On Auschwitz

"On Auschwitz (72): The first transports of women to KL Auschwitz

The Germans established the Auschwitz concentration camp in the spring of 1940 for man  prisoners. The first women were deported to the camp in March 1942. In total, more than 130,000 women  prisoners were registered there during the camp’s existence. The history of the first transports of women is discussed by Dr. Teresa Wontor-Cichy from the Research Center of the Auschwitz Museum. ====== Online lesson about women in KL Auschwitz [https://lekcja.auschwitz.org/2022_kobiety_en]

"On Auschwitz (71): Testimonies about expulsions of the local population in connection with the expansion of KL Auschwitz

Before the war, Oświęcim was a town inhabited mainly by Poles and Jews. During the Second World War it was annexed to Germany and the name of the town was changedto Auschwitz. At the end of 1939 the town had a population of over 12,500 people, about half of whom were Jews. Near Oświęcim there were several villages, which in December of 1939 were incorporated into the German administrative unitof Stadtbezirk Auschwitz. About 13,000 people lived in thesevillages.   Due to the establishment and expansion of the Auschwitz camp, several thousand Polish and Jewish residents of Oświęcim and nearby villages were forced to leave their homes. In the “On Auschwitz” podcast, we share fragments oftestimonies from witnesses and their relatives about these events. ===== The podcast features material from the collections of: The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Archives: - account by Zofia Przybyłowska - account by Piotr Bielenin - account by Marian Górnicki - account by Sylwester Szałaśny - account by Krystyna Szałaśny - account by Sabina Rosenbach (transcribed, read by a narrator) - account by Helena Mataniak (written down, read by a narrator) - account by Helena Hoła (written down, read by a narrator) Museum of Remembrance of the Residents of the Oświęcim Region: - account by Helena Grzesło - account by Aleksander Karkoszka - account by Józefa Handzlik - account by Wanda Saternus - account by Maria Gawron - account by Janina Stawowy - account by Wanda Patyna - account by Henryk Kuczek - account by Maria Jurczyk - account by Tadeusz Firczyk Jewish Museum in Oświęcim: - account by Abraham and Jerzy Feiner - account by Lola Bodner The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw: - account by Ewa Neiger (written down, read by a narrator) - account by Sylwia Bachner (written down, read by a narrator) - account by Anna Hönig (written down, read by a narrator) - account by Tauba Grünn (written down, read by a narrator)

"On Auschwitz" (70): Deportations of Jews from Slovakia

Among the many groups of people deported to the German camp Auschwitz, Slovakian Jews occupied a special place. They were brought to the camp at a time when it was undergoing fundamental, organizational and functional transformation. From a place of concentration and gradual destruction of prisoners through dramatic living conditions and hard labor to a center of mass extermination in gas chambers. Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, the head of the research center of the Auschwitz Museum, recounts the details of this process. ===== On-line lesson about the deportations of Jews from Slovakia [https://lekcja.auschwitz.org/deportations_of_jews_from_slovakia/]

"On Auschwitz" (69): Contacts between SS garrison of KL Auschwitz and the local population of the Oświęcim area (1940-45)

How the demographic structure of the area around the camp changed and what contacts existed between the SS camp garrison members and the local civilian population is discussed by dr. Agnieszka Kita, deputy head of the Auschwitz Museum archives. ===== Article published in the post-conference publication, "Face of War", Vol. 6, "City and the War" [https://www.press.uni.lodz.pl/wul/catalog/view/217/839/338].

"On Auschwitz" (68): Evacuation marches in the accounts of Survivors and other witnesses

On 17 January 1945, the SS began evacuating the Auschwitz camp. Around 56,000 men and women, prisoners under the escort of armed SS men, marched out from various parts ofthe camp complex in the direction of Wodzisław Śląski and Gliwice. Several thousand people were killed during these so-called Death Marches. In this episode of the “On Auschwitz” podcast, we quote fragments of eyewitness accounts relating to these events. ===== Illustration: Zbigniew Otfinowski, Marsz ewakuacyjny [Evacuation march] (1946). Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Collections =====  Excerpts from accounts read by narrators (Therese McLaughlin & Mike Skagerlind) come from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Archives:  Teofil Balcarek, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements],t. 115, k. 204-205. Israel Berkowski, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 35, k. 29. Wanda Bienioszek, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 116, s. 176. Wanda Błachowska-Tarasiewicz, APMAB, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 1, k. 19-20. Józef Ciepły, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t.86, k. 48, 127-128. Jan Dziopek, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t.10, k. 29. Jan Dziopek, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 50, k. 138-143 Róża Dryjańska, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t.88, k. 211, 233. Ilona Engelova, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 80, k. 171. Abraham Dawid Feffer, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 16, k. 54. Jan Gabryś, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t.104, k. 138-140. Janina Hinczowa, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 62, k. 60. Irena Konieczna, APMAB. Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements],t. 113, k. 130. Wanda Koprowska, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 13, k. 66-68. Eulalia Kurdej, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t.66, k. 142. Erwin Olszówka, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 72, k. 138. Antonina Piątkowska, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 85, k. 45 Franciszka Pieczka, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 88b, k. 133. Ilona Strusińska, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements],t. 80, k. 170. Marii Śleziona, APMAB. Inne Zespoły [Others] (IZ) – 27/3. Maria Ślisz, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t.61, k. 134. Zofia Stępień-Bator, APMAB, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 74, k. 167. Maria Świderska, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 21, k. 85, 88. Józef Tabaczyński, APMAB, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 44, k. 60-63. Anna Tytoniak, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t.12a, k. 198 Jan Wawrosz, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories]t. 1, k. 59. Franciszek Wieszała, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 16, k. 81. Helena Włodarska, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 66, k. 78. Jadwiga Zając, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 139, k. 13-15. Leszek Zienc, APMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 2, k. 226. Natan Żelechower, „Siedem obozów”, [in:] Zespół Wspomnienia [Memories], t. 83, k. 68-72, APMA-B. Maria Żumańska, APMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Statements], t. 4, k. 420.