os 17 maj 2010 ang - Auschwitz-Birkenau...

nr 2 czerwiec 2008

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

O WI CIM – WIATOWE CENTRUM EDUKACJI

ROTMISTRZ WITOLD PILECKI (1901-1948)

IZRAEL OCZAMI PAW A SMOLE SKIEGO

ART-TERAPIA W MIEJSCU PAMI CI

nr 5 wrzesie 2008

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

67. ROCZNICA MIERCI 67. ROCZNICA MIERCI W. MAKSYMILIANAW. MAKSYMILIANA

WOLONTARIAT WOLONTARIAT W MUZEUMW MUZEUM

POB OGOS AWIONA POB OGOS AWIONA PRZEZ KRZYPRZEZ KRZY

AMERYKANKA AMERYKANKA W DOMU KLUGERAW DOMU KLUGERA

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 10 luty 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y6

4.

RO

CZ

NIC

A W

YZ

WO

LE

NIA

AU

SC

HW

ITZ

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 20 grudzie 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

25 LAT TWÓRCZO CI PAW A WARCHO A

ROZMOWA Z ZAST PC DYREKTORA MUZEUM RAFA EM PIÓRO

KULTURY PAMI CI

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 21 stycze 2010

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

STYCZE 1945 R. W AUSCHWITZ

POLSKO-NIEMIECKI PROJEKT FOTOGRAFICZNY

WI SI IMI TWOJE

STYCZE 1945 R. W AUSCHWITZ

POLSKO-NIEMIECKI PROJEKT FOTOGRAFICZNY

WI SI IMI TWOJE

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 22 luty 2010

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

65. ROCZNICA WYZWOLENIA OBOZU AUSCHWITZ

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 23 marzec 2010

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

BAJKI Z AUSCHWITZ

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 24 kwiecie 2010

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 11 marzec 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

UNIJNA DOTACJA NA KONSERWACJ

WYSTAWA SZTUKI OBOZOWEJ

PATRZY AM NA USTA... – DZIENNIK Z WARSZAWSKIEGO GETTA

HORYZONT – SPOJRZENIE NA EUROPEJSKI WOLONTARIAT

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 12 kwiecie 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

yM

ag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

DOBRE DOBRE DUCHY DUCHY MDSMMDSM

WSPOMNIENIE WSPOMNIENIE O KS. STANIS AWIE O KS. STANIS AWIE MUSIALEMUSIALE

BUTY, BUTY, CHLEB... CHLEB... ORAZ ZUPAORAZ ZUPA

KONCERT KONCERT ENSEMBLE ENSEMBLE VOIX VOIX ETOUFFÉESETOUFFÉES

ISSN 1899-4407ISSN 1899-4407

nr 13 maj 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

„NOWE YCIE” – WYSTAWA W CENTRUM YDOWSKIM

REKOLEKCJE „U PROGU AUSCHWITZ”

OTTO KÜSEL – WI ZIE NR 2

„HISTORIE W BIOGRAFII”– ZOFIA Y

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 14 czerwiec 2009M

ag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 6 pa dziernik 2008

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

KTO TO JEST KTO TO JEST S AWIK?S AWIK?

O TEOLOGII O TEOLOGII FUNDAMENTALNEJFUNDAMENTALNEJ

ROZMOWY ROZMOWY Z MEDALIKIEM W TLEZ MEDALIKIEM W TLE

NIE TYLKO CHAGALLNIE TYLKO CHAGALL

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 7 listopad 2008

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

II BIENNALE PLAKATU SPO ECZNO--POLITYCZNEGO W MDSM

„KATOLICKIE NOBLE”

JERZY HRONOWSKI

PRZESTRZE MIASTA

ISSN 1899-4407

IZRAEL – PODRÓ YCIAWI TA W OBOZIE

OSTATNI KRAKOWSKI SALON POEZJI?

NAUCZYCIELE-FILMOWCY

nr 8 grudzie 2008

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y







ISSN 1899-4407

W O WI CIMIU O PRAWACH CZ OWIEKA

WYZWANIA PAMI CI NA XXI WIEK

„NOWE YCIE”

M ODZI O JÓZEFIE PACZY SKIM

nr 9 stycze 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 1 maj 2008

Mag

azyn

bez

pat

ny

PAMI TAMY ZOCHRIM

NIEZWYK A KOLEKCJA W ZBIORACH MUZEUM

NIE TYLKO AUSCHWITZ

nr 3 lipiec 2008

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

YCIE I MIER NA OBRAZACH JANA KOMSKIEGO

M ODZI O WI CIMIANIE DLA BIA ORUSI

MEDYTACJA CHRZE CIJA SKA

25 LAT TOWARZYSTWA OPIEKI NAD O WI CIMIEM

nr 4 sierpie 2008

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

ISSN 1899-4407

NADZIEJA W FOTOGRAFIIOBOZOWE WIERSZE ZOFII POSMYSZ

PERM-36: OBRAZKI Z ROSJI

MOST DO HISTORII

nr 15 lipiec 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

NOWA SIEDZIBA CENTRUM EDUKACJI

OCHRONI AUTENTYZM MIEJSCA PAMI CI

ROZMOWA Z TERES WIEBOCK

AMERYKA SCY KADECI W POLSCE

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 16 sierpie 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

DZIE PAMI CI O ZAG ADZIE ROMÓW

BUDDYSTA I SIKH O POJEDNANIU

MOST DO HISTORII I MOST PRZYJA NI

WYSTAWA OKIEM KONSULA

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 17 wrzesie 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

MALA I EDEK: TRAGICZNA OBOZOWA MI O

KARDYNA DZIWISZ O OFIERZE W. MAKSYMILIANA

SENTYMENTALNA PODRÓ

„O ” W UZBEKISTANIE

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 18 pa dziernik 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

JERZY BUZEK I HANS-GERT PÖTTERING W MDSM I MIEJSCU PAMI CI AUSCHWITZ

MI DZYNARODOWY KONGRES DLA POKOJU

DZIE KULTURY YDOWSKIEJ

TABAKIERKA, KTÓRA URATOWA A YCIE

ISSN 1899-4407

nr 19 listopad 2009

Mag

azy

n b

ezp

atn

y

WZORCE PAMI CI PRZED I PO 1989 R.

HISTORYCZNY WAGON NA RAMPIE W BIRKENAU

SELEKCJA W SZPITALU OBOZOWYM

PO CO NAM TOLERANCJA?

ISSN 1899-4407

no. 17 May 2010

PE

OP

LE

HISTORY

CU

LT

UR

E

O Ś W I Ę C I MISSN 1899-4407ISISISISISISISSNSNSNSNSNSNSNN 1111111898989898989899-9-9-9-999 4444444444444444070707070707ISSN 1899-4407

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

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

PUBLISHER:

Auschwitz-BirkenauState Museum

www.auschwitz.org.pl

PARTNERS:

Jewish Center

www.ajcf.pl

Center for Dialogue and Prayer Foundation

www.centrum-dialogu.oswiecim.pl

International Youth Meeting Center

www.mdsm.pl

IN COOPERATION WITH:

Kasztelania

www.kasztelania.pl

State HigherVocational School in Oświęcim

www.pwsz-oswiecim.pl

Editorial address:„Oś – Oświęcim, Ludzie, Historia, Kultura”Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenauul. Więźniów Oświęcimia 2032-603 Oświęcime-mail: [email protected]

ol

iecim pl

We are very pleased to host you, ladies and gentlemen, for the 25th time. This number reminds us that we are starting our third year of publishing our monthly. The main subject of this edition of “Oś” is the annual event summing up the work of the International Youth Meeting Center. Once again, the Center is hosting its friends and supporters, in other words, Good Spirits. At the IYMC, there was also the finale of the fifth edition of the project “Auschwitz—my land. His-tory and remembrance years later” organized in cooperation with the

International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holo-caust. Here you will find a report about this event. On the pages of the Center for Dialogue and Prayer, you can read an interview with the bishop of the German diocese of Passau Wilhelpm Schramm, who came to Oświęcim with a group of 27 seminarians.

This month we dedicate quite a bit of space to various cultural events. The Jewish Center hosted editor Piotr Paziński, who spoke about his book “Pensjonat,” and

near the Auschwitz Memorial Site on the river Soła, a performance of the artistic installation by Agnes Janich “Light in Darkeness” took place. While at the Oświęcim mu-sic school there were two concerts: a performance by Grzegorz Turnau for Igorek Bartosz as well as for the second time, the French chamber orchestra Ensemble Voix Étouffées played (an interview with its direc-tor, Amaury du Closel, will be pub-lished in Oś).

Paweł SawickiEditor-in-chief

[email protected]

A GALLERY OF THE 20TH CENTURY

EDITORIAL

Ph

oto:

ww

w.k

aszt

elan

ia.p

l

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

Easter is behind us, but in reference to that recently celebrated holiday I bring to attention a certain offi cial document issued by the au-thorities of our city, which I quote in extenso:

Municipal Offi ce of Oświęcim, Military Offi ce, 31 March 1947, to Citizen Winogrodzki (lawyer), Jagiełły Street 23 in Oświęcim.On orders of the District Ad-ministrator in Biała-Krak. in the matter of organizing a “Blessing” for soldiers of the Polish Army, the local Friends of Soldiers Society in Oświęcim —asks for the collection of in kind and monetary donations.Our Polish soldiers paid a dear price for our Free Holiday and for our Freedom and Inde-

pendce, so may every soldier feel the love of the entire nation during the Easter Holidays. They are in great fi nancial straits and we turn to all Citi-zens with the sincere request to come with help in reaching this goal. Donations in kind and money, we ask be given to the Social Citizens Women’s League in Oświęcim. Mayor: J. Cinalski.Oval stamp with the words: Municipal Offi ce of Oświęcim, Bialski District.

A few years later, this type of initiative, this kind of document and these collec-tions would be impossible. All offi cial mention of reli-gious traditions, ideas, and practices, such as, bless-ings, were not looked upon

kindly, but were banned. The nation had “freed itself” from religious practices and “superstitions”! For exam-ple: Christmas trees put up in towns at the time—here on the former bunker on the main square bearing the name of Joseph V. Stalin— was not for Christmas, but for the New Year, a lesson taken from our neighbors in the East. Over the fi rst few post-war years, certain aspects of so-cial life were connected with traditions of the inter-war period, for example, con-cerning religion, of which some ceremonies such as processions, were held with the participation of repre-sentatives of state authori-ties. But soon they came to

terms with these “supersti-tions,” and the monopoly of ruling the spirit was taken over by the state-party au-thorities, at least that is how it stayed as an illusionary belief. To religion and the Church, you could only turn to for help in moments of social crisis and distress—which happened so often! In moments of social protest. Here we can remind our-selves of a known saying, this time having to do with the atheist party: when in fear, God is dear! I do not know if my father answered the offi cial docu-ment with a positive re-sponse, but if it survived in family archive…

Andrzej Winogrodzki

Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 17, May 2010

151413121110987654321

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

REMEDY FOR A BETTER LIFE

Representatives from all jails and prisons located in Śląsk visited the Museum site and learned about the Museum’s collection as well as watched selected docu-mentaries showing Ausch-witz in fi lms. The seminar was an occa-sion for discussions on the subject of cooperative edu-cational work and its pos-sibilities when done in cor-rectional institutions. The proposal for cooperation between the Museum and

the Silesian District Prison Service appeared after a suc-cessful project done in the Spring of 2009 by the Muse-um with the District Prison Service in Krakow.

“Until the end of this year, the Museum will carry out two projects in parallel,” Antoni Stańczyk from the Interna-tional Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust said. “One will be a continuation, the sec-ond part of the continuing cooperation with the Prison

Service of Małopolska. The second, with the Prison Ser-vice of Śląsk, which starts with this very meeting with its directors. As the result of this special educational and resocializa-tion project, chosen groups of prisoners have the oppor-tunity to visit the Auschwitz Museum and take part in an educational seminar. At the same time, historians and educators from the Museum are going with presentations, exhibitions, and lectures to

correctional institutions. “It would be naive to believe that the visit by convicts to the former Nazi German Concentration and Extermi-nation Camp of Auschwitz will be a remedy for a better life,” wrote Jacek Matrejek in the last edition of Forum Penitencjarne, a monthly

for workers and guards in the Prison Service. “But there is faith that they will enrich their historical and civic knowledge, making an impact on their moral atti-tudes.”

Bartosz Bartyzel

THIS HISTORY ALWAYS ALIVE WITHIN US

Guiding theme of this edi-tion was the liberation of Auschwitz. There were 384 student participating from 21 schools, represent-ing Małopolska and Śląsk. During the meeting at the IYMC, Dr. Jacek Lachendro, from the Auschwitz Muse-um Research Department, gave a lecture about the lib-eration of Auschwitz. Later, the contest results were an-nounced and awards were presented. The conference was linked with an exhibit of the submitted contest en-tries.

The fi fth edition of the pro-ject started in September 2009, when the students took part in study visits and lectures at the Museum. The students’ task was to create a literary or photographic project on the subject of “Liberation as the fi rst step towards freedom. My thoughts and feelings asso-ciated with this visit.”

Roksana Butryn from the C.K. Norwid Publiczne Gimnazjum in Chełmek was the fi rst place laure-

ate: “I met with my aunt, who survived the Second World War. She was eight years old then and lived in Chełmek. Her uncle was in Auschwitz, where he worked at the factory. He was sent there for some mi-nor offense. I wrote about her history. For me, it was shocking. Every word she spoke was diffi cult for her. Her story is told within our family. This history is always alive within us,” Roksana said.

Dominika Radziun is one of the laureate of the photo-graphic contest: “It started with with a visit to the Mu-seum. I took pictures and used photographs from the family album. I composed the photos using a com-puter program. Here is my grandmother, grandfather, and my uncle. They lived in Vilnius Region before and during the War. After the war they were moved to the vicinity of Chełmek. I wanted to show how they lived while, Auschwitz was operating. On the picture of my grandparents, there is a

key photographed near the ponds full of human ashes at Birkenau. It has a double meaning: it opens the door to a home, and it opens the door to freedom,” she said.

Among some of the most important goals of the pro-gram, worth mentioning is to teach students and teachers about the history of Auschwitz, to shape the ability to evaluate histori-cal events and their conse-

quences in their own and their loved ones’ lives as well as developing sensitiv-ity. “Thanks to contests like this one, we can learn about the history of the camp in an unconventional way. If this were knowledge from a book, it would have been a bit boring. Here we are submerging ourselves into what happened there. We are experiencing something deeper, not just a page from a notebook,”say the par-

ticipants of the contest from Chełmek.

In the fi ve editions of the project organized since 2004, in cooperation with the In-ternational Center for Edu-cation about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, the Interna-tional Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim, and MCDN—Teacher Training Centre in Oświęcim, there have been nearly 3,000 participants.

agjus

At the International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim a con-ference to sum up the fi fth edition of the educational pro-ject “Auschwitz—my land. History and remembrance years

later” was held, and during which the contest for middle and high school students entitled “Liberation as the fi rst step to freedom” took place. One of the organizers of the project is the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.

Ph

oto:

agj

us

Conference recapitulating the project

A group of several dozen Silesian district directors of the Prison Service were at the Auschwitz Museum for a one-day semi-nar “Auschwitz—History—Civic education,” organized by

the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust and the Prison Service.

Ph

oto:

Paw

eł S

awic

ki

• 1st—Roksana Butryn, class III a, C. Norwid Publiczne Gimnazjum in Chełmek, teacher: Bogusława Opala,

• 2nd—Paulina Cyganik, class III a, Zespół Szkół w Żarkach—Gimnazjum in Żarki, teacher: Marcin Włodarczyk

• 3rd—Patrycja Nędza, class III a, Zespół Szkół w Żarkach—Gimnazjum in Żarki, teacher: Marcin Włodarczyk

• 1st—Marta Budner, class II a, LO, ZS Towarzystwa Salezjańskiego in Oświęcim, teacher: Łukasz Śleziak

• 2nd—Wiktoria Zaręba, class II, LGS, Powiatowy Zespół Nr 10 Szkół Mechaniczno-Elektrycznych im. Mikołaja Kopernika in Kęty, teacher: Grażyna Ferenc

• 3rd—Anna Szen, class III, Gimnazjum Gminne nr 1 im. mjr. Piotra Szewczyka in Rajsko, teacher: Zofi a Kanclerz

THE RESULTS OF THE LITERARY COMPETITION:

THE RESULTS OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION:

Representatives of Prison Service during their visit at the Museum


151413121110987654321


The conservation of the his-torical wagon was possible thanks to the fi nancial sup-port of Frank Lowy, whose father, Hugo, died in the camp. “We have a memorial-wagon that symbolizes the suffering and the deporta-tion of Jews from Hungary, among whom was my father, brutally murdered upon ar-rival a few meters from the place where we are. This is a very moving moment, but for me it is also the end of a certain stage. I lost my father when I was 13 years old and today I am 80. In my opinion, Auschwitz-Birkenau Muse-um does great work in main-

taining the remains as well as maintaining the memory of those horrible events. For this, I am truly grateful,” Frank Lowy stated.The ceremony was attended by about 100 people, in-cluding former chief Rabbi of Israel, Yisrael Meir Lau, director of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem Avner Shalev, the immediate family of Hugo Lowy and directors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.In Avner Shalev’s opinion, putting an authentic wagon on the ramp is an extraordi-nary and important event. “It seems to be something natu-

ral that this symbolic wagon should be here. It shows each visitor how important it is to remember the people who were murdered, not only here, but also that this was a plan that included all of Eu-rope. This wagon is a symbol of that process and everyone will be able to understand that. I would like to recognize the Director of the Museum, Piotr Cywiński, for initiating this project,” Avner Shalev said.Those gathered also observed a minute of silence for the vic-tims of the catastrophic plane crash that killed 96 individu-als, including Polish Presi-dent Lech Kaczyński.

The wagon that is at the for-mer Auschwitz II-Birkenau site is originally from Germa-ny. Under the supervision of Museum specialists, the Ger-man company Die Schmiede that deals with technological antiquities restored it. Before the Second World War, in the years 1919-1925, over 120 thousand such wagons were produced. Many of these were used to deport people to the camp, which is proven by documents and archival pho-tographs.Two historical rail cars are also found on the so-called Altejudenrampe, the railway ramp between Auschwitz I

and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. In the years 1942-1944, it was where the trains of those de-ported stopped, that was un-til the railroad tracks were built up to the very gas cham-bers at Birkenau.The transport from Hungary in which Hugo Lowy was de-ported, arrived on the ramp at Birkenau in May of 1944. During the selection he was selected as fi t for labor. When he refused to leave behind a package with religious items

—tallits and tefi llins—the SS men brutally beat him to death.

Paweł Sawicki

THIS SYMBOLIC WAGON NEEDS TO BE HERE

On the ramp of the former Nazi German Concentration Camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau on 15 April, a memorial-wagon was symbolically unveiled. It is dedicated to the memory of over 400 thousand Jews from Hungary, who from May to July 1944 were brought to Auschwitz. The wagon stands in the spot where SS doctors per-

formed the selection, sending most of those deported to their deaths in the gas chambers.

Ph

oto:

Paw

eł S

awic

ki

Unveiling of the memorial - wagon on the ramp in Birkenau


151413121110987654321

This year the musicians per-formed works by Alexander von Zemlinski, Aleksander Tansman, Norbert Glanz-bert and music of Johann Strauss edited by Arnold Schönberg. In Oświęcim, young musicians, students of the local music school took part in the concert as well as workshops with French musicians. The orchestra is headed by Amaury du Closel. He was interviewed by Paweł Sa-wicki.

Voix Étouffées is a pro-ject that deals with a very unique part of the history of music. How did it all start?

It started about ten years ago when I discov-ered numerous pieces by composers who were completely unknown to me. I learnt that they either disappeared in concentration camps or were compelled into exile by Nazi Germany. From this point on I started to rediscover scores, I searched the archives and I wrote a book. Finally, I formed an ensemble of musi-cians that is special-ized in interpreting the works by these compos-ers. It’s a collection of styles and aesthetics. It’s not an entity or a school, like for instance the Sch-oenberg school which is a part of this tragic his-tory… The only com-mon aspect of these composers is that at some point of their lives they were persecuted by the Nazis, mostly be-cause they were Jewish. The only common thing they have is the fact that they suffered.

Are you able to esti-mate after all years of research what was the number of persecuted composers?

It’s a huge amount of works. It’s impossible to give a precise fi gure. I have studied about 250-300 composers. When you talk about “serious music” we are talking about 500 musicians and composers, but when

you include all religious works as well as popu-lar music of Jewish ori-gin, it might involve up to 4 thousand people. It was genocide so the idea was to destroy eve-rything. Not only peo-ple but also their works were destroyed. You can fi nd so many absolutely beautiful works which deserve to be part of the normal concert life. It’s the job we have been doing with so many dif-fi culties for the last ten years. I try to choose the best works for the ensemble. There were operas, symphonies and chamber music written. We are just a chamber ensemble up to 15 peo-ple and that means that big things are not avail-able for us as it is too ex-pensive.

Have there been any major discoveries dur-ing your research, something that may be really signifi cant to the history of music?

It happened to us once or twice. From time to time we get messages from families who had

realatives, composers who perished during the war. They ask if we can do something for their music. Then I have a look at their works and if it is good I can say: “Yes, we will do it.” We try to publish and record. Last year in Oświęcim we played some pieces by Alfred Tokayer. It was nice and entertaining mu-sic. It was sent to us by his daughter. Since his death this music had never been performed. Nobody knew about him. He was not a very well known composer. He arrived in France in 1935 and he did not even start his career. He composed some music for the movies but gen-erally he remained quite unknown. After he died in Sobibór in 1943 every-body forgot about him. We recorded his music with Romanian Cham-ber Orchestra and then started to perform it as often as we could for about a year.

You are in Oświęcim for the second time and you also performed in

Jewish Historical Insti-tute. These are two very symbolic places.

This symbolic point of view is very important for us, but it is also im-portant because we dis-covered, after playing in Oświęcim last year, that we could use music as a tool for teaching the his-tory of the Holocaust. It reoriented our work in the past year. At fi rst I thought—yes, these are wonderful compos-ers and we need to play their works but it was— if I may say so—a self-ish musician goal. We realized afterwards that we have a duty to the community to help the youth understand what happened, that we could play part a modest part in remembrance of this terrible events so that they would not be re-peated.

What are the plans for the future?

We have been sup-ported by the European Union for the last two years and we can work more and more in Eu-

rope. We plan to publish a handbook for teachers about relationship be-tween the Holocaust and music or the Holocaust and culture in general. We also plan to develop our cooperation we have here with Auschwitz Memorial and other institutions. Next year we would like to try to create an exchange be-tween the music school in Oświęcim and a music school in France. There are works that were composed at that time that could be used by children. There is for ex-ample a children opera “Brundibar” by a Czech composer Hans Krasa. The piece was composed in Prague in 1938 but it was mostly performed in the ghetto in Terezín in 1943 and 1944. It was sung by children be-tween 7 and 14. Most of them were deported to Auschwitz. Also the composer was murdered in the camp in October 1944. If we could form this cooperation on this specifi c work, it would give a huge symbolic valule.

Paweł Sawicki


MUSIC FOR COMMEMORATION

The French chamber orchestra Ensemble Voix Étouffées for many years has been commemorating music of composers persecuted by the Nazi Third Reich. On April 24 and 25 musicians gave two concerts in Poland —in Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and in music school in Oświęcim which hosted the orchestra

for the second time. P

hot

o: P

aweł

Saw

ick

i

Ensemble Voix Étouffées concert in Oświęcim Music School


151413121110987654321


All those who attended the concert were given beauti-ful fl owers, offered by To-masz Polak from the Śląska Giełda Kwiatowa in Tychy, thanks to the work of Lu-cyna Pasternak. The perfor-mance, which was not only a musical feast, was given a standing ovation by the audience. During his hu-morous exchanges with the audience, Grzegorz Turnau, talked about the beginnings of his singing career, his fi rst love, and “youthful sins,” and each anecdote in-cluded a musical commen-tary. He parodied: among others, John Lennon and Marek Grechuta, to the au-dience laughter, while his greatest hits were sung to-gether with the entire audi-ence. Before the concert, Rotary Club Oświęcim held an-other collection drive for Igorek Bartosz. The artist himself appealed for gen-erosity, dedicating the fa-mous words to the parents:

“… really, nothing is hap-pening and nothing is going to happen, until the end…” And truly—there was no

lack in generosity that even-ing. As a result of the collec-tion for Igorek’s treatment, the account of the Child-rens’ Foundation “Help in Time” will receive 10 thou-sand Zloty! This excellent result was possible, among others, thanks to the help of artists: Kalina Dulko, Józef Hołard, Janusz Karbownic-zek, Halina Kozioł, Elżbieta Kuraj, Adam Pociech, Wal-demar Rudyk, and Paweł Warchoł. Artwork donated by them was awarded to those who offered the larg-est donations for Igorek’s cause. And I think everyone who came to the concert, came out—with what Grze-gorz Turnau asked for—“a clear brow” and a sense that, together, we can over-come the greatest obstacles.The organizers wish to thank friends who made it possible for the successfully hosting the concert. They are: Maria Anna Potocka, Ula Maj—Director of OCK, Waldemar Rudyk—Direc-tor of MOKSiR in Chełmek, Tomasz Polak, Lucyna Pas-ternak, Grzegorz Gniady, and Marcin Boiński.

Joanna Klęczar

WITH A CLEAR BROWGRZEGORZ TURNAU’S CONCERT FOR IGOREK BARTOSZ

On 22 April Grzegorz Turnau performed at the Music School in Oświęcim that was packed to capacity. The artist sang for

Igorek Bartosz, who is suffering from cancer. The organizers of the concert were the International Youth Meeting Center and the State Music School in Oświęcim.

The coor dinator of the pro-ject was most pleased that almost all the participants of the fi rst part of the program participated in the second, which took place in Germa-ny. This was seen as the suc-cessful result of the project in Oświęcim and the challenge of making the following week of the project live up to the participants’ expecta-tions. Now, after returning home, after reading the eval-uation of participants, it’s known that they have suc-ceeded and the second part of the project was an ideal complement to the week at the IYMC. The goal that the organiz-ers of both parts of the ex-change wanted to achieve was, above all, making the participants aware of the right for artistic and cultural freedom as a part of an open,

democratic society as well as to point out situations, which had occurred in the past or are taking place in the pre-sent where these rights are being trampled. In Oświęcim there was heavy emphasis on the historical aspects: of persecution, de-struction of the intelligentsia, world culture and art by the Nazi regime. A major part of the meeting was dedicated to the subject of Auschwitz, above all, illegal camp art by prisoner-artists as well as how they risked their lives to create, its role in staying psychologically free and escaping camp reality. Led by Ewa Andrzejewska from Zielona Góra, were theatrical workshops that were sup-posed to—on the one hand, help in the learning about the history of Auschwitz and in dealing with emotions

that were experienced in this place—and on the other hand, let the participants feel like artists, feel what artistic freedom means in terms of the possibilities manifested in themselves to present their work on the stage and fi nally feel that the impact the artists and their art have on the audience.The theater workshop was also an opportunity for par-ticipants drawn from two different cultures for mu-tual inspiration and mutual support while making art. Theatrical work was ideal for the international groups. Gestures, props, sound and light easily substitute spo-ken language in theater, so it serves as a communica-tor, and breaks the language barrier. The performance was a great experience for the participants, both in its

preparation phase and dur-ing the show; this reinforced the aspect of cooperation and made the participants conscious of the uniqueness of the extraordinary moment, strengthening the ties be-tween the participants who worked together during the fi rst week of the exchange. That is why the meeting in Germany, after half-a-year break, did not start with a get-to-know session, but in-stead long awaited greetings. We left Poland on Sunday, 11 April, the day after the cata-strophic Polish air disaster. At the initial meeting there was no lack in expressions of sympathy from the Ger-man participants and edu-cators for the Polish group. The words and gestures of understanding created the immediate renewal of friend-ship, trust and willingness to rebuild cooperation in the coming days.The main element connected to the fi rst part of this project was a visit to the temporary exhibition in the National Gallery in Stuttgart entitled: Bruecke, Bauchaus, Blaue Re-iter. The exhibit consisted of works from a private collec-tion, 250 unknown until re-cently pieces of the highest art. Participants could mar-vel at, among others, Ludwig Kirchner’s drawings, Edvard Munch’s lithographs, Max Beckmann and Emil Nolde’s oil paintings. The tour focused on the idea of degenerate art (in German

entartete Kunst). This is the term the Nazis used for art that was not in line with their ideology, created by artists who were “racially inferior.” This is how participants were able to see examples of great German art that did not belong to the offi cial art of the Third Reich. During dis-cussions and work in groups the young people contem-plated: if there is a limit to artistic freedom? How wide a margin of freedom should the artist have? Should the state regulate art? Who de-cides what is art and what is a simple provocation? Apart from the subject of the April meeting, there was not a lack of artwork. The participants worked on a fi lm as well as in creating a dance spectacle. Ewa Lewandowska wrote about the participants’ work during the workshops: “The huge amount of energy and creativity of the participants meant that the adult educa-tors of the project had only the opportunity to stand back and observe as the spectacle took shape and in moments of need, discreetly help. The young people, per-haps intuitively, but with a surprisingly strong result, read the signals of the or-ganizers, accumulated their experiences and thoughts in the creation, and certainly will never again be simple witnesses of history, but will also never be uncritical con-sumers of culture.”

Teresa Miłoń-Czepiec

A project “Human Rights Yesterday—Human Rights Today: Ar-tistic Freedom” that involved a two-part exchange of youth has come to an end. In April, young people from Oświęcim,

Toruń, Zielona Góra, and from Germany, Weil der Stadt, met for the second time. The fi rst part of the exchange happened in September 2009 at the International Youth Meeting Center. Young Poles and Germans waited half a year to take part in the second part of the program—in beautiful Bad Liebenzell, where the longtime partner of the IYMC in this project has its headquarters, the International Forum Burg Liebenzell.

Ph

oto:

IY

MC

Grzegorz Turnau

ARTISTIC FREEDOM


151413121110987654321


POLISH-GERMAN ARTISTIC

WORKSHOPS

The fi rst part of the project took place in November 2009 at the IYMC Sachsenhausen as an element of a model project Art—Space—Remem-brance. The second part of the project in March allowed for another seven-day meet-ing of twenty students from secondary schools in Siedlce, Oranienburg, War-saw and Oświęcim. Artistic care over the Polish-German workshop was in the hands of graphic and comic book artist Łukasz Mieszkowski from Warsaw and artist Thorsten Streichardt from Berlin. The point of the sev-en-day workshop session was confronting the history of the two Warsaw upris-ings (the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 as well as the Warsaw Uprising in 1944) and the fate of War-saw’s civilian population that was deported to Ausch-witz during the Warsaw Up-rising and after it had been crushed. The seminar group spent the fi rst two days of the project in Warsaw. During the tour around the city, the group visited the places connected with the history of the up-risings of Warsaw as well as the Warsaw Ghetto. The German and Polish partici-

pants visited the Nożyk Syn-agogue at Twarda Street, the only that was partially de-stroyed during World War II and later restored. Before the Second World War, Warsaw had the largest Jew-ish Qahal in Europe con-sisting of 350,000 members. Before the War, the Nożyk Synagogue was one of the fi ve biggest synagogues in Warsaw, built at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Unlike all the other Warsaw synagogues, it survived the Second World War because the German occupiers used it as a horse stable. During the tour, above all, signifi cant moments in his-tory were highlighted, as well as the fate of individ-ual people and known indi-viduals such as Mordechaj Anielewicz—leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The participants visited the place, at 18 Miła Street, where the bunker was in which he lost his life on 8 May 1943; and also visited the Warsaw Uprising Mu-seum, where they observed the work of the Spoken History Archive. This was also preparation for a meet-ing with a witness to his-tory, Janina Rekłajtis (nee Papiernik), who as a nine-

-year-old was deported to Auschwitz with her mother two days after the start of the Uprising.The meeting with Janina Rekłajtis was especially moving because in her graphic descriptions she was able to recall many details of

the occupation and her time in the camp. Among the memories she shared was the moment of deportation from Pruszków to Ausch-witz and the behavior of the Polish people, who tried to help the deportees by giv-ing them water and food,

something the Germans ef-fectively prevented. Janina, as the youngest of three (she

had a sister and brother), often dressed in the clothes passed down from her older siblings and remem-bered vividly as her mother bought a beautiful dress and fur coat for her First Com-munion, which she took with her to the camp. The moment when her civlian clothes were taken from her at the sauna in Birkenau, she cried alone and in grief. At the time, she became aware that her situation is dras-tically different from her earlier childhood when she proudly paraded in her new dress and little coat around Warsaw’s old town. After two intense days in War-saw, the participants came to Oświęcim, bringing with them Janina’s appeal to the young generation that they work to prevent any wars. At the International Youth Meeting Center, as part of the project, the young peo-ple followed the fate of War-saw Jews and Mrs. Janina Rekłajtis’, among them, by visiting the Auschwitz Me-morial together. Refl ections, feelings, and hopes of the participants were put down on paper after the visit to the Museum—each person

drew a picture of a his-torical event, which in the last days most powerfully stayed in their memory or a picture showing what is most important in their life. The participants worked together with the help of a comic book illustrator to cre-ate the fi rst fi ve topics of the project: children, dreams, the Warsaw Uprising, fam-ily, and humiliation. Basted on these fi ve topics, they created fi ve Polish-German groups, working together 2-3 days on the history— personally most important to them—that would then be reshaped in the form of a comic strip.Helpful in this were draw-ings that the young people created from sketches they made during their stay. The fi rst part of the workshops in Sachsenhausen, partici-pants worked individually on their own comics. Here, the goal was to work to-gether and come up with an idea that would be trans-formed into a project for the Polish-German groups. This way of working was well re-ceived by all as because of it, the Polish-German groups could integrate themselves well and the small work groups allowed for intense historical discussion. On the last day of the semi-nar, a volunteer from the Action Reconciliation Ser-vice for Peace Daria Vary-vod of the Ukraine, guided the group around Oświęcim and showed its history from the German, Polish, and Ukrainian perspective. The last day also saw the pres-entation of the fi ve com-ics from the project. The successful Polish-German workshop ended at a good-bye get—together, during which everyone looked for-ward for future meetings during the next project.

Anna Meier (Translated from German by

Ela Pasternak)

From the 23 to 29 of March the fi rst Polish-German comic book workshops took place at the International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim, in cooperation between the Educational

Department of the Warsaw Uprising Museum and the Educational Department of the IYMC in Oświęcim.

Was born in 1934, spent her childhood in occupied War-saw. During the uprising she, along with her mother and brother, had traumatic experiences in “Zieleniak”, which was one of the transit camps (that was on the way to one of the following transit camps at Pruszkow), located on the site of a former produce market, so called Zieleniak (today Hale Banacha). Until the evening of 5 August 1944, several thousand residents of the Ochota district and surrounding areas were held there. From the start, Zielaniak was a place of mass murder. The following place little Janka was sent after “Zieleniak” and Prusz-kow was the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, where she spent almost half a year. After the War, Janina married an offi cer of the Fire Department and worked as a clerk. She lives in Warsaw to this day.

JANINA REKŁAJTIS, NEE PAPIERNIK

Ph

oto:

IY

MC

Participants of the workshop

Ph

oto:

IY

MC

A comic strip made during the workshop


151413121110987654321

And it was in this enchant-ed place, on the other side of the mirror that the Good Spirits met—Friends and Donors of the International Youth Meeting Center dur-ing the annual celebration

that sums up its work. In the enchanted land of mir-rors, on the other side of the House, a mime from the theater “Teatr Gry i Ludzie” led visitors along a torch lined gravel path.

The interior of the house glistened with mirrors. Crossing its threshold, the House Dwellers entered the land of mirrors. Venetian and Phoenician mirrors, silvery water mirrors and

even curved ones. In the past, mirrors were used to tell the future, to watch dis-tant events and faces, pre-dict the future. Refl ections, whether faithful of real-ity, or not, and desire were sought in them. That even-ing at the IYMC, among the mirrored decorations, we could see ourselves though a magical gift. Thanks to the free pocket mirrors, for men and women, so that we could see our alter ego, and thanks to (very unfair-ytalishly) Alicja (Bartuś)— to look in the mirror of the House to see all that it has been able to accomplish in the past year. These events were important and not banal, just like the visit of the Chairman of the Eu-ropean Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, during the project “1939/1989: A Time of Guilt and a Time of Hope.”The director of the IYMC Leszek Szuster said that, “visits of young people to the IYMC in Oświęcim are a chance and opportunity to refl ect in this special place. Through the prism of its history, you can see your own sensitivity, empathy, and tolerance. By meeting with witness of history you can experience ‘a refl ection’ of their extraordinary fate of the people who had been

put into inhumane situa-tions, and the choice is to ask ourselves important questions about their iden-tity, attitude, and behav-ior.” These are important and true words.The International Meeting Center has been this kind of mirror for years. It is a road that winds through distant and contemporary history. In it, key aspects of society and politics are refl ected. Here ideas are refl ected, here prejudice and stereo-types are smashed into tiny pieces. Young people from all over the world, searching for truth and themselves, come to the Center. They want to see. And in this special place—looking into the mirror of history, they can see everything that, for them, is true, real, and that which enriches them. That, which can be seen, turns into the “mirror” of that which is unseen. Here they can experience and under-stand that. What helps them is the extraordinary staff of the Center, who work with 160 groups annually, taking study tours as well as real-ize over twenty educational programs for young peo-ple. In the past year, over fi ve thousand young peo-ple have taken part in these programs.

IN THE MIRROR OF THE HOUSE

On the other side of the mirror, incredible things happen, magical…On the other side of the mirror we uncover a different view of the world…On the other side of the mirror we see ourselves as we really are.

From the left: Beata Paluch, Anna Radwan-Gancarczyk, and Ewa Kaim

Ph

oto:

Bar

tłom

iej S

enk

owsk

i

Ph

oto:

Bar

tłom

iej S

enk

owsk

i


1413121110987654321 15

However, the International Youth Meeting Center is also a mirror of reality. It is the organizer of impor-tant events: cultural, artis-tic, and educational. At all times, we strive for what is important, close to each one of us, current, and needed… Keeping in mind the saying: think glob-ally, act locally—the IYMC takes us to the other side of the mirror every day, to a different world—a world of deeper refl ection, study tours, and the admiration of art. We have witnessed this admiration once more… When, in front of the guests that evening, the mime “broke” the curtain that is the mirror and we found ourselves in the Krakow Cellar Under the Rams, on the other side of the mirror.In this land of the cellar waiting for the guests were the great actres’s of the National Old Theatre in Krakow: Ewa Kaim, Anna Radwan-Gancarczyk, and Beata Paluch as well as ac-companying them, Janusz Butrym, who enchanted the audience with a daring cabaret and music show.The culminating moment of the evening was the awarding of the IYMC Good Spirits Statues. In the category of “Creator of Re-ality,” Maria Anna Potoc-ka, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, was honored for inspiration and fruitful co-operation with the Center by organizing the exhibi-tion by Edward Dwurnik “The Artist and History”

for the project “1939/1989: A Time of Guilt and a Time of Hope”; as well as the ex-ceptional ability to create new realities—not only in the exhibition halls. In the category “Business” the Good Sprit statue was accepted by Jerzy Brniak (Director of BP Poland) for the years of fi nancial support of the most im-portant cultural events at the IYMC, for the deep un-derstanding of the concept behind the Center, and for the exceptional ability to combine the position of manager with the sensitiv-ity of a civilian. Distinguished in the cat-egory of “Artist,” was Ewa Kaim, an actress of the National Old Theatre in Krakow, lecturer at PWST. She was honored for her local patriotism as well as loyalty to old friends, for talent, artistry and graceful acting.At the evening’s end, the guests could visit the “Room of Sudden Change” and leave the IYMC with a magical photograph, which was the joyful effect of the “change,” and simultane-ously a wonderful cure for all fears, worries, and sad-ness. This magical change was dedicated with best wishes, to our son, Igorek, who is battling cancer, so that he wins as soon as pos-sible…For this and many other magical evenings, we give our sincere thanks!

Monika Bartosz

Ewa Kaim receives the IYMC Good Spirit Award from August KowalczykJerzy Brniak (Director of BP Poland),

IYMC Good Spirit Award in the “Business category”

Maria Anna Potocka—Director of the Contemporary Art Museum in Krakow receiving the IYMC Good Spirit Award in the “Creator of reality” category

Ph

oto:

Bar

tłom

iej S

enk

owsk

i

Ph

oto:

Bar

tłom

iej S

enk

owsk

iP

hot

o: B

artł

omie

j Sen

kow

ski

Ph

oto:

Bar

tłom

iej S

enk

owsk

i


1413121110987654321 15

Jewish Center

POLAND MULTICULTURALISM UNDER THE MAGNIFYING GLASS

OF THE PIONEERS OF TOLERANCE

It is commonly thought that since the end of the Second World War, Poland is an ethnically and culturally homogeneous country, lacking in the pre-War national and religious mosaic. Is this notion 100% correct? Are all the citizens of our country truly the same? If not, then what does that mean? Looking for an answer

to this and other similar questions are a chosen group of nearly 30 students of high schools in Oświęcim and the surroundings, who attended workshops at the Jewish Center.

During the “Pioneers of Tolerance” fi rst three meet-ings, the young workshop participants looked at their own perception of other people, talking about stere-otypes and prejudices com-mon in their universe and their impact on those affect-ed by them. Film screen-ings, interactive exercises as well as discussions gave our pioneers a moment to experience feelings of be-ing in the minority, and struggle with the human

aversion or indifference. It is diffi cult to overestimate the importance of discus-sions on this issue and the conclusions in context of the history of the nearby former Nazi Conentration Camp Auschwitz.After this preparation, the participants taking part in the program put people, who are a minority living among Poles, under the microscope. Meetings with such people are the second element of our program,

which has the goal to shape openness to others and in-spire to question their own and other people’s stereo-types. In April, the fi rst such meeting took place. The Pioneers of Tolerance in-vited Azat Poghosyan, an Armenian student living in Warsaw. After a short pres-entation by one of the par-ticipants on the history and culture of Armenians, an in-teresting conversation took place. Azat talked about his arrival to Poland, and how as a teenager found himself in a new environment, not knowing the language or local culture. The pioneers asked the guest about dif-fi cult and easy experiences, cultural similarities and differences between Arme-nians and Poles, as well as his feelings towards both countries and future plans. The meeting took place in a warm and open atmos-phere. Azat also brought the Pioneers thoughtful gifts, bookmarks created by children who attend the Armenian school in War-saw.We look forward to the next meeting in May, when a young Jewish woman named Nitzan Reisner will visit us. We invite you to follow the program at www.poconamtoleran-cja.pl.

Maciek Zabierowski

One day, I received a phone call from the director of the Jewish Center in Oświęcim, who proposed that I do a workshop for local youth in the framework of the project “What Do We Need Tolerance For?”.Without a second thought, I agreed, but before my trip I talked about this with my acquaintances to get some tips and I was surprised that many people, upon hearing “workshops with young people from Oświęcim” said that it would be a diffi cult challenge. To this day, I do not under-stand the diffi cult question of the Town of Oświęcim. Visu-ally, this town has been deprived of any type of joy, youth, urban art, cultural events, and so on. I am amazed that the fact that the historical events has had such an impact on the stereotypical view of the town. When I was in Oświęcim, I did not have the impression the citizens were different, and talks with young people from Oświęcim did not differ from dialogues I had in other towns. This theory is mainly aimed at those people who upon hearing the words “Oświęcim,” are reminded of the historical facts, about which we read in school textbooks. Thanks to my talks with the young participants of the pro-gram “What Do We Need Tolerance For?” I was struck that respecting other cultures is something as important as our everyday activities. I also understood that we do not talk about topics dealing with tolerance often enough. I came away with the feeling that the participants of the program have much knowledge about the topics of tolerance and multiculturalism. I was really impressed by the questions directed to me. They concerned the culture of the country where I was brought up. I was surprised by a question con-cerning the role of women in Armenian culture. The girl asking this question made me feel as if I was on a machine taking me on a sociological journey. I answered, with dif-fi culty using the words of a Polish artist, who in the 1960s during an interview for French television on a similar ques-tion concerning the role of women in Poland sarcastically: “A woman in Poland is like a princess, they do not have to work.” I think that meeting with young people was a unique adventure, which I had never before experienced.

Azat Poghosyan

WHAT DO YOUNG PEOPLE NEED TOLERANCE FOR…

Azat Poghosyan during a meeting with Pioneers of Tolerance

Ph

oto:

JC

Ph

oto:

JC

Pioneers of Tolerance with Azat Poghosyan


151413121110987654321

Jewish Center

ATTEMPTING TO EXPERIENCE WHAT CANNOT BE EXPERIENCED

On April 25 in Oświęcim, next to the Soła River, we were able to par-ticipate in a unique artistic event.

“A Light in the Darkness”—was the title of the performance installation by Agnes Janich, a young Polish artist. The organiz-ers of the project were the Auschwitz Jew-ish Center and the Museum of Contempo-rary Art in Krakow MOCAK.

9:30 p.m. At the intersec-tion of Legionów and Leszczyńskiej Streets a group of people started to gather. Each came here for a different reason. Some out of sheer curios-ity, while others came be-cause they wanted to take part in the event. After a certain time, a person who stood out—undoubtedly due to the way she was dressed and, at the same time, her mood, joined the participants. She was dressed in white and gave off an aura of good nature and warmth. This was the creator of the installa-tion, Agnes Janich. After a few words of introduc-tion, she invited us for the show, which gave us the exceptional opportunity to take the role of actors and audience members at the same time. As she said at the beginning: “I am only the cause, and you are the creators.”Each person took with them five items: a candle, little boat, lighter, a piece of paper, and pen. The whole time an atmosphere of secrecy accompanied us, which was created by the dark forest, the calming moonlight. Surrounded by the burning torches, we form a half-circle, to listen to further instructions of the artist. Agnes asks us to go back in time about 70 years to a street in Kra-kow. It is a calm Sunday evening and we are taking a stroll, but suddenly the peace is broken with a yell and overwhelming fear. Łapanka!!! [Street round-up] Some people manage to escape or hide, but the majority are caught and fi-nally end up as ash on the Soła riverbed. These events still carry with them emotions, pain, but they involve our grand-parents’ generation, who should be remembered and honored—we have the immense luck to live here and now. Each of us lights a candle. On the card we

write the name of living persons that we love and are dear to us. Next, with our thoughts we burn the piece of paper in the little boat with the candle and let it go to flow in the river current. As long as we can, we watch the point of light float farther away from us. Quoting the words of the artist, the performance of “A Light in the Darkness” is an “ephemeral living monument, which aims to remind of what used to be, but also a reminder of the loved ones we love today.” This experience enriches us internally, giving the feel-ing of spiritual oneness.

Why have you chosen this path in life and this profes-sion?

There is no other way, this is a calling.

Performance art is a diffi cult form of self-expression of what you want to say and to what you want to draw attention. Do you, as such a young person, feel that your art is accepted by all age groups?

Everyone is as old as they feel. I think that I reach those who want someone to reach them, they came here, follow my exhibits, or watch from a distance. I hope that I have also reached some by God’s will, a passer-by, a child… I was asked at a meeting with the public in Krakow if I had a target audience. My re-sponse was—Humankind.

In relation to your performance installation “A Light in the Darkness”, I wanted to ask about bringing out emotions from your audience, and which are the most important to you and why?

In one of the essays about my art, Dr. Thyrzy Nichols Goodeve from Artforum speaks about the obsessive attempt to experience the Genocide on your own skin

—and not that of grandparents. Lyle Rexer, from Aper-ture—about a call to remember. Other subjects are also breeched. I leave this for individual interpretation. Pain, anxiety, joy, hope—each of us are different and we all have that right. I learn quite a bit from reactions of my audience and meetings with the public.

You have done similar projects in many parts of the world. Please tell us why in Poland you chose Oświęcim and did the immediate neighbor, the for-mer Auschwitz camp, play any kind of role?

I always wanted to see this project done near the for-mer Auschwitz camp. Only since last year, I am in

Poland more often—always between trips to installa-tions, exhibits in New York and Warsaw. Wintethur and Barcelona have allowed me to experience a dif-ferent audience. In Winterthur everyone cried, in Bar-celona—they smiled and held hands. Those were also the reviews. For private reasons, Auschwitz means something special to me. I don’t want to talk about that because I want to respect someone’s privacy. For all of humankind, this place is a symbol of mass, in-dustrial murder.

Where do you get your inspirations from for further projects and are you, by nature, a pessimist, optimist, or perhaps you are grounded fi rmly on Earth as a re-alist—does this then fi nd its way into your work?

This has changed. For fi ve years I had depression, my head shaved like a woman going to the gas, a black turban, black clothes, and I obsessively visited con-centration camps—I was in 19—in snow, wind, rain, walking. I tried to experience something that cannot be experienced. I ruined every relationship that was offered to me, I only had my obsessive love for those people who were touched by Genocide, who you usu-ally love at a distance. Slowly, consciously, I started to look for life in these projects, permission—God or my calling—to be a woman and mother, friend and lover. And this is how I started to do projects about love, relationships, but also about violence, but in other contexts and on a different scale. I always some-how analyze pain, but a different kind. As Professor Joanna Tokarska-Bakir wrote about me, “for compar-ing love to Genocide, I am punished like Sarah Kane.” But hearing from the audience “thank you for coming to Oświęcim, now we will live better here,” or “thank you for sharing positive energy with the world” I am convinced, again and again, that its worth it.

Interview by: Monika Bernacka

INTERVIEW WITH ANGES JANICH

Agnes Janich

Ph

oto:

Ad

am P

elc

Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 17, May 2010 ter

151413121110987654321

Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 17, May 2010Center for Dialogue and Prayer Foundation

THERE ARE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCUSS, BUT IT IS BETTER TO REMAIN SILENT HERE

April 9 a pilgrimage of 27 German seminarians took place from the diocese of Passau. The group toured Oświęcim and took part in the Stations of the Cross at the former Nazi German Concentration and Death Camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The group was lead by the Bishop of Passau, Wilhelm Schramm, who was

interviewed by Wiktor Boberek.

How do you, Bishop, feel at Auschwitz today as a German and mem-ber of clergy?

This is not my fi rst visit to Auschwitz. I was here several years ago, also as part of a delega-tion during a conference of German bishops in Częstochowa August 15, 1987. At the time, Cardi-nal Höffner, Chairman of the Conference of German Bishops, led the delegation and we also visited this emotionally moving site. When you ask how I feel, I can only say: there are many op-portunities to discuss, but it is better to remain silent here. Stay silent, above all, because of the great hatred that people are capable of. When people are brimming with such deep hatred, contempt for man, and if something such as this could happen then we can only remain speech-less and ask for forgive-ness. We can reach out to one another, but never forget.

Bishop, why have you decided to come here with a group of theol-ogy students, future priests?

Every year, I travel with students of my semi-nary to sites that are important to Christian-

ity: Rome, Fatima, San-tiago de Compostela, Lourdes, and Poland: Częstochowa, Krakow, Oświęcim. For me these are very important plac-es that one must get to know, where you have to be to understand eve-rything. It is important for me to come here with young people, so that they can personally ex-perience this place. That is why we are here. The second reason is the fact that in my diocese there are many Polish priests. They are in monasteries as well as priests in the diocese. They come to Germany and, of course, speak about their home-land. Spending time in Częstochowa, or here in Oświęcim, they see a great opportunity in forming deeper personal bonds. With our own eyes we can see their homeland.

Among all the places you have mentioned, Bishop, there is also Oświęcim with the for-mer Auschwitz Con-centration Camp. It is a place of enormous suffering for the Jew-ish people as well as the Poles. Bishop, do you believe that in this place reconciliation is possible?

There is no other alterna-tive than to reach out to

one another in this place. We must profess what has happened here; we cannot forget and must learn lessons here, so that this can never hap-pen again. However, we must focus our eyes to the future. Father Maximilian Kolbe, in 1939, said to his breth-ren as he took leave of his monastery: “do not forget about love.” To-day, these words deeply move me, here in this place where he lost his life. Do not forget about love. Love has to have the strength for recon-ciliation.

What is Auschwitz?

Auschwitz is a crime that cannot be compre-hended. If Christ’s mes-sage is not actively wit-nessed to, then people put themselves in place of God. Then the person is abused, humiliated, and that is when they are deprived of honor, they are nothing, only annihilated.

How does the German Church handle the question of Auschwitz?

In dialogue we must speak about everything, everything that is asso-ciated with Auschwitz. This must be discussed, above all, with the young generation. We

cannot forget that what happened at Auschwitz is history for the new generation. We must show this history to young people, teach it, and have them compre-hend how the crime was carried out during the Nazi era. I grew up dur-ing the time of National Socialism. As an altar boy I saw, one Sunday, a priest from my parish say during the sermon:

“the War is lost, do not believe in Hitler,” and upon leaving the pulpit, he was arrested by the SS. He was deported to the Flossenbürg Concen-tration Camp, located in my homeland. We must tell young people about this, these histories, and make this enormous crime something they can comprehend. This is what happens when people move away from God.

The question about God is heard here very often. We often hear:

“Where was God? Was God with the prison-ers of Auschwitz? If He was, then how did He let this happen?”

I would be careful to quickly answer the question “where was God?”. As Christians we also do not have to be ashamed, while with Jesus on the Cross we

sing the Psalm “My God, why have you aban-doned me?” This is also the reality in our own life, but here in Ausch-witz in an unimaginable way. In spite of this, in this horrifying gloom, in this darkness, there were points of light, witnesses to faith. I am thinking of Edith Stein and Father Maximil-ian Kolbe, who I have always revered. This was a support to many, who could not say it, but thanks to them they could look to the future. These were small, hum-ble lights that shined in the gloom. But we also have the right to the accusative psalm, “My God, why have you abandoned me?” I was asked this while I was in Auschwitz, stand-ing by the Death Wall. God, why did you al-low this to happen? Of course you are omnipo-tent. The answer can be found here thanks only to Jesus’ suffering on the Cross. If I did not believe in the Crucifi ed, I would doubt in such a place. This is my answer. It is therefore justifi ed; in that place where I sing the Easter Alleluia, and by that I give testi-mony: salvation is in the Cross and in the Risen Lord. It is the message to us from the Cross:

“Do not forget about me.”

Stations of the Cross in Birkenau

Ph

oto:

CD

P

151413121110987654321

Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 17, May 2010 Center for Dialogue and Prayer Foundation

A month ago we had a retreat at our Center. The topic of this was Je-sus’ cry “ My God, why have you forsaken me?” This was a call out to God full of doubt…

I would not talk now about doubt, but I would say that God hid his face as a Christian, but He is there. Even if you do not feel Him, I always do in discussions with people here in the camp, regard-less of their nationality or faith, I bear witness to my beliefs, however, I would not dare impose my beliefs on others. I would try to explain to them that in spite of this, I believe in God, even if He is not present and I would show respect for the beliefs of others.

Can Auschwitz be de-scribed as a test that He has set out for people?

I would not call this a test. Something took place earlier. Hitler and his henchmen distanced themselves from God. You see, Goebbels had said, “We are going to war as we go to mass” and people screamed in ecstasy. This happened before the war. I would not talk about a test set out for us by God here. It was most certainly like that, but fi rst there was the person. And the person fi rst distanced himself from God. Dur-ing the time of the Sec-

ond Reich [sic], I was in primary school (at the time a Volksschule). We could not have a cross in the classroom. We could not talk about the sub-ject of religion. We were purposely isolated from God. It is diffi cult for me to answer the question if God wanted to test us here in Auschwitz. Ear-lier something different happened here. We live in times when a man is also very consistently moving away from God, His will and His com-mandments. We have before us proof, and we know what He wants and what for us is bless-ed. He is testing us. We can accept it or not. If we accept it, then this will be our blessing, if we do not—then we create Auschwitz in a different form.

So can we say that God tests us from time to time? And it is then that we show who we truly are.

If you want, than we can accept that He put this question to us every day; and every day we answer this question in some way. I hope that we do not have to do this ourselves, but we can do this together with others. This seems quite impor-tant to me. Most likely, a person would not do this alone, but when they get the support of others, share their expe-

riences, it makes them stronger in their fi ght for the truth. It is not disgraceful to make mis-takes. People make them, but they must lift them-selves out of them.

How should this be un-derstood in the context of the German nation, a nation brought up in Christianity?

When a person distances himself from God, when they distance them-selves from their calling, it makes it more diffi cult for them to understand their sin. They create their own measure of good and evil. This also concerns us, also in Ger-many. In Germany, the process of secularization is taking place suddenly. Faith in certain situa-tions does not play a role (killing of human life in the womb, euthanasia). All barriers are broken.

Since this is all still tak-ing place, then can it be said, that people are not learning from their own mistakes, that they are not taking any lessons from Auschwitz?

Yes, in some respects, I would say that is the case.

What do we need? Is there hope?

Yes. That is why we are here. That is the reason for such a large Center.

That is why people come to you. We must not ask them “what do you want?”, but “what do you need?” What does a young person need so that their life turns out, has meaning, overcome every crisis, and they fi nd the right answer to their questions. What do they need? It is our task, no matter where we are. Just as bishop for me, as for you, the workers at this Center. Our task is in helping answer these questions. It does not matter if they accept our help, or not, it is up to them. Auschwitz poses enormous questions.

People come here with these questions and seek answers.

In this sense, you have a challenge before you. People are liter-ally destroyed, fi nished, when they take note of how cruel people can be. When I was 8 years old Adolf Hitler passed through my town of 2,000 people. He was on his way to Bayreuth for the Wagner festi-val. We all had to come out and stand in a row, with fl ags that had the swastika in our hands. In each window there were lamps burning. It was sheer craziness! This was self-elevation, the elevation of one-self to the role of God. We had to yell, “Heil Hitler!” That meant,

“you are our savior, you are our Messiah.” It is a crime to deceive such young children. That is why the downfall was so great. This is a lesson from history. We will do everything so that this does not happen again. John Paul II, the great-est son of Polish history, showed us the way. We do good when we follow his example. His succes-sor, Pope Benedict, is following his path. He clearly showed this here in Auschwitz and Birk-enau. On television, I watched him speak at Birkenau, and suddenly, as if by some miracle, a great rainbow appeared above the Pope. I was truly proud then that the Pope had come here. It was an important tes-tament that he came as a German and found the appropriate words. I was overjoyed then that the Vicar of Christ here on earth is doing some-thing in the intention of the One he represents here on earth. He did not act as if it had not happened. He called for reconciliation. He did this and I was very hap-py because of it. I know that many, even among us understood it this way. I found out from the Polish clergy in my diocese that it had been understood in such a way here.

Interview by: Wiktor Boberek

Seminarians meeting with Father Manfred Deselaers

Ph

oto:

CD

P

151413121110987654321

The devil is made from a metal piece, wrapped in a rib-bon, gray inside and red on the outside (which has faded over time, making it orange). Under the neck—an open-ing in the material, decorated with glitter. The head—made of a piece of fur with a mask created of paper. The tongue is made of red felt and it has a metal pitchfork as well as a chain in its hand. The wire tail is covered in paper, fi nished with fragments of real fur. At the back, it has a hood made from black piece of tulle.

The devil in this extraordi-nary situation took on the role of an angel, thanks to which prisoners had contact with the outside world. The toy, made in Auschwitz, found itself after the war in posses-sion of Kazimierz Hałoń who was a member in the Ausch-witz prisoner underground as well as a person who brought help to prisoners.Working in the Krakow un-derground, Kazimierz was arrested and put into the camp in September 1941. Thanks to civilian workers, he quickly got in contact with his family living in Brzeszcze. He became involved in the underground, mainly dealing in passing of secret messages describing the camp cond-tions, later was involved in organizing food for prisoners, and escapes from the camp. Taking advantage of help of the PPS organization (to which he, his brother, and father be-longed) with his brother—Ka-zimierz escaped from Ausch-witz in February 1943, in a wig and civilan worker’s clothing. Not long after, the brothers Kazimierz and Edward to-gether with other members of

PPS created an organization that helped to prisoners in the camp. Kazimierz’s entire family took part, his father Piotr, mother Marianna, broth-er Edward, and sister Maria. The Hałońs provided food and medicine for prisoners as well as worked as carriers of illegal correspondence and reports about Auschwitz. The secret messages were smug-gled out in small packages as well as various other things: in rolling pins, keys, and lip-stick—which were specially hollowed out for this purpose. The devil shaped toy was most probably created with the thought about such func-tions. With its help, mail was carried out of the camp main-ly during the holiday season. It’s possible that the shape of the toy had something to do with the alias of Edward Hałoń—“Badger,” who led the resistance movement near the camp in Brzeszcze. Any-way, it is diffi cult to overes-timate the role played by the devil in the campaign to help prisoners.

Agnieszka SieradzkaCollections Department

A-BSM

Born on June 18, 1919 in Oświęcim, the daughter of Władysław and Kazimi-era, nee Sermak. Her father (born 1885) was a pharma-cist, and owned a pharmacy in the town. She attended public school and gimnazjum in her hometown, earning her matura (fi nal school ex-amination, conferring the right to enroll in university). She began her studies in the Pharmacy Faculty at the Jagiellonian University. The start of the Second World War prevented her from fi n-ishing her studies.She had been involved in scouting since childhood, and showed great commit-ment to the movement in her school years; her scouting experience proved useful during the German occupa-tion. After the establishment of Auschwitz Concentra-

tion Camp, she organized a group of scouts who were prepared to help the pris-oners. The group acquired food and clothing, and cov-ertly supplied it to prisoners laboring outside the camp, sometimes with the tacit approval of bribed SS men. Irena Ptaszyńska’s specialty was acquiring medicine, to which she had access through her father’s phar-macy, for the prisoners. The Germans eventually con-fi scated her father’s phar-macy, but he went to work at a pharmacy in Mysłowice, where he continued to be able to acquire medicine for Irena. She, in turn, took advantage of her and her fa-ther’s own contacts to obtain drugs from other pharma-cies in Oświęcim. Another important area of activ-ity by Irena and the scout

group was correspondence between the prisoners and their families. They took secret messages from the camp and mailed them to the indicated addresses, smuggling the replies back into the camp. At the end of 1941, Irena was employed by the German Kluge con-struction company, which did contracting work inside the camp. Irena worked in an offi ce located directly adjacent to the camp. This gave her the opportunity for direct contact with prisoners including the noted sculptor Xawery Dunikowski. She also stayed in touch with the camp resistance movement, who passed documents, maps, and sketches of camp buildings to her; she carried them away and gave them to the underground. She worked for Kluge until 1943, before being employed in the Agrochemia factory, also in Oświęcim. She continued working to help the prison-ers.In 1943, she suddenly lost all those closest to her. Her father died. The Gestapo arrested her mother (born 1897) and her brother Zbig-

niew (born 1921) for involve-ment in the relief effort. Her brother was a member of the Home Army (AK), under the pseudonym “Feliks.” After their arrest, they were both sent to camps. Her mother survived Ravensbrück Con-centration Camp, but her brother perished in Gross-Rosen.Immediately after libera-tion, Irena Ptaszyńska cared for prisoners who required treatment. She took sev-eral of them home from the Auschwitz site by sled, and nursed them for a month in her apartment. Among them was a prominent historian

and professor from Warsaw University, the former Polish ambassador in The Hague, Stanisław Kętrzyński.In 1945, she married the economist and banker Adam Drost. After the opening of the State Mu-seum in Oświęcim, she was employed in the Museum Workshop. In 1953, she sepa-rated from her husband and moved to Rabka, where she married the retired judge Noworyta, with whom she had a daughter, Maria. She worked for many years as a teacher and warden in the children’s hospital. She died in Rabka on June 14, 1992.

IRENA PTASZYŃSKA(1919-1992, MARRIED NAMES:

DROST, NOWORYTA)

PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL

VESTIGES OF HISTORYFROM THE COLLECTIONS OF THE AUSCHWITZ MUSEUM

What can a modest toy made of ribbon and wire hide? Who would have thought that the little devil with a pitchfork could hide information of the importance of life and death?

But fact is that the little devil we see here was not in fact intended for fun or for Christmas pageants, but it served as a hiding place for prisoners’ secret correspondences.

PICTURE FROM AUSCHWITZ

Ph

oto:

M. G

anob

is’s

arc

hiv

e

Horst Fischer was born 31 December 1912 in Dresden. In 1937, he fi nished medical school at the University of Humbold in Berlin. He joined the SS soon after Hitler came to power and enrolled in the NSDAP in 1937. In Novem-ber 1942, Fisher was sent to the Auschwitz Concentra-tion Camp system, where he took the position of assistant camp doctor at Auschwitz III--Monowitz. Dr. Fisher also performed the selections— both on the ramp in Birkenau as well as of the sick prisoners in the camp who were unable

to work sent during them to their deaths. After the end of the War, he worked using his real name as a doctor in Spreenhagen, in the German Democratic Republic. Fisher was arrested on 11 June 1965 on suspicion of crimes against human-ity. His trial before the High Court of the GDR started on 10 March 1966. The former SS doctor was given a death sentence after a 15-day trial. The sentence was carried out by guillotine on 8 June 1966 in Leipzig.

Mirosław Ganobis

FROM GANOBIS’S CABINET

The picture depicts a landscape, a nice scene painted by Durer. There would not be an-ything strange about it, if not for the fact

that it was found in Oświęcim in the house of a high-ranking doctor who brutally murdered prisoners of Auschwitz and Monowitz camps. A friend who lives in a house in the Zasole area of Oświęcim gave me the picture. The house was inhabited by the above mentioned Ger-man doctor during the Second World War. A document that has been found bears his name —Dr. Horst Fischer. It looks as if the doctor left a few more things of his things in Oświęcim. I have heard stories of, among other things, a small table with the Waffen-SS emblem as well as a sold BMW motorcycle.

prisoners secret corr

Ph

oto:

Col

lect

ion

s D

epat

men

t, A

-BS

M

Toy—Little Devil, donated in 1960 by former prisoner from 1941-1944, Kazimierz Hałoń, to the Auschwitz

Museum Collection.

Painting

Historia Oś—Oświęcim, People, History, Culture magazine, no. 17, May 2010

1413121110987654321 15

Photographer

151413121110987654321


On April 25, 2010, an artistic performance of an installation created by Agnes Janich, entitled “Light in Darkness” took place. Similar events were also done in Winterthur and Barcelona, where the artist described the happenings as an unforgettable atmosphere of true contact be-tween people. Below is a photo journal by Adam Pelc of the event.

PHOTO JOURNAL

os 17 maj 2010 ang - Auschwitz-Birkenau...

Documents

Transcript of os 17 maj 2010 ang - Auschwitz-Birkenau...