Photographs, documents, and letters are among the many valuable items donated in 2025 to The Remembrance Museum of the Land of Oświęcim.
Building and expanding the collection remains one of the museum’s key priorities. When the institution began its work in 2018, it started from scratch. Today, the collection includes nearly two thousand objects. Among the most significant are tokens of gratitude created by prisoners of KL Auschwitz for those who helped them during the German occupation.
Documenting the everyday lives of local residents is another essential part of the museum’s mission, with particular emphasis on the pre-war period and the years of German occupation. Thanks to these efforts, many family stories—an important part of the region’s heritage—have been preserved.
The museum’s permanent exhibition, located in the modernized building at 2A Maksymiliana Kolbego Street in Oświęcim, was created largely thanks to the generosity of local residents who donated family keepsakes, as well as to numerous recorded testimonies of witnesses to history. This space commemorates those who risked their lives to help prisoners of KL Auschwitz.
Since the beginning of 2025, the museum’s holdings have been enriched with a number of remarkable donations and video testimonies. Below are selected examples.
Documents and photos
A donation from Bogumiła Stachura includes photographs, documents, postcards, and letters from her family archive. One particularly striking item is a photograph of around one hundred girls with priests, including the parish priest, Father Jan Skarbek. Taken on 23 June 1930, it commemorates the First Holy Communion of Zofia Daczyńska, Ms. Stachura’s mother.
Another valuable addition is a rich collection of medium-format negatives. These include photographic documentation of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Birkenau in 1979, as well as many important images of Oświęcim and its surroundings. Among them is a photograph of the now-lost “Grottgerówka,” a building once located near the palace in Poręba Wielka. It was there that Artur Grottger created his famous series of drawings, War.
The collection also includes a bound original issue of the Illustrated Agricultural Weekly from 1929, titled “The President of the Republic of Poland as a Guest of the MTR.” (Małopolska Agricultural Society). The publication contains a richly illustrated account of President Ignacy Mościcki’s visit to Oświęcim and Osiek, including the Rudziński family estate. The newspaper was donated by Oskar Rudziński, who wrote: It was the wish of Władysław von Rudno Rudziński, as well as my own and my brother Krzysztof’s, that this publication be placed in a worthy place— which the Museum undoubtedly provides.”
Video Testimonials
Collecting testimonies from witnesses of history remains a vital part of the museum’s work.
This year, the museum recorded, among others, the memories of Franciszka Sklorz (99) from Bojszowy. Her family, together with the Lysk family, helped August Kowalczyk—later a well-known actor—after his escape from KL Auschwitz.
A particularly moving testimony was given by Leokadia Wójcik from Kęty, who turned 100 in May 2025. During World War II, she served as a Home Army liaison officer (née “Barbara”) in the “Sosienki” unit and neighboring districts.
Stanisław Żak (94), who lived in Monowice during the German occupation, shared his recollections of everyday life under wartime conditions and of assisting prisoners of KL Auschwitz.
Since 2018, the museum has also collected works by outstanding artists connected to the Oświęcim region, whether through their origins or the subject matter of their work. The collection includes works by Igor Mitoraj, Pablo Picasso, Tadeusz Makowski, Xawery Dunikowski, Julian Fałat, Awit Szubert, and Mieczysław Kościelniak.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all donors who have chosen to entrust us with their family memorabilia. Thanks to you, the circle of friends and supporters of the museum continues to grow, enabling us to preserve and honor the memory of the people of the Oświęcim region.
Anyone wishing to donate historical objects or share stories related to World War II and the Oświęcim region is warmly invited to contact us:
– by phone: +48 33 447 40 84 – by email: biuro@muzeumpamieci.pl – in person
1. First Holy Communion keepsake of Zofia Daczyńska. Photograph taken on 23 June 1930 in Oświęcim. At the center, wearing glasses, is Father Jan Skarbek. Photo: Collection of The Remembrance Museum of the Land of Oświęcim / Donation of Bogumiła Stachura
Photo: The Remembrance Museum of the Land of Oświęcim
2. Leokadia Wójcik from Kęty turned 100 in May 2025. During World War II, she served as a Home Army liaison officer (née “Barbara”).
Photo: The Remembrance Museum of the Land of Oświęcim
A page from the Illustrated Agricultural Weekly (1929), showing President Ignacy Mościcki (center) in front of the Moorish-style palace in Osiek belonging to the Rudziński family.
Photo: Collection of The Remembrance Museum of the Land of Oświęcim / Donation of Oskar Rudziński
