You are warmly invited to hear Maria Jurczyk speak on March 21 at 12 pm at the Remembrance Museum. For those of you who can’t come in person, the meeting will be streamed live.
Maria Jurczyk (nee Domasik) was born in Osiek in 1930.
“Before the war there was no industry here. It was men who walked to the mines to Brzeszcze on foot. Later, when they earned a little, they bought a bicycle. There was no transportation,” she says, recalling pre-war times.
September 1, 1939. Germany invaded Poland. After the September defeat, the occupation terror began. On June 14, 1940, the first transport of 728 Polish political prisoners took place.
Maria Jurczyk remembers May 9, 1941 perfectly. On that day, the Germans evicted the Domasik family and other residents of Osiek.
“A drab cart arrived. We were not allowed to take anything. Only what my mother had in boxes, not a bed, not furniture. Nothing was allowed to be taken. Everything had to be left behind,” she recounts.
The Domasik family of six ended up in Grojec. There she met other evicted persons from other neighbouring villages.
Despite their very difficult situation, the Domasiks became involved in helping Auschwitz prisoners. In their house packages were prepared to be sent to prisoners. Many people participated in the relief effort, including Kazimierz Jędrzejowski, born in 1924 in Osiek. Under the pseudonym “Maniek” he was active in the Peasant Battalions. Among his colleagues he was better known as “Kazek.” From 1943 he headed a Peasants’ Battalion group near the camp focused on delivering food, medicine and secret messages to those imprisoned in the camp. He delivered the names of prisoners to Domasik family, to whom packages were later sent in secret. After his arrest, he was sent to a prison in Bielsko, later in Mysłowice. He was tortured but he did not turn anyone in. On May 26, 1944, the Germans killed him in Birkenau concentration camp. He was less than 20 years old at the time.
The meeting with Maria Jurczyk will begin on March 21 (Tuesday) at 12 pm in the conference room of the Remembrance Museum at 2A Maksymiliana Kolbego Street in Oświęcim. Please call or email to confirm your attendance. Places are limited. Tel. 33 447 40 84, e-mail: biuro@muzeumpamieci.pl
The hybrid meeting will also be streamed live on the Internet.
The hybrid meeting will also be streamed live on the Internet.
