Assignment Auschwitz 2007

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14 April 2009

The overall number of victims of Auschwitz in the years 1940-1945 is estimated at between 1,100,000 and 1,500,000 people. The majority of them, and above all the mass transports of Jews who arrived beginning in 1942, died in the gas chambers.

THE CONCENTRATION CAMP and EXTERMINATION CENTER


From among all the people deported to Auschwitz, approximately 400,000 people were registered and placed in the camp and its sub-camps (200,000 Jews, more than 140,000 Poles, approximately 20,000 Gypsies from various countries, more than 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and more than 10,000 prisoners of other nationalities). Over 50% of the registered prisoners died as a result of starvation, labor that exceeded their physical capacity, the terror that raged in the camp, executions, the inhuman living conditions, disease and epidemics, punishment, torture, and criminal medical experiments.

Beginning in 1942, Auschwitz began to function in another way. It became the center of the mass destruction of the European Jews. The Nazis marked all the Jews living in Europe for total extermination, regardless of their age, sex, occupation, citizenship, or political views. They died only because they were Jews. After the selections conducted on the railroad platform, or ramp, newly arrived persons classified by the SS physicians as unfit for labor were sent to the gas chambers: the ill, the elderly, pregnant women, children. In most cases, 70-75% of each transport was sent to immediate death. These people were not entered in the camp records; that is, they received no serial numbers and were not registered. This is why it is possible only to estimate the total number of victims.

Historians estimate that among the people sent to Auschwitz there were at least 1,100,000 Jews from all the countries of occupied Europe, over 140,000 Poles (mostly political prisoners), approximately 20,000 Gypsies from several European countries, over 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and over ten thousand prisoners of other nationalities. The majority of the Jewish deportees died in the gas chambers immediately after arrival.

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On Friday July 1st, it was our honor to attend a very special luncheon.  Meeting dignitaries and other professionals is something we do on a pretty regular basis--if you've ever tried to get a hold of us, you already know how nuts our schedule can be.  Any given day you can find us all over metro Detroit working for Polish culture.  But this was different.  Few places have the honor of hosting such a heroic group as the party with whom we had the privilege of dining, but the Polish Cultural Center in Troy pulled out all the stops to host the monthly luncheon of the Polish military veterans!  Invited by Mrs. Halina Konwiac, Marcin and JJ unveiled the brand new storyboards hot off the press for the Polish Mission's Home Army museum.  Alongside a display of artifacts, Marcin and JJ brought good news of JJ's museum outreach to Buffalo, and updates on the 2nd Corps museum renovation project!  It was a warm crowd of about 20 men and women, most all of whom had a direct hand in the war that so distinctly shaped the world we live in today.  Whether they were fighting in the Polish Home Army like Mrs. Halina Konwiac or Mr. Julius F. Przesmycki, supporting the Polish 2nd Corps on the front lines like Mrs. Halina Zmurkewicz, or putting their lives in extreme danger for the cause of Polish freedom 70 years ago, they are true heroes of the modern day, whom it's the Polish MIssion's honor to support in every way we can.