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Auschwitz in the memories of former prisoners
The International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim organized an education session entitled Auschwitz in the memories of former prisoners.
At the introduction to the session, the participants were greeted by Mrs. Krystyna Oleksy, head of the Education Section and Deputy Director, and afterwards were presented with a lecture by Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz entitled The Founding and Development of Auschwitz.
Honored guests of the session were Mrs. Zofia Posmysz (camp number 7566), Mr. Juliusz Zon (camp number 821) as well as Profoessor Wacław Długoborski (camp number 138871) – eyewitnesses of the Nazis’ crimes, who spoke about their wartime experiences.
“Similarly to Mrs. Posmysz, I worked at the Birkenau site, in a sector that was closest to the gas chamber and crematoria; more precisely in the hospital sector. We witnessed the selections, which took place on the ramp, 100 meters from where we were. The groups of the selected were led to the gas chambers. There two forms of selection. During one type, which took place on the ramp, most people had absolutely no concept of what horror lay before them. However, simultaneously, from time to time, there were sections within the camp itself and this was dreadful. I pity these people, since they were two, or three months in the camp and fell victim to being chosen during the selection. Right from the beginning, they knew what the selection was and that they were being sent to their deaths,” said Professor Wacław Długoborski.
The meeting with the witnesses of history was extremely popular. During both sessions, around 300 individuals took part, importantly, first of all middle school students as well as their teachers. A report from the meeting is available in the November issue of the Os magazine.
Conferences organized by the Center are dedicated to specific subject matter chosen from the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. These meetings are meant to expand on topics presented during the seminars, university studies, and other forms of education done by the ICEAH. The sessions are aimed towards students, teachers, tour guides, and those who have completed other forms of education conducted by the Center.
