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76th anniversary of the first transport of Poles to the German concentration camp Auschwitz
On 14 June 1940, the Germans deported a group of 728 Poles from the prison in Tarnów to the concentration camp in Auschwitz. Among the deported prisoners were soldiers of the September 1939 campaign, members of the underground independent organizations, school pupils and students, as well as a small group of Polish Jews. This date is considered the beginning of the functioning of the camp.
Given the Polish Parliament’s decision, 14 June has been adopted as the National Remembrance Day of the Victims of the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camps. Events commemorating the 76th anniversary of the first transport of Poles to Auschwitz took place in Oświęcim, and the day before in Tarnów.
The event was graced by former prisoners of Auschwitz, including prisoners of the first transport: Jerzy Bogusz (no. 61) and Kazimierz Albin (no. 118) as well as a prisoner of the second transport Kazimierz Piechowski (no. 918).
Also in attendance were representatives of the authorities of the Republic of Poland, amongst them Undersecretary of State at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland Wojciech Kolarski, Secretary of State at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, the Government’s Plenipotentiary for International Dialogue Anna Maria Anders, the Secretary of State for the Polish parliament, the Polish diaspora, consulars and public diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jan Dziedziczak, representatives of local authorities, institutions and co-organizers, as well as all wishing to commemorate the events of June 14, 1940.
An exhibition of works by the prisoner of the first transport no. 423, Marian Kołodziej titled “Memory Clichés. Labirynths", was presented at the St. Maximilian Centre in Harmęże, where a Holy Mass commemorating the event was celebrated by Bishop Roman Pindel, Bishop of the Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec.
‘We are gathered here today, to celebrate the Eucharist on the anniversary of the first transport, which brought the first prisoners to this camp, when evil began in this place, and when it began to escalate. Opposition, resistance, patriotism, action against the occupying force were reasons for which the first prisoners were sent to Auschwitz,’ said Bishop Pindel during the Homily.
‘The evil in Auschwitz was planned. Plenty of evil deeds and sins were committed in Auschwitz-Birkenau and other parts of the camp. This place hosted the executors of the cruelest plans of extermination of certain groups of people. This design was implemented through destructive work, starvation food rations, difficult living conditions, terror to prisoners, as well as by death sentences or selections, during which the earmarked arrivals were gassed to death. The Disciple of Jesus, Paul of Tarsus wrote in a letter to the Romans "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good". We are aware that if we succumb to evil, if the hatred for those who harms us settle down in our heart, it is then that evil triumph. Therefore, we pray today for peace, reconciliation and forgiveness,’ said Bishop Pindel.
During the mass, a special document related to the first transport to Auschwitz was shown. It is the timetable of the special train prepared by the German railways on June 11, 1940, which was used on June 14 to transfer prisoners to the camp in Tarnów. It comes from the collection of the Foundation of Memory Sites near Auschwitz-Birkenau, which made available the original for the commemoration event.
After mass, the guests visited the exhibition “Memory Clichés. Labirynths". Then the names of the prisoners of the first transport were read. A brief ceremony was held at the memorial plaque commemorating the events of June 14, 1940, at the capt. Witold Pilecki State Higher Vocational School in Oświęcim (PWSZ), located in the buildings that initially housed the prisoners of the first transport. The chancellor of the school, Prof. Witold Stanowski gave a welcome speech.
On the site of the former Auschwitz I camp, in the former laundry building, the participants of the event met with former prisoners of the camp, to whom the Museum director Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński addressed in the following words.
‘We are here with you and for you. In order to recall those that are no longer with us, to remember all those who experienced what our generation have not experienced and what our generation will never ever be able to imagine. If we are here today to remember, it is under one condition: this memory should not only be an insight into the past, it should be a great mobilization and a huge commitment for the future. And that is only how we can understand it,’ stressed director Cywiński.
The letter of the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda was read by Wojciech Kolarski, Undersecretary of State at the the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
“For ten years, the anniversary of that first transport is commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance of Victims of German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camps. This date reminds us of the special obligations, we have as Poles. We are in fact responsible for the truth about Auschwitz. For each of the victims and the fate that befell them all. Our nation was the first who unveiled this truth and the first to reveal it to the world, during World War II. And we who are faithful to this unique heritage, full of pain, and heroism – also wish today, to bear an audible witness to this truth,“ wrote the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda.
The letter from the Prime Minister Beata Szydło was read by Anna Maria Anders, Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, the Government’s Plenipotentiary for International Dialogue.
‘The memory of Auschwitz is not only the evocation of facts about crime, but also a reflection of its sources. It is the memory of the destructive power of hatred, anti-Semitism, contempt for the man and his inalienable rights – about what lied at the heart of 20th-century catastrophe of our civilization. It is our responsibility to the world to recall these tragic events, to investigate their causes and preserve that knowledge in the collective memory,’ wrote Prime Minister Beata Szydło.
The letter sent by the Speaker of the Sejm, Marek Kuchciński was also read during the meeting. ‘The enormity of the crime forces one to calm down and reverie. It also encourages us to reflect on how to build the world so that never appeared doctrines and ideologies that are willing to sacrifice human dignity for other values. We owe it to the victims and those who survived. Together with the participants of the ceremony, I pay them due honour and reverence. I deeply believe that the anniversary commemoration will be an important lesson for tolerance, understanding and respect for a fellow man, ” wrote the Speaker of the Sejm, Marek Kuchciński.
The letter from the head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, Jan Józef Kasprzyk was read by Monika Kalinowska, the director of the Department of Records and Cooperation with Associations.
“We remember all those murdered. The German Nazis deprived certain nations of the right to life, and the nearby area of Birkenau was one of the places of mass extermination of Jews. Representatives of other nations died along with them, killed in executions, in the gas chambers, by diseases, and debilitating work. Today, we especially remember our compatriots, who arrived seventy-six years ago from Tarnów, and those brought in subsequent transports from a number of other places. Poland was the first to say «No» to Hitler, and paid dearly for that” - wrote the head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, Jan Józef Kasprzyk.
At the end of the commemoration event, homage was paid to all the victims of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, and wreaths were placed at the Wall of Death in the courtyard of Block 11 at the former Auschwitz I camp
‘The prisoners were dragged out from Death Block, to the Wall of Death. It is here that Palitzsch - the king of crime - officiated. The Wall of Death - the border of fear, gunshot, silence, agony. But fear did not die. Fear was not killed. It lives on. It remained on the wall - as a speechless witness of the crime it turned into silence,’ recalled the former prisoner of Auschwitz, Kazimierz Piechowski. ‘This fear peeks out from the eyes of the dead victims. We wait at the gate in terrible suspense and all of a sudden - it begins. "Tor auf!” - the gate is opened. We enter the courtyard of the Death Block. Bodies were disposed in a corner, between block 10 and the Wall of Death. We load warm corpses on a cart. „Los, los!” “Faster, faster”, “Los ab!”. We leave. They close the gate,’ he added.
Anniversary events also took place in Tarnów. On June 13, at the Monument of the I Transport of Prisoners to KL Auschwitz a ceremony was held to commemorate the events that occurred 76 years ago. An educational session was also organized for school pupils from Tarnów. On June 14, flowers were placed at the foot of the Memorial Obelisk of the I Transport of Prisoners to KL Auschwitz at the Tarnów Central Train Station.
The organizer of the celebrations is the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the:
• Centre for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświecim
• St. Maximilian Centre in Harmęże
• Jewish Centre in Oswięcim
• Foundation of Memorial Sites near Auschwitz-Birkenau
• Institute of National Remembrance, Branch in Cracow
• Diocesan Curia of Bielsko-Żywiec
• International Youth Meeting Centre in Oświęcim
• University of Applied Sciences in Oświęcim
• Province of St. Anthony and blessed Jakub Strzemię of The Order Of Friars Minor Conventual (Franciscans)
• Auschwitz Memento Association
• Association of Roma in Poland
• Association for the Maintenance of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site
Local government authorities:
• Mayor of the City of Oświęcim
• Mayor of the City of Tarnów
• Starost of Oświęcim County
• Mayor of the Oświęcim Commune
On 14 June 1940, the Germans deported a group of 728 Poles from the prison in Tarnów to the concentration camp in Auschwitz. Among the deported prisoners were soldiers of the September campaign, members of the underground independent organizations, school pupils and students, as well as a small group of Polish Jews. They received numbers from 31 to 758 and were placed for the quarantine period in the buildings of the former Polish Tobacco Monopoly, near the site of today's Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (today, houses the State School of Higher Education in Oświęcim).
The first camp numbers were given to German criminals brought earlier by the SS men to Auschwitz from Sachsenhausen concentration camp, who assumed the position of prisoner functionaries.
Of the 728 prisoners deported on 14 June 1940 from Tarnów to Auschwitz, 298 survived, 272 died, and the fate of 158 is unknown to date.
The story about the first weeks of the newly-founded German Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz and its first prisoners can also be found in the online lesson “First transport of Poles to Auschwitz”. It presents the history of the transports of Poles from the Cracow District of the General Government: from prisons in Tarnów (14 June 1940), Nowy Wiśnicz (20 June 1940) and Montelupich in Cracow (18 July 1940), and a group of 271 prisoners brought to Auschwitz in June and early July, 1940, from the transitional camp in Sosnowiec in the district of Katowice.
