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Institute of National Remembrancehttps://ipn.gov.pl/en/news/3666,The-official-opening-of-the-Treblinka-in-the-eyes-of-Samuel-Willenberg-exhibitio.html2021-03-04, 09:20
The official opening of the “Treblinka in the eyesof Samuel Willenberg” exhibition – Warsaw – 28January 2020Samuel Willenberg fulfilled the will of other prisoners by tellingthe world what happened in Treblinka at a time when evilseemed to prevail. (...) He did not give up. Together with otherprisoners, he took up arms to fight for a dignified death. (...) Hesurvived and left his testimony. (...) When he was sculpting, hecried. An unusual alloy of bronze, suffering and tears wascreated - said Dr Jarosław Szarek, the President of the Instituteof National Remembrance, during the opening of the exhibition.
The IPN’s Janusz Kurtyka Educational Center "History Point" in downtown Warsaw is full ofpeople. The representatives of the Jewish community along with Poland’s Chief RabbiMichael Schudrich, Polish Righteous Among the Nations and representatives of stateauthorities were present. Dr Barbra Radziejowska came on behalf of the President of theRepublic of Poland , the Deputy Speaker of the Polish Sejm Małgorzata Kidawa Błońska,MPs Anita Czerwińska and Marek Suski, Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage
Jarosław Sellin and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Paweł Jabłoński were also present atthe event
I think that Samuel’s dream of the sculptures finding their permanent home in Treblinka,the largest cemetery of Polish citizens ,will come true - said the President of the Institute ofNational Remembrance, Dr Jarosław Szarek, while presenting Samuel Willenberg’sbiography and his sculptures.
In the neighboring room, the viewers can see the last work of the Polish-Jewish artist, thesculpture of John Paul II, which points to boards with the Ten Commandments and theTorah, i.e. the first five books of the Old Testament, fundamental for the followers of theteachings of Judaism.
- I think that what Samuel Willenberg wanted to tell us was how to make sure that such evilnever happens again - said the President of the Institute of National Remembrance,referring to the sculpture of the Pope. - This is a return to the roots of Latin civilization, toits sources common for both Judaism and Christianity. The Decalogue. "Do not kill". This isa commandment which was broken so many times in the 20th century. SamuelWillenberg's sculptures are testimony to this. Today, we want to pass on this message tothe young generation, to young Poles. Dr Jarosław Szarek finished his speech thanking AdaKrystyna Willenberg for permitting the Institute to present the sculptures and for hertestimony.
- I met Samuel and Krystyna Willenberg quite unexpectedly when my husband was makinga film about Samuel - said the Deputy Marshal of the Polish Sejm Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska. - Samuel was a very special person. He was a man who, despite everything hehad experienced during his life, spoke only well of the past. He worried about his familyand relatives, but he spoke well, he spoke cheerfully, he spoke positively. And thesculptures we can see here today are what he was constantly talking about, about the factthat we must remember. (...) The fact that it was possible to open this exhibition heretoday in Warsaw is a great source of happiness, because Samuel dreamed that thesesculptures would reach Poland - emphasized the Deputy Marshal while sharing somepersonal memories. - I remember him - she said - for many years, on August 1, he wasalways at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (...) with a band on his shoulder speakingabout the things which were important to him.
Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage Jarosław Sellin read out a letter fromPrime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki: "The inauguration of the exhibition of SamuelWillenberg’s sculptures is a sign of remembrance of the unimaginable crimes of Treblinka,but is also the implementation of a testament of a witness to history, who out of concernfor the truth, devoted his life to making sure that truth is known. Samuel Willenberg is asymbolic figure, a Polish Jew, citizen of the Republic of Poland, who as a 16-year-old in1939 voluntarily joined the Polish Army. The wounds sustained at the hands of Sovietsoldiers and the Order of Virtuti Militari, which he proudly wore, reminded us of his
participation in the September campaign."
In the letter, the Prime Minister also thanked the wife of the Artist, Ada KrystynaWillenberg: "for the mission you have fulfilled for years as spokespeople for good Polish-Israeli relations, the builders of ‘bridges of reconciliation’, and as opponents of dividing thehistory of World War II into Polish and Jewish."
"I’m grateful for Samuel Willenberg’s work in preserving memory, being a guide for Israeliyouth arriving in Poland. (...) I believe that this poignant exhibition (...) presented as ashocking testimony of the greatest civilizational catastrophe of the 20th century, will carrya message of opposition to chauvinism, anti-Semitism, and all types of hatred. I believethat the accompanying educational program, addressed to the younger generation, will co-create the mission of cultivating the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, but also themission of preserving historical truth, which we still have to guard " Prime Minister MateuszMorawiecki concluded in his letter.
The Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage added that the Polish state is andmust be a custodian of memory. - We were forced into this role because there is somethingon Polish soil, which can be safely called "German heritage", namely, extermination camps.They were all located within the borders of today's Poland, except for one (...). That is whythe Polish state is making further decisions in order to look after these places as well andas systematically as possible - he said.
Jarosław Sellin reminded the guests that Treblinka is currently under the care of the Polishstate. - I think that in 2023 we will be able to invite everyone to visit the new museumbuilding in Treblinka where the story of this extermination camp will be presented. I knowthat this was the will of Samuel Willenberg, (...) that the best place for displaying thesesculptures is where it all happened, the place from which he managed to escape -Treblinka. And so it shall be - stressed Minister Sellin.
Referring to recent events, Deputy Minister Paweł Jabłoński, stated at the opening of theexhibition: - What we have been experiencing in recent days, shows how importanthistorical memory is. This is not just the domain of schools, it is not only the domain ofscientists, but it is something that will live on with future generations. Minister Jabłońskiemphasized that "there is no guarantee, but if we want such things never to happen again,we must cultivate this memory." Referring to the recent examples of the falsification ofhistory by the Russian Federation, he said: - There is a dispute about which historicalnarrative will prevail, whether the Russian or Polish historical narrative will prevail, orwhether it will be another narrative. No, no narrative should prevail, the truth shouldalways prevail.
Summing up the speeches, the widow of Samuel Willenberg, Ada Krystyna Willenberg, tookthe floor. - I did not expect so many people to come here today and to see with their owneyes the works of my late husband which required such great effort from him. I am verygrateful to everyone gathered here, and I am particularly grateful to those who organizedthe exhibition, because I realize that it was not so easy (...) I know that many peoplecooperated in this project - emphasized the artist's wife.
Ada Willenberg also expressed her gratitude, referring back to the words of the DeputyMinister of Culture and National Heritage regarding Treblinka. – I’m very happy to hear thata new building will be built in Treblinka because this was Samuel’s last mission. He hopedthat his sculptures would be permanently exhibited in the place where all of theseatrocities took place (...) We have to talk about the things which happened here, in properconditions (...) Finally, after many years I can see that something is changing, that we aremoving things forward. Hopefully I will live long enough to see at least the foundations ofthe new building. In any case, I have a goal - to live a very long life - summed up AdaKrystyna Willenberg who persistently continues the mission started with her husband.
The artist's wife showed the guests around the exhibition, sharing insight into theindividual sculptures and the scenes they portray. Particular attention was paid to thesculpture depicting the father unlacing his son’s shoes as this was one of the first thingsthe Germans ordered Jews brought to Treblinka to do. First they had to take off their shoesand tie them together by the shoelaces because the German Reich wanted to use all of thebelongings of its victims. During this act, Samuel Willenberg was saved by his friend fromCzęstochowa. Out of the whole transport of 6, 000 Jews brought in that day, SamuelWillenberg was the only one to survive. The sculpture portrays a particularly touchingscene of a barefoot man kneeling on the ground, taking off his son’s shoe.
Ada Willenberg also explained the story behind the sculpture of a naked man without oneleg, with a prosthesis placed next to him. He was a Jew brought in a transport fromGermany, "an elderly man with a prosthesis , proudly presenting all of his medals. It turnedout that he had taken part in World War I and lost his leg. He was sure that when he cameto Treblinka he would receive better treatment as he was a German hero. Due to hisproblems with walking he was not directed to the gas chambers, but to the building withthe inscription "Lazarett". However, this was not, as the name suggested, a militaryhospital, but a form of deceiving the people directed there. They were to expect to receivemedical treatment there. In fact, the Lazarett was a place where the Germans shot thosewho were unable to reach the gas chambers on their own.
One of the sculptures depicting life in Treblinka II portrays a painter. To some extent, thissculpture refers to the scene from the "Lazarett. - The Germans tricked and lied to theirvictims until the very last moment - continues the author's wife – The painter had beenordered to paint a fake clock, false signs with the inscription "To Bialystok", 1st class, 2ndclass in order to trick the newly arrived victims into believing that they had arrived at aregular station. The idea was to control thousands of people through lies so that theywould not rebel.
The last two of the exhibited sculptures depict scenes from the rebellion in Treblinka. AdaWillenberg told us how the prisoners made a second copy of the key and obtainedweapons from a German warehouse. Today we also know that Jewish insurgents hadpreviously received some weapons through the Home Army from Sokołów Podlaski. Thesculpture depicts the prisoners firing rifles and throwing grenades. Several of them havealready been hit by enemy bullets. The last scene is the escape. - The first group ofinmates started to run (...) they were killed. The rest began to climb over the bodies ofthose killed and onto the other side of the barbed-wire fence - said the artist's wife. Thatwas the price of freedom.
The last part of the gala evening was devoted to the screening of Alan Tomlinson's
documentary: "Treblinka’s Last Witness" presented thanks to the courtesy of WLRN PublicTelevision for South Florida. The film not only tells the story of Samuel Willenberg, but alsohis wife and the motivation behind the creation of the sculptures. It was a true honour forboth the organizers and gathered guests to watch it together with Ada Willenberg herself.
The Institute’s project aims to commemorate Holocaust victims. The opening of theexhibition of Samuel Willenberg’s fifteen sculptures depicting everyday life in what can bedescribed as hell on earth, has been prepared by the Institute of National Remembrance aspart of the celebrations of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The event tookplace one day after the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of theGerman extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, the place symbolizing this tragic crimecommitted by the German Third Reich.
The sculptures will remain under the care of the Institute of National Remembrance for ayear. From 29 January 2020, they will be available to the public at the Institute’s "HistoryPoint" Educational Centre on Marszałkowska Str. in Warsaw. The exhibition will further visitBiałystok, Częstochowa, Gdańsk, Kielce, Kraków, Lublin and Szczecin. The sculptures willalso be the subject of educational workshops for both teachers and students.
Blanka Kamińska-Pienkos: Samuel Willenberg’s sculptures – when a dreambecomes reality
My work at the Institute of National Remembrance involves, among others, browsingthrough international social media. One June day I came across a short film entitled“Ghosts of Treblinka” on haaretz.com. My attention was drawn to the face of a lady whoemanated incredible positive energy. She told the story of her late husband, a survivor ofthe Treblinka death camp. He let the world know of his traumatic experiences therethrough a series of bronze sculptures, each depicting a particular scene or personencountered during his 10-month stay at the camp.
I was struck by one of the final scenes of the film when the camera rolls down, showing theviewer that all these wonderful sculptures are standing in a mini gallery in the basement ofthe Willenberg family house. Meanwhile, as Ada Willenberg emphasizes in the film, herhusband's dream was for them to find their place in Treblinka, being a testimony of theunimaginable scale of human suffering which took place there during the war. I felt that Iwould really like to contribute to making the artist’s dream come true, to show SamuelWillenberg’s works to the world, even if it were to be a single exhibition.
My idea of bringing sculptures to Poland was approved by the management of the Instituteof National Remembrance.
While preparing the project, I turned to a documentary about the author of the sculptures,Samuel Willenberg produced by WLRN Public Television for South Florida entitled"Treblinka’s Last Witness". At the beginning of the film there is a snapshot of pre-warPoland with Jewish and Polish children carelessly playing football together. This picture isillustrated with the artist's memories. During the film, I realized that Samuel Willenberg'sstruggle for freedom and memory actually began during the prisoners' rebellion inTreblinka. A few months after escaping from the camp, he took part in the WarsawUprising, and after the war, together with his wife, Willenberg became a tireless educatorof youth, both in Poland and Israel.
During the preparation of the project, my first personal meeting with Ada Willenberg –made possible thanks to the Director of the Treblinka Museum Edward Kopówka - duringthe anniversary of the rebellion in Treblinka turned into a life adventure. The fact that AdaWillenberg gave my idea the thumbs up brought on numerous preparations. My friendsfrom the Division of International Relations and colleagues from the whole Institute joinedin the preparations. The decision of the Institute's management that the exhibition willtravel all over Poland, exceeded my expectations.
When Samuel Willenberg organized the first press conference on the creation of hissculptures, no journalist appeared. Thanks to the persistence of the artist, today theseworks are known all over the world. The sculptures are undoubtedly of great historical,aesthetic and emotional value ... I would like to invite everyone to personally see thisextraordinary testimony!
