Information Bulletin January - June 2001.
Memorial and Museum of Auschwitz - Birkenau at Oswiecim Brzezinka Contents:
In the first half of 2001, 178,372 people, including 120,000 from outside Poland, visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.
Major ceremonies and gatherings :
Thirty-three film and television crews, of which six came from Poland and twenty-seven from other countries, worked on the grounds of the Museum. Citizens of 79 countries visited the Museum. The greatest numbers of visitors were recorded from the following countries:
In the first half of the year, 152,043 persons, or approximately 85% of the total number of visitors, benefited from guided tours. Tours were led by 145 guides, 70 of whom worked in languages other than Polish. Forty-seven of the guides were full-time Museum employees, and ninety-eight worked on a part-time basis. Lectures Museum staff members gave several dozen lectures and readings in the first half of the year. Archive staff members Helena Śliż, Wojciech Płosa and Lucyna Filip delivered several dozen lectures to groups from Poland, the USA, and Germany on the archival collections and the opportunities for using the archives for research and educational purposes. Lucyna Filip also gave lectures on "Bureaucracy in Auschwitz Concentration Camp" and the history of the Jewish community in Oświęcim during the inter-war and occupation periods. Collections Department staff members Jolanta Kupiec and Jan Kapłon gave more than 20 lectures to almost 500 interested persons from Poland and from Germany. The subjects of the lectures included art in Auschwitz Concentration Camp and a presentation of an exhibition by M. Kołodzieja in Harmęże. Historical Research Department. As part of the educational effort, Helena Kubica gave several lectures and readings on the fate of children in Auschwitz Concentration Camp during an international conference organized in Cracow by the Jagiellonian University, the University of Northern Iowa, and Texas A&M University, for the Postgraduate Diploma Course for teachers, and at a conference for teachers who had previously completed a course of seminars at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. Dr. Franciszek Piper gave three lectures on the fate of Poles in Auschwitz Concentration Camp, the breakdown by nationality of Auschwitz Concentration Camp prisoners, and the denial of the atrocities committed in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. For the postgraduate course, seminars for teachers, and study residencies, see "Education Center" The following acquisitions enriched the resources of the Archives:: - 121 original camp documents (including camp letters, postcards, and prisoner death notices) - 257 photocopies of camp documents (including camp letters, postcards, and prisoner death notices) - 29 accounts by former prisoners - 17 memoirs by former prisoners - 133 questionnaires on the fate of prisoners from Poland and other countries - 52 photographs (mostly of former prisoners who were transported to Auschwitz Concentration Camp from the Cracow district; made available by the prisoners themselves or their families) - 100 video cassettes containing feature or documentary films and accounts in various languages by former prisoners, obtained from donors in Poland and other countries, or taped on site) - 7 audio cassettes containing accounts by former prisoners or musical works - 3 CDs containing accounts by former prisoners and musical works. Photographic Studio In this period, the photographic studio processed 8,767 negative 35mm frames (including 7,899 frames of microfilm), 445 frames of 6 x9mm negatives, 2,000 frames of doubles of prisoner photographs, 8,426 prints, and 405 photocopies. It should be explained that the majority of the photographic copies were made for the memorial book of Cracow transports. The so-called Transportzettel (transport chits) collection was also microfilmed, as were accounts by former prisoners. Furthermore, work continued on doubles of prisoner photographs, with 5,000 prints and 2,000 negatives being made. Photographs were also taken of five delegations and such official events as the opening of the exhibition in the "Sauna" building, of the informational-commemorative plaques, of the graffiti on the walls of Block no. 11, and of new acquisitions by the collections department. Official Travel Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, the director of the Archives, participated in ceremonies in Vienna and Mauthausen, during which tribute was paid to Marta Gammer, who has worked for the commemoration of the victims of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Gusen, Austria. Dr. Setkiewicz also took part in a public session devoted to Auschwitz Concentration Camp prisoner Marian Batka at the school in Chorzów, Poland, that is named for Batka, and in a conference on "The Present State and Future Perspectives for Research on the Fate of Polish Soldiers in the USSR from 1939 to 1958 in Relation to the Work of the Military Archival Commission." This conference was organized by the Central Military Library in Warsaw. Other The Archives were visited for scholarly, investigative, and educational purposes by 129 persons, 52 of whom came from outside Poland. From January through June 2001, the Museum added six items to its collections. Three of these items are historical museum objects from the instruments of terror and camp equipment categories, and three are artistic museum objects from the graphics and drawings, paintings, and philately and numismatics categories. Acquisitions - The casing of an original camp spotlight originating in Birkenau Sector BIIG - a fragment of the ash collection box housing from a crematorium furnace in Crematorium V, Birkenau - a metal grille that served as a cover for the ventilation ducts in the gas chamber in Crematorium III in Birkenau - a camp letter from Auschwitz Concentration Camp prisoner Mieczysław Kościelniak of October 6, 1942, with a decoration representing a young woman with a garland of roses - a print titled "Polish Mountain" by former Auschwitz Concentration Camp prisoner Franciszek Jaźwiecki. The symbolic design presents a mountain with numerous erect and resting crosses woven with barbed wire - a painting from the Second World War period of the Zwilling palace in Rajsko. In the foreground is the park with its water reservoir, in which the palace tower, visible in the distance among trees, is reflected. The painting is signed "GW" or "SW." These items were catalogued in the inventory books and furnished with descriptive cards in the research catalogue. Conferences and Official Travel Department staff member Igor Bartosik traveled to the Gross Rosen State Museum in Wałbrzych i Rogoźnica, Poland, in order to examine the archival material there. Research work, documentation, and searches Two articles were published in Pro Memoria 14 by J. Kupiec: "Obrazy ścienne z podobozu w Golleschau (The Wall Paintings from the Golleschau Sub-Camp" by J. Kupiec and "Jan Gąsior-Machnowski" (a profile of the camp artist). Two further profiles of camp artists were prepared by J. Kupiec for publication in Pro Memoria 15: "Tadeusz Myszkowski" and "Bronisław Czech." Documentary work continued on approximately 80 crematorium components. This involved searches and examination of archival material at the Gross-Rosen State Museum in Wałbrzych and Rogoźnica. Approximately 200 items of information were obtained for documentary folders on exhibition items or artists. Nine hundred and one cards from the research catalogue were entered in the MUSNET computer data base. Searches and consultations of the collections and documentation were carried out for various institutions and private persons, including the My Wartime Childhood Foundation of Warsaw for its Children of War exhibition; for an exhibition on persecution of the Silesian clergy from 1939 to 1956, for the Katowice Historical Museum; for the exhibition Between Doubt and Hope at the Libiąż Culture Center; and for the Heritage of Silence exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London. Visits In the first half of the year, 553 persons, including 254 from Germany, visited the Collections Department. These staff members from related institutions, teachers, researchers, and university and secondary-school students were given access to the collections and the accompanying documentation. Other Preservation of items in the collections: - 37 exhibits, mainly prints and drawings, underwent preservation; - 31 exhibits underwent pest-control procedures; - 124 exhibits were photographed, filmed, or scanned. A total of 609 exhibits were loaned out for various purposes (exhibition, conservation, or filming). Of these loans, 417 were made in connection with exhibitions. On the grounds of the Museum in Oświęcim and Brzezinka, work continued in the first half of 2001 with financial support from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the German Federal Länder, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp Victims Memorial Fund in Oświęcim, the Lauder Foundation, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Center for the Documentation and Culture of the German Sinti and Roma, and the Russian Federation. Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage The following work was carried out under a subsidy from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage: - repair of the damaged wall and corner of the Gate of Death; - installation of a steel platform to protect the pedestrian crossing over the train tracks at the Gate of Death; - repairs to the floor upstairs in Block no. A-13; - painting the ceiling upstairs in Block no. A-13; - replacing gutters and downspouts on Block no. A-7; - clipping the hedges on the grounds of the Museum - care of lawns The German Federal Länder Funds allocated by the German Federal Länder made possible the following repair and preservation work: - hardening of the entrance walks to the "Sauna" building and the installation of informational markers around the building; - continued work on the preservationist repair of the fence posts at the Birkenau site - stage A. Stage A is scheduled for completion and final accounting in July 2001. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp Victims Memorial Fund in Oświęcim A grant by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp Victims Memorial Fund in Oświęcim underwrote the completion of the renovation of the film auditorium in Block no. 12 and the purchase of the required equipment. The Lauder Foundation Work continued on the adaptation of part of the largest building at the site of the Auschwitz camp as workshops and a preservation studio with funds from the Lauder Foundation. The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium Funds appropriated by the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium paid for the initiation of preservation work on two wooden barracks at the Birkenau site and the preservationist renovation of Block no. 8 (off limits to visitors) at the Auschwitz site. The preservationist renovation of this block consists in replacement of the roof joists together with the roof covering, rebuilding of the first-floor beams, renovation of the wooden window and door frames, replacement of the lightning rods, and renovation of the electrical installation. Completion of this work is scheduled for December 2001. The Center for the Documentation of the German Sinti and Roma The Center for the Documentation of the German Sinti and Roma is financing work on the exhibition devoted to the martyrdom of the Roma during the Second World War. The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Cracow The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Cracow is financing the renovation of the national exhibition in Block no. 14, which includes repairs to the walls, ceiling, floor, wooden window frames, and doors. Completion of the work is scheduled for July 2001. In the first half of 2001, the Historical Research Department staff continued research on the historical subjects included in the Department's plans, as well as taking up other themes, primarily in connection with educational activity by the Museum. In particular, research and editorial work was concentrated on the preparation of Księgi Pamięci. Transporty Polaków z dystryktu krakowskiego do KL Auschwitz [Memorial Book: Transports of Poles from the Cracow District to Auschwitz Concentration Camp] and an album devoted to the child victims of Concentration Camp. A wide range of new documents and photographs were obtained from former prisoners and their families to enrich these publications and the Museum collections. Other As a result of a proposal by and the efforts of Dr. Andrzej Strzelecki, the "Righteous Among the Nations" medal was presented to the Kostyr family of Lędziny for sheltering Daniel Inbar, a teenage Jewish escapee from a transport to Auschwitz. Inbar lives in Israel today. After a prolonged search, Helena Kubica located the family of a former child prisoner of Auschwitz Concentration Camp, which resulted in a reunion between a brother and a sister, Antoni and Nina Sielediewski. Teresa Wontor-Cichy finished her work on the Jehovah's Witnesses in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Work progressed on the gathering of information about Auschwitz Concentration Camp prisoners and members of the Resistance movement. The Section kept its 517 personal information card files up to date, entered data from 2,887 personal information files into the digital storage system, and compiled subject indexes for three volumes of Accounts by former prisoners, as well as conducting four information searches. Twenty-four interviews were transcribed, including two with Museum staff members (as commissioned by the Foundation), and one interview was recorded on video. Items acquired by the Section and subsequently conveyed to the Archives included 92 original camp letters, 4 camp postcards, 8 other original documents (Sterbeurkunde, Kennkarte, a school identification card, and a death notification), 10 original secret messages sent from the Tarnów prison, 4 letters that were sent to the camp, 1 postcard sent to the camp, 1 letter from Flossenburg Concentration Camp, 6 letters from the Wadowice prison, 1 address on a parcel with an accompanying letter, 18 receipts for money orders sent to prisoners, 69 photocopies of camp leters from Auschwitz Concentration Camp and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, 7 photocopies of secret messages smuggled out of Montelupich prison in Cracow and Auschwitz Concentration Camp, 18 photocopies of assorted documents, 21 civilian photographs of former prisoners, and one photograph of "Frank from Katowice." Three memoirs by former prisoners were also turned over to the Archive. One lecture was delivered. An interview on the work of the Museum was given to the Piedmont Institute for the History of the Resistance Movement. An article titled "From Italy to Auschwitz," about the deportation to Auschwitz of Italian Jews and Italian political prisoners was published in Pro Memoria 14. From January to June 2001, a total of 3,149 certificates were prepared in the Office for Information on Former Prisoners and sent to former prisoners, their families, and allied institutions. Of this number, 1,781 certificates were sent outside Poland, to Ukraine, Germany, the USA, France, Canada, Czechia, Belarus, Australia, Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Belgium, Holland, and Ireland. In 510 other cases, the office provided verbal information in oral form to 510 persons, including 370 from outside Poland, who inquired in person at the Office. Additionally, the Office carried out extensive information searches at the request of the Embassy of the Kingdom of pain, Professor Alfred Konieczny, and the Polish Institute of National Remembrance in Łódź. New titles and editions that appeared in the first half of 2001: Zanim odeszli... Fotografie odnalezione w Auschwitz [Before They Went Away... Photographs Found in Auschwitz] This is a two-part publication. The first part is in the form of an album of family photographs, and the second is a supplement in three languages (Polish, English, and German) featuring descriptions of the photographs in the album. The photographs reproduced in the album were discovered after the war on the grounds of the Auschwitz camp and were among the collections of photographs carried to the camp by sent there for destruction from the Zagłębie region of Poland. They are mostly snapshots from the years between the first and Second World Wars and depict scenes from the everyday life of the Jews of the Zagłębie region. Others are studio photographs of individuals, whole families, or groups. An analysis of the entire collection has revealed that many of the photographs belonged to several families who probably lived in proximity to each other and were brought to Auschwitz in the same transport. As a result of several years of cooperation with the Fritz Bauer Institute in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, it has proved possible to identify by name approximately 600 persons, shown in some 1,000 photographs. Tadeusz Borowski - Pożegnanie z Marią [Farewell to Maria] A second edition of Tadeusz Borowski's best short stories, co-published with Książka i Wiedza. These camp narratives depict not only the Nazi system of human extermination in the concentration camps, but also the impact of that system on the minds and ethical values of the prisoners, the resulting adaptive mechanisms, and the specific philosophy of survival that blurred the line between perpetrator and victim. Architektura zbrodni. Budynek tzw. centralnej sauny w Auschwitz Concentration Camp II-Birkenau [The Architecture of Crime: The "Central Sauna" Building at Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp] This is a historical monograph on one of the more significant buildings on the grounds of Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp: the "Central Sauna" building, where procedures for the reception of new prisoners were carried out, as were disinfection and pest-control for the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. The Sauna was also the site of selections of new arrivals and of prisoners who were already registered. The history of the Sauna is illustrated by prisoners' memoirs. The second part of the book recapitulates the many years of preservation work on the building, and the problems associated with that work. The final chapter contains the plans for the configuration of the Sauna building for commemorative and informational purposes. The book is available in Polish, English, and German versions. Anna Pawełczyńska - Werte gegen Gewalt. Betrachtungen einer Soziologin über Auschwitz [Values in the Face of Coercion: A Sociologist's Perspective on Auschwitz] Pawełczyńska's book is the first attempt at a sociological synthesis of the social phenomenon of the Nazi concentration camps. Anna Pawełczyńska, a professor of sociology and a former prisoner of Auschwitz Concentration Camp and Flossenbürg concentration camp, delves deeply into the moral and legal issues of Nazism and the camps, and also uses the concepts and methods of sociology to explain the mechanisms through which the Auschwitz camp operated. In writing about camp reality, she consciously avoids descriptions of brutality, while allocating primary attention to the theme of the individual and organized defense that prisoners mounted against the destructive influence that the crimes against humanity had on their minds. A small book, numbering only twelve chapters, this study is a treasury of knowledge about people and their reactions under the conditions of unremitting terror in the camps. An exhibition titled " ' I still have a great deal to do ' Jerzy Adam Brandhuber Oct. 23, 1887 - June 19, 1981 was presented at the Oświęcim Culture Center from January 27 to February 25, 2001. The exhibition was prepared on the basis of original works in the Museum collections by Brandhuber, a former Auschwitz Concentration Camp prisoner. The author and designer of the exhibition was R. Płaczek The "Central Sauna" building on the site of Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp was opened to visitors on April 2 at an inaugural ceremony for the permanent exhibition there. A display of posters from the "Memory of Auschwitz" competition was shown from April 24 to July 1, 2001 at the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising in Bansko-Bystryca, Slovakia. Participants in the opening of the exhibition included Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum director Jerzy Wróblewski, Exhibitions Department head Teresa Zbrzeska, Exhibitions Department staff member Robert Płaczek, and the head of preservation, Witold Smrek. The exhibition titled " -I still have a great deal to do-Jerzy Adam Brandhuber Oct. 23, 1887 - June 19, 1981 is being presented in the Temporary Exhibition Room at the Museum from June 1 to October 15. An exhibition titled Prisoners from the First Transport was opened on June 14 to mark the 61st anniversary of the arrival of that initial transport. The exhibition, by T. Zbrzeska and R. Płaczek, was prepared using material from the Museum Archives. The exhibition is being shown in the lobby of the Visitor Services Building. Work continues on the preparation of the permanent exhibition in Block no. 13 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim on the destruction of the Sinti and Roma. Participation in conferences and official travel : On April 25-26, T. Zbrzeska took part in a conference on the establishment of permanent Czech and Slovak national exhibitions. The conference was held at the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising in Banska Bystryca. Course sessions were held at the Museum in February and March. Participants also made a one-day field trip to Cracow. For the first time, use was made of the new lecture and seminar rooms: a room in the visitor reception center building and the auditorium-screening room in Block no. 12. Seminars for teachers and students - an "Auschwitz" seminar for students of the Oswald von Nell Breuning Schule in Germany, from March 10-15, with 24 participants. The program included tours of the grounds, work with a document in the Archives, a visit to the Collections Department, and work on buildings at the site (washing windows and bunks used by the prisoners); - "Mitarbeiterfahrt in die Gedenkstätte Auschwitz-Birkenau" - a seminar for staff members from the Bergen-Belsen Memorial in Germany, with 20 participants, from March 13 -16. The program included a study visit to the camp, visits to the Archives and Collections Department, meetings with Museum staff members, and lectures on the Museum's educational work. - "Auschwitzfahrt 2001" - a seminar organized by the Hochschule für Sozialwesen, Bischof-von-Lipp-Schule and the St. Josefpflege Mulfingen of Germany in cooperation with the Educaiton Centre (40 participants), May 18-23. The program included tours of the Museum grounds and exhibitions, a meeting with former prisoner Kazimierz Smoleń, and work in the Archives and Collections Department; - "For the Sake of Memory and a Warning" - a seminar for senior Polish Scouting Union instructors (10 participants) organized by the Education Center, the Auschwitz Preservation Society, and Polish Scouting Union Headquarters, from June 11-13. Study Residencies - A two-day study residency organized for the Kazimierz Wielki Secondary School I in Bochnia from January 12-13. The program included visits to the site of the concentration camp, Museum exhibits, and Harmęże, and a lecture on Auschwitz in documentary and feature films; - For students from Luther College (USA), January 15; - Students and faculty from Northumbria University (UK), January 23; - senior-year students from Wyspiański Secondary School in Kęty, January 23; - American students serving internships at the Jewish Educational Center in Oświęcim, June 28. In the course of these residencies, Education Center staff members presented the Museum exhibitions, conducted familiarization visits to the site of the camp, and delivered lectures on the activity of the Museum and the Educational Center. Participation in conferences and seminars Alicja Białecka. Participated in: - "Disseminating Knowledge about the Holocaust and the Martyrdom of Nations: The Present State, and Future Intentions" - an international conference organized by the Gross Rosen Museum, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, and the Aktion Suehnezeichen Friedensdienste in Duszniky Zdrój from January 17-19. - "A Peaceful World Through the Memory," part of the Comenius Program, in Lille, France from March 1-4. - delivered a lecture on the educational function and role of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum at a conference on "Educating Towards Reconciliation: Can Tolerance toward Old Enemies Be Taught?" in Lublin, June 3-6. - an international seminar organized in Cluj, Rumania, as part of the educational program being carried out by the Task Force group, June 18-24. Andrzej Kacorzyk. participated in: - "Auswertungs- und Vorbereitungsseminar für Gruppenleiterinnen von Gedenkstättenfahrten nach Polen" (a wrap-up/preparatory seminar for leaders of groups visiting memorial sites in Poland), from February 16-18 in Berlin; Other - Preparation of a German-language version of Los Polaków i los Żydów w Auschwitz Concentration Camp (Polen und Juden im KL Auschwitz) (Poles and Jews in Auschwitz Concentration Camp); - Work on plans for an Education Center website as a development of the existing pages on the Museum's educational work; - Participation in a presentation of the International Center for Study and Education and the International Pilgrimage Center in Oświęcim under the auspices of the Oświęcim Strategic Development Program of the Chancellery of the Polish Prime Minister. - Participation in the work of the commission for the first competition titled "Human Rights Are a Need in the Contemporary World," organized for the Foundation-Association for the Development of the City and Comunnity of Oświęcim, the patron of which is Oświęcim headman Adam Bilski. Winners of the competition were announced and przes awarded at the Konarski secondary school in Oświęcim on June 20. Administration of all work on computerization at the Museum June saw the completion of a comprehensive analysis of plans drawn up by the dmt company of Cracow for a system that would catalogue objects for the Preservation Department. The signing of the contract brought to a conclusion a series of consultations and negotiations that began in August 2000. Research work Analysis, statistics,and comparative studies: - continuing historical analyses of all 40 archival data bases in the digital collections of the Museum; - information searches in the data bases as required by Museum staff members and outside researchers (including the Rzeszów pedagogical school, the Theresienstadt museum, and the museum in Banka Bystryca); - cooperation with the Historical Research Section on a statistical analysis of the Warsaw transports to Auschwitz Concentration Camp, making use of existing data bases (completion planned for the end of 2001); - cooperatio with the Forschungsstelle deutschjüdische Zeitgeschichte e.V. and Professor. Michal Wolfsohn on a data base of names of Jewish prisoners and victims of Auschwitz Concentration Camp; - work on making part of the archival data available on the World Wide Web. The creation of data bases. Work continues on: - entering data from the Block no. 20 hospital in the Auschwitz camp, where prisoners suffering from tuberculosis were admitted; - labor assignment cards; - data from the X-Ray book - punishment reports - lists of transports to other camps. Official travel Participation in a seminar organized by the Sachsenhausen Museum on issues connected with the digital storage of memorial site archives ("Elektronische Erschließung archivalischer Quellen in Gedenkstätten") - March 23-24, Oranienburg. Other Plans for cooperation in the creation of electronic archival bases and the presentation of this data on the internet by the Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, Sztutowo, Gross-Rosen, Theresienstadt, and Mechelen museums were submitted to the European Commission. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum is the coordinator of the project.
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