The Visit - The Town of Oswiecim

On the 29th April we visited Poland to discover more about the Holocaust and Auschwitz. We visited 3 sites throughout the day; a Jewish cemetery in the town of Oswiecim, Auschwitz I and Auschwitz- Birkenau.

The first site we visited was the town of Oswiecim and a Jewish cemetery within the town itself. Before the war the town had a 58% Jewish population and had a thriving Jewish community.In the Nazi's eyes the town itself was strategically located; close to international borders, close to rail lines that led into major cities such as Warsaw, Berlin and Krakow. In addition to this there were barracks built by the polish army that housed polish army, refugees and migrant workers; these later formed part of Auschwitz I.

During the war, many of the local population was forced out of the town as part of the Nazi's 'resettlement' program. In June 1940, 500 locals were arrested and half were sent to labour camps in Germany. In the war, all of the Jewish population were removed from the town and has not returned.

Since the war, the town has had to deal with the stigma of being associated with the genocide that occurred at Auschwitz and due to dealing with its past and the way of modern living has meant that it is rarely far away from controversy. Moreover despite Jewish survivors returning to the town, no Jewish population has settled there. The last Jewish survivor to stay in the town was Szymon Kluger, who died in 2000. Kluger was buried in the Jewish cemetery which still remains there today.

The cemetery shows how  antisemitism  is still a problem in today's society,Within the cemetery many of the grave stones were vandalized from attacks however attempts have been made to rectify the past and restore the cemetery as a mark of respect and remembrance.