The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief is celebrated every year on the 22nd of August. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has these freedoms enshrined in articles 18, 19 and 20. Upholding these rights, however, is still hard nowadays. That is why the General Assembly decided (back in 2019) that each year, on the 22nd of August, we commemorate this day. It is noted that this day comes right after the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism – 21st August.
Even now, as you read this, people are labelled as security threats based on their religion/belief system. Some people live daily in fear because of that. Religious stigmatization is real, even now, after years where we have seen what it can do – eg. World War 2 (Death Camps).
We still believe that one religion should/set of beliefs should have supremacy over another. We still fight because one person is catholic or another is orthodox – even though we believe in the same God, same Trinity and we read the same texts in the Bible…
What YOU can do to make the world better?
Talk about this day > make your family, friends, and teammates know about it. Share the resources you find over social media. Share the knowledge!
Don’t be afraid to stand up > not taking action or not speaking about it only makes things worse. If you see injustice, report it. Help the person in need!
Educate yourself continuously > fact checks, reading information from different resources gives you a broader view.
#DidYouKnow
A Group of Friends of Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief was constituted at the UN General Assembly forum. The Group of Friends is composed of 30 member states and the European Union as an observer. Poland as an initiator chairs the works of the Group.
A while back I was writing an article on my former blog page about the fact that we should not use the wording “Polish Death Camps”. I still stand by this idea and I firmly believe that the people referring to concentration camps run by Nazis should refer to them as “German Death Camps in Poland”.
Warsaw VS Krakow – Whom to spare?
When the German Occupation hit Poland and the Nazis were searching for places to build their Death Camps they choose Poland, as Poland is the heart of Europe – DEAD CENTER on the map. Back when the occupation started in 1939, the borders of Poland were very different than they are now and the closest city to the border with Germany was actually Krakow, a couple of hours away.
When the Polish Government looked upon what could be spared and whatnot, they agreed that they should first allow the Nazi to take over Krakow, so the city and its inhabitants would be safe – not as much can be said about Warsaw, that put up a great fight and was torn to the ground approximately 90%, no stone being unturned.
Polish Army barracks turned into slaughtering houses…
Krakow manages to maintain its old-time beauty, though it also faced horrible horrors in its wake. When the Nazis build Auschwitz – the most well known Death Camp of the Holocaust – they chose Oswiecim. Oswiecim was a remote village, so they would do their horrible deeds without being watched. It was previously a Polish Army barracks but nowadays nobody mentions that anymore…
Nazi Germany wanted to destroy Poland
The purpose of the Nazis was to destroy Poland, enslave it’s people and take the land – make Germany bigger and stronger in the process. They did not plan the same as they did in France or Norway where they created governments that would collaborate with the German one.
By the end of World War II, 6 million Polish people have been murdered, including 3 million Jews (almost half of the Jews killed during the Holocaust). In February 2018, the president of Poland signed legislation making it a crime to suggest that Poland bore any responsibility for the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. This has infuriated certain historians and the Israeli government.
The law has 2 parts:
1) outlaws the phrase “Polish Death Camps” – even scholars agree the term is very misleading, considering the fact that the camps were built and controlled by Nazi Germany;
2) it is a crime – punishable by a fine of up to 3 years in prison – to accuse “the Polish nation” of complicity in the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities.
What do Israeli people think of the law?
Naftali Bennett, Israel’s education minister, criticized the law: “The blood of Polish Jews cries from the ground, and no law will silence it”.
On another hand, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, formally recognized more than 6700 gentiles in Poland as “righteous among the nations” because they risked their lives to save the Jews – more so than ANY other country in Europe! The estimates suggest that up to 35000 Polish Jews may have been saved through their efforts. The Center made an official statement saying that the term “Polish Death Camps” was without a doubt a historical misinterpretation, but they cannot agree with the second part of the law, erasing all blame from Poland.
What do I believe?
I believe that the Polish state was not complicit to the horrors of the Holocaust, yet that many Polish people are to blame for the acts that they carried out. Each story has its light and dark side, it’s heroes and it’s foes. We do have righteous people who have saved many Jews, yet we also have Polish people that blew covers, picked on Jewish people out of the darkness of their heart, or simply by trying to protect their lives, family, or their assets. They chose themselves over others, but whom are we to judge – would we have done the same, given the situation? You can’t know for a fact, can’t you?!
#DidYouKnow that Poland was the only country where if you would have hidden a Jews and you would be found out, both the Jews, yourself, and your family would be immediately executed? Also, Poland has sustained the heaviest losses during the Second World War with up to 17% of its entire population vs. Russia – 14% and Germany – 10%. Not to mention Poland bring the only occupied country that had it’s government immediately liquidated, it’s army disbanded and schools and universities closed (their professors and “grey minds” being the first ones taken away and locked up/executed).
If you will blame the individuals, the Polish people that acted against the Jews, than why would you not blame the Jews that acted against the Jews? You would then be implicitly blaming the Jewish community for the Holocaust. I know that sounds horrible and absurd, but is it not what people are doing when they say Poland is to blame?
*** This article is the redone of the original article that can be found here, on my previous blog page***
Yours very much truly, The Twisted Red Ladybug That Loves Poland
Generally speaking, we’re taught very little about Polish history, including what Poland endured under Hitler and Stalin during World War II. Outlined below are a number of historical facts.
Hitler & Stalin wanted the destruction of Poland
Many are unaware that, when Hitler and Stalin jointly attacked in September 1939, the destruction of Poland was their main objective and, in the first two years of the war, Poles were the primary target of a coordinated German and Soviet extermination process designed to annihilate them on both sides of the Ribbentrop-Molotov line, which was the border between Hitler’s half and Stalin’s half of the former 2nd Polish Republic. Poland now ceased to exist as a nation state.
Top priority: Annihilation of the Polish people
As the first step of his Lebensraum policy, Hitler attacked Poland not only to annihilate the Poles but also to take over their land and settle it with Germans. A week before attacking, Hitler directed his senior generals to “Kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space (Lebensraum) we need.” Hitler annexed his occupied half of Poland to Germany, which became Reich District Danzig, Reich District Warta River, Upper Silesia, and the General Government. The General Government was a purely military occupation zone that was ruthlessly administered by the Germans.
What was Stalin’s reason?
Stalin’s reason for attacking Poland was that Russia was “obliged” to come to the aid of its “blood brothers,” the Ukrainians and Byelorussians, who were trapped in territory that had been “illegally annexed” by Poland after the Poles defeated the Soviets in the 1919-20 Polish-Soviet War. In fact, in the 1921 Treaty of Riga, the defeated Soviets agreed to Poland keeping this territory, which was historically Polish before Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland and erased it from the map in 1795. Stalin annexed his occupied half of Poland to Soviet-occupied Belarus and Ukraine and transferred the Wilno region to Soviet-occupied Lithuania.
Hitler demands the Polish elites to disappear
As Hitler’s first step in annihilating the Poles, he murdered up to 100,000 Polish elites. When the Germans attacked Poland, they had in hand a list of Polish elites whom they then arrested and summarily executed. This list, called the Special Prosecution Book-Poland (Sonderfahndungsbuch Polen), was developed with the help of ethnic Germans who were Polish citizens. The Germans called them “Volksdeutsche”, and many collaborated with the Germans against the Poles.
At the same time, the Germans imprisoned virtually all of Poland’s Jews in German-operated ghettos. Meanwhile, Poles were in a day-to-day struggle for survival because of the brutalities and severe conditions exacted by the occupiers. The Germans imposed near-starvation rations, confiscated crops and livestock, enforced onerous quotas on farmers, conducted daily executions to terrorize the populace, randomly arrested and tortured Poles, and conducted regular round-ups for deportation to concentration and labor camps.
The Red Army and NKVD
For his part, Stalin’s Red Army and NKVD (secret police) arrested and removed over 1 million Poles from Soviet-occupied Poland and deported them to the deep Soviet interior, where many thousand died from the harsh conditions of the gulags and labor camps. A fact not commonly known is that pro-communist Polish Jews greeted the Soviets with welcome banners, formed militias and revolutionary committees to support them, and identified Poles for deportation to Siberia. Another fact not commonly known is Stalin’s earlier murder of about 100,000 Poles who were Soviet citizens and were victims of his Great Terror campaign during 1936-38.
It’s important to understand that the consequence of Hitler’s and Stalin’s coordinated defeat and destruction of Poland was that Hitler was now free to round up Poland’s Jews, imprison them in ghettos across German-occupied Poland, build the death camps in the remote eastern part of German-occupied Poland, and transport Poland’s 3 million Jews, and later 3 million European Jews, to their deaths in these camps.
True Facts – #LestWeForget
Another little-known fact is that only in occupied Poland did the Germans have a standing order that anyone aiding a fugitive Jew in any way would be executed together with immediate family. Despite the Germans’ standing execution order, estimates of Poles who aided fugitive Jews range from 300,000 to 1.2 million, and estimates of those killed for doing so approach 50,000.
About 7,000 Polish rescuers are listed by Israel’s Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, far more than rescuers of any other country. Keep in mind that two Polish institutions were critically instrumental in rescuing Jews.
The first, Żegota, was the only government organization in the German-occupied countries established specifically to rescue Jews. The second was the Catholic Church, which rescued Jewish children on a massive scale by hiding them in convents, orphanages, and rectories. No German-occupied country had such an organizational and logistical infrastructure for rescuing Jews.
Countries during the Holocaust
Finally, it’s important to remember which countries played a prominent role in the Holocaust. Some established collaborationist governments with the Germans that not only helped round up Jews and deport them to concentration and death camps but also killed many of them. Countries that did so include Vichy France’s Petain, Slovakia’s Tiso, Croatia’s Pavelic and his Ustase militia, Hungary’s Worthy, and his Arrow Cross militia, Romania’s Antonescu and his Iron Guard militia, and Holland’s Henneicke Column. In several occupied countries, well-known fascist politicians such as Quisling in Norway, Degrelle in Belgium, and Mussert in Holland, formed Nazi-style political parties and took an active part in deporting Jews.
Ukrainian militias were involved in running Hitler’s extermination camps in occupied Poland and Auxiliary Police Battalions from the Baltic countries took part in the liquidation of the German-operated ghettos. In the case of military collaboration, many countries formed Waffen SS units and operated under German command. These included Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Latvia, Hungary, Estonia, Italy, France, Holland, Albania, Ukraine, and Croatia. It is important to remember that in occupied Poland, no collaborationist government was established, no Polish militias were formed to round up, deport, or murder Jews and no Polish SS units were created.
6-year-old Amos Steinberg was sent to the Auschwitz camp together with his mother in 1944. Most likely, they were both murdered in the gas chamber right after the selection. In one of the shoes at the Memorial, a handwritten record was found containing the boy’s data.
The inscription was probably made by Amos’s mother. The discovery was made while working to secure the shoes of the victims of the German Auschwitz camp, which are on display at the main exhibition at the Memorial.
In one of the children’s shoes a handwritten inscription was found: the child’s name and surname, transport designation and the number under which the child was registered on the transport list (transport Ba 541). It belonged to Amos Steinberg, who was born on June 26, 1938. He lived in Prague. On August 10, 1942, together with his parents, Ludwig and Ida, he was imprisoned in the Theresienstadt ghetto near Prague. They were all deported to Auschwitz
Paweł Sawicki from the Museum’s press office
Split families
Hanna Kubik from the collections department of the institution informed that the preserved documents show that the mother and son were deported to Auschwitz in one transport on October 4, 1944. The father, on the other hand, was deported in another transport. We know that on October 10, 1944, he was transferred from Auschwitz to the Dachau camp. He was liberated in the Kaufering sub-camp.
Shoes with news
Hanna Kubik also informed the TVN24.PL NEws Site that these are not the first, and probably not the last, shoes that hold papers inside them. The papers (newspapers usually) would be inserted to the soles to keep warm – for good insulation. They are valuable items now, as they are in good condition. But this piece that was just discovered is unique in the data that it holds – because it bares dates, names and even handwritten signatures. More items as such emerge, coming from 1941-1942.
The documents belonged to people who probably lived in Munkacz and Budapest. “Some of them are official documents, there is also a fragment of a brochure and a scrap of paper with the name on it. The names of Ackermann, Bravermann and Beinhorn appear. Probably these people were deported to Auschwitz in the spring or summer of 1944 during the extermination of Hungarian Jews”, said Hanna Kubik.
Letter of intent regarding the creation of the “Museum – Memorial Site of KL Plaszow in Krakow. German Nazi labor and concentration camp (1942-1945) ”was signed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Krakow. The new museum will cover an area of about 40 hectares and will be a self-government cultural institution of the Krakow City Commune co-run by the Ministry of Culture.
Screenshot from the Letter of Intent, that can be downloaded HERE
Who signed the Letter of Intent?
The signatories of the letter are the deputy prime minister, minister of culture and national heritage prof. Piotr Gliński – represented by Jarosław Sellin, secretary of state in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and prof. Jacek Majchrowski, president of Krakow.
Due to the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the document was signed electronically.
What is this Letter of Intent?
Letter of intent regarding the creation of a new cultural institution called “Museum – Memorial Site of KL Plaszow in Krakow. German Nazi labor camp and concentration camp (1942-1945)” is a declaration of the joint will of the signatories for the proper commemoration of the victims of the German Nazi labor and concentration camp Plaszow by covering the area where the camp was located, institutional protection and establishing a Museum – Memorial Site.
The letter of intent is another important stage in actions taken to commemorate the former German labor and concentration camp in Plaszow. It was preceded by an agreement signed on January 26, 2017 between the City of Krakow, the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow and the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow, constituting a declaration of cooperation between the parties for a dignified commemoration of KL Plaszow. The ordinance of the city president also set up a task force for the KL Plaszow camp coordinating work on the creation of this Memorial Site.
Photo of the Plaszow concentration and labour camp taken 1943-1944 – Unknown Author – Taken from the Institute of National Remembrance
When will the new Museum start operating?
It is planned that “Museum – KL Plaszow Memorial Site in Krakow. German Nazi labor and concentration camp (1942-1945)” will start operating on January 1, 2021, and will be a self-government cultural institution of the city of Krakow, co-run by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The content of the letter assumes the cooperation of the parties to create the Memorial in both financial and substantive terms. It is anticipated that the Krakow City Council will establish a new institution by the end of 2020.
What are the next steps?
In the next stage, an agreement will be signed between the city and the ministry, which will determine the principles of co-running a new museum institution. The estimated time necessary to complete the work on establishing the Museum – Memorial Site and permanent exhibition is estimated at about five years.
KL Plaszow Fot.PAP/J.Bednarczyk
Where will the Museum be built?
The Museum – Memorial Site of KL Plaszow will be built on land belonging to the Municipality of Krakow, the Jewish Community in Kraków, and the Treasury. It will cover an area of approx. 40 hectares, which has been entered in the register of monuments kept by the Małopolska Provincial Conservator of Monuments since 2002, and an adjacent area of approximately 3 hectares.
How will the Museum look like?
The Historical Museum of the City of Krakow, as a substantive supervisor, developed the script for the new Museum – Memorial Site and conducted archeological research in the post-camp area.
According to the scenario, “historical stops” will be created in the post-camp area, ie boards with an archival photo and a short commentary in English. Polish, English, and Hebrew and in the Memorial building a permanent exhibition, thanks to which visitors will learn, among others what historical events led to the creation of concentration camps; learn the history of the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto and the founding and organization of KL Plaszow. The everyday life of prisoners will also be shown. Educators attach great importance to preserving the authenticity of the commemorated place.
Yours sincerly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug, Always Bringing You The Most Up-To-Date Informations About My Beloved Krakow
As of 1st July, Auschwitz Museum reopened its doors
From July 1, visitors can walk the grounds of the former Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp again. The museum was closed for over 3 months because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The visiting rules have been adapted to the new sanitary requirements. Admission to both parts of the former camp: Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II – Birkenau, will take place only on the basis of Entry Cards. Reservations can be made online. Unreserved entry passes will be available at the Museum on the day of the visit; however, we cannot guarantee entry to the Memorial without reservation.
‘The period of the pandemic shows that in every difficult and crisis situation, fears, tensions, reluctance and ghosts of the past awaken. Right now we all need to listen wisely to the warnings from the past so that the economic difficulties we are experiencing and forecasting will not lead to a moral crisis, a crisis of humanity,” said Museum Director Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński
‘We also heavily suffered from a lack of visitors, also financially. Many programs and investments had to be canceled or postponed to subsequent years. Many people have asked in the past whether it would not be possible to introduce paid entrance tickets since the funds raised in this way would help to achieve the museum’s great mission. Regardless of the current difficult situation, we want the entrance to the Memorial area to remain free. However, to meet the needs of those who have supported us in the past or are willing to do this, we are introducing the so-called “pay what you want” system, in which everyone will decide for themselves if they want to enter for free, or rather make a donation. In this way, the concern for our mission can become our common cause,’ added Dr. Cywiński.
Auschwitz I – Poland
New Regulations at the Auschwitz Museum/Memorial
Tours with an educator for individual visitors will take place in smaller groups of up to 15 people. The number of people on the site will also be minimised. Visitors will have to observe a safe interpersonal distance – both before entering the Museum and during the tour. The same regulations governing covering of the mouth and nose apply in the premises as in entire Poland (right now face must be covered indoors). Several places on the Museum grounds have also been equipped with devices for contactless hand sanitation, and a special sanitation gate has been placed in front of the entrance.
Opening hours for the Auschwitz Memorial
The Memorial will be open to the public from 9.00 a.m. From July to September, tours will take place with a guide until 16.00 hrs. Later individual visits will be possible with booked entry cards.
Information taken from the Auschwitz.Org site – Please reach out to them for the most up-to-date information!
I have visited Auschwitz I and II numerous times, in different seasons, be it alone or with friends and family. It is always a harsh, sad, trip to the past and I recommend all of us to take it #LestWeForget …
Yours sincerly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug Who Loves Poland & History
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