Over 400 people participated in the educational session entitled “Here stood my house” – evictions from the KL Auschwitz zone.
The year 2021 marks the 80th anniversary of the eviction of residents from Oświęcim and surrounding villages to make way for the creation of the Auschwitz Interest Zone. The aim of the gathering was to remind participants of the most important events which took place at that tragic time. Eye-witness accounts formed a crucial part of the gathering as did educational workshops online for young people.
Remembrance Museum Director Dorota Mleczko and Director of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust Andrzej Kacoryk opened the gathering and Head of the Research Center at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Piotr Setkiewicz gave a lecture regarding the evictions of residents in the years 1940-1942, highlighting the impact the actions of the Germans had on the population.
“The demographic structure of Oświęcim changed dramatically, only a quarter of its pre-war inhabitants remained.”
The evictions and destruction of houses by the occupier meant that whole villages were left deserted. For example, the Germans destroyed the majority of homes in Broszkowice and almost half of Babice. In Brzezinka, of 500, only six houses remained as well as the school and the fire station.
The recollections of eye-witnesses, Józefa Handzlik, Zofia Przybyłowska and Marian Górnicki, who experienced these events were very moving and are of great value.
We are pleased to inform you that as soon as it is ready, we will make a recording of the event available on our website for those of you who were unable to attend the session live.
Due to the fact that the workshops entitled “I was woken early morning by the sound of rolling carts, hustle and bustle, cries of wagon-drivers and the barking of dogs” on the theme of the evictions from the Land of Oświęcim are proving very popular, we invite teachers to contact the educators at the Remembrance Museum. There will be the opportunity to organise the workshops at a later date.
https://www.muzeumpamieci.pl/bedzie-mozliwosc-uczestnictwa-w-warsztatach-w-innym-terminie/
Fot. Sesja edukacyjna pn. „Tu był mój dom” – wysiedlenia ze strefy KL Auschwitz. Od lewej: dyrektor MCEAH Andrzej Kacorzyk, Zofia Przybyłowska, Marian Górnicki, Anita Bury z MPMZO i Józefa Handzlik.
