Komski Gallery
Jan was born to a Catholic family in the small Polish town of Bircza. His father, a World War I veteran, moved the family to Brzozow shortly after the war. Brzozow was a small manufacturing town in southeastern Poland. After graduating from secondary school, Jan enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow.
1933-39: Cracow was a beautiful old city; we studied its remarkable churches and synagogues in my classes. By September 1939, however, the war engulfed the beauty of Cracow. I left to escape the advancing Germans, and hoped to join the Polish army, but as I neared the Soviet border I realized the Red Army was also approaching. I didn't know which way to go. Since I feared Soviet rule, I returned to Cracow and faced the German occupation.
1940-44: I 
joined the Polish underground and was arrested near the Hungarian border. In June 1940 I was sent to Auschwitz. Four of us devised an escape plan. Over many months we collected parts of a German army uniform, so one of us could pose as a guard. We stole documents from the camp office to forge an ID and then I painted a German uniform on a photo to complete the fraud. Our "guard" got us by the gate as a work detail in December 1942. We then gathered civilian clothing, left for us by the underground, and escaped.
Shortly after his escape, Jan was re-arrested and spent two more years in various camps. He was liberated from the Dachau concentration camp by U.S. troops on April 29, 1945.
Source: USHMM
Original art by Komski is held at Orchard Lake Polish Mission Holocaust Museum collection.
Museum of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of World War II
Personal documents are complete in this section.
Collections in the Library consist of literature pertaining to the history of particular camps at Brzezinka, Majdanek, Dachau, Gross-Rosen, Oswiecim, Ravensbrück, and Sachsenhausen. There are also complete sets o periodicals s, such as Zeszytach Oświęcimskich an alphabetical listing of c. 900 Auschwitz prisoners whose names appear in the books of the 'karnej kompanii,' the 'punishment company' and Przeglad Lekarski (Medical Review).
The Museum contains enormous artworks illustrated the martyrdom of prisoners and their tragic life. Original photographs which were taken in various concentration camps set a dramatic scene. A showcase contains samples of ground from Oświęcim, camp wire, and prison uniforms. A large tapestry of St. Maxmillian Maria Kolbe, prisoner and martyr of Oświęcim, hangs on one of the walls along with maps of Nazi concentration camps on Poland, Germany, and other occupied terrorizes. These collections have an enormous educational significance for the younger generations. Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 January 2010 20:55 )