The Day of Remembrance for the Destruction of The

O Ś WIĘ CIM ISSN 1899-4407 PEOPLE

CULTURE HISTORY

THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ROMA A BUDDHIST AND A SIKH ON RECONCILIATION A BRIDGE TO HISTORY AND A BRIDGE OF FRIENDSHIP THROUGH THE EYES OF THE CONSUL EXHIBITION

no. 8 August 2009 Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 8, August 2009

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

This year we mark the 65th anniver- excerpts from a lecture given at can undergraduates and graduates sary of the liquidation by the Nazis the Galicia Museum in Cracow in to Poland, where they learn about of the so-called Gypsy family camp early July by two religious leaders Polish-Jewish history and work in Auschwitz-Birkenau. On the who were guests of the Center for on their own educational projects. night of August 2/3, 1944, the Nazis Dialogue and Prayer, Bhai Sahib We also write about a photogra- murdered 2,897 men, women, and Mohinder Singh, the leader of the phy exhibition at the IYMC, titled children in the gas chamber—the British Sikhs, and Master Hsin Tao Through the Eyes of the Consul, by the last of the approximately 23 thou- Shih, a Buddhist teacher and the former German consul in Cracow, Editor: sand Roma deported to Auschwitz. founder of the Museum of World Adolf Müller, and about an origi- Paweł Sawicki In Oś you will find extensive cover- Religions in Taipei. The subject of nal Righteous among the Nations Editorial secretary: age of the observances, fragments the lecture was Healing Wounds: of the World Medal, awarded to Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka of accounts recalling the events of The Road to Peace and Reconciliation. former prisoner Maria Kotarba, that Editorial board: 65 years ago, and information about In Oś, you will also find an inter- has been donated to the Museum. Bartosz Bartyzel a new volume in the Voices of Mem- esting interview with participants Wiktor Boberek ory series, dedicated to the story of in the Jewish Center “Bridge to Paweł Sawicki Jarek Mensfelt Jadwiga Pinderska-Lech the Roma prisoners of Auschwitz. History” program. This summer Editor-in-chief Leszek Szuster We also draw your attention to scholarship program brings Ameri- [email protected] Artur Szyndler Columnist: Mirosław Ganobis Design and layout: Agnieszka Matuła, Grafi kon A GALLERY Translations: William Brand Proofreading: OF THE 20TH CENTURY Beata Kłos Cover: Paweł Sawicki It’s time to go for a train ride. get onto the platform without a ticket, fore belonged to the railroad even after A few refl ections are in order after either a regular one-way or round- the completion of the journey. Photographer: Tomasz Mól a visit to our Oświęcim train station, trip ticket or what was known as These were not communist-era ab- which is not so bad in comparison a “platform ticket”—a little chit that surdities. They dated back to before with some others. This public facility gave you one-time admission to the the war, and surely, indeed, to the should be respectable and tidy, since platform, for instance when say- earliest days of train travel. PUBLISHER: some of our guests arrive by train. It’s ing farewell to loved ones as they set The current Oświęcim train station the fi rst thing they see when they ar- off. Inside the station building, there dates from the 1960s. Its predecessor Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum rive, and serves as their introduction was a barrier and a booth containing was a barracks-like structure built of to the town. We have nothing to be a railroad employee who checked to wood and plastered over. It was nei- www.auschwitz.org.pl ashamed of. see that everyone going onto the plat- ther functional nor attractive—and Now for a few refl ections on bygone form had a ticket. Arriving passengers those were the days when the rail- railroad customs and procedures. also had to go through this gate and roads were king! PARTNERS: There was a time when you couldn’t hand in their used tickets, which there- Andrzej Winogrodzki

Jewish Center www.ajcf.pl

Center for Dialogue and Prayer Foundation www.centrum-dialogu.oswiecim.pl

International Youth Meeting Center www.mdsm.pl

IN COOPERATION WITH:

Kasztelania www.kasztelania.pl

State Higher Vocational School in Oświęcim www.pwsz-oswiecim.pl

Editorial address: „Oś – Oświęcim, Ludzie, Historia, Kultura” Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau ul. Więźniów Oświęcimia 20 32-603 Oświęcim e-mail: [email protected] www.kasztelania.pl Oświęcim train station. Photograph from Mirosław Ganobis’s collection “A Gallery of the 20th Century”

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ROMA MEMORY

new volume of Voices of Memory, devoted to the destruction of the Roma Ain the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, will appear in cooperation between the Interna- tional Center for Education about Ausch- witz and the Holocaust and the Association of Roma in Poland.

“Teachers have a great Voices of Memory will be need for educational ma- an excellent history les- terial on the Roma who son, for those of us who are died in Auschwitz,” said the heirs of the ‘Auschwitz ICEAH Director Krystyna generation,’ but above all Oleksy. “That is why we for young people,” said decided on this joint pub- Roman Kwiatkowski, pres- lishing initiative. People ident of the Association of often forget that, after Jews Roma in Poland. “From its and Poles, Roma were the pages we hear the voices third largest group of vic- of the people who are no tims at Auschwitz. I hope longer among us, who were that the new publication stripped of their human- will lead to greater aware- ity and ultimately of their ness of the tragic fate of lives by the Nazi perpetra- the Sinti and Roma during tors only because they were the Second World War, born Roma. The individual especially because the ma- voices will allow the book terial will be published in to bring home the criminal both Polish and English.” mechanism of Nazism and Joanna Talewicz-Kwia- will be a reminder for those tkowska, a doctoral stu- of us alive today. We need dent at the Jagiellonian to remember that, despite University, will be the the differences separating author of the scholarly them, people think and article on the Roma Hol- feel the same in the face of ocaust and the Roma in pain, suffering, and death. Auschwitz. She and the It is this universal dimen- staff of the Museum Re- sion, in addition to the search Department are educational and research collecting accounts and value, that makes this documents that will fea- publication exceptional.” ture in the book. Publica- Each publication in the tion is planned for 2010. Voices of Memory series is photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Elisabeth Emmler of Germany with her children. The whole family was deported to Auschwitz on March 8, 1943 It is estimated that about 23 thousand Roma men, and imprisoned in the Zigeunerlager family camp. They all died in Auschwitz. women, and children were deported to Auschwitz. About 20 thousand of them died there or were murdered in the gas chambers. The remainder were trans- devoted to one of the many of documents from various Liquidation, and Liberation ferred to other camps. The Nazis placed the Roma in issues in the history of the Nazi German bureaus and of Auschwitz, Medical Ex- a special “family camp” in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Auschwitz camp. The camp departments, and periments, and Hospitals It existed for 17 months, until August 2, 1944. That books contain introduc- excerpts from the accounts in Auschwitz. They are evening, the 2,897 Roma remaining in the camp were tory research articles that submitted after the war by all available in the online loaded onto trucks and taken to the gas chamber. offer a thorough discus- former prisoners, a price- bookstore, in Polish and They tried to resist, but the SS overcame their resist- sion of the subject and less source of information. English. ance brutally. a selection of source mate- So far, three volumes have rial. There are also copies appeared: The Evacuation, Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka BUILDING A BRIDGE OF FRIENDSHIP

educators from Israel attended a 12-day seminar on “Auschwitz in the Collective Awareness in Poland and 25the World: The Role and Signiﬁ cance of the Memory of Auschwitz-Birkenau for Jews and Poles,” organized by the Muse- um’s International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The participants included pany young Israelis to Po- the Auschwitz-Birkenau staff from the Yad Vashem land, and educators from Beit site, as well as lectures and Memorial Institute in Jerusa- Lohamei Hagetaot (Ghetto workshops on the history lem (the country’s main insti- Heroes’ Kibbutz) and the of the German occupation tution for Holocaust history), Massuah Institute. of Poland, the history of the

guides to the Yad Vashem The seminar schedule in- Auschwitz camp, the fate photo: Jarek Mensfelt museum, guides who accom- cluded specialist visits to of Polish prisoners, ques- Participants of the seminar

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tions of confl icts between a dream of mine. I simply tion between Polish and have time for both meet- Polish and Jewish memory, wanted to learn more. This Israeli institutions. ings and visits to the sites. Polish-Jewish relations, the is very important to me,” “I think that this is very im- I think the meetings are political history of Poland said seminar participant portant and that the maxi- very important. We can’t since 1989, and the social- Adina Shtoyer. mum number of such exchange the past. All we can political conditions in the During the seminar, the changes makes it possible do is teach, but the most country. The seminar par- participants also visited for us to build bridges of important thing is to build ticipants also had a meet- other memorials in Po- friendship. When groups a better future together.” ing with former Auschwitz land, such as the sites of from Oświęcim come to Aside from lectures and prisoner Zofi a Łyś, and Majdanek and the Bełżec Yad Vashem, I have the op- visits to places associated took part in workshops in death camp, and Brzeszcze, portunity to serve as their with the history of the the Museum Archive, the where there was an Ausch- guide at our museum, and Holocaust and the Second Collections Department, witz sub-camp and prison- I regard this as an honor. World War, the schedule the Conservation Studio, ers labored in the Jawiszo- There have been changes included visits to places and the national exhibits. wice coal mine during the for the better in Polish-Is- connected with Polish his- They saw places not usu- war. Another item on the raeli relations. I see this all tory, such as Wawel Royal ally open to visitors, such schedule was a visit to the the time,” remarked Rachel Castle, the Wieliczka Salt as block 28, once part of Warsaw Uprising Muse- Volkenfeld of Yad Vashem. Mine, and the Warsaw Up- the camp hospital, which um. During working meet- “In the fi rst place, there is rising Museum. remains in its original con- ings, the Israelis exchanged a dialogue. This was not al- Over 250 Israeli educa- dition. opinions and experiences ways the case, but today it tors have taken part so “For several years, I have with guides and ICEAH goes on all the time. We try far in seminars organ- Sawicki ł had the intention of com- staff about contemporary to meet with Polish young ized by the Auschwitz- ing here in order to en- problems in teaching about people as often as possi- Birkenau Museum. hance my qualifi cations for Auschwitz and the Holo- ble. We can’t always do so, the job I have been doing caust, methods of showing because we come here for photo: Pawe in recent years. It might guests around memorial brief periods. We have to Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka A visit to the Memorial sound strange, but this was sites, and further coopera- organize things so that we

A “RIGHTEOUS” MEDAL FOR THE MUSEUM

n original “Righteous among the Nations of the World” medal and certifi cate have been added to the Mu- seum collections. They were awarded posthumously to former Auschwitz prisoner Maria Kotarba in 2005 Afor helping Jews while she was in concentration camps during the Second World War. Kotarba’s sister, Alicja Świerczok, donated the items. “This is, of course, a personal be conveyed to future gener- Nations of the World” certifi - After the Nazi attack on Po- deported Lena Mańkowska family memento, but the ations. That is what I wanted, cates in our collection,” said land in September 1939, Mar- there from the Białystok ghet- Museum is the best place to and why I decided to donate Szymon Kowalski, deputy ia Kotarba joined the resist- to a month later. Thanks to preserve and display such the medal to the Museum.” head of the Museum Archive. ance movement. A Gestapo risky actions taken by Polish items,” said Świerczok. “My “The story of Maria Kotarba, informer betrayed her. She women prisoners during the fi rst thought was that it be- “This is an exceptionally who helped others when was arrested in January 1943 registration procedure, the longed here. I am overjoyed precious donation for us, she herself needed help, and imprisoned in the Nazi Nazis put Lena on the books that it will be preserved here because so far we have only surely deserves to be com- German Auschwitz Concen- as a Polish political prisoner. forever, and that the story will had “Righteous among the memorated and exhibited.” tration Camp. The Germans In the camp, Maria Kotarba repeatedly helped Lena by giving her additional por- tions of food. Both women, along with thousands of other prisoners, were evacuated into the depths of Germany, where they saw each other for the last time, in January 1945.

Maria Kotarba died after a long illness on December 30, 1956. Lena Mańkowska emigrated to the U.K. after the war. Many years later, she attempted to locate the woman who had saved her life. It took her until 1997 to do so. Lena had a chance meeting in London with the writer James Foucar, who wrote up her experiences and brought the experiences of the two women to a broad audience. The upshot was the awarding of Righteous status to Maria Kotarba by the Yad Vashem Institute. James Foucar’s book about the story of Maria Kotarba and Lena Mańkowska is due out next year. photo: A-BSM

A “Righteous among the Nations of the World” certiﬁ cate and medal Paweł Sawicki

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THROUGH THE EYES OF THE CONSUL

AN EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADOLF MÜLLER AT THE IYMC

he International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim hosted a cozy journey over the byways of southern Małopolska as seen through the eyes of Adolf Müller, the former German consul in Cracow. Titled TThrough the Eyes of the Consul, the exhibition features photos taken on numerous journeys through what was once Galicia. The protagonists are the people, buildings, and landscape that go to make up the unique- ness of places that we often fail to notice on a daily basis.

The International Youth Meet- 2008. The guest of honor was those journeys. The exhibi- ter with Poland. “From 1998 showed me their homeland. ing Center in Oświęcim hosted Joachim S. Russek, the director tion was subtitled A Hymn to 2001, I worked at the Ger- Furthermore, I would have a cozy journey over the by- of the Jewish Culture Center in to Friendship, wrote Müller in man Consulate General in missed out on many experi- ways of southern Małopolska Cracow, where a similar exhi- the letter he sent to those in Cracow, and during that time ences without their help as as seen through the eyes of bition was held in 2007. attendance at the opening. I made many trips through translators,” he wrote. the regions to the north of the Carpathians. I eagerly took The photos shown at the ex- “My familiarity with those areas would surely have remained super- a great many photographs in hibition are broken down fi cial, however, if it had not been for several of my Polish friends who order to preserve my impres- into several thematic groups, took me under their wings and showed me their homeland.” sions and experiences. My with commentaries by the familiarity with those areas photographer. The range of Adolf Müller, the former Ger- “My pictures of the land and would surely have remained subjects upon which Müller man consul in Cracow. Titled people showed my friends He returned frequently to the superfi cial, however, if it trained his lens is broad in- Through the Eyes of the Consul, a different view, and per- theme of friendship in that had not been for several of deed. It includes architecture, the exhibition features photos haps a new aspect of their letter, especially in the con- my Polish friends who took both landmarks and the new taken on numerous journeys surroundings. That is why text of his personal encoun- me under their wings and Highland style that is taking through what was once Galicia. I readily accepted when Mr. The protagonists are the peo- Russek of the Jewish Cul- “The reading of the Torah, the center of the religious life of the ple, buildings, and landscape ture Center suggested that Jews, took place at the bimah. The architect placed it in the center of that go to make up the unique- I present them as an exhi- ness of places that we often fail bition, all the more so that the building. The four columns at its corners reach upwards while to notice on a daily basis. I would then have an occa- supporting the canopy. In this way, the spiritual origins of the faith The grand opening was held sion to thank all the friends and its material, architectural expression became a unifi ed, deliberate at they IYMC on June 26, who accompanied me in arrangement acting as well on what remains unconscious.” shape before our eyes, as well as the lyrical sub-Carpathian landscape and the builders and inhabitants of this special region, including those who are no longer alive.

The exhibition opens with a cycle of ﬁ ve photographs titled Pogórze and Its Inhab- itants. Müller photographs places of obvious beauty, but also ﬁ nds beauty where it must truly be searched for—like his photograph of a housing project where the apartment blocks make up an almost perfectly sym- metrical arrangement against a blue sky. His work illus- trates something he says in his commentary: “The residents of the areas lying between Zakopane and the Bieszczady have few material goods. That is why many of them have moved away. Among those who remain, there is a palpable love for and connection with their homeland and with nature.”

Another stage of Müller’s Małopolska journeys took him around the Cistercian monasteries, about which he writes that “the monasteries in Jędrzejów, founded in czar

ę 1149, and Wąchock, founded in 1179, are direct afﬁ liates of the Cistercian monastery of Morimond in France. At Morimond there are only

photo: Joanna Kl ruins today, while the Polish Joachim S. Russek—Director of Judaica Foundation—Jewish Culture Center in Cracow monasteries are pulsing with

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life, as evinced by the excava- building from an unusual an- Nostalgia also accompanies erations lead to a sad con- consideration. When you fi rst tions and conservation work gle. “The reading of the Torah, the photographs and com- clusion. “Gypsy music often arrive in a given country, in underway there. The spirit of the center of the religious life mentaries that Müller dedi- delights us. Could it not also this case Poland, you know Bernard of Clairvaux is alive of the Jews, took place at the cates to the Roma community. make us even slightly more that Poles live there. Only and well here!” bimah. The architect placed In his pictures, tradition, joy, tolerant of those whom we when you meet individual it in the center of the build- and music blend with refl ec- relegate to social exclusion?” people and make contact and The consul’s eye lingered for become friends with them, a long time on contemporary do such collective concepts Highland sacral architec- “Gypsy music often delights us. Could it not also make us as Poles or Jews fade into the ture, which accounts for the even slightly more tolerant of those whom we often relegate background. They give way longest of the cycles mak- to social exclusion?” to people and names, like ing up the exhibition. His Mr. Russek, Mr. Bartosz, or photographs of the colorful, ing. The four columns at its tions on the memorial sites. Although it is a modest exhi- Mr. Kopka. Face-to-face con- mystically lighted churches corners reach upwards while He recalls the four-day jour- bition, Through the Eyes of the tact becomes important. It designed by J. T. Gawłowski supporting the canopy. In this ney by horse-drawn wagons Consul contains many mean- gives new meaning, new sig- in Ruda-Ryś and the Olcza way, the spiritual origins of from Tarnów to Szczurów, ings, the foremost of which nifi cances, to these contacts.” district of Zakopane are ac- the faith and its material, ar- organized in the late 1990s is the profound respect for It is this deep signifi cance that companied by the remark chitectural expression became by the Roma Culture Center people that imbues the im- penetrates Adolf Müller’s that “the rejection of the time- a unifi ed, deliberate arrange- honored cruciform in favor ment acting as well on what “When you first arrive in a given country, of a tent-shaped space, while remains unconscious.” The in this case Poland, you know that Poles live there. preserving the sacral nature melancholy monumentality Only when you meet individual people and make contact and accommodating the lo- of the photographs prompts cal Highlander style, creates a us to refl ect on a world that and become friends with them, do such collective concepts new impulse brimming with has vanished, in many cases as Poles or Jews fade into the background. hope and joy.” irretrievably. The photo- They give way to people and names, like Mr. Russek, graphs of the interior of the Mr. Bartosz, or Mr. Kopka. Face-to-face contact becomes Müller also traces the footsteps restored synagogue have a of the Jews of Małopolska, completely different message, important. It gives new meaning, new significances, capturing the restored syna- depicting the august beauty to these contacts.” gogue in Łańcut and the ruins of the sacral space, reinforced of the one in Rymanów. Par- by the photographer’s success in Tarnów and the Regional ages and words. “I would like thoughtful, expertly com- ticularly eloquent is a photo- in capturing the refl ections of Museum there under the di- to mention one more experi- posed photographs. graph depicting the four cen- the light streaming through rection of Adam Andrasz and ence from the time I spent tral pillars of the time-scarred the windows. Adam Bartosz. These consid- in southern Poland for your Joanna Klęczar czar ę photo: Joanna Kl Vernissage of the exhibition Through the Eyes of the Consul

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YOU’RE GOING AWAY AND THEY’LL BURN US

THE ROMA CAMP IN AUSCHWITZ II-BIRKENAU IN ARCHIVAL ACCOUNTS

socks, and there were thun- ous camps in the Reich, and went up to Dr. Mengele. Her derstorms and rain. Every- the women to Ravensbrück. husband was a Gypsy. Dr. thing was wet, and we had When I saw my younger Mengele ordered her to go to to keep digging in the clay. siblings for the last time, my the block that had previous- The ditch was about 2.5 me- little sister told me in fare- ly been the Kindergarten and ters deep, and over it stood well, “You’re going away, assured her that he would a capo with a big stick urging and they’ll burn us.” Those not allow them to take her. us on: “Faster. Faster.” There were the last words I heard When the Sonderkommando was a break at noon. We all from her lips. I’ll never for- entered the Kindergarten had our tin bowls with us. get them. block, the German woman If you didn’t hold it straight told them that she was not when they were passing out Amalie Schaich going to leave the block, the food, they hit you over When the liquidation of since she was German and the head with it. the Zigeunerlager began, the had received permission from Dr. Mengele to remain Franz Rosenbach Gypsies reached for their weapons. It was a tragic tale. there with her children. I remember SS man König Our people had made weap- They immediately informed very well. He fl ogged me. ons for themselves out of tin. Clausen about this. Clausen He was present whenever They made tin knives. They went to the Kindergarten anyone was executed by defended themselves to the block and ordered the Ger- shooting and when the new end with those knives and man woman to turn over the transports arrived. König with clubs. children, since they were the beat me because I defended children of a Gypsy, while myself. That happened be- Elisabeth Guttenberger assuring her of her life. She cause of my sister Josefi na’s did not accept this proposal The Rosenberg sisters The armed units of berserk children. She didn’t get any murderers barged into the and was taken by force out When they brought us to food for them. I saw how blocks. Like wolves, the of the barracks and placed together with the group of Karl, Maria, Josef, Amalia, Auschwitz in March 1943, König gave a box full of food blood-drinkers began mer- Margarette, and Johann Stojek my sister’s two children to the block nurse, and oth- cilessly beating the Gypsies, Gypsies. were with us. It must have ers saw it too. The children the weaker men and the cry- Tadeusz Joachimowski been just before the liqui- didn’t get anything. All ing women, tearing the chil- dation of the Zigeunerlag- I wanted was for the children who wailed in horror We tried in vain to fall er—when they sent all the dren to get something to from the arms of the adults asleep. The silence as of the remaining Gypsies “to the eat. So I complained. Before and throwing them on the grave surrounding us, in gas”—when my mother was long, the man in charge of waiting trucks in order to that camp that had always taken away and I never saw the block came and called force the adults to climb been so noisy, was some- her again. The children were out my number. I had to go onto the backs of the vehi- thing extraordinary. to the Schreibstube. König with my sister, who had ear- cles. The Gypsies tried to Dr. Rudolf Vitek lier asked Dr. Mengele to was waiting for me there, defend themselves as the SS shoot her children if the time standing with his legs far men tore them away among To this day I cannot forget came for gassing everyone. apart, one hand in his pock- awful screaming, obscene all the things I went through I wasn’t in Auschwitz then. et, and the other holding curses, and insults. They then. I am tormented by I was told about it many a leather whip that he kept fl ailed blindly at the Gypsies dreams that bring back all Sofi e, Emma, Rosemaria, Rigo, years after the war. My hitting against the high top with their rifl e butts, heavy the most terrible things that Manfred, Peter, and Hugo sister’s children were also of his boot. I reported and sticks, and whips as they I lived through here or any- Hollenreiner supposed to be sent to the gave my number. That was shoved them onto the trucks. where else. I wake up in the gas chamber. They hid, but when König came up to me A crowd of shouting block middle of the night, shaking The accounts come from the an SS man found them and and struck me in the face so supervisors stood guard all all over. Those dreams re- Archives of the Auschwitz- threw them onto the truck. hard I fell over. Then they around. It was true hell. turn. They have become an Birkenau State Museum, the When my sister saw this, she took me to a different block. inseparable part of me. I can- catalogue of the exhibition took off her shoe and struck As far as I recall, it was the dr Rudolf Vitek not free myself of them. The Destruction of the Sinti the SS man with it. That was carpentry shop. On his or- and Roma, and Memorial Book: During this action, a German Maria Peter when Mengele shot her. So ders, I had to strip naked and woman with fi ve children Gypsies in Auschwitz-Birkenau I was told. pull on a pair of wet men’s Concentration Camp. swimming trunks, which Helmut Clemens had been soaking in a kettle They assigned me to the la- of some dark liquid. I had to bor detail building sewers lie down on the “goat” and in Brzezinka. I was 15 or 16 count. I counted to seven—I years old. I always tried to remember it as if it just hap- hide behind the tall men. pened. I counted and count- We didn’t have shoes or ed, and then the fi rst blows fell. I had to keep counting. I counted and screamed in pain alternately. As he was fl ogging me, he said, “you’re going to die like an animal at my hands.” Maria Peter In the late summer of 1944, when the front lines were approaching, Auschwitz was gradually evacuated. They sent the men to vari- Else Schmidt with her foster sisters Eduard, Josef, and Paulina Friedrich Alma, Anna, Ludwig, Werna, Alma, Johann, and Baptist Hollenreiner

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OUR SHARED HISTORICAL OBLIGATION

“Almost exactly 65 years ago, I was deported from this section of the camp to Ravensbrück concentration camp in one of the last transports. My parents and four siblings remained here in Auschwitz at the end of July 1944. I never saw them again,” former Auschwitz prisoner Luise Bäcker told the people who came together to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the so-called Gypsy Family Camp in Birkenau. Now, the Day of Remembrance for the Destruction of the Roma is observed on August 2.

About 500 people attended victims,” said Kwiatkowski, a chapter in the European reached the end of their road act to them passively, with the ceremony this year, in- “but also as a warning to the cultural heritage that has here. Although we have indifference, or with a shrug cluding former Auschwitz present and future genera- been passed over in silence lived in these lands for hun- of the shoulders, are ques- prisoners, Roma from Po- tions.” Piotr Kadlčik, chair- for decades, but around dreds of years, the events tioning not only the basis of land and abroad, govern- man of the Union of Jewish which the contemporary of the 20th century teach all the European community of ment and European Com- Religious Communities in identity of the Roma nation of us, in a special way, how values, but also permitting mission offi cials, members Poland, also spoke about is formed. “We all have an important it is to be open to the betrayal of everything of the diplomatic corps, Roma memory. “We do not obligation to support this others. Paying tribute to the that Auschwitz represents the director and staff of the know the dimensions of the process and return the mem- victims, we will go out from as our shared historical ob- Auschwitz-Birkenau State tragedy of the Roma peo- ory of the Roma, as victims this place into Europe and ligation.” Museum, and local offi cials. ple,” he said. “The data is of the Second World War, the world in order to build The chairman of the Asso- The speakers mentioned incomplete, and the mem- to the pages of our shared a great human community ciation of Roma in Poland, drew attention to both the ory of their Devouring has history,” he wrote. Ewa that is capable of cooperat- Roman Kwiatkowski, said tragic events of 65 years ago faded. The Roma live with Junczyk-Ziomecka of the ing and creating a beautiful that the Roma, because they and the present-day situa- this experience down to the Chancellery of the President future.” have no state of their own, tion of the 12-million-strong present day. For many rea- of the Polish Republic wrote Romani Rose, the chairman must count on help from Roma minority in Europe. sons, often connected with in a special letter that “com- of the Central Council of Ger- the European Commission. The chairman of the Asso- their dispersal or with cul- ing generations should be man Sinti and Roma, urged He praised the govern- ciation of Roma in Poland, tural specifi cs, their voice is reminded of the legacy of that racist violence targeting ments of the European Un- Roman Kwiatkowski, noted not loud enough to be heard. Auschwitz. We are under Sinti and Roma should be ion countries that support in his remarks that Ausch- Is this a suffi cient reason to a moral obligation to spread condemned as strongly as the Roma, but said that the witz symbolizes the suffer- forget about their tragedy? knowledge about this horrif- antisemitism. “Human and results of such efforts are of- ing and death of hundreds Is this a suffi cient reason to ic place to infi nity.” Deputy minority rights are indivis- ten negligible. He therefore of thousands of Roma. “We remain silent? Suffi cient to Prime Minister Waldemar ible,” he said. “The Sinti and appealed for more decisive are united by the memory make it easier to forget?” Pawlak, who was present at Roma have been present in action, better assessment of the crimes that the Nazi Polish offi cials spoke out the ceremony, said that “65 the countries of Europe for of the effectiveness of pro- Germans committed against strongly. In a special letter years ago, at the very same centuries, and are an insepa- grams, and the inclusion of the Roma people, and by addressed to those in attend- time that the Uprising was rable, integral part of the Eu- representatives of the Roma our belief in the necessity of ance, Prime Minister Don- beginning in Warsaw, the ropean identity. Those who themselves in these tasks. cultivating this memory not ald Tusk stressed that the many thousands of Roma fail to stop murderous anti- European Commissioner only to commemorate the destruction of the Roma is murdered by the Nazis Gypsy antagonisms and re- Vladimir Špidla echoed

The ceremony was attended by representatives of Roma from all over Europe

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

Luise Bäcker

Kwiatkowski’s call, stress- and prejudice, and oppose must come here. Together, ing the need for wealthy, the exclusion of Roma from let us make every effort to democratic European coun- community life. Last year, ensure that what happened From left: Piotr Kadlcik, tries to do more to prevent the prize was awarded for here is never forgotten,” Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński, Roma from being margin- the fi rst time to Professor appealed Luise Bäcker. and Romani Rose alized, and to ensure that Władysław Bartoszewski, The Day of Remembrance they have equal opportuni- chairman of the Interna- for the Destruction of the ties for decent education, tional Auschwitz Council. Roma falls on August 2, jobs, and housing. “We “To this day, the history of the anniversary of the mur- must make sure that no the Sinti and Roma is too der by the Nazis of almost one is able to exploit the so- little known in Germany. 3 thousand Roma, who cial exclusion of Roma as a I admit that I am ready to were held in the co-called means of inciting xenopho- bear my responsibility for Gypsy Family Camp (Zige- bia. Populists and manipu- German history. This is unerfamilienlager). On the lators cannot be given an- why I regard it as an im- night of August 2/3, 1944, other chance,” said Špidla, portant task to make peo- the Germans murdered reminding his listeners that ple aware of the history of 2,897 Roma men, women, while neo-Nazi gangs at- this people and to preserve and children in the Birk- tack and intimidate Roma, the living memory of the enau gas chambers. More threatening them with ex- injustice done to them,” than 20 thousand Roma termination, politicians said Lautenschläger. “For died in Auschwitz, out of from some “ostensibly nor- me, Auschwitz is a place a total of about 23 thousand mal” parties also express of refl ection and silence. deported there. anti-Roma views. During Do I, however, have the Today, an exhibition com- the commemoration, Euro- right only to remain silent memorating the destruc- Roman Kwiatkowski pean Roma and Sinti also here? I see this observance tion of the Roma, showing called for their own repre- as a part of the mosaic in the full dimensions of the sentatives in Brussels. the fi ght against forgetting, genocide that the Nazis Another guest at the cer- and I wish the Museum perpetrated against them in emony was Manfred Lau- many visitors who take German-occupied Europe, tenschläger, founder of the the time to stop and think can be seen in block 13 at European Sinti and Roma about things.” the Auschwitz-Birkenau Civil Rights Prizes, which “When they grieve over the State Museum. A monu- are awarded to people lost of their loved ones, the ment to the Roma victims who act to uphold the civil majority of people can go stands in sector BIIe, at the rights of the Roma majori- to a cemetery. In order to site of the Auschwitz-Birk- ty, fi ght against stereotypes weep over our people, we enau camp.

Romani band

Ceremony on the grounds of the former camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak

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

AN INTENSIVE POLISH LESSON

ive students from the U.S. and one person from Canada took part in this year’s summer program at the Jewish Center in FOświęcim. The all-female group of scholarship holders spent three weeks in Poland, learning about the shared history of Poles and Jews and contemporary Jewish life.

Lectures in Cracow at the academy cadets who visited You’ve been in Poland Jagiellonian University Chair the Jewish Center a month for two weeks. If you photo: JC of Jewish Studies served as earlier, prompting numer- had to defi ne our coun- A visit with Sławomir Pastuszka to the Jewish cemetery in Pszczyna an introduction to the visit. ous questions on the tragic try in one word or image, Aside from such essential fate of the Polish popula- what would it be? items as touring the land- tion under two occupations. marks of Cracow and its Numerous interesting meet- Hinda: The fi rst thing that Kazimierz district, Warsaw, ings highlighted the various comes to mind is “compli- and Łódź, the schedule also ways in which Poles them- cated.” It’s not a matter of Po- included participation in the selves commemorate their land being more complicated Jewish Culture Festival in country’s Jewish past. The than other countries. Every Cracow and a trip around women felt that the most country has to deal with its small towns in the Kielce surprising thing was a visit own history somehow, but and sub-Carpathian regions to Będzin, where they met that’s the fi rst association that were once Jewish shtetls. a young couple who, in a that comes to mind. There was also an emotional disinterested way, are look- meeting with Auschwitz sur- ing after the former premises Megan: “Misunderstanding.” vivor Zofi a Łyś, who lives in of the Nuhim Cukerman I came here thinking I knew Oświęcim, Righteous among prayer house. After show- quite a bit about the history the Nations Janina Rozcisze- ing them the spellbinding of Poland and World War II. wska, and Jakub Mueller, the original wall paintings there, I regarded many things as photo: JC last Jewish resident of Nowy Karolina and Piotr Jakó- obvious, but you can only In Bobowa Sącz. Mueller emigrated wenko guided their North check the truth of them on from Poland to Sweden in American guests around the spot. what you thought when but I can’t say that Poland is the 1960s but returns home the city’s Jewish landmarks. you were getting ready exceptional in any way. each summer to look after The intensive educational Jessica: The fi rst word is to come here? Of course, his city’s Jewish landmarks. program also included visits “involved.” We were at the this is a question about I think we’re quickly A tour and specialized work- to the Jewish community in cemetery. Two young people stereotypes of Poland coming to the conclusion shops at the Auschwitz-Birk- Bielsko-Biała and to Pszczy- came up to Maciek [Maciej that exist abroad. that it’s just a normal enau State Museum rep- na, where high-school sen- Zabierowski of the Jewish country. resented a chance to learn ior Sławek Pastuszka was Center], and they wanted to Megan: The people might be more about the place most their guide. He and his know something about the a little different from what Amy: Except that maybe, widely associated with the friends look after the local cemetery and the history of I expected. When you think coming to Poland, we have history of the Holocaust. The Jewish cemetery. In what the Jews. That made a big of Poles, you often have an slightly different expecta- schedule featured a visit to has become a tradition, the impression on me—some- image of hard Eastern Euro- tions than for instance going the site of the Bełżec death program concluded with body wanted information. Of peans. I came here and—our to France or England. In the camp, another place directly a summing-up discussion course it’s not a representa- drivers had a lot to do with States there are certainly ster- connected with the Holo- and a raft ride on the Duna- tive sample, but it was nice. this—everybody was very eotypes connected with the caust. Andrzej Wajda’s fi lm jec in the beautiful surround- helpful, very nice. Holocaust or the communist Katyń made a big impres- ings of the Pieniny moun- What image has stuck in past. Warsaw was a surprise sion on the six women, as it tains. your mind? Hinda: Of course I don’t want for me. I know its history did on the American service Maciek Zabierowski to put Poland on a pedestal, very well—it’s a very impor- Amy: When we were tour- but our experiences during tant place in the history of the ing the old Jewish towns, our time here have been very Holocaust, and also of com- all those green hills and for- positive. It’s been an eye- munist architecture, and we ests—they were downright opener. But we’ve only had managed to see quite a bit. beautiful. I didn’t know what a chance to see one side of the We saw crowds in the Old Poland looks like. All I knew country—positive, involved, Town, a dynamic city, etc. was the history. Being there intellectual, etc. When we So the word “complicated” changes a lot in terms of per- were in Łódź and visited might reappear. ceiving history. the Radogoszcz monument, which really makes a pow- Kelsey: We’re all historians, Jessica: It’s like with me and erful impression, I noticed so we probably see Poland this town. When I was in Po- three teenagers nearby, on from the perspective of post- land before, we didn’t visit bicycles, smoking cigarettes. war communist domination, the town. We went straight They weren’t doing anything and we might have the feeling to the camp. Now I have wrong, they weren’t being that time has stood still here. a chance to spend some time dismissive of the memory; After all, everything we know here, and it’s really a lovely they were just hanging out comes from books about his- town. on the lawn. It’s very com- tory for the most part. We live plicated. We meet all these in the past and that’s what we Is there a before and wonderful people, who are like. We have this belief that

photo: JC after? Did Poland turn incredibly involved in teach- communism means stagna- A visit to the Cukerman prayer house in Będzin out to be different from ing and preserving history, tion, grayness, boredom, and

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

standing in line. But life goes Rebekah: I agree, but now ceptional event in history. on. Not many people in the I understand it. You can say that there was States walk around on the a genocide in Armenia, that streets especially thinking Amy: Sometimes you hear there were similar cases of about the Civil War. people saying that the Poles systematic killing, but this saw what was going on here is the only time in history Hinda, you supposedly and were happy about the de- that gas chambers have been have Polish roots. portation of the Jews, which used. So are we supposed to really was the case in several let them crumble and disap- My grandfather came from places. But coming here made pear? From a historical point Łagów. Thanks to Tomek and us understand that the camp of view, or even from a pure- Maciek from the Jewish Cent- and the town had to be sepa- ly scientifi c, analytical per- er, we went there and I got to rate, that the Poles couldn’t do spective, you have to see this see the house where he grew anything, and that the camp place. There is no way that up. My parents were there in was something completely we could ever recreate these photo: JC the seventies. I couldn’t fi nd German. This visit made me artifacts. I myself feel that the A meeting in the Jewish Community in Bielsko-Biała any information about my aware of this. site of the camp is a cemetery, That’s probably the most im- this trip. And I want to come family, but that wasn’t im- but as historians we simply portant image that I’ll take back for sure. portant. I could talk to people Did visiting the original must have this place. away from here. Because of who still remembered those site, the former camp, the color, the place is not only Hinda: I don’t deal with Holo- times, and the Jews from change anything in your What made the biggest a historical event. It becomes caust history, but rather media Łagów. It was very exciting. understanding of histo- impression on you in the something more authentic in the U.S. and the American- ry? You sometimes hear camp? and palpable. When people Jewish identity. Here I not What about Oświęcim? the opinion that this came here, this place was only had a chance to learn How do you like it here? place need not exist at Megan: Before this, when in color. We probably for- about history from experts, all, that it might be bet- I thought about Auschwitz get about that completely. If but I also saw Auschwitz with Hinda: I have two observa- ter to leave it to its fate. and about the prisons, what I had to imagine an image my own eyes. When I go back, tions to make, but they’re What did you get out of came to mind was bunks and that makes an impression on I’ll want to see how the symbol more about the camp than visiting this place? overcrowding. But when we me, this color would be the of Auschwitz has infl uenced the town. The fi rst has to went into the bunker with most important. American-Jewish life. do with stereotypes. I was Rebekah: I have been dealing the standing cells, that re- a little bit shocked that the with this subject for many ally struck me. I never even Amy: I’m writing a doctorate camp was located alongside years and the visit here was thought of this kind of tor- Are you glad that you came to Poland? on the history of the Holo- the road. We’re going down very helpful. We read about ture. Now this will probably caust and concentrating on a normal city street, and I look it and sometimes we try to be my fi rst association with All: Of course! Poland. Here I realized that to the right and see barbed imagine the situation in this Auschwitz. you can’t be a professor of wire and guard towers. Is that place. But here, we can re- Hinda: Of course it sounds the history of the Jews con- Auschwitz? The closeness of ally stand in front of the gate. Rebekah: The latrines are centrating on Poland without the town and the camp really Later, we’ll be able to say probably that place. I could banal, but we’ve learned an awful lot. coming here. I wouldn’t have surprised me. The second that Auschwitz really did ex- not even imagine what they any right to speak about the thing is the strange feeling of ist. This will be very impor- looked like. Crowds of peo- subject. Of course, if I could Rebekah: When I go back claustrophobia. When you’re tant for future generations. ple, lines, those awful condi- be here for, let’s say, fi ve to the States, I want to start dealing with such a diffi cult Preserving the camp is very tions. Unimaginable. years, it would be even easier learning Polish. I work with and depressing subject and important. I can’t even imag- for me. But I intend to learn collective memory and until you want to pause for a mo- ine that anyone could study Amy; For years, I’ve been Polish and I hope that this now I’ve worked more on the ment to catch your breath, get the history of the Holocaust reading books and looking at will make me a better schol- Germans, but I really want away from it, eat lunch, or do without ever being in any of pictures, but these are mostly ar. And, of course, I already anything else, it’s impossible the original places. Ameri- black-and-white photos. So to learn more about how it know the Polish word for here, because everything was cans learn about this but not seeing this place in color was looks in Poland, and this “ice cream.” here. In this place. We had all of them visit Europe. Just a new experience for me. surely happened thanks to Interview by Paweł Sawicki a workshop about the victims being in the places we read of Auschwitz in the Museum about helps you understand today. It was a very moving more. experience. The workshop ended, and we were still in Jessica: I think that preserving the camp. It’s a really strange the camps is very necessary, feeling. because they’re educational tools above all. This kind of Rebekah: We arrived in visit defi nitely teaches sen- Oświęcim on a Sunday. We sitivity and understanding came from Warsaw, we were certain global issues like gen- in Łódź, and we got to town ocide. I have talked to many in the evening. Several of people who have traveled to us decided to go for a walk Auschwitz or Majdanek and and see what it was like. It’s talked with survivors, and a very pretty town and it these visits have a great in- was completely normal. At fl uence on them. the New Life exhibition the next day, we watched a re- Megan: People learn by see- cording where somebody ing. If we see a place where said, “Oświecim isn’t Ausch- somebody suffered, that witz, and Auschwitz isn’t helps us to connect a his- Oświęcim.” That’s exactly torical event with our under- how I feel. Two completely standing of it today. different realities. Kelsey: I will reply from Megan: But I think all of us a historian’s point of view.

treated it as a single place be- We understand today that photo: JC fore we came here. the Holocaust was an ex- The students with Zoﬁ a Łyś–former prisoner of the Auschwitz camp

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

EMPATHY AND HEALING WOUNDS: AN APPROACH TO PEACE AND RECONCILIATION

hai Sahib Mohinder Singh, the leader of the British Sikhs, and the Buddhist teacher Master Hsin Tao Shih, founder of the Museum of World Religions in Taipei, visited the Auschwitz Memorial on July 7, 2009. A day Blater, they gave lectures during a panel discussion at the Galicia Museum in Cracow on reconciliation, interreligious dialogue, and empathy from the Buddhist and Sikh perspectives. Here are excerpts from those lectures.

This is my fi rst visit to Po- this place and that is now Jewish culture will be able we glorify war? Will time created from a network that land, and I thank you very fl ourishing anew. Yesterday, to fl ourish so that we can all prove capable indeed of heal- arises out of the seeds of our much for making this meet- we were at the Auschwitz- learn from its beauty. All of ing these wounds? Milarepa, actions in the past and the ing possible. The subject for Birkenau camp. The visit to these events show us that, the famous Tibetan holy man, present. Understanding this today’s meeting is: “Heal- that former Nazi German if people are brutal towards once said: “With one torch we is the fi rst stage in overcom- can light a thousand years of ing hatred. The time and the darkness.” How can we fi nd surroundings in which we Why do we destroy life, why do we kill, why do we glorify that torch today, and avert live are subject to unceas- war? Will time prove capable indeed of healing these wounds? confl icts? We can discover it ing change. This is also why Milarepa, the famous Tibetan holy man, once said: in our own hearts and minds. we need not bury ourselves With one torch we can light a thousand years of darkness.” In Buddhism, there is a say- in the world of the past. We ing: “Everything arises in the can rebuild hope, begin from How can we fi nd that torch today, and avert confl icts? mind.” The way we perceive the place where we are, and We can discover it in our own hearts and minds. the things around us is born create a new life. If we are in our minds. We all live on conscious of the moment ing Wounds: Approaches to concentration camp made each other, it leads to increas- one earth, and we are con- and can control it, then we Peace and Reconciliation.” an enormous impression on ingly worse suffering. On the nected with each other by will be able to create a bond I would like to refer to this me. I had the feeling that it is other hand, if people culti- a profound network of rela- with our future life based on from the perspective of re- a holy place, a place where so vate empathy within them- tionships. If we fail to heal all love. Buddhism says: “Let us ligious believers and speak many martyrs sacrifi ced their selves and approach each the wounds caused by hatred permit all the good we have about my own experience. lives. I hope that as beauti- other with love, then we all and confl ict, then there will accomplished in the past to Today, we visited Cracow ful a country as Poland will feel warm in our hearts and be a crisis that undermines grow.” If we have not yet and Kazimierz, learning never experience such tragic we love all the more. With the existence of all humanity. done anything good, we have about the beautiful Jewish events as the Holocaust in one thought, we can destroy We must ask ourselves—how a chance to do so all the time. culture that once existed in the future. I also hope that the entire world, or save it can we root the seed of hatred We can also avoid all the bad Everything that we encounter in this life is connected with what we have done in the past. Deeds from the past and the present are seeds sown deep in our memory, hearts, and minds. When the seeds sprout and grow, they create the bonds that we build between ourselves and others. from destruction. I believe out of our minds? Everything things that happened in the deeply that our internal light that we encounter in this life is past, and never repeat them of love and empathy will connected with what we have again. Then we can engage prove capable of penetrating done in the past. Deeds from in a dialogue that examines the darkness. I believe that the past and the present are suffering, and that is open to such tragic things will never seeds sown deep in our mem- the feelings of all. Then we happen again. They say that time heals all wounds, and Tolerance means looking on every living I want to believe that all hatred and feelings of superi- thing as our equal, since we know that ority will be transformed in every form of life is dependent on others. the end into love and good- Everything that lives on earth or under our will towards others, so that heaven, all living things are equal. we can prevent all confl icts. Many images appeared in If we can see the world in this way, my heart at the site of the we can live in a peaceful world. camp. This was not only the mass murder of the Jews by ory, hearts, and minds. When can change confl ict into un- the Nazis, but also the geno- the seeds sprout and grow, derstanding. Hatred strikes cide in Bosnia or the Rape of they create the bonds that we at both sides—at the one who Nanking. I thought about the build between ourselves and hates, and at the victim. Both senseless way we squander others. We need time for re- sides must heal the wounds. human existences in time of fl ection in order to see where We must enlighten our own hearts and minds, and we must understand the essence Everything must begin in our hearts. of hatred. Then we must Through dialogue, we can prevent all work on opening up to oth- evil events. We cannot concentrate on ers in our daily lives. In this

ko way, we can learn to tolerate,

ń ourselves—then we will be able to delight understand, and love others. in joy and peace. The wounds of the Second World War touched many war, and how we cause so that seed comes from, how it countries, but people tried af- much suffering. This made grows, how it changes over ter the war to create a peace-

photo: Barbara Sie me sad. Why do we destroy time, and how it inﬂ uences ful world based on dialogue Master Hsin Tao Shih life, why do we kill, why do everything. Everything is and economic development.

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

Brothers and sisters. Sparks them. Accepting someone way street. You love him, from that same divine fi re. is not good, either. I feel su- he loves you, and he will Inhabitants of one planet. perior. It is a little better to never let you down. You let I am a Sikh. I used to be an respect someone. I should him down all the time, but engineer. I have a British sacrifi ce myself for others. he never lets you down. passport. I am a husband Love lies in altruism. Sacri- Let us consider the healing and a grandfather, but my fi ce is a synonym for love. of wounds. This is a ques- absolute identity is exactly If I cannot make a sacrifi ce, tion not of choice, but of In the Morning Prayer it says that “in order to reach God, you must love him.” Yet I cannot love him while hating his work. I must love every living thing, every thing that he created.

the same as yours. We are then we will not be able to obligation. It is a human people. That is a bond, and love. It reminds me of ma- obligation. When we pray, we can never forget it. My ternal love. I lost my mother we ask for forgiveness and tradition begins from the when I was four years and we ask for grace, but if we existence of one God, one seven months old. I was ourselves do not forgive, if creator, one great power, very young. She was in the we do not practice grace, one progenitor—that is the hospital for 20 days, and then it will be very hard fi rst sentence in our scrip- all that time she picked me for him to forgive us. My ture. Every faith, every up, hugged me, and kissed tradition says that there are tradition, and every reli- me. She said, “tomorrow I’ll two truly dangerous things: gion is based on empathy be gone.” I couldn’t under- anger and revenge in all united with humility. If stand where she was going. their various forms, and I had to defi ne my identity, I cried, I wiped away my uncontrolled sexual desire, I would say that I am a par- tears, but I did not really through which we can pray ticle. In the wholeness of the universe I am without sig- My tradition says that we need to nifi cance. Yet my tradition says that I possess power, transcend tolerance. Saying that we because he is within me. If tolerate someone means that we diminish I understand that potential, them. Accepting someone is not good, I become very strong. None of the traits that I possess is either. I feel superior. It is a little better to ko ń mine—he has lent them all respect someone. I should sacrifi ce myself to me. He is the source of for others. Love lies in altruism. Sacrifi ce everything. Tradition says is a synonym for love. as well that, if a problem exists, it can be solved by

photo: Barbara Sie mercy, empathy, forgive- understand what tears are. and almost touch him, but Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh ness, and modesty. He, and I understood only tears of through which we can also love, can conquer all. Each pain, but after all, there are fall. For this reason, they engaged every form of life is depend- of us can begin to control also tears of love and of Anger and revenge are a in dialogue and exchanges ent on others. Everything that the most high with our own joy, which I did not know double poison. Revenge very positively and actively. lives on earth or under our love. Love is a powerful then. And so my life began kills you and others. An- It was diffi cult at the begin- heaven, all living things, are tool. In the Morning Prayer with pain—the loss of my ger is the same. People get ning, but they remained true equal. If we can see the world it says that “in order to reach mother. I understood that, angry because something to their convictions. Thanks in this way, we can live in God, you must love him.” from birth until the age of is going wrong, and things to that great effort, they man- a peaceful world. Unbound- Yet I cannot love him while fi ve, there is a need for two can go wrong, after all. But aged to avoid nuclear war. ed love means that we should hating his work. I must love things—good food and an it’s like stretching a rope in Many countries that were approach everything in life every living thing, every abundance of love. Then we the air—you unroll it, and it hostile to each other at the be- with love. This way, we can thing that he created. are ready for life. If there is disappears. Anger should ginning went on to cooperate create good relations among There is an infi nite scale of a lack of love at this young not stay in your heart, be- for the sake of peace on earth. ourselves. Every good inten- spirituality—from matter age, it affects the whole life. cause it will turn into the The European Union is a per- tion in our heart creates an through plants, animals, My search began with the desire for revenge. All the fect example here. As a child, infi nitude of good karma, people, saints, and proph- question: What is death? contemplation and prayer I experienced the loss of loved thanks to which we build an ets, up to the Almighty. This I very quickly came to un- goes to waste, because it all ones because of war. When enlightened world. I hope burns up in revenge. I became a Buddhist monk, that alongside the Museum Anger and revenge are a double poison . . . This is my fi rst visit to Po- I tried to discover, through of Religions there someday People get angry because something is land. I am struck on the the path of meditation, arises a university of peace one hand by sadness, and where suffering comes from and world religions that will going wrong, and things can go wrong, on the other by hope. They and what hatred does to us. sow the seed of peace. We are after all. But it’s like stretching a rope in say that every catastro- I wanted to teach people not in a country that has experi- the air—you unroll it, and it disappears. phe is a challenge to make to cause the suffering of oth- enced a great many wounds things better. We live in a ers and not to fall into the trap in the past. We do not know Anger should not stay in your heart, very exceptional time for of reminiscing over suffering. if it was necessary to pass because it will turn into the desire for humanity. We can commu- Beyond this, I wanted to work through that experience in revenge. All the contemplation and nicate rapidly, travel, and actively for the good of other order to understand that the prayer goes to waste, because it all burns exchange information all people. That is why I created difference between heaven the time. Therefore, there the Museum of World Reli- and earth is in our minds. up in revenge. is hope that we will be able gions, in the hope of creating And that is why we must un- to spread the message of a new platform for dialogue derstand each other and heal scale is interdependent. If derstand that God exists. love and sacrifi ce for other and interreligious exchanges ourselves. Everything must I kill someone, I kill a part I quickly understood that he people in a very short time. that help to avoid confl icts. begin in our hearts. Through of myself. Today, we live in is love. Yet I could not fi g- Yet our greatest challenge is The motto of our Museum dialogue, we can prevent all a global village. Humanity ure out how it could be that to inculcate these values in is “Respect, Tolerance, and evil events. We cannot con- is one—in a village, if a dog someone can love someone children. How to teach them Love.” Respect means that centrate on ourselves—then dies, and the pain is not felt, and still cause them pain. forgiveness, empathy, truth, we do not concentrate on we will be able to delight in then something is wrong. As a teenager, I understood and love for all creatures. ourselves, and that we are joy and peace. I hope that We must feel pain. My tra- it—the one you love most I pay homage to my brother not free to look down on oth- we will all sow the seed of dition says that we need to can also hurt you the most. for the achievements of the ers. Tolerance means looking peace—let it grow in our transcend tolerance. Saying This is what love is about. last 20 years and for show- on every living thing as our hearts and minds. that we tolerate someone God’s love is completely ing us the way. equal, since we know that Master Hsin Tao Shih means that we diminish different. It is like a one- Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh

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along with his uncle Julian work, and started a family. Dusik and his niece Wanda He married Janina Dzwigoń PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL in Łęki-Zasole while wait- on January 18, 1948. They ing with a partisan group had three children, Czesław, for a rendezvous with an Barbara, and Krzysztof. He ANTONI DUSIK escapee from Auschwitz. died on February 19, 1972, The Gestapo locked him up and was buried in the par- His father was active in the ing in his efforts to help in their jail in Oświęcim, be- ish cemetery in Kęty. For community and was the wójt the prisoners in Auschwitz. fore taking him to the camp his occupation activities, (headman) of Bielany. Fran- He acquired food for them and placing him in Block including aid to Auschwitz ciszek completed primary while employed by a food no. 11. He was held there prisoners, he was decorated school in his hometown be- wholesaler in Łęki. One of as a police prisoner until with the Knight’s Cross of fore the war. He helped his the tactics used to acquire the evacuation of the camp. the Order of Poland Reborn parents on their farm, one food by the Peasant Battal- The investigation into his and the Oświęcim Cross. of the largest in the village. ions involved redeeming case was brutal—he went During the occupation, he counterfeit ration cards. through 11 interrogations joined the resistance move- Dusik also helped Ausch- by Gestapo henchmen. Biographical sketch from: ment, joining the Union of witz escapees. He met them He left the camp in the ﬁ rst People of Good Will. Armed Struggle (ZWZ) at at prearranged rendezvous evacuation transport on Jan- Memorial Book of Residents the turn of 1939/1940. In points near the camp, gave uary 18, 1945. He escaped of the Land of Oświęcim 1941, he transferred to the them false documents and in Jawiszowice. From there, Who Rendered Aid Biała District Peasant Battal- civilian clothing, and led to the Prisoners of Auschwitz he made his way to Bielany Concentration Camp, ions and served in an armed them to safe houses. He and remained in hiding un- Henryk Świebocki, ed. The son of Antoni Dusik and unit until his arrest by the took food to escapees in hid- til the end of the occupa- Auschwitz-Birkenau Franciszka Gasidło-Dusik; Germans. His underground ing in the local area. On Oc- tion. After the war, he lived State Museum he was born in Bielany, near code name was “Powstań” tober 27, 1944, as the result in Kęty. He attended several Preservation Society, Kęty, on February 23, 1919. (rise up). He was unceas- of betrayal, he was arrested commercial courses, found Oświęcim, 2009

VESTIGES FROM GANOBIS’S CABINET OF HISTORY FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF once dropped in on a friend. He told me about an abandoned house, over THE AUSCHWITZ MUSEUM a hundred years old, that stood on a street that was named for Roman IMayzel before World War II. There was still an original marker on its wall with the street address and the words “ulica Romana Mayzla.” o Wiesław—Wishing You Freedom.What more could one prisoner wish another? TThis single word contains everything that someone conﬁ ned by the barbed wire of the concentration camp could desire. Although there are many greeting cards in the Museum collections, this one is exceptional, because its simplicity makes it especially eloquent.

This card, with its wishes centration camps, before and a watercolor of a win- ending up in the collections ter landscape, was made of the Auschwitz-Birkenau for Auschwitz prisoner State Museum. The wish Wiesław Kielar, the au- came true. Wiesław Kielar thor of the famous novel lived to see freedom. He Anus Mundi. He received graduated from the High- it in Auschwitz-Birkenau er Film School in Łodź and on his name day in 1943 became a ﬁ lm cameraman. from a fellow prisoner, the His camp memoir has been block supervisor Adam translated into 20 languag- Berestyński. The creator of es. aw Ganobis the decoration is unknown. ł The postcard-sized greeting accompanied Wiesław Agnieszka Sieradzka Kielar through all his con- Collections Department A-BSM photo: Miros

Bottles from the Pharmacy on Adolf Hitler Platz

A couple once lived there; side.A year had passed since if not for the inscription on the husband was a carpen- our meeting. The owner the bottles: “HUSTENTRO- ter and the wife was a teach- asked me to help her locate PFEN − Apotheka Antoni er in Oświęcim schools. a construction company to Polaszek Erben Auschwitz, I called the owner and asked renovate the house. The pre- Adolf Hitler Platz.” The bot- if I could see what was in- liminary work soon began, tles thus came from the Po- side. She was reluctant to and I was able to go safely in- laszek Pharmacy, which was give her permission because side. Everything was in very well known in Oświęcim of the poor condition of the bad shape, and the furnish- before the war. During the building; she was concerned ings were gone. However, occupation, Germans took about my safety. However, I noticed some small bottles over many Polish businesses she agreed to meet me. Some among the trash in the attic. and often continued run- time later, we got together in Some of them had labels, ning them, for a while, un- Oświęcim to talk about the and others did not. After der the names of the prewar house and the story of her delicately removing the dust, owners. All they added was family. She promised that, I saw that they dated from a German name—and the as soon as the renovation the German occupation. changed street address. photo: Collections Department A-BSM of the building began, she There wouldn’t have been Greeting card would let me have a look in- anything special about this, Mirosław Ganobis

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PHOTOREPORT

These photographs were taken by Rebeka Slodounik, a participant in the summer program at the Jewish Center in Oświęcim. These women spent three weeks in Poland, learning about the shared history of Poles and Jews and contemporary Jewish life. photo: Rebekah Slodounik photo: Rebekah Slodounik photo: Rebekah Slodounik photo: Rebekah Slodounik photo: Rebekah Slodounik photo: Rebekah Slodounik photo: Rebekah Slodounik

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