"On Auschwitz" (62): Contemporary challenges of education at the Auschwitz Memorial

Some 8,200 SS men and 200 women overseers served in the camp garrison of the German Nazi camp Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945. How were the perpetrators from Auschwitz, including the first commandant, Rudolf Höss, and other garrison members, held accountable? Dr. Wojciech Płosa, head of the Archives of the Memorial, explains.=====Voiceovers: Greg Littlefield, Mike Skagerlind

Block 11 at Auschwitz I was isolated from the rest of the camp. It served as a prison, an execution site, and the quarters of the penal company. Dr. Adam Cyra from the Auschwitz Museum Research Centre talks about the unique history of the so-called Block of Death.=====Voiceovers: Toon Dressen and Grey Stanford.

At Auschwitz a system of punishments was in place for prisoners who broke camp regulations. In addition to official penalties, SS garrison members and functionary prisoners also imposed so-called unofficial punishments. Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, head of the Research Center at the Auschwitz Museum, explains the types of punishments and the offenses for which men and women prisoners could be punished.=====Voiceover: Tom Vamos, Mike Skagerlind

The International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, established as a result of the efforts of Auschwitz Survivors, has been operating at the Memorial since 2005. The Museum director Dr. Piotr Cywiński and Education Center director Andrzej Kacorzyk discuss what education at the Memorial looks like today and what challenges it faces in the context of modern times.=====Voiceover: Greg Littlefield, Grey Stafford

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.