Polish woman returns 1000 items taken from Jews in Auschwitz

Woman approaches Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation on condition of anonymity and asks to donate the trove taken by her father, who cleaned the camp after World War II

Nearly 1,000 personal belongings of Jewish victims and prisoners in Aschwitz were recently handed over by a Polish women to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation. The items include children's toys, Judaica, SS paraphernalia, Torah fragments, a broken doll, glasses, yarmulkes, prisoner uniforms, shoes, watches, brushes, suitcases, cutlery and even a gas mask.
The items were hidden in an attic above a barn at her family home for decades. They were in the possession of her father who had worked cleaning the camp after the Holocaust, and had stored them. According to the foundation, the woman contacted them after attending the annual memorial ceremony for the victims of the death march at the cemetery in Brzeszcze, 8 km (5 miles) from Auschwitz. She requested to donate the objects to the foundation’s collection.
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Jewish items returned to the foundation
Jewish items returned to the foundation
Jewish items returned to the foundation
(Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation)
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(Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation)
8 View gallery
(Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation)
"We agreed immediately," the foundation said. "On Monday, a van arrived with the elderly woman in the passenger seat and her son driving. When they opened the side door, we couldn’t believe what we saw. As we began unloading the baskets with her son, we were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of items, unsure how to handle or store them all."
"In over 20 years of collecting items from concentration camps, we've never seen such a vast and varied collection of original artifacts connected to Auschwitz,” The foundation noted. “The woman insisted on anonymity, making it a condition for the donation.”
“Despite the immense historical value of these items for the memory of the victims and historical research, we suggested she consider donating them to the Auschwitz Museum. She replied, 'My first condition is to remain anonymous and my second is that the items stay under your foundation's care,” the foundation added.
The foundation explained that the woman’s father, who worked in the camp's cleanup before the museum was established, had received some of the items as compensation for lost family property.
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(Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation)
8 View gallery
(Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation)
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(Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation)
The items have been preserved in the attic ever since. "The objects hold immense historical value, reflecting various aspects of the camp's operation: personal belongings of victims, Jewish cultural items, prisoner artifacts and items linked to the camp staff’s operations," the foundation said.
Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Dr. Yacov Livne, praised the foundation's work. "The monstrous death factory at Auschwitz spanned over 50 sq km (19 sq miles), with the extermination camp at its center, alongside forced labor factories and subcamps. Over 1 million people, 90% of them Jews, were murdered there,”he said.
“The foundation works to preserve the vast area outside the camp's fences, but many memorial sites around Auschwitz-Birkenau are deteriorating despite support from the Polish government and international donors,” he added.
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(Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation)
8 View gallery
(Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation)
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“As the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation grows closer, I hope a comprehensive solution will be found to save the remaining sites. Today especially, it’s crucial to see and understand what happened at Auschwitz to ensure it never happens again."
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