As part of the “Ja czytam!” social campaign activities organized for the past three years by Polish teacher Paweł Domzalski, Holocaust Remembrance Day was commemorated in January.
The students prepared an unusual lesson for their peers from the hotel-management technical school. Appropriate materials were collected, and the decoration consisted of printed photographs illustrating the murder of children at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, as well as posters related to the Holocaust. The event was titled “From the Abyss” and consisted of poems by Stefania Ney, Stanisław Baliński and Władysław Szlengel. Excerpts from memoirs came from the volume “The Warsaw Ghetto. A Guide to a Nonexistent City.” Music by Andre Ochodlo and Kroke Wschodnie was played in the background.
Paweł Domzalski opened the meeting, emphasizing that our past is marked by many tragic events. The teacher referred to the Holocaust and stressed that it did not take place in a social vacuum, but before the eyes of the entire world. Individuals and societies, often against their will, were forced to respond to the tragedy of the Jews, which thus became a particular challenge to humanity. Although the fate of the Jews depended primarily on the decisions of the German Nazis, it was also, to some extent, dependent on the people who saved or denounced them, as well as on those who passively watched. Silence and failure to act often meant consent to crime. Therefore, as the teacher emphasized, all humanity should feel responsible for the extermination. To avoid similar experiences in the future, it is necessary to critically analyze the various attitudes people displayed toward the Holocaust. This will make it possible to better understand the issue of responsibility for oneself and for another person, as well as to recognize the possibilities and limitations inherent in human nature in situations where life is threatened.
We thank the young people for finding the courage to confront this painful subject for many of us. We are deeply impressed by their maturity and high-level reading technique.
