederiki. Pochodzący z Nitry 22-letni and older brother Johan Erich – lived in Amster- student do transportu zabrany został z sanatorium dam at Rijnstraat 13 I. However, no object survived w Popradzie, gdzie powracał do zdrowia po opera- that belonged to a Slovak citizen, Tibor Wohlstein, cji. Jako niezdolny do pracy, trafił prawdopodobnie son of Henrich and Frederika. The 22-year-old od razu do Sobiboru. student from Nitra was taken from the sanatorium Takie indywidualne historie chcemy opowia- in Poprad, where he was recovering from surgery. dać w nowym muzeum, każdemu bowiem ludz- Deemed unfit for labour, he was probably summar- kiemu jestestwu należy się nasza uwaga, szacunek ily taken to Sobibór. i upamiętnienie. Sprzeciwiając się uprzedmio- We wish to tell such individual stories in the towieniu człowieka przez hitlerowski aparat new museum, as every human being deserves władzy, oddajemy cześć poszczególnym istnie- our attention, respect and commemoration. By niom ludzkim. Każdy z nas jest odrębnym bytem opposing the objectification of man by the Nazi obdarzonym unikalnym zespołem cech, doznań apparatus of power, we strive to honour human i doświadczeń. Z przyrodzoną ludzką godnością. beings. Each of us is a separate entity endowed Tę godność pragniemy przywrócić więźniom with a unique set of features, sensations and i ofiarom Sobiboru. Musimy jednak pamiętać, że experiences. With inborn human dignity. We wish niemiecki aparat administracyjny obsługujący to restore that dignity to the prisoners and victims Zagładę dokładał wszelkich starań, aby praw- of Sobibór. We must remember, however, that the da o eufemistycznie nazwanym „Endlösung der German administrative apparatus in charge of Judenfrage” – „ostatecznym rozwiązaniu kwe- the Holocaust made every effort to ensure that the stii żydowskiej”, czyli likwidacji całego narodu truth about the euphemistically called “Endlösung żydowskiego – nie przedostała się do wiadomości der Judenfrage” – “the final solution to the Jewish publicznej. Dlatego naziści tak dokładnie likwi- question,” that is, the destruction of the entire dowali ślady po obozach zagłady, pamiętając Jewish nation – was never made public. That is why o wywiezieniu lub zniszczeniu dokumentacji, the Nazis eliminated the traces of the extermina- wysadzeniu komór gazowych i krematoriów, tion camps so thoroughly, concentrating on the o ekshumacji zwłok pochowanych wcześniej ofiar, removal or disposal of documents, blowing up gas o bestialskiej fragmentacji ciał i starciu w proch chambers and crematoria, on the exhumation of ludzkich szczątków, o zalesianiu pozostałości po the bodies of the previously buried victims, on the tych fabrykach śmierci. Dlatego tak mało wiemy brutal fragmentation of corpses and the grinding o losach poszczególnych ofiar, tak wiele z nich na to dust of human remains, on the afforestation zawsze pozostanie bezimiennymi, po tak wielu nie of the remnants of these death factories. That is pozostał ślad. Dlatego też słowacki Oddział Ustred- why we know so little about the fate of individual ni Židov w Nitrze otrzymał w 1942 r. od krakowskiej victims, so many of them will remain nameless for- Żydowskiej Samopomocy Społecznej odpowiedź, ever, not a trace of so many remains. It was for this że miejsce pobytu Tibora Wohlsteina jest nieznane. reason that, in 1942, the Slovak branch of Ustredni Holokaust odbywał się przy pełnej wiedzy Židov in Nitra received a reply from the Kraków przedstawicieli rządów alianckich, które wręcz Jewish Social Self-Help stating that the wherea- „bombardowane” były doniesieniami o Zagładzie bouts of Tibor Wohlstein remained unknown. Żydów na terenie podbitej Polski. Legendarny The Holocaust took place with the full knowl- kurier Polskiego Państwa Podziemnego, Jan Kar- edge of the representatives of the Allied govern- ski, dostarczał raporty o tragicznej sytuacji Żydów. ments, who were downright “bombarded” with Szmul Zygielbojm, członek Rady Narodowej Rze- reports of the extermination of Jews in the con- czypospolitej Polskiej w Londynie, w ostatecznym quered Poland. Jan Karski, the legendary courier akcie protestu wobec bezczynności i obojętności of the Polish Underground State, delivered reports rządów alianckich na Holokaust, w maju 1943 r. – on the tragic fate of Jews. In May 1943 – after the po pacyfikacji getta warszawskiego oraz po usta- pacification of the Warsaw Ghetto and after the leniu podczas konferencji bermudzkiej, że alianci decision during the Bermuda Conference was nie podejmą żadnych działań i zachowają w tej made that the Allies would not take any action sprawie milczenie – popełnił samobójstwo. Na and would remain silent on this matter – Szmul dzień przed śmiercią w odezwie przesłanej na ręce Zygielbojm, member of the National Council of reprezentujących Państwo Polskie na Uchodźstwie Poland in London, in the final act of protest against Prezydenta Władysława Raczkiewicza i Premiera, the inaction and indifference of the Allied govern- gen. Władysława Sikorskiego, pisał: ments to the Holocaust, committed suicide. The VARIA / majdanek.eu / wydanie specjalne
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