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80th Anniversary of the First Transport of Poles to Auschwitz - 14 June 1940
80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST TRANSPORT OF POLES TO AUSCHWITZ. NATIONAL REMEMBRANCE DAY OF THE VICTIMS OF GERMAN NAZI CONCENTRATION AND EXTERMINATION CAMPS.
On 14 June 1940, Germans deported a group of 728 Poles from the prison in Tarnów to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Among them were soldiers of the September campaign, members of the underground independence organizations, secondary school pupils and students, as well as a small group of Polish Jews. The received numbers from 31 to 758.
Events commemorating the 80th anniversary are held under the National Patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, and the Honorary Patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prof. Piotr Gliński.
Before the anniversary the Auschwitz Memorial Archive published an updated list of prisoners transported from Tarnów on 14 June 1940. According to the latest findings, out of the 728 prisoners deported, 325 survived the war, 292 perished, while the fate of 111 is unknown to date.
Due to unprecedented circumstances connected with the state of epidemic threat introduced in Poland as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, the character of the events commemorating the anniversary of the deportation of the first transport of Poles to German Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz will be held according to a different schedule than originally planned. The program of main commemorative events will be adjusted to the limitations resulting from the threat of pandemic. Unfortunately, commemorative events on a mass scale are impossible to organize. Many of the scheduled events, in particular exhibitions, are going to be held online.
PROGRAM OF MAIN COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS:
• 10.00 am - Holy Mass at Saint Maximilian Center in Harmęże
Broadcast will be available:
- at TVP3 Kraków
- online at: www.krakow.tvp.pl
- at TVP VOD app (for mobile devices) that allows to watch TVP Kraków online
• 12.00 (noon) - symbolic commemoration within former Auschwitz I camp site with participation of President of Poland - broadcast on www.auschwitz.org as well as social media of the Auschwitz Muzeum
VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT OF POLAND
On 14 June, a state delegation headed by the President of Poland Andrzej Duda will visit the Memorial. Information about the program and rules of media coverage can be found on the website of the Chancellery of the President.
INDIVIDUAL COMMEMORATION
On 14 June 2020, from 3 p.m, there will be a possibility to enter the Memorial individually and place wreaths and candles at the Death Wall within the yard of Block 11. A maximum of two people will be able to enter the Museum at intervals, while maintaining the sanitary rigour. A prior notification is required at 14czerwca@auschwitz.org in order to set the exact hour of entry.
Events commemorating the first transport of Poles will also be held on 13 and 14 June in the city of Tarnów.
Especially for the anniversary, Polish Television in Krakow and the Auschwitz Museum produced a documentary film "The first transport to Auschwitz. Post Scriptum" dedicated to the history of the first transport of Poles to Auschwitz on 14 June 1940 and the origins of this German concentration camp. It will be premiered on TVP3 Krakow on June 14 at 5.40 pm (the film will also be available at www.krakow.tvp.pl and in the TVP VOD application). The film will be available with English subtitles on Museum website.
We would like to encourage everyone to use online educational materials prepared by the co-organizers of commemorative events connected not only with the fate of prisoners from the first transport of Poles to Auschwitz, but also with the history of Poles in Auschwitz and during WW2.
ONLINE EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
• Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
ONLINE LESSON: “First Poles in Auschwitz”
BOOK: Kazimierz Albin (prisoner from the first transport) "List Gończy” (Wanted Notice) (in Polish)
ONLINE EXHIBITION: "First transport of Poles to Auschwitz – 14 June 1940"
ONLINE LESSON: “Expulsion of Polish and Jewish Populationsfrom Oświęcim (Auschwitz) and surrounding settlements in the years 1940-42”
ONLINE EXHIBITION: ‘I have been in the concentration camp Auschwitz since June 14…’ Camp letters of Tadeusz Korczowski
EDUCATIONAL PROJECT: Polish citizens in KL Auschwitz
BOOK: Piotr M. A. Cywiński “Początki Auschwitz w pamięci pierwszegy transportu polskich więźniów politycznych" (Early days of Auschwitz in the memory of the first transport of Polish political prisoners” (in Polish)
BOOK: Igor Bartosik, Łukasz Martyniak, Piotr Setkiewicz “The Origins od the Auschwitz Camp in the Light of Source Materials"
BOOK: “Voices of memory. Poles in KL Auschwitz"
VIDEO: Katy Carr "Kommander's Car" (song devoted to Kazimierz Piechowski’s escape from KL Auschwitz)
• Saint Maximilian Center in Harmęże
EXHIBITION: online version of Marian Kołodziej’s exhibition “Negatives of Memory. Labyrinths”.
• Jewish Center in Oświęcim
MOBILE APP: Oszpicin. The history of Jewish Oświęcim – guide of the Jewish Museum and the traces of history of Jewish inhabitants in the town of Oświęcim.
ONLINE EXHIBITION: Oszpicin. The history of Jewish Oświęcim
• Foundation of Memory Sites Near Auschwitz-Birkenau
ONLINE CONCERT: Besides will present material from their concept-album ‘Bystanders’, inspired by the stories of Auschwitz prisoners and the local inhabitants, living in the shadow of the camp during World War II (June 14, 8 p.m. - see details)
• Faith and Truth Foundation
FILM: “Witnesses – Polish citizens in Auschwitz-Birkenau"
• International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim
VIDEO & ARTICLE (in Polish): "Stolen memory of Tadeusz Sierawski." Documentation of the search for relatives of Tadeusz Sierawski, a prisoner of the first transport to Auschwitz (no. 58). The project was carried out by volunteers from PZ no. 1 of the Stanisław Konarski High School in Oświęcim as part of the social campaign #StolenMemory, run by Arolsen Archives in cooperation with the MDSM.
ONLINE EVENT: Commemoration of the anniversary of the first transport.
• Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents
TESTIMONIES: The significance of 14th June for residents of the Land of Oświęcim
LECTURE (in Polish): Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz "Polityka okupanta niemieckiego wobec mieszkańców Ziemi Oświęcimskiej" (Policy of the German occupiers towards people of the Land of Oświęcim)
MOBILE APLICATION (in Polish): "Miejsca Pamięci o ofiarach Auschwitz i bohaterach ruchu oporu w latach 1939-1945 znajdujące się na Ziemi Oświęcimskiej" (Sites of Memory dedicated to the victims of Auschwitz and resistance heroes between 1939-45 located in the Land of Oświęcim)
• Department of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Kraków
ARTICLE (in Polish): "They arrived at the ramp surrounded by SS men." A text about the first transport of Poles to Auschwitz
ARTICLE (in Polish): "Residents of Świętokrzyskie - victims of German concentration camps"
POSTER: Anniversary poster for download in Polish and English version
EVENT: 80th anniversary of the first transport of Poles to KL Auschwitz - events in Krakow, Tarnów and Oświęcim with participation of the President of the Institute and the director of the Cracow Department.
EVENT (in Polish): National Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camps - Kielce, June 14, 2020.
• Roma Asociation in Poland
ARTICLE: Władysław Kwiatkowski “Zapomniani bohaterzy. Romowie na frontach drugiej wojny światowej” (Forgotten heroes. The Roma on the fronts of WW2) (in: Dialog – Pheniben)(LINK PDF)
ARTICLE: Maria Maryniak: “Deportations of the Roma to KL Auschwitz before the establishment of so called Zigeunerlager” (in: “Voices of Memory” vol. 7 “Roma in KL Auschwitz”)
• The Auschwitz Preservation Association (ToNO)
ONLINE CONCERT: Patriotic song and camp poetry evening – June 13th 2020, 7.00 p.m., ToNO Facebook profile (more information about the performers - in Polish)
EVENT: 30 April 2020 members of TOnO in Tarnów planted the "Oak of Remembrnace of the 80th Anniversary of the First Transport" behind the Monument to the First Transport in Tarnów
EVENT: 6 April 2020 r.: unveiling of "the First Transport Bus Stop" at Lwowska 6 in Tarnów
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The organizers of commemorative events:
• Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
• Auschwitz Memento Association
• Bielsko-Żywiec Diocesan Curia
• Castle Museum in Oświęcim
• Department of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Kraków
• Foundation for the Memory of Auschwitz-Birkenau Victims
• Foundation of Memory Sites Near Auschwitz-Birkenau
• Foundation Monument-Hospice for the Town of Oświęcim
• Faith and Truth Foundation
• International Youth Meeting Center in Oświęcim
• Jewish Center in Oświęcim
• Kraków Foundation Center for Information, Meeting, Dialogue, Education and Prayer in Oświęcim
• the town of Oświęcim
• Oświęcim commune
• Oświęcim County Office
• Province of the St. Anthony of Padua and Blessed Jakub Strzemię of the Order of Friars
• Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents
• Roma Association in Poland
• Society for the Protection of Oświęcim (TOnO)
• the town of Tarnów
• Witold Pilecki State School of Higher Education in Oświęcim