"On Auschwitz" (61): History of education at the Auschwitz Memorial

Education at the Auschwitz Memorial has been carried out since the Museum was established in 1947, and the first guides were Survivors who told visitors about the tragic history of the camp from their personal perspective. It was due to the efforts of the Survivors that the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust was established in 2005. Krystyna Oleksy, the first director of the Education Center, discusses its beginnings, the first educational projects, and significant challenges.=====Voiceover: Mary Castillo, Calum Melville

Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code criminalized homosexual contacts between men. One possible punishment was imprisonment in a concentration camp. Also at Auschwitz, there was a small group of men convicted of homosexuality. Dr. Agnieszka Kita, deputy head of the Auschwitz Museum Archives, talks about the persecution of homosexual men in Nazi Germany and the postwar memory of their fate.English voiceover: Kate Weinrieb---Our online lesson about this group of prisoners of Auschwitz by Bogdan Piętka from the Research Center of the Auschwitz Museum.

On June 14, 1940, the Germans deported a group of 728 Poles from a prison in Tarnow to Auschwitz. Among them were soldiers of the September campaign, members ofunderground independence organizations, high school and university students, as well as a small group of Polish Jews. They were registered with nos. from 31 to 758. The podcast "On Auschwitz" presents fragments of testimonies of:- Kazimierz Albin, - Jan Baraś-Komski, - Zbigniew Bentkowski, - Włodzimierz Borkowski, - Edward Ferenc, - Adam Jurkiewicz, - Stanisław Maliński, - Eugeniusz Niedojadło,- Wiktor Pasikowski, - Tadeusz Pietrzykowski, - Bronisław Wajda, - Alfred Wilk - Stanisław Zyguła. =====See also our online lesson about this topic:http://lekcja.auschwitz.org/en_17_deportacje/=====Voiceovers:Tom Vamos, Greg Littlefield, Grey Stanford, Mike Skagerlind, Michael Takiff, Toon Dressen

Block 10 at the Auschwitz I camp was the so-called experimental block. SS doctors conducted medical experiments there, including those focused on sterilization. Why was this particular block chosen for such experiments, who were the doctors working there, and what happened to their victims? These questions are explored by Teresa Wontor-Cichy from the Research Center of the Museum.Voiceover: Therese McLaughlin===== On-line lesson about medical crimes at Auschwitz: http://lekcja.auschwitz.org/2022_medycyna_en/

The Auschwitz camp did not have a homogeneous character and was constantly changing during its operation. Dr Jacek Lachendro of the Auschwitz Museum Research Centre talks about what everyday life was like for Auschwitz prisoners, from the morning roll-call, through the hunger that accompanied them all the time, to working beyond their strength. Voiceover:  Ian Manger, Tom VamosIf you find value in the "On Auschwitz" podcast, please consider subscribing on your favorite platform, leaving a rating to help others discover the podcast, and sharing it on social media. Your support makes a difference.

The Auschwitz Memorial covers nearly 200 hectares of land and includes about 300 ruins and 155 buildings, but also a huge number of historical objects, primary traces of Victims of Auschwitz: shoes, suitcases, brushes, or kitchen utensils. Nel Jastrzębiowska and Andrzej Jastrzębiowski from the Conservation Laboratories of the Auschwitz Museum explain how these priceless items are preserved and talk about the philosophy of conservation of the Memorial today. =====We wish to thank Kate Weinrieb, Greg Littlefield, and Mike Skagerlind, who recorded the voiceover for this podcast.If you find value in the "On Auschwitz" podcast, please consider subscribing on your favorite platform, leaving a rating to help others discover the podcast, and sharing it on social media. Your support makes a difference.

Holocaust denial is nothing more than a conspiracy theory built on lies and hatred. Although it resembles flat-Earth claims in its approach to facts, it is, in reality, a dangerous and vile vehicle for antisemitism and hatred. Deniers ignore or manipulate facts solely to attack the memory of the Victims.Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz and Dr. Igor Bartosik delve into the strategies employed by Holocaust deniers to spread misinformation and falsehoods about the history of Auschwitz. ---We wish to thank Greg Littlefield, Mike Skagerlind, and Grey Stafford, who recorded the voiceover for this podcast.

Some 7,500 prisoners of the German Nazi camp Auschwitz, including over 500 children, were liberated on January 27, 1945 by Red Army soldiers. Listen about the last days of the camp's operation and the moment of liberation. The podcast includes testimonies of: Anna Tytoniak Kazimierz Smoleń Lea Shinar Irena Konieczna Józef Tabaczyński Wanda Błachowska-Tarasiewicz Louis Posner Jakub Wolman Zofia Jankowska-Palińska Anna Chomicz Zofia Lutomska-Kucharska Wanda Dramińska Edward Czempiel Jakub Gordon Andrzej Kozłowski Tadeusz Mleko Garnier (first name unknown) Alfred Fiderkiewicz Aleksander Vorontsov Wilhelm Wazdrąg  ===== (English voiceovers: Mary Castillo, Toon Dreessen, Greg Littlefield, Ian Manger, Therese McLaughlin, Calum Melville, Mike Skagerlind, Grey Stafford, Michael Takiff, Tom Vamos, Kate Weinrieb, Sarah Weinstein Edwards).

Soviet prisoners of war are the fourth largest group of victims of the German Auschwitz camp, after Jews, Poles and Roma. A total of 11,964 prisoners of war were registered at the camp. In addition, according to estimates, at least 3,000 Red Army soldiers were deported to the camp and murdered without being entered into the camp records. Dr. Jacek Lachendro of the Museum's Research Center talks about the history and fate of Soviet POWs at Auschwitz.

Upon admission to the camp, prisoners underwent a registration process, during which various documents related to the individual were filled out. Dr. Wojciech Płosa, head of the Auschwitz Museum Archives, talks about the details of this process. We wish to thank Toon Dressen for recording the English voiceover.