By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org Hila Weisz-Gut’s grandmother survived Auschwitz Weisz-Gut moved to the town where the concentration camp is located A parade of dignitaries and dozens of Holocaust survivors came to Oświęcim on Monday to pay tribute to the 1 million Jews who died there Some of them encountered the single Jew who lives there the Polish town where the Auschwitz memorial and museum is located a Pole whom she met on a Holocaust education trip she has drawn attention from international journalists and townspeople alike for being the only Jew living in the town that most starkly symbolizes the Nazis’ murder of millions of people just like her Many members of her family were killed at Auschwitz “For me, it’s a statement that they tried to break us and exterminate us, but they failed,” Weisz-Gut told CNN this week about living in Oświęcim where she can see Auschwitz from her bedroom window “We are the generation that is here to say ‘you didn’t succeed Weisz-Gut, who has a master’s degree in Holocaust studies from the University of Haifa, works at the local Jewish museum, which aims to draw attention to the town’s once-thriving pre-Holocaust Jewish community She married her Polish husband last year in the museum’s cafe which is also the former living room of the town’s previous sole Jewish resident a survivor named Shimson Kluger who died in 2000 as Auschwitz hosted ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of its liberation the museum and its synagogue — the only one in Oświęcim — opened their doors for attendees who wished to pray with a Jewish community Weisz-Gut told the Forward last year that she frequently visits the synagogue alone and also asks visitors to the museum to help her say the Mourner’s Kaddish a prayer that requires a quorum of 10 Jews JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent I accept the Privacy Policy Poland — The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops is being marked on Monday at the site of the former death camp a ceremony that is widely being treated as the last major observance that any notable number of survivors will be able to attend Nazi German forces murdered some 1.1 million people at the site in southern Poland which was under German occupation during World War II Most of the victims were Jews killed on an industrial scale in gas chambers gay people and others who were targeted for elimination in the Nazi racial ideology some wearing blue-and-white striped scarves that recall their prison uniforms including many Poles who resisted the occupation of their country They were joined by Polish President Andrzej Duda whose nation lost 6 million citizens during the war He carried a candle and walked with Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum director Piotr Cywinski on whose land — occupied by Nazi Germans at that time — the Germans built this extermination industry and this concentration camp are today the guardians of memory," Duda said to reporters afterward He spoke of the "unimaginable pain" inflicted on so many people and described the dozens of survivors attending the observances Monday as "the last survivors coming to this site." the Germans murdered 6 million Jews from all over Europe annihilating two-thirds of Europe's Jews and one-third of all Jews worldwide 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day officials and others were pausing to remember "The Holocaust was a collective endeavor by thousands of ordinary people utterly consumed by the hatred of difference," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement "That is the hatred we stand against today and it is a collective endeavor for all of us to defeat it." world leaders and royalty will join with elderly camp survivors organizers are choosing to make them the center of the observances Among the leaders expected to attend are Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Germany has never sent both of its highest state representatives to the observances before It is a sign of Germany's continued commitment to take responsibility for the nation's crimes even amid a growing far-right movement that would like to forget French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also attend while Britain's King Charles III will also be there Russian representatives were in the past central guests at the anniversary observances in recognition of the Soviet liberation of the camp on Jan and the huge losses suffered by Soviet forces in the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany But they have not been welcome since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 Become an NPR sponsor On 27 January 1945, prisoners at the main camp of Auschwitz watched as the soldiers of the First Ukrainian Front came and opened the gates under the mocking words of "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Makes Freedom") This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the most notorious war-time concentration camp in the world Auschwitz was established in 1940 when Nazi Germany opened a new camp complex in Oświęcim in southern Poland to hold prisoners What began as a political prison of Polish nationals evolved into a death factory of Europe's Jews and the name Auschwitz would soon become synonymous with genocide and the Holocaust little was known about the camp's activities until one man decided to risk his life to find out a dissident who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time But to a small group of an underground resistance group against Nazi Germany a husband and father to two children and a Catholic "Witold Pilecki was one of the founders of the resistance movement organisation called the Secret Polish Army – TAP, for short," said Dr Piotr Setkiewicz, historian at Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum "When TAP had news of the new Auschwitz camp discussions began about sending someone there to find out what was happening there Pilecki agreed to take on this task." "It should be emphasised that at that time no one in TAP knew what Auschwitz was," Setkiewicz continued "It was only then that the first telegrams informing about the deaths of people deported in the first transport from Warsaw began to arrive." on a September day in 1940 he arranged to be in his sister-in-law's apartment in Warsaw's Żoliborz neighbourhood during a police raid and used the Jewish identity of a deceased Polish soldier to ensure he was arrested Pilecki was marched through the gates inscribed with the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" where he would spend the next two and a half years infiltrating the camp and sending evidence to warn the world about its activities hunger and risks of death like any other prisoner The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum will be holding a day of memorial ceremony on 27 January 2025 with the attendance of worldwide dignitaries. International visitors will be able watch from a special tent area on this day; information about public access to the event can be found on 80.auschwitz.org He wrote reports that were smuggled out of the camp he inspired an underground movement that sabotaged facilities and assassinated SS officers while arranging for contraband food and medicine to be brought in his family had little idea about his military activity "We had a pretty pale idea that Dad was doing some important tasks but I suppose she didn't know the details of Dad's tasks either," said Pilecki's daughter "The conspiratorial requirements were that for the safety of both Dad and ourselves Pilecki highlighted the reality of Auschwitz and requested that Allied Forces attack the camp Although the documents did reach some of the top commanders they were mostly ignored since Poland wasn't a military priority Even on the day of the camp's eventual liberation the Red Army only became aware of the camp by chance after freeing nearby city of Krakow • The ancient civilisation that inspired US democracy • Why humans are drawn to the ends of the Earth • Pakistan's lost city of 40,000 people Although Pilecki's testimonies did not directly lead to the camp's liberation they did create the first mass conspiracy about the conditions there He was the first to bring firsthand information on the tortures and the deaths of prisoners to the world three years before Allied commanders officially recognised the camp's existence It took another two years after his escape for the surviving prisoners of Auschwitz to be rescued out of a total of almost 1.1 million people brought to the camp forced to sign a confession as a traitor and was secretly executed in jail in 1948 Mentions of Witold Pilecki were forbidden and the reports and documents of his actions were destroyed or filed away It's important to understand that the site of the former camp – today a Memorial and Museum – is a preserved authentic space that bears witness to one of the greatest tragedies in human history We urge all visitors to approach their visit with the utmost respect their visit will become a moment of reflection and learning We encourage people to take the time to educate themselves on the history of Auschwitz before their visit As Pilecka-Optułowicz and her brother Andrej listened to reports of Pilecki's trial and execution on the radio they grew up being told their father was a traitor and enemy of the state It wasn't until the 1990s that they found out their father had been a hero all along Pilecka-Optułowicz has memories of her father being a kind but stern man "I remember very clearly the many conversations I had with my father about nature – how the chain of life works how important all the creatures in that chain are," she said "He also showed me the world in a friendly and loving way and told me how to behave in different situations… he instilled in us that punctuality and truthfulness were particularly important I have carried these lessons all my life." Soviet Communism ended in Poland in 1989 and Pilecki's real story was finally told. Books were published about him, streets were named after him and his story was taught in Polish schools. A Pilecki Institute was established to research 20th-Century Polish political history and honour those who gave aid to Polish nationals in difficult times and Pilecki's story forms part of the exhibits at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum the Museum will be opening a new exhibition section dedicated to Polish citizens in AuschwitzA tour of the museum is an emotionally intense experience; a raw account of the cruelty human beings are capable of against each other Dorota Kuczyńska has been working at the museum as a guide and press officer for 27 years and finds her role both challenging and emotionally taxing Her job involves not just guiding and storytelling meeting and listening to friends and relatives of previous prisoners who lost family members here and the subject matter we address during visits is incredibly demanding and sombre," she said she adds that it has many rewarding moments "Seeing young people who not only listen to the history of the past but also engage in discussions about the present and how to build a world based on respect empathy and truth gives us hope for humanity and motivates us to continue this vital work." 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The camps existed Oswiecim opened the Museum of Memory of the Region’s Residents to help process this history it tells the stories of locals who risked everything to aid prisoners This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Trees and bushes growing around the old railroad tracks once used to transport Jews and others from across Europe to Auschwitz the Nazi German extermination and labor camp women and children were transported from across Europe to Auschwitz-Birkenau horrendous journeys in which they were packed into cramped cattle cars deciding who would be murdered immediately and who would be used for slave labor Many of those rail tracks are abandoned but still exist within the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum stark reminders of the industrial nature of the killing But they also extend beyond the memorial site cutting through fields and running along family homes and a bus station aging testaments of the horrors making their mark on life today Snow blankets railroad tracks once used to transport Jews and others from across Europe to Auschwitz Railroad tracks once used to transport Jews and others from across Europe to Auschwitz are seen next to the former camp’s parking in Oswiecim 1.1 million people perished at Auschwitz in gas chambers or from disease and Soviet prisoners of war were also among the victims The camp was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan Nazi Germany established its largest extermination camp in Oswiecim — the name of the Polish town that was called Auschwitz under German occupation — because it was centrally located in Europe with the railway infrastructure making it possible to transport Jews there from all across Europe — from Belgium On the grounds of Birkenau there is a memorial in the form of a rail carriage dedicated to the memory of the 420,000 Hungarian Jews who were deported to Auschwitz from May to July 1944 the world will mark the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation with elderly survivors of Nazi atrocities gathering with state leaders and royalty Old railroad tracks once used to transport Jews and others from across Europe to Auschwitz People visit the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim Flowers lie on the old railroad tracks once used to transport Jews and others from across Europe to Auschwitz at the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim People visit railroad tracks and a carriage used for prisoner transports in WWII just outside the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim run outside the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim BERLIN — World leaders and dozens of Holocaust survivors gathered Monday at the former site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation by Soviet troops at the end of World War II The ceremony is regarded as the likely last major observance of Auschwitz's liberation that any notable number of survivors will be able to attend Among those who traveled to the site was 86-year-old Tova Friedman who was 6 years old when she was among the 7,000 people liberated from Auschwitz on Jan She flew to Poland this month from her home in New Jersey "The world has become toxic," Friedman told the Associated Press There may be another terrible destruction." Nazi German forces murdered more than 1 million people at Auschwitz a Nazi-run death camp built in a region of southern Poland under German occupation during World War II killed on an industrial scale in gas chambers gay people and disabled people for elimination President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East who played a key role in negotiating this month's Gaza truce agreement between Israel and Hamas father of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Trump's choice as ambassador to France Dozens of other leaders and dignitaries attended Monday's ceremony Britain's King Charles III and French President Emmanuel Macron but all were asked by organizers not to speak at the ceremony they were requested to listen and observe as they toured the Auschwitz grounds which now operates as a memorial site whose goal is to inform visitors about the atrocities that happened at the site Poland's President Andrzej Duda remembered the victims of the camp in a television address saying his country has a special role in preserving the memory of Auschwitz on whose land occupied by Nazi Germany the Germans built this extermination industry and concentration camp," said Duda At the ceremony on the former grounds of Auschwitz laid a wreath at the so-called "Death Wall," where shooting executions took place Some of the survivors wore blue-and-white striped scarves the colors of the prisoner uniforms they were forced to wear at the camp In several interviews with German media, Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented that it was "depressing how many people in Germany hardly know anything about the Holocaust." Each state in Germany has control over how the Holocaust is taught in schools His comments came days after billionaire Elon Musk joined via video link a political rally organized by the far-right Alternative for Germany Party telling thousands of party supporters that Germany places too much emphasis on "past guilt." "Children should not be held responsible for the sins of their parents let alone their great-grandparents," Musk said to cheers A day after the political rally, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote in a post on X that calls at the rally "about 'Great Germany' and 'the need to forget German guilt for Nazi crimes' sounded all too familiar and ominous Especially only hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz." In an appearance on Germany's public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany said of the horrors Nazi Germany perpetuated at Auschwitz: "We must not allow commemoration to be 'enough.' " A picture taken just after the liberation by the Soviet army in January shows a group of children wearing concentration camp uniforms behind barbed wire fencing in the Oswiecim (Auschwitz) Nazi concentration camp is escorted from the Warsaw Ghetto by German soldiers on April 19 shows a group of children wearing concentration camp uniforms behind barbed wire fencing in the Oswiecim (Auschwitz) nazi concentration camp a group of Polish Jews are led away for deportation by German SS soldiers during the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto by German troops after an uprising in the Jewish quarter This June 1958 image shows buildings behind a defunct high voltage electric fence of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz I An aerial view of the Birkenau Extermination Camp at Oswiecim CAPTION CORRECTS INFO FILE - Part of the Auschwitz war crimes court inspects the former Nazi extermination center in Poland in Dec The anniversary has taken on added poignancy due to the advanced age of the survivors and an awareness that they will soon be gone even as new wars makes their warnings as relevant as ever Part of the Auschwitz war crimes court inspects the former Nazi extermination center in Poland in Dec The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum says it expects about 50 survivors of Auschwitz and other camps to attend the events on Monday afternoon the powerful will sit and listen to the voices of the former prisoners The German authorities founded the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1940 in the Polish town of Oswiecim after their invasion of Poland in 1939 Early on it was a camp for Polish prisoners including Catholic priests and members of the Polish underground resistance The Germans later established some 40 camps in the area a vast site used for mass killings in gas chambers Those arriving at Birkenau were brought in cramped the Nazis selected those they could use as forced laborers children and babies — were gassed to death soon after their arrival Altogether the Germans murdered 6 million Jews in the Holocaust at Auschwitz and other camps in ghettoes and in mass executions close to people’s homes Soviet troops arrived at the gates of the Auschwitz and found some 7,000 weak and emaciated prisoners a correspondent for the Soviet newspaper Pravda who was a first eyewitness described a scene of unbelievable suffering: “I saw thousands of tortured people whom the Red Army had saved — people so thin that they swayed like branches in the wind people whose ages one could not possibly guess.” At the time Allied troops were moving across Europe in a series of offensives against Germany Soviet troops first liberated the Majdanek camp near Lublin in July 1944 Many confronted the grief of murdered parents and children a historian of the Holocaust at Tel Aviv University said in a recent online discussion about the anniversary Today the site is a museum and memorial managed by the Polish state and is one of the most visited sites in Poland Its mission is to preserve the objects there and the memory of what happened there; it organizes guided tours and its historians carry out research Auschwitz is not only the place where 1.1 million people It also looms large in the world’s collective memory as the embodiment of all the Nazis crimes One reason that Auschwitz has emerged as the leading symbol of the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes is that it was also a labor camp and thousands survived eyewitnesses who could tell the world what happened there which for example barely happened in sites which didn’t have such a forced labor component,” said Thomas Van de Putte a scholar specialized in cultural and collective Holocaust memory at King’s College London and mass killings also took place at Belzec and other camps but the Germans sought to cover up the evidence of their crimes the Germans left behind barracks and watchtowers the remains of gas chambers and the hair and personal belongings of people killed there The “Arbeit macht frei” (work will set you free) gate is recognized the world over what remains has also left its mark on the collective conscience As Van der Putte notes: “You have the gate You have the incredibly long railway platform which leads to the former crematoria and gas chambers.” a country that for decades has been expressing remorse for the nation’s crimes under Hitler will be represented by both Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Also attending will be the president of Austria whose dictator Benito Mussolini formed an alliance with Hitler Others attending include Poland’s President Andrzej Duda Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron who has long worked to promote Holocaust remembrance will also attend along with other European royalty Russian President Vladimir Putin was an honored guest at the 60th anniversary in 2005 a testament to the Soviet role in liberating Auschwitz and the heavy price paid by Soviet troops in defeating Germany But he is not welcome anymore due to Russian aggression in Ukraine It will be the third year in a row — following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 — with no Russia representative It is hard to imagine the presence of Russia which clearly does not understand the value of freedom,” museum director Piotr Cywiński said Danica Kirka in London and Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices Oswiecim has more than eight centuries of history and some are growing resentful that the world knows little about them beyond the five years of Nazi terror next door The bright yellow Zoo Pet Shop is hard to miss for anyone driving along one of the main streets that leads to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum on the outskirts of Oswiecim The store has been in Tomasz Borowski’s family for nearly 30 years and he’s gotten used to answering questions about living and working just blocks away from one of the world’s most notorious landmarks The Nazis killed more than one million people at Auschwitz-Birkenau between 1940 and 1945 He was an officer in the Polish army who was imprisoned and shot at Auschwitz in 1942 for organizing an armed insurrection against the German occupiers “When I was studying in Krakow a lot of people asked me do you live there?’ Everybody thinks it’s just only a museum and that’s all Most people in Oswiecim have gotten used to living in the shadow of Auschwitz-Birkenau and watching visitors travel back and forth to the museum from Krakow But there is resentment that this city of 40,000 has more than 800 years of history and yet it’s only known for the five-year period during the Second World War “We have to remember that the Nazis could have created a death camp like this anywhere in Europe and we are now trying to combine the challenges that a typical modern city has with the remembrance of what happened here,” said Janusz Chwierut Chwierut was among dozens of local dignitaries who led the city’s commemoration on Jan 27 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau In an interview he said the city has gone to great lengths to honour the memory of those who died “But we also have to remember that the city has the right to develop.” The museum and the city of Oswiecim also has its own goals.” Oswiecim once had a thriving Jewish community and before the war Jews made up roughly 60 per cent of the population Only a handful of the city’s 8,000 Jews survived the Holocaust and the postwar Soviet rulers forced those who remained to leave There are plenty of attractions in the city for tourists who care to stick around a Jewish museum and a market square full of restaurants during the war and used Auschwitz prisoners as slave labour A sign near the museum also calls for compensation for people who lost their houses during the construction of the camps The city has also struggled to find ways to encourage commercial development without disrespecting the memory of those who died the opening of a dance club called System caused an uproar The club was located in an old leather factory about two kilometres from the museum loud music and scantily clad dancers were inappropriate given the proximity to the site news that a community music festival would take place 1.3 kilometres from the museum drew critics “Some have considered it a scandal that residents will be having fun a stone’s throw from a concentration camp,” an article in the local newspaper said at the time a Polish-American who works at the International Youth Meeting Centre said living in Oswiecim has always been a challenge “It’s not that we want our town to be flooded with visitors But at the same time there’s this discomfort when you meet somebody and they’re accusing you of trampling the sacred ground that is Auschwitz.” The youth centre was built in the 1980s and was supposed to serve as a bridge between the museum and the city while educating young people about racism Kennedy said there’s still a disconnect between the two who works at a neighbourhood cultural centre near the museum finds the disconnect exasperating at times “It’s normal life here,” he said explaining how Oswiecim is just like any other city The culture centre has a small model of the city’s historic centre and Mr He said that in the past few years more visitors have been taking the tours and discovering Oswiecim Hans-Jakob Schindler is director of the Counter Extremism Project the new owners of the Höss house at the edge of the camp There is hope that the opening of a new centre to combat extremism will also bring more people to the city and break down barriers The main part of the centre will be located in the former residence of Rudolf Höss the Nazi commander of Auschwitz-Birkenau who lived in a house next to the camp for four years with his wife and five children Höss was a leading figure in Hitler’s plan to exterminate all Jews and he transformed Auschwitz-Birkenau into a sprawling complex He tried to shield his children from the horror of the camps by clouding the glass in their top-floor bedrooms But any open window would have brought the sounds of prisoners screaming and the smell of a nearby crematorium senior director of the Counter Extremism Project “There is no way that anyone who’s lived in this house would not understand what’s going on,” he added The CEP has bought a neighbouring property as well and plans to establish the Auschwitz Center on Hate Schindler said the centre will host regular conferences that the centre will be another draw for the town,” he said Klaudia Pedrys grew up in Oswiecim and she wouldn’t live anywhere else and very safe,” she said as she walked with friends near the train station “When some people come to us they look like this,” she added making a shocked expression which has more to offer than just the museum Report an editorial error Report a technical issue Editorial code of conduct Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following \n \n \n \n \n \n Ceremonies in Oswiecim on Jan 27 marked 80 years since Allied forces liberated the death camp More than a million people died at Auschwitz-Birkenau: mostly Jews Soviet POWs and others deemed undesirable by the Nazis.\n \n \n \n \n","type":"raw_html"},{"_id":"DJGMAZRGAVFGNCC2C6UORTB5UI","content":"\n \n \n \n \n \n \n Before the war about 60 per cent of Oswiecim’s people were Jewish and murals in town still honour this history Very few of the 8,000 Jews who lived here survived the Holocaust.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n This chemical plant which once supplied Nazi Germany with fuel and synthetic rubber was built by enslaved labour on land expropriated from locals \n \n \n \n \n","type":"raw_html"},{"_id":"S37UEAM5WBD65HRJDJGIFW4IKE","additional_properties":{},"content":"The city has also struggled to find ways to encourage commercial development without disrespecting the memory of those who died.","type":"text"},{"_id":"B6W72U2ZDNBORCFL3ZOBHOPXWU","additional_properties":{},"content":"In 2000 The club shut down within months.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JFI2YRX5DFEUFG5CXG26BNTVXI","additional_properties":{},"content":"Last year “Some have considered it a scandal that residents will be having fun a stone’s throw from a concentration camp,” an article in the local newspaper said at the time.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P7NZZ7VFDRCZRISELXFTZKZQPA","additional_properties":{},"content":"David Kennedy But at the same time there’s this discomfort when you meet somebody and they’re accusing you of trampling the sacred ground that is Auschwitz.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"CEUHKKS4TVGHTDIZNCKNNJFC4E","additional_properties":{},"content":"The youth centre was built in the 1980s and was supposed to serve as a bridge between the museum and the city while educating young people about racism Kennedy said there’s still a disconnect between the two.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MAX7UDHL45AUZMV3A7MMZ7GYMI","additional_properties":{},"content":"Tomasz Klimczak many people,” he said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HFPYFQTZIVANFP6ZLCZUF3HLQQ","content":"\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A model of Oswiecim at Tomasz Klimczak’s cultural centre includes several historic stops he shows to visitors on his bus tours broadening their knowledge beyond what they can see at Auschwitz-Birkenau.\n \n \n \n \n","type":"raw_html"},{"_id":"TXCTZOSYWNCBTHTIXXKAC3VG7E","content":"\n \n \n \n \n \n \n David Kennedy works with Barbara Daczynska at a centre that connects the museum with youth in Oswiecim He says there is more work to be done to fulfill that mission.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n Careful conservation work aims to give visitors a realistic picture of what the camp looked like during the Holocaust the new owners of the Höss house at the edge of the camp.","copyright":"@ Copyright 2025 all rights reserved","created_date":"2025-01-29T14:03:14Z","credits":{"affiliation":[{"name":"The Globe and Mail","type":"author"}],"by":[{"name":"Anna Liminowicz","type":"author"}]},"distributor":{"mode":"reference","reference_id":"dc4e5d05-9d97-4f8c-9f76-c897a66d93c4"},"geo":{},"height":2668,"last_updated_date":"2025-04-29T14:03:16Z","licensable":false,"owner":{"id":"tgam"},"slug":"Auschwitz Poland","source":{"name":"The Globe and Mail","source_type":"Freelance","additional_properties":{"editor":"photo center"},"edit_url":"","system":"photo center"},"subtitle":"Auschwitz the Nazi commander of Auschwitz-Birkenau who lived in a house next to the camp for four years with his wife and five children.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2A2QIMSY7ZHMLNQ2YBBJZHOONA","additional_properties":{},"content":"Mr “There is no way that anyone who’s lived in this house would not understand what’s going on,” he added.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DF3Z27GLBZA4XDRV4MFCHNQOAM","additional_properties":{},"content":"The CEP has bought a neighbouring property as well and plans to establish the Auschwitz Center on Hate that the centre will be another draw for the town,” he said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BS3ONSGLUZBXHGL52A4XBGM2UE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Klaudia Pedrys grew up in Oswiecim and she wouldn’t live anywhere else which has more to offer than just the museum.","copyright":"@ Copyright 2025 all rights reserved","created_date":"2025-01-29T14:04:50Z","credits":{"affiliation":[{"name":"The Globe and Mail","type":"author"}],"by":[{"name":"Anna Liminowicz","type":"author"}]},"distributor":{"mode":"reference","reference_id":"dc4e5d05-9d97-4f8c-9f76-c897a66d93c4"},"geo":{},"height":2668,"last_updated_date":"2025-04-29T14:05:18Z","licensable":false,"owner":{"id":"tgam"},"slug":"Auschwitz ","email":"pwaldie@globeandmail.com","contributor":false,"role":"Correspondent","slug":"paul-waldie","firstName":"Paul","longBio":"Paul Waldie is The Globe and Mail’s Europe Correspondent Paul has been a reporter and editor for 30 years, taking on everything from the Bre-X gold fraud to the conviction of Conrad Black, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Britain's departure from the European Union and the war in Ukraine numerous Wimbledon championships and spent a season with the Winnipeg Jets when the team made its triumphant return to the city in 2011 As editor of The Globe’s Report on Business section Paul managed the largest financial newsroom in Canada and was responsible for expanding the paper’s business and investment coverage in print and online In 2016, he moved to the UK to cover Britain and Europe. Since February 2022, he has been part of the team of Globe reporters covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He has been to Ukraine several times since the start of the war and his work on the refugee crisis has won accolades in Canada Paul has been a regular presence on television and radio He was a part-time host on Canada’s Business News Network for years and he's a regular contributor to radio outlets in Canada and the UK He’s won four National Newspaper Awards and been nominated for several other honours He also wrote a best-selling book on the McCain family called A House Divided Paul has also worked at the Vancouver Province the Financial Post and the National Post where he was national editor Tony Keller is a columnist with The Globe and Mail He joined The Globe in 1991 as an editorial writer; over a career of more than 30 years he has also served as editor of The Financial Post Magazine managing editor of Maclean’s and a TV news anchor on BNN (now BNN-Bloomberg) He returned to The Globe in 2013 to become the paper's editorials editor and remained in that position until 2022 he’s a graduate of Duke University and Yale Law School and has also been a visiting fellow at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Wilson Center in Washington D.C He’s been nominated three times for the National Newspaper Award for editorial writing Adam Radwanski is a policy columnist and feature writer for The Globe and Mail's Report on Business Specializing in solutions-oriented reporting and analysis his current focus is on opportunities and challenges around boosting Canada's economic sovereignty during a time of continental and global tumult His recent work has included serving as the Globe's climate-policy columnist focusing on the transition to a low-carbon economy he was also finalist in 2024 for the SABEW Canada Best in Business award for opinion writing and a co-recipient of the Canadian Journalism Foundation's award for climate solutions reporting He was previously a political feature writer and a member of the Globe's editorial board He made his start in journalism as the founder of Canada's first online political magazine was a columnist and editor at the National Post and was managing editor for online services at Maclean's Andrew Willis is a business columnist for the Report on Business Working in business communications and journalism for three decades from 2010 to 2016 he was senior vice-president of communications for Brookfield Asset Management a leading global alternative asset management company which exposed the ways that Canadian police services mishandle sexual assault cases training and practices around sexual violence Doolittle’s other notable projects include the “Power Gap”, an investigation of gender inequities in the workforce, and “Secret Canada,” which examines Canada’s broken freedom of information system She is the author of two books, “Had It Coming – What’s Fair In The Age of #MeToo?,” which was shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize for non-fiction, and “Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story,” both of which were national bestsellers Jameson Berkow is the capital markets reporter for The Globe and Mail to cover the economic implications of cannabis legalization He left in early 2020 to start an entrepreneurship magazine and rejoined The Globe in early 2022 to cover financial regulation and governance for Globe Advisor With more than a decade of experience in financial journalism Jameson was most recently the senior reporter for BNN Bloomberg (formerly the Business News Network) where he led live daily coverage of major business news from the television station’s Toronto headquarters He previously worked as the station’s Western Canada bureau chief based in Calgary where his reporting on pipeline politics and the 2014 oil price crash was nominated for numerous awards.\nHis series of reports from Fort McMurray Alberta in 2015 was a finalist for the RTDNA Dave Rogers Award Jameson was the technology reporter for the Financial Post in Toronto where he created and hosted the FP Tech Desk podcast and authored the weekly Startup Spotlight profile series Jameson got his start in journalism in 2007 as a fact-checker for Toronto Life magazine where his first byline was for a story about two dogs getting married Chris Wilson-Smith writes the Business Brief newsletter for The Globe and Mail He has served in several capacities in about a decade at the newspaper including as Foreign Editor and Deputy National editor and has spent most of his time in the Report on Business Chris has worked as a journalist at The Canadian Press He has also held senior communications positions at the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Waterloo Paul Attfield is a reporter at The Globe and Mail Born in England and raised both there and in France Paul is now a dual citizen of Canada and the United Kingdom He has called Toronto home since moving there from London in 2005 Working in The Globe’s sports department since 2006 Paul started out covering predominantly soccer and rugby he has become more of a general assignment reporter writing about pretty much anything involving a bat Temur Durrani is a national reporter for The Globe and Mail a Globe business podcast about how our failures shape us he was a technology reporter for The Globe’s Report on Business he broke news and wrote extensively about Canadian firms like Shopify turbulence in global cryptocurrency markets A globe-trotting newshound hailing from British Columbia and even the Raptors’ historic run to the NBA final Before joining The Globe in February of 2022 where he reported investigative stories and business features for broadcast and digital audiences he was a staffer at the Winnipeg Free Press A juror since 2021 for the annual Dalton Camp Award which grants young writers with a $10,000 prize for the best essay on the link between media and democracy TV and radio panels to provide news analysis He speaks in six languages fluently or conversationally (guess which ones!) takes his caffeinated beverages very seriously Carrie Tait is a reporter in The Globe and Mail’s Calgary Bureau Her coverage ranges from race relations in her home province of Saskatchewan to the lighthearted topic of skiing cats in Alberta Carrie has reported on the wildfires and floods in Alberta and British Columbia; how Cargill’s meat-processing plant in High River became the site of Canada’s largest single outbreak of COVID-19; and naming trends among Calgary Stampede participants she covered energy for the Globe’s Report on Business and has also reported for the National Post She joined the National Post’s Calgary bureau in 2008 \n\nAfter completing The Globe’s summer reporting program Pippa has written for a number of The Globe’s newsletters She has also been a regular contributor to a personal finance series about the great wealth transfer Pippa was lead editor for The Tyee's What Works series on sustainable enterprises She also reported breaking news for CityNews Vancouver freelanced for Canada’s National Observer and worked as a research 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Its 2024 season concluded with an interview on housing, immigration and economics with former prime minister Justin Trudeau Irene's writing has been published by the Financial Post National Trust for Canada and the Canadian Museums Association was broadcast nationally by CBC as part of the Absolutely Canadian series Irene holds a Masters of Building History from the University of Cambridge Her dissertation explored the development of 19th-century bank architecture in Toronto She received a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University where she was awarded the University Medal for ranking first in class Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Click here to subscribe If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. 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For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions Home News Highlights Spotlights At Auschwitz memorial survivors see echoes of the past in rising antisemitism OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — Auschwitz survivors warned Monday of the rising antisemitism and hatred they are witnessing in the modern world as they gathered with world leaders and European royalty on the 80th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation. The numbers have already dwindled considerably from the 200 survivors who attended the 75th anniversary event Nazi German forces murdered some 1.1 million people at the site in southern Poland, which was under German occupation during World War II. Most of the victims were Jews killed on an industrial scale in gas chambers, but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, gay people and others who were targeted for elimination in the Nazi racial ideology called on those gathered to turn their thoughts to the victims of the Holocaust recalling that the number of those murdered was always far greater than the smaller group of survivors “We have always been a tiny minority,” Turski said In all, the Nazi regime murdered 6 million Jews from all over Europe, annihilating two-thirds of Europe’s Jews and one-third of all Jews worldwide. In 2005, the United Nations designated Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day decried the rising hatred which he blames on “increasingly vocal movements of the radical and anti-democratic right.” He said he also sees that in Sweden where he settled after fleeing postwar antisemitism in Poland an attitude that preaches hostility and hatred towards others antisemitism and homophobia as virtues,” Weintraub Germany was represented by both Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the first time that the country’s two highest leaders attended. It was a sign of Germany’s continued commitment to take responsibility for the nation’s crimes, even with a far-right party gaining increased support in recent years who leads a nation defending itself against Russia’s brutal invasion along with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda Britain’s King Charles III and other royalty made up the Red Army forces that liberated the camp “The evil that seeks to destroy the lives of entire nations still remains in the world,” Zelenskyy Russian representatives were honored guests at the past observances in recognition of the Red Army liberation of the camp on Jan But they have not been welcome since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 The Russian leadership expressed anger over its exclusion “We will always remember that it was the Soviet soldier who crushed this dreadful the greatness of which will forever remain in world history,” President Vladimir Putin said in a message to participants called on the leaders gathered to oppose antisemitism saying it was “the world’s silence that led to Auschwitz.” the world finally saw where the step-by-step progression of antisemitism leads All the horrors within these gates,” Lauder said He also said that while Adolf Hitler’s first targets were Jews “more than 60 million human beings were dead and this continent lay in ruins.” recalled how he has been attending the anniversary observances for 50 years But I leave today with the understanding that I did my best I did my utmost to be worthy of the memory of all those who were lost there … I hope I was worthy,” he said to applause Another survivor who spoke was 86-year-old Tova Friedman who was brought to the camp aged 5 with her mother and was 6 when she was among the 7,000 people liberated She recalled arriving after a long ride in a dark cattle car thirsty and very terrified and still remembers the cries of desperate women around her When she arrived at Auschwitz the sky was obscured by dark smoke and stench from the burning bodies After the war Friedman settled in the United States where she became a therapist and raised a family She fears that rising antisemitism is also destroying the safe haven that the United States represented for Jews in the postwar era “The world has become toxic,” she told The Associated Press a day before the observances There may be another terrible destruction.” Associated Press writers Illia Novikov in Kyiv and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US The AP is solely responsible for this content Discover the best of AP content in every format Explore diverse topics through our world-class journalism Eighty years after the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp kosher food and prayers are returning to the nearby town of Oświęcim The Jewish center in Oświęcim announced ready-made kosher food packages that will be offered to visitors at the center immediately after Passover and ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day The kosher food packages will be offered at a low price to visitors including tens of thousands of participants in the "March of the Living" who will arrive at Auschwitz on April 24 The Jewish center will also offer organized prayers for visitors at the extermination camp starting on Holocaust Remembrance Day The Jewish center in Oświęcim opened in 2000 and has since been visited by over 800,000 people The chair of the Jewish center in Oświęcim told the news agency JTA that "the opening of the first kosher franchise in the city after the war was a natural step ensuring that kosher-observant visitors can pray in our synagogue while enjoying a kosher meal at the same time." Jews who visited the Auschwitz extermination camp have had to ensure they eat kosher themselves or rely on catering from the city of Krakow which is over an hour's drive from the extermination camp Oświęcim was a town with a vibrant Jewish community who moved to Oświęcim in 2023 with her Polish husband Barbed wire lines the road to work for Pawel Sawicki deputy spokesman of the Auschwitz museum at the site of the former Nazi death camp that was liberated 80 years ago More than 1 million people died at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp built by Nazi Germany when it occupied Poland in World War II — most of them Jews About 850 people work at the museum to preserve their memory a job with more emotional baggage than a usual nine-to-five “They say that when you start working here either you leave very quickly because the history is too much or you stay for a long time,” said Sawicki who is in charge of social media at the museum and has worked there for 17 years “It helps if you find some meaning to the mission,” the 44-year-old said Sawicki’s office is inside a former hospital for the Nazis’ notorious SS there is an old gas chamber and farther on stands the camp’s “Arbeit Macht Frei,” meaning “Work will set you free,” gate To cope with the heavy emotional toll of working at Auschwitz Sawicki said he has put up “a sort of professional barrier” that keeps him sane said he makes sure to leave his “work at work” to avoid going crazy “but it’s a special job and a special place It’s impossible to leave all the history behind and not take it home with you,” he said The 60-year-old said he leads up to 400 groups of visitors each year around the former death factory More than 1.8 million people visited Auschwitz last year The museum offers tours of the site in more than 20 languages most emotional moments for Paluch are his encounters with former prisoners Paluch came across a man sitting silently — and unresponsive to questions — on a bench his arm tattooed with his former inmate number he never spoke a word to his family about what had happened here “They stopped him and took him here so that he could tell his story where it happened.. but when he walked through the ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ gate He went quiet again and no longer wanted to talk about any of it,” he said Paluch said he knows when the job has taken its toll is when I have dreams at night that I’m leading groups,” he said “That’s when I realize I need to take some time off.” a historian at the museum’s research center had for years focused on children inmates of Auschwitz but she had to abandon the difficult subject when she became a mother this particular aspect of Auschwitz history — children pregnant women and newborns — I was in no state to handle it,” she said conservator Andrzej Jastrzebiowski examined some metal containers once filled with Zyklon B the poison gas used to kill inmates at Auschwitz He recalled his anger early on — he has worked at the museum for 17 years — when he had to conserve objects that had belonged to the Nazis I realized these objects had importance as evidence of the crimes committed here and maintaining them is also part of our mission here,” the 47-year-old said Jastrzebiowski and his colleagues at the high-tech conservation department are responsible for preserving hundreds of thousands of items Most of the items had belonged to inmates before being confiscated upon arrival The conservators are also responsible for preserving the camp barracks the remnants of the blown-up crematoriums and gas chambers especially at a time when the number of living former inmates is dwindling fast “Soon there will be no more direct witnesses to testify and all that will remain are these items and they will have to tell the history,” Jastrzebiowski said he tries to discover the object’s peculiarities to keep the job from becoming a mindless routine “It helps me to think of the items’ owners it’s the opposite of what the Nazis had wanted — that their memory vanish International Holocaust Remembrance Day is on Monday next week You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed and the players in front of him did a good job of keeping most of the chances from a distance Oświęcim very nearly went up by a pair late in the opening period, but following a video review it was ruled that Henry Karjalainen played the puck into the net with a high stick Undaunted by their fruitless first period, the Tigers went back to the attack early in the second and tied it two minutes in. Lundin couldn’t hold on to Justin Scott’s high shot and Elis Hede got to the rebound and Straubing kept pressing, trying to take the lead, but Lundin was in top form – his best stop was a brilliant glove save off ex-NHL defenceman Justin Braun Against the run of play, Oświęcim regained the lead at the game’s exact midpoint. Ackered’s shot from the point hit the blocker of Bugl, and after a brief scramble in front, Krystian Dziubiński fired home the loose puck In the last minute of the middle frame, Oświęcim opened up a two-goal lead. On the powerplay, Hampus Olsson picked up the puck in the corner and passed out front to Daniel Olsson Trkulja The third period was Oświęcim’s best of the game giving Straubing very little in the way of quality scoring chances but that only resulted in an empty-net goal by Karjalainen with 27 seconds left '#' : location.hash;window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery = location.search === '' && location.href.slice(0 location.href.length - window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash.length).indexOf('?') !== -1 '?' : location.search;if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {var ogU = location.pathname + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash;history.replaceState(null "\/liveblog_entry\/politicians-wont-be-allowed-to-make-speeches-at-ceremony-for-80th-anniversary-of-auschwitzs-liberation\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=yqeP.hhYkypDw44WuS3EsZOG9OTQfXaU423BBMvmSgI-1746532556-1.0.1.1-pg7eWwhoBrGObBCWUyUMaET9_Te3D6Lfl0kEyVcLVXc" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null ogU);}}document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(cpo);}()); are seen next to the former camp's parking in Oswiecim Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis' Buchenwald concentration camp Sunday with warnings against “radicalization and a worldwide shift to the right.” Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Yesterday's last set of Game Day 4 games saw a special moment for one of the teams, as Polish champions and Champions Hockey League newcomers Unia Oświęcim picked up their very first win in the pan-European competition we caught the ever-calm Head Coach of the team Nik Zupančič for a quick interview The Poles started the game poorly, going 2-0 down by the end of the first frame thanks to two powerplay goals from home team KAC Klagenfurt How did Zupančič view this point of the game "The first period of the game we played too far away and gave KAC too much room and they capitalised on that," explained Zupančič In the second period, Oświęcim made it 2-1 but then got knocked back down to 3-1 before the 40-minute mark came "Things got better and we scored on the powerplay," said the Head Coach, noting Erik Ahopelto's powerplay goal that opened the Polish champions' score tally everything expected from Oświęcim was out the door and the visiting side went on a monumental rampage which saw them score four goals in just over eight minutes to completely turn the game on its head. What changed we started to believe," responded Zupančič "our goaltender saved us many times and we backed him by taking the chances up front." What does this win mean in context of the last four games it was always going to take us time to get used to the speed of the Champions Hockey League games but we got better game by game I'm really proud of our group but we'll stay humble - we have a lot of things to improve and work on," responded Zupančič "it's been great to be a part of this competition and learn and build up our game." what can/have Unia Oświęcim take from the CHL experience "Many things," replied the Head Coach instantly "we've met teams that are better than us skating-wise and have better reactions We can take lessons from them and build up ourselves - these types of games are really positive!" it was always going to take us time to get used to the speed of the Champions Hockey League games but we've been getting better game by day," started the Oświęcim Head Coach Oprawa kibiców Unii Oświęcim dzisiaj na meczu z Eisbären Berlin.''Welcome to the city of your biggest crime... GERMAN DEATH CAMPS''.foto: @CrossCheckIHP pic.twitter.com/VXl4HBc8my Ahead of the start of the upcoming Champions Hockey League season, we asked the Head Coaches of Unia Oświęcim's six Regular Season opponents what their thoughts are on the Polish team - here's what they had to say Ilves Tampere Head Coach Tommi Niemelä: “An interesting new opponent They’ll be a good challenge for us.” Eisbären Berlin Head Coach Serge Aubin: “Unia Oświęcim are the Polish champions They’re an opponent we’ve never played so far We know that we are not allowed to underestimate them.” Red Bull Salzburg Head Coach Oliver David: “Unia Oświęcim have a storied history and come in as an unknown to many Entering a competition as an unknown isn’t easy for anyone I look forward to preparing for this game and learning why they are champions of Poland.” KAC Klagenfurt Head Coach Kirk Furey: “Unia Oświęcim have qualified for the CHL for the very first time they have deserved it with a lot of success in their domestic league We expect that their goal will be to leave their mark on the European hockey map now so we are prepared to take on a hardworking feisty hockey team when we host them at Heidi Horten-Arena.” Straubing Tigers Head Coach Tom Pokel: “Oświęcim are another 2024 league champion Scoring a league-high 164 goals during their regular season the Poles also had the best goal differential in the Polish league at +56 Coached by Slovenian Nik Zupančič – he is no stranger me I am very familiar with his attention to detail and winning mentality Nik has strong Finnish imports and a strong Polish captain (Kristian Dziubinski) scoring over 20 goals in his last 3 seasons with the team As we know from our CHL games against Krakow in 2022 Polish teams are not ones to be taken lightly This will be a very challenging away game for the Straubing Tigers.” Oceláři Třinec Head Coach Zdeněk Moták: “We are looking forward to the game because it will be extremely interesting – especially for the fans Those from Poland won’t have to travel far to Třinec I believe that the game will be played in a fantastic atmosphere That’s why we will approach it with the utmost respect.” A gutsy performance from Polish side Unia Oświęcim, highlighted by a four-goal outburst in the third, stunned KAC Klagenfurt and their home crowd as the visitors earned a dramatic 5-4 comeback win over the Austrians producing four unanswered tallies to secure their first regulation victory and improve their chances of advancing to the postseason Klagenfurt's powerplay made its debut midway through the first period and the hosts wasted no time in utilising the extra attacker Johannes Bischofberger tucked home the first one just seconds into the man-advantage when Nicholas Petersen provided the perfect set-up as he weaved his way through traffic before sliding it across to Bischofberger Still on that same powerplay, it was Thomas Hundertpfund registering his second of the tournament when the captain wired a wrister far side past the stick of Linus Lundin to make it 2-0 The Austrians continued dictating the play and by the end of the first it was Klagenfurt outshooting Oświęcim 15-7 Erik Ahopelto picked up the loose change in front as the Polish side cut into the hosts' lead on a 5-on-3 goal that came at 31:26. Florian Vorauer stopped the initial shot but couldn't get across in time to cover the cage as Ahopelto deposited it to get his side on the board Three minutes later, Klagenfurt recaptured their two-goal lead on a brilliant tic-tac-toe passing play that saw Petersen dish it to Fabian Hochegger who found Daniel Obersteiner with a cross crease feed that the forward lifted over Lundin to secure his team's third on the night The Austrians found the scoresheet a fourth time just two minutes into the third frame when David Maier registered his first tally of the tournament when he crept in short side to bunt it past Lundin to make it 4-1 But the Polish side battled back in surprising fashion scoring three in the span of two and a half minutes Leading scorer Krystian Dziubiński managed his fifth of the season when he got prime positioning near the top of the crease and let one go that beat Vorauer. Then Daniel Olsson Trkulja made it a 4-3 contest when he pounced on a rebound and lifted it stick side Oświęcim would eventually knot things up moments later when Henry Karjalainen went short side to beat Klagenfurt's netminder and after trailing by three to start the third the visitors mustered three unanswered tallies and shifted momentum to their side The Austrians' third-period collapse continued as the Poles secured their fifth on the night when Hampus Olsson whacked home a bouncing puck to give his club the lead for the first time in the contest Vorauer was removed in favour of the extra attacker but Klagenfurt's attempt at finding the equaliser would fail as Oświęcim would complete their Herculean task and take the win Russia will be barred from next year's ceremony commemorating 80 years since the Red Army liberated the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau located in the southern Polish city of Oswiecim decided to exclude Moscow for a third time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 NATO and EU member Poland has been a staunch supporter of Kyiv since the invasion "It's the anniversary of the liberation [of the camp] but we also celebrate liberty there," museum director Piotr Cywinski said in a statement "It's difficult to imagine the presence of Russia which clearly does not understand the value of liberty." Russia had always attended the liberation ceremony But the museum denounced Moscow's attack on its neighbor as a "barbaric act." Nazi Germany built the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp after it invaded Poland in World War II The camp has become a symbol of Nazi Germany's genocide of six million European Jews one million of whom died at the site between 1940 and 1945 along with more than 100,000 non-Jews Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent." These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help please support us monthly starting from just $2 and every contribution makes a significant impact independent journalism in the face of repression Unia Oświęcim welcomed Eisbären Berlin to the Hala Lodowa MOSiR ice rink in Poland for their second game of the 2024/25 CHL season The Poles earned their first point of the season from an overtime loss while the visiting Germans were still searching for their first points but Oświęcim also proved they were worthy opponents The second period saw Eisbären regain the lead, with Lean Bergmann firing a pinpoint shot just under the crossbar The visitors looked more comfortable in their play including a few breakaways and a powerplay opportunity Eisbären controlled much of the final period, adding two more goals to solidify their lead at 4-1. Zachary Boychuk orchestrated the first goal of the period, taking advantage of a two-on-one break before perfectly timing a pass to Marcel Noebels, who buried it in the open net. The fourth goal came from Jonas Müller who unleashed a perfectly aimed shot to seal the win Oświęcim had one last chance to stage a comeback with a lengthy 5-on-3 powerplay but Eisbären’s defence held firm defending their 4-1 lead until the final buzzer and winning the reigning DEL champions their first points of the season. The representatives of Russia will not be invited to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp which will be celebrated on 27 January 2025.As reported by the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, Piotr Cywiński stressed that the memory of the camp’s victims will be honoured at the anniversary celebration but this is also the "anniversary of liberation" "It is hard to imagine the presence of Russia which clearly does not understand the value of freedom I would like it to be possible again someday but let's be serious – it certainly won't be in the next four months," he said.The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum located in the southern Polish city of Oświęcim decided not to invite Russian representatives for the third time since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need Stay up-to-date on important news from TribLIVE 1-800-909-8742 © 2025 Trib Total Media | All Rights Reserved About Us Advertise Career Opportunities Contact Advertising Contact Circulation Contact Newsroom Contact Us Feedback Request Correction Resource Center Scholarship Opportunities Send Letter to the Editor Send News Tip Subscribe Subscriber Services Blog eFeatures Email Newsletters eTrib Facebook Home Delivery Instagram LinkedIn Marketing Minute Store Locations TribLIVE App - App Store TribLIVE App - Google Play X (formerly Twitter) Arts & Entertainment Best of the Best Business Directory Circulars Contests Coronavirus Lifestyles Local News YaJagOff Obituaries Opinion Our Publications Photos Real Estate Sports Video Weather Cookie Settings Privacy Policy Terms of Service Log in and download the free e-publication of the latest A&B The printed version is available for sale online in our store and press salons throughout Poland unique e-mail [will also be used as login in the portal] Only name - check the correctness of the data Only the last name - check the correctness of the data password must be at least 8 characters long * fields required for registration; data can be completed in account settings after logging in ** establishment of a student account follows verification of the validity of the student ID card Please try later or let us know: contact Technology: aitnet.pl Ⓒ AiB Publishing House 2025 (ANS – Oświęcim) – The 125th anniversary of the Salesian School in Oświęcim belonging to the Salesian Province of Kraków (PLS) was a special celebration for the entire Salesian Family in Poland since the work is the Mother House of the Salesians in the country – that is 200 years ago Don Bosco had a dream in which God called him to work with young people; his dream came true and for 125 years it has also been coming true in the Salesian School in Oswiecim The celebrations for the anniversary took place throughout the weekend of 18-19 May 2024 and included several stages: the 13th Family Picnic organised by the school community; the Night of the Museums during which those who wished could visit the Salesian institute the sanctuary and the St Hyacinth Chapel; the meeting of the Salesian Past Pupils Association; and the official closing celebrations of the 125th anniversary of the school " It was wonderful – bosko in Polish There is no doubt that St John Bosco swas looking down from Heaven with particular pride on the city of Oświęcim of which he is also the patron!” Fr Łukasz Wójcik The family picnic manifested the usual Salesian joy seasoned by many attractions and a great fraternity among the hundreds of people the good food and the numerous cultural and sports offers meant that everyone could find something that interested them Throughout the day there were performances by talented young people performances by the school orchestra and various dance groups The Family Picnic event in Oświęcim has also become very popular with artists and local organisations over the years who therefore spontaneously want to show off their skills the stature of the event increases even more and an even greater number of participants is attracted the Management of Salesian Schools in Oświęcim and the entire Educative and Pastoral Community on Saturday 18 May the school opened its doors to everyone allowing visitors a more in-depth knowledge of this milestone in Polish Salesian history The main celebrations of the Jubilee took place within the walls of the school and the shrine dedicated to Mary Help of Christians After some time for the welcome and the possibility for past pupils to remember past times all guests were invited to the theatre hall where an academy for the anniversary took place The activity was opened by a short conference on the history of Salesian educational activities in Oświęcim interspersed with music from the Salesian Past Pupils' group and the songs of the "Auxilium" choir from the Board of Directors of Małopolska Voivodeship presented the Directors of the work and the School with the "Polonia Minor" award from the Marshal of Małopolska Voivodeship for their educational activities also expressed their appreciation and congratulated the leadership and staff of the Salesian educational institutions of the city those present attended the theatrical performance of the young people fronm the Salesian hostel – the "Qui pro quo" group directed by Mrs concelebrated among others by Fr Marcin Kaznowski Superior of the Province of Krakow – and presided over and with the homily of Fr Marek Studenski Vicar General of the diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec who represented the Ordinary of the diocese Archbishop Roman Pindel – all those present thanked God for the 125 years of Don Bosco's Dream in Oświęcim The weekend of celebration finally ended with a fraternal outdoor agape "It was great to be here together with the entire school and city community: this memory will remain with us forever Thanks to the guests and artists who enriched this celebration We are grateful for the beautiful things that have been happening here for 125 years and we must always remember that it is our stories that create this place" Currently the Salesian school complex of Oświęcim includes the Salesian public secondary school (high school) Salesian public technical school and public vocational school ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007 This site also uses third-party cookies to improve user experience and for statistical purposes By scrolling through this page or by clicking on any of its elements Activists and social media users are preserving the memory of a vibrant community whose extinction and centuries-long history have been eclipsed by the death camp next door OSWIECIM, Poland (JTA) — In a typical about 2.3 million people a year visit Auschwitz the infamous Nazi death camp where nearly 1 million Jews were murdered About 30,000 — or roughly 1% — of them also visit a nearby museum that represents the last vestige of how Jews in the area once lived The Auschwitz Jewish Center opened in 2000 in Oswiecim the sleepy town less than a mile from the notorious concentration camp It includes a museum with thousands of artifacts a small café that also functions as a community center and a synagogue that is the only one remaining from Oswiecim’s Jewish heyday this town of around 40,000 situated about 30 miles east of Krakow had a large and vibrant Jewish community About 8,500 of the town’s pre-Holocaust population of 14,000 was Jewish built in 1913 and a gathering place for the few dozen local Jews who survived the Holocaust hosts prayer services for the visitors who depart from the typical Auschwitz itinerary and venture into town the synagogue does keep a kosher Torah scroll in its ark by Jewish people who had just visited Auschwitz comprises the only synagogue that the Germans did not destroy there The museum was founded just a few months after the death of Oswiecim’s last remaining Jew, Szymon Klüger A childless Holocaust survivor who suffered from emotional problems and phobias, Klüger lived in a house adjacent to Lomdei Mishnayot. Shortly after his death, the late New York entrepreneur and philanthropist Fred Schwartz opened a museum at the synagogue Klüger’s old home was renovated and reopened as Café Bergson a cafeteria and education center that’s now part of the same institution as the museum “We want to represent Jewish life here before the Shoah, not the anonymity of mass death,” Schwartz, who died in 2016, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the opening ceremony Over time, the museum has intersected with a community that is committed to remembering Jewish life in Oswiecim. A newly established Facebook group called “My Jewish roots are from Oswiecim” is helping connect descendants of Oswiecim Jews from around the world — and yielding artifacts and archive material for the museum very few people would even know that a Jewish community had existed here for 400 years its memory would have been disappeared just like what happened to thousands of communities across Poland,” said Shlomi Shaked The Facebook group has generated unlikely connections. In September, when Miri Doron and Dana Rab-Eyal discovered they were likely related while commenting on a photo on the Facebook group showing two Jewish women in Oswiecim in 1940 And in July, when Nava Meir Kopel a pensioner from the town of Nes Tziona near Tel Aviv in a photo taken in Oswiecim in 1957 and uploaded to the Facebook group “Seeing him there is just moving beyond words,” Meir Kopel wrote Some of the Jews with roots in Oswiecim are donating family photos to the Auschwitz Jewish Center The museum uses the artifacts it collects — from family photos and memorabilia to elaborate chandeliers found under the synagogue’s floorboards potentially hidden there by local Jews who would never return — to educate visitors The permanent exhibition at the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswiecim Poland features expensive chandeliers that local Jews might have hid under the floorboards Communist authorities nationalized the building after the war gutted it and turned it into a carpet warehouse the synagogue became the first piece of communal property returned by the government to a Polish Jewish community later donated the space to the Auschwitz Jewish Center which restored the original furnishings and revived it as a house of prayer strong experience,” said 20-year-old Ayalah Gura who visited the Oswiecim synagogue with her school from Israel in 2019 The togetherness I experienced there was overwhelming but also positive I felt as though I’d rediscovered Judaism and prayer.” Many visitors from abroad are surprised to learn that a Jewish community even existed near the infamous camp “The reason many Jews settled here was the excellent railway and transportation connections here which were ideal for factory owners,” Szyndler said He added that similar considerations led the German authorities to build here Europe’s largest concentration and death camp watchtowers and gas chambers are perhaps the world’s most recognizable symbols of the Holocaust’s horror Some local Jews were used as slave laborers to build Auschwitz which began as an internment camp for Polish non-Jews before it became an epicenter for the genocide of Jews But most were deported to ghettos and then shipped back to be murdered in their hometown “It’s not like Oswiecim Jews had more knowledge of the Final Solution than others,” Kuncewicz said referring to the Nazi plan to murder all Jews The Germans blew up the Great Synagogue of Oswiecim which used to stand atop a hill not far from the museum the synagogue’s former foundations became a monument to its past featuring a metal box with a picture of the building amid dozens of horizontal stone slabs Historian Artur Szyndler tells a reporter about the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswiecim Many Jews from Oswiecim had positive feelings toward the town before the Holocaust a 74-year-old teacher from Israel whose father “My father always spoke warmly of Oswiecim,” Fischgrund told JTA “He used to tell me about swimming in the river and when I visit the place I see it through his eyes CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer, whose father was born in Oswiecim, said that on his first visit to Auschwitz in 2015 “I couldn’t believe how close it was,” said Blitzer whose Jewish parents left Poland after World War II The Jewish community of Oswiecim “was entirely typical,” Kuncewicz said “It had good relations with the town’s non-Jews The only thing unusual about it is that the Nazis built a death camp near it.” Poland – 5 July 2024 – Boskie Granie (Music in the style of Don Bosco) is a summer music festival which takes place on the evening of all summer Fridays in the St Hyacinth Plaza in Oświęcim Concert and theatrical meetings give the public very exciting admirable and reflective experience and everything that arises in the human heart in the encounter with art Boskie Granie took place for the first time in 2019 "Estivo Palco Musicale" is a space located between the church and the school but also a proposal involving work and leisure or the sacred and the profane This year Boskie Granie takes place for the sixth time and includes 8 meetings and concerts was opened by the Łaska Group comprising former students of the Salesian School in Oświęcim The project is carried out by the Salesians in Oświęcim and the Past Pupils of the School and co-financed by the Salesian Society and the City of Oświęcim The artist’s Birkenau cycle is based on the only pictures taken by prisoners at the Nazi death camp At the opening of a new exhibition hall in the Polish town of Oświęcim last week a curious crowd of visitors seemed impressed with the purpose-built architectural structure: a minimalist Aldo Rossi-like building that feels more like a tomb than a gallery They initially remained more sceptical of the artworks inside “Take a closer look – can you make out what it’s made of?” Obscurity is in the essence of German artist Gerhard Richter’s Birkenau cycle arguably the single most important artwork by one of the most influential artists alive today It is hard to look beyond the surface of these four 260 x 200cm pictures which the artist covered with thick layers of paint that were then scratched off reapplied and scratched off again multiple times with a squeegee You can stand in front of them for hours before you start to make out the more figurative paintings underneath the abstraction The Gerhard Richter Birkenau exhibition pavilion in Oświęcim.The donation of the Birkenau cycle to the International Youth Meeting Centre in Oświęcim is a sensation Not just because of Richter’s status and because his works sell for dozens of millions of euros but because Oświęcim lies next to the site of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz It was in the Auschwitz-II death camp on the other side of the tracks in Brzezinka (Birkenau) that the four photographs the paintings are based on were covertly taken by members of the Sonderkommando – mostly Jewish prisoners who were made to deal with the corpses of prisoners killed in gas chambers depicting naked women being rushed along the forest to the gas chambers and the burning of corpses in open air were smuggled out in a toothpaste tube by members of Polish resistance They remain the only pictures taken by prisoners of the concentration camp atrocities Richter first discovered them in the 1960s and was struck how some could be perceived at first as benign photos of the forest The necessity to look deeper drove the way he decided to deal with the Birkenau pictures not by repainting their content but by blurring it Only by obscuring the unthinkable did Richter succeed in making the horror present has been on display at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie since last March The idea to bring a print to Oświęcim came from Christoph Heubner a long-standing member of the Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste (“Action Reconciliation Service for Peace”) a German organisation devoted to confronting the crimes of nazism “Richter’s pictures in a way are coming home,” Heubner says “It’s a homage to the prisoners who made the photos He tried in his own tradition to repaint the photographs and realised very quickly it was not possible so he intended the cycle as a requiem to those who made the photographs.” Approval of the Birkenau cycle is not universal: the pictures have been described by some critics as “manipulative”, “obscene”, or even of amounting to a glorification of the Holocaust Even their method of production invites debate The edition inside the custom-made pavilion is not made up of oil paintings who rejects the idea of uniqueness and originality one of which now hangs in the entrance hall of the Reichstag in Berlin The oil version remains in the ownership of the Richter Foundation where the artist keeps those of his works he doesn’t want to circulate on the art market Does it matter that Richter donated the prints and not the “originals” Visitors to the Gerhard Richter Birkenau exhibition pavilion in Oświęcim Photograph: Dominik Smolarek“To me this rather is a kind of repetition compulsion,” says art historian Katarzyna Bojarska “The artist reproduces his gesture and shares it with numerous sites and subjects.” Whether this amounts to an act of generosity or a kind of complacency Richter has spoken of his struggles to fully understand the Sonderkommando pictures That failure to comprehend their meaning spoke of an intellectual honesty that Bojarska says she appreciated in the artist Translating painting to photographic copy and exporting it from Germany to Oświęcim suggests a confidence in German remembrance culture that some might say is misplaced The Erinnerungskultur of Richter’s native country has been debated more critically since the start of the current conflict in the Middle East It’s a testimony to the power of Richter’s cycle that it works in spite of such reservations A tall tree looks into the glass ceiling from outside connecting the paintings to the historical site The interior of the exhibition hall is dimly lit in a way that makes discerning the content of the lifesize prints even more difficult Copies of the four Sonderkommando photographs hang alongside the paintings and opposite the prints there is a huge grayscale glass mirror reflecting the crowd of locals catching them between the past and the present Free weekly newsletterYour weekly art world round-up The reason to go to the Auschwitz Memorial is to look into one’s own life The mirror is significant given that there were none inside the Auschwitz extermination camp Other than by catching a glimpse of themselves in windows prisoners did not see themselves for months “The reason to go to the Auschwitz Memorial is to look into one’s own life” “To me this is also what Richter’s cycle wants to evoke.” forced to ponder what I would do in the prisoners’ place the president of International Auschwitz Committee who himself survived the camp and the 1944 death march to Wodzisław Śląski but the stripping of dignity: “The part nobody who wasn’t there can imagine is the dehumanisation I don’t think naturalist painting makes a sufficient impression to tell the story about the Shoah The only art which came close was not realistic ‘The Germans are not simply coming here with their money’ … the Gerhard Richter Birkenau exhibition Photograph: Dominik SmolarekThe fact that Richter should be granted such pride of place close to the Auschwitz site might awaken some sceptical instincts as does the fact that the pavilion’s construction was financed by German carmaker Volkswagen a company with its own dark past as a provider of Nazi infrastructure “What strikes me is that it’s a local project where the City of Oświęcim is engaged on equal footing to the German side” a sociologist and historian of changing memories of the Holocaust “The Germans are not simply coming here with their money Given Germany’s role in the crimes of the second world war some might argue that projects like these are their obligation – some even say that Germany isn’t doing it enough.” Significantly it’s on the International Youth Meeting Centre and not the camp On my walk from Auschwitz to the centre I pass by several schools with groups of pupils hanging out after finished lessons which seems like an act of defiance in the face of their surroundings Reconciling everyday normality with the monstrous events that took place here has always been Oświecim’s reality the city has gained another layer of contrasts and perhaps nowhere else is the importance of that greater than here there will be a rule in junior category competitions setting the time limits for apnea (head down under hips level) Este miércoles llegaron las confirmaciones desde el Comité Ejecutivo de Los Angeles 2028 se sacan conclusiones que no son tan positivas El equipo logró la de oro en la prueba técnica en la capital francesa Dennis González y Sara Saldaña ganaron medallas Iris Tió se hizo este viernes con la medalla de oro en la categoría de solo técnico mientras que Txell Ferré y Lilou Lluís se han proclamado como las mejores The 19-year-old came out on top in the supremely contested Men’s Tech Solo event in Paris with less than a point separating the podium places June 21st, 2023 Artistic Swimming, Europe, International, News The Artistic Swimming European Championships got underway today in Oświęcim Poland at the III European Games with the Duet Free and Team Free Preliminary events 18 pairs faced off in the hopes of finishing in the top 12 to qualify to the Duet Free Final on 24 June Anna-Maria and Eirini Marina Alexandri of Austria silver medallists at the 2015 Baku European Games The triplet sisters unveiled their new “Condor” choreography and were awarded their full Degree of Difficulty (DD) of 40.40 we were very much aware of the new scoring system and calculated the highest possible DD during the planning phase as this gives you a big advantage,” Eirini Marina Alexandri said as a small mistake like an unfinished rotation can lead to a big deduction we feel the pressure upon performing our routine as we know we could win big but lose big as well.” Maryna and Vladyslava Aleksiiva of Ukraine placed second with 234.0022 After competing in three World Aquatics World Cups this year the twins were pleased to represent their country at these European Games “We are happy to be here and compete for the Olympic berth this is our main target now,” Vladyslava Aleksiiva said we’ve been practicing in Kyiv because our hometown Kharkiv is close to the Russian border though sometimes we cannot sleep because of the shelling Shelly Bobritsky and Ariel Nassee of Israel finished third with a score of 217.3688 Hungary and Bulgaria have qualified to the Duet Free final As part of the new artistic swimming rules they can modify and increase their DD for the final seven nations participated in the Team Free Preliminary All will go on to the Team Free Final on 25 June Competing in this event for the first time this season Spain finished at the top with a score of 303.2751 Italy settled for second with 275.4290 and Ukraine third with 254.6542 Both Italy and Ukraine received base marks and will aim for better performances in the final reigning World and European champion in the mixed duet became the first man to swim in a team routine in a major international senior competition “[For men to swim in teams] is a big milestone for our sport,” he said “Many boys can start without having to put a limit on their ambitions World and European Championships in all the events and everyone will gain something from that.” and Great Britain complete the field for the final The competition continues tomorrow with the Mixed Duet Technical Final at 10:00 and the Duet Technical Final at 18:00 Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" More from SwimSwamSee All Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our latest updates This work, V Corps Soldiers Tour Auschwitz, Birkenau for Spiritual 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