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62nd Anniversary of the Liberation of the Auschwitz German Camp
On Saturday, January 27, 2007, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum held ceremonies marking the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp. The principal guests were several dozen former prisoners and 21 people from Oświęcim who aided prisoners during the years of the German occupation. They were awarded Knights’ and Officers’ Crosses of the Order of Poland Reborn.
In a letter to those who attended the ceremony, Polish President Lech Kaczyński wrote that “the world has never before appreciated fully their heroic sacrifices. They remained isolated with their memories. The world’s public opinion often treated the local residents as if they had been totally indifferent to the fate of the prisoners. It is imperative to protest against such wrongful imputations, which distort the facts and besmirch our history.”
President Kaczyński noted in his letter that the Germans expelled Polish civilians from the vicinity of the camp at the beginning of the war. Nevertheless, possibilities still existed for incredibly risky contacts between prisoners laboring outside the camp and local residents. “A large proportion of them took the trouble, heroically and with total dedication, to help those in need. This help consisted of supplying them with medicine and food, helping them to pass on secret messages to their families and reports from the camp resistance movement, and, finally, assisting escapees from Auschwitz Concentration Camp in an organized way.”
Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, undersecretary of state in the Chancellery of the President of the Polish Republic, awarded the medals. The full list of recipients contained more than 40 names, but health considerations made it impossible for some of the Oświęcim heroes to attend in person.
In overall terms, a great many residents of Oświęcim joined in aiding the prisoners. Museum historians have identified about 1,200 of them by name, of whom only 110 are still alive. A book published by the Museum, Ludzie dobrej woli. Księga Pamięci mieszkańców Ziemi Oświęcimskiej niosących pomoc więźniom KL Auschwitz [People of good will: Memorial book of the residents of the land of Oświęcim who aided prisoners of Auschwitz Concentration Camp], contained information about them.
Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka recalled that the first prisoners of Auschwitz were Poles. She noted the fact that the liberation anniversary was concurrent with the 65th anniversary of the Wannsee conference, during which representatives of the Nazi German government worked out the details of the extermination of the Jews. This resulted in millions of victims, the greatest numbers of whom died in Auschwitz.
Junczyk-Ziomecka stressed that “the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp is a place about which people must never forget. . . . I welcome the plan to create a new main exhibition, as well as progress in the conservation and educational work carried out by the Museum. I know that administrative obstacles are still delaying the start of work to adapt the premises that will house the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, which Poland established two years ago.
“With the utmost commitment, she added, the office of the President of the Polish Republic is counting on the promptest possible resolution of this situation, and on removing all the obstacles blocking the way to the creation of this Center. May this educational work constitute Poland’s gift to all humanity.”
Tomasz Merta, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, expressed similar views.
Museum Director Piotr M. A. Cywiński also addressed those in attendance. In his brief remarks, he noted that “so many are missing here today. The old people, and the children who did not even manage to become prisoners of the concentration camp, because their way led elsewhere once they left the ramp. Those whole families who today have no one to remember them today. All of those who were worked to death, starved, annihilated, burned to ashes. Those who never lived to see any anniversary of any liberation. Yet they longed so badly to do so.”
The main part of the ceremony was held only after dark, out of respect for the Sabbath. Jews made up 90% of the victims of the German camp. At the conclusion of the observances, candles were placed in front of the monument to the victims of the camp, at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau site. The Polish president’s representative lighted the first of them, together with former prisoners.
