After lunch in the city centre, we walked to the Galicya Jewish Museum in the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz. We were shown round in two groups by two enthusiastic student fellows of the Institute. The permanent exhibition 'Rediscovering Traces of Memory' is based on the photographic collection of Chris Schwarz, a British photographer who made it his mission to photograph and collect photographs of the people and places of the Jewish community in the region, as in so many places the communities have disappeared. Seeing the photographs of men and women enjoying life and then the few traces in stones and inscriptions of destroyed communities was tremendously effective and moving.
The highlight of our visit was our two-hour session with Mr Rezolowski. He was sixteen when he was captured for his part in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 and sent to Mauthausen Concentration Camp. With the aid of an interpreter he spoke to us of his experiences in the camp and its terrible regime. He then answered frankly all our questions about his experience and the effect it had on him. As a living tale of the survival of human spirit through appalling times his testimony held us gripped and left us with a profound emotional impact that we will not forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment