News
New English language edition of Oś Monthly Magazine
In May and June we watched with fear clouded sky and the rising level of rivers around Oświęcim. For the first time in many years the Museum was closed to visitors and archives and collections had to be moved onto higher levels. The real battle with water took place at the site of Birkenau, where water from a nearby river Pławianka almost broke through the barrier. Flood is the main theme in this issue of the magazine.
Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of people—residents, firefighters and mobilized staff of the Museum we were able to prevent the tragedy. The world heritage site and the village were saved. It is difficult to imagine what would have happened if the water had flown through the area of the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. Now it’s time for another struggle—to strengthen and increase the barriers.
We write also about the events that took place during the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazi Concentration Camps, which is on June 14, the anniversary of the deportation to Auschwitz of the first Polish political prisoners. We also publish an archive material from the first anniversary from 1945. In another article we describe the plans of a new exhibition on the fate of Polish citizens deported to Auschwitz, which will also present the history of the camp from a local perspective of Oświęcim.
You will also find in the magazine a story about another seminar “Histories in biographies” at the IYMC, whose hero was a former Auschwitz prisoner Tadeusz Smreczyński, and a story about a meeting in the Centre for Dialogue and Prayer, during which for the fi rst time in the history of this institution so much attention was paid to Soviet totalitarianism.
