A rare notebook filled with more than a dozen poems by female inmates inside Auschwitz has been donated to the former Nazi death camp’s museum.
The 32-page manuscript contains 17 poems, including several verses by Jewish survivor Krystyna Żywulska, who is best known for her post-war memoir “I Survived Auschwitz”.
The volume is an “extraordinary and precious document,” said Dr. Wojciech Płosa, who heads the museum’s archives.
“Amid the horrible daily realities of the Birkenau camp, they found the strength and time to collect what was so ephemeral, lyrics of camp poems created by female prisoners as snapshots of immense suffering and longing for freedom.”
There are only a few copies of poems written in the Nazi camp, he said. “The majority of the collection is poetry texts remembered by former female and male prisoners, which were reproduced from memory after the war.”
According to the museum, markings on the notebook cover suggest it was originally intended to serve as a record of the camp’s death toll.
It remained with Auschwitz and Ravensbrück camp survivor Bożena Janina Zdunek for several decades until her death in 2015.
It is not clear how it came into her possession but it could have been due to “the ingenuity and courage of the female prisoners involved in the camp resistance movement,” he said.
Ms Zdunek’s son, Adam, who donated the manuscript to the museum, said it was of particular importance it “returns to the place of tribute to the victims.”
“The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum is the largest museum institution and has the resources to ensure that such unique documents are treated appropriately,” he said.
The museum’s director said the notebook is a testimony “to the fact that for those imprisoned in Auschwitz, poems were a way to combat humiliation and dehumanization.”
“I continue to appeal for the donation of all documents and memorabilia connected with the history and victims of Auschwitz.
“Here, at the Memorial, they will be protected, preserved, studied and exhibited,” said Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński.
