Multimedia archive - Auschwitz-Memento

Chrześcijańskie Stowarzyszenie Rodzin Oświęcimskich (ChSRO – Christian Association of Auschwitz Families) has launched a new project: Auschwitz–memento – a multimedia archive.  The Vice-President of the association, Bogdan Wasztyl informed that 45 accounts of former prisoners of the German concentration camp, have been registered on digital carriers.

“In half a year, we registered the accounts of former prisoners of Auschwitz, among others, Jerzy Bielecki, Józef Stós, Józef Hordyński, Stanisław Frączysty, Henryk Mandelbaum, Kazimierz Zając, Józef Szajno and Stanisława Gąskowa. We collected almost 200 hours of film and sound recordings, about 1,000 pages of written accounts and a rich iconographic material” – said Gabriela Mruszczak, one of the coordinators of the project.

The Auschwitz Memento web portal was set up as part of a programme, which was introduced to help history teachers as well as to educate society and schoolchildren.

Mruszczak explains that the site is designed to help make history lessons more interesting and by providing films and soundtracks they hope to make it more attractive to schoolchildren. The aim is also to encourage patriotism and get more people interested in the history of Poland\'s fight for independence. “It is difficult to overestimate the value of almost direct contact with the participants and witnesses of history” – she added.

The Vice-President of ChSRO, Bogdan Wasztyl noted that the accounts fulfil all academic requirements, “though we gave the witnesses space for reflections, assuming that – maybe – this is their last chance to record their life testament for future generations” – he said.

According to Gabriela Mruszczak, the ChSRO initiative will help fight the widespread misrepresentation of “Polish” concentration and extermination camps. “The Poles were not the co-authors of the holocaust; they were the first victims [chronologically] of KL Auschwitz” – said Mruszczak.

The recordings are stored on professional tapes, which means they can be used by documentalists and filmmakers in the future. They are also kept on DVDs, which renders finding any necessary material much easier.

The project involved over a dozen volunteers – students, Oświęcim secondary schoolchildren and young amateur filmmakers.

Bogdan Wasztyl said the programme was implemented thanks to the support of the Citizen Initiative Fund, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage through a programme “Patriotism of Tomorrow” and the Veteran and Repressed Persons\' Office.

The ChSRO was set up in 1998. It unites former prisoners, many of whom were the first to be transported to the camp, the families of Auschwitz prisoners and people interested in the history of the camp.SZF

PAP - Nauka w Polsce, tr.ajfb

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