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Franciscan’s Study Visit to the Auschwitz Memorial Site
Nearly 120 Franciscans from all over Poland — novitiates, seminarians, and candidates — participated in a study visit to the Auschwitz Memorial Site. The visit took place to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Father Maximilian Maria Kolbe to the camp on May 29, 1941.
The group toured the site of the former Nazi German Concentration and Death Camp, where they celebrated Holy Mass next to the Death Block.
At the Center for Education, the Brothers attended lectures on the role of Auschwitz in the system of German Concentration Camps, the persecution of the clergy at Auschwitz, and on moral values in the reality of the camp. They also considered the presence of God and evil in the camp based on the biography and statements of Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Hoess.
'If we are able to pass the truth about Auschwitzto the young Franciscans, we hope that they can transfer this knowledge further and forge ahead in educating young individuals, whom they will work with in schools' said Alice Białecka, Head of the Program Section at the ICEAH. 'The Franciscans are a group that has great influence in shaping the condition of the spirit, human morality; a subject where Auschwitz is an integral element'.
The visit also included workshops about the role of priests and catechists in preparing school students to visit the Auschwitz Memorial as well astestimonies about religious life within the Camp. The Brothers also visited the Museum Collections Department, where they were acquainted with selected works of art connected with religious life in the camp, including a rosary made of bread, prayer books, the few images of the Virgin Mary, and otherworks of art.
