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Educational session and contest on 75th anniversary of displacement of civilian Poles related with expansion of KL Auschwitz

75 years ago, in March and April 1941, the Germans began a massive displacement of Polish civilians from the vicinity of the Auschwitz I concentration camp. To commemorate these events, on 21 April 2016  the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust organized an educational session and announced the contest entitled “Only five homes left after the war...”, under the Honorary Patronage of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland Mrs Beata Szydło.

The aim of the contest is to treasure the memory of the Victims of Auschwitz, the tragedy of the Holocaust and the concentration camp, as well as shape and develop, especially among the younger generation, a sensitivity to injustice and human suffering.

Participants may enter for awards in two categories: historical object, where the task is to present a historical object from private collections of World War II, on the displacement of civilians from Oświęcim and the surrounding towns in the years 1940-1941, in connection with the expansion of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz, as well as literary works related to this subject. The contest entries may be sent until July 29, 2016. All details (in Polish) are included in the rules of the contest.

In a letter addressed to the participants of the conference by Prime Minister Beata Szydło, we read as follows: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, you are gathered here today at the 75th anniversary of the displacement of Polish families from the village, in which German Nazis had planned the expansion of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. The educational session dedicated to this event, organized by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is a noble sign of preserving the memory of the victims of German repression, homage to the civilian population of Oświęcim and the surrounding area, as well as a proof of our mutual belief that perpetuating the historical truth and passing it on to the next generation helps to build a better future. Today's meeting will surely contribute to the commemoration of the events of the years 1940-41, which occurred in the Land of Oświęcim, a place close to my heart. I express my gratitude to the organizers of the session for the valuable actions that serve to convey the historical heritage of these areas, thereby strengthening the local identity’.

During the session, a lecture dedicated to the displacement was given by Dr Jacek Lachendro of the Auschwitz Museum Research Center. Konstancja Klamra and Marian Górnicki, witnesses to the  displacements, shared their memories. A panel discussion was also held entitled ‘the displacement of the civilian population in the memories of the families’, which was attended by Fr. Piotr Bielenin, Zofia Przybyłowska and Stanisław Rydzoń.

‘The displacement was carried out in conjunction with the expansion plans of the camp, as well as the land development plans of the area surrounding the camp. These included the expansion of KL Auschwitz to accommodate 30,000 prisoners, the construction of a synthetic rubber factory by the German company - IG Farben and supply of 10,000 prisoners to work on its construction. It also included the creation of an area around the existing concentration camp for the development of agriculture, animal and fish farming,’ said Dr. Lachendro.

In connection with the founding and expansion of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Germans displaced 8-9 thousand Poles from Oświęcim and the nearby villages. In addition, the entire Jewish population of Oświęcim – a total of approximately 7 thousand people were deported to the nearby ghettos. In total, eight Polish villages were destroyed and more than a hundred buildings located in the city of Oświęcim, in the immediate vicinity of Auschwitz I, were demolished.

The displacement action lasted intermittently until the end of April and included residents of Babice, Bór and Budy (Brzeszcz hamlets), Brzezinka, Broszkowice, Harmęże, Klucznikowice and Rajsko. People were deported to the General Government and to the nearby towns of Upper Silesia and the Bielsko County. The Germans deported some of them, especially young people, to forced labour.

Józefa Paszka (nee Bieżańska), resident at Pławy no.3, recalled the moment of displacement in an account submitted in 1966 as follows: "On Saturday, March 8, 1941, 4 lorries arrived to the village (...) armed SS-men (...) spread out to individual homes issuing orders to the inhabitants to leave immediately. We were not allowed to take our belongings or food. (…) On Monday morning, we were entrained and transported under escort to Gorlice. Oświęcim Jews and their families travelled with us”.

The camp authorities seized all livestock, and the entire movable and immovable properties in the occupied area. Houses and buildings were systematically torn down and the building material derived, was used to construct the Birkenau camp and the subcamps: Babitz, Harmense, Budy and Rajsko. Consequently, over 90% of the farms in Brzezinka, Pławy and Harmęże were destroyed, whereas in Babice, Broszkowice, Bór and Rajsko over 40%.

‘In 1941 the occupation German authorities also carried out a displacement operation on population of villages situated further away, among others Bielany, Osiek, Nowa Wieś, Piotrowice, Polanka Wielka, Witkowice and Zator. This was related to the implementation of the so-called policy for the consolidation of German nationhood in the territories annexed by the Third Reich. German settlers from Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia occupied the displaced areas. In 1942, in connection with the construction of the IG Farben chemical factory, the inhabitants of Monowice were also displaced,’ said Jacek Lachendro.

He also recalled that the displacement of Poles had already begun in the spring of 1940, when the SS authorities established the Auschwitz concentration camp on the outskirts of Oświęcim. In order to get rid of inconvenient witnesses, as well as prevent the local population from contacting the prisoners and impeding the latter from escape attempts, the camp authorities on 19 June 1940, displaced the inhabitants from the immediate vicinity of the camp. However, in July and November of the same year, as well as in April 1944, they removed the civilian population from the left bank of the Oświęcim district - Zasole.

The subject of the displacements of the population of Brzezinka and the surrounding towns associated with the expansion of the KL Auschwitz is also presented in the exhibition “The Lost Home" on display from 22 to 30 April at the Tourist Service Center in Brzezinka between 10:00-17:00. The Museum is one of the partners of this exhibition.

The organizers of the educational session were the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, as well as villages and housing estate committees in the displaced areas, as well as the Pedagogical University in Cracow.