BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//6.6.3//EN TZID:Europe/Berlin X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/Berlin BEGIN:VEVENT UID:1-3550@forumdialog.eu DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20240828T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20240828T200000 DTSTAMP:20240819T144523Z URL:https://forumdialog.eu/veranstaltungen/will-of-survival-obligation-to- witness-rachela-auerbach-and-the-women-of-oneg-shabbath-in-the-warsaw-ghet to/ SUMMARY:„Will of Survival\, Obligation to Witness… Rachela Auerbach and the Women of Oneg Shabbath in the Warsaw Ghetto“ DESCRIPTION:\n\nLecture by Szymon Pietrzykowski (Jewish Historical Institut e\, Warsaw Poland)\n\n28.08\, 18.00 | Pariser Platz 4A\, 10117 Berlin | Registration: https://forms.gle/zNVXjHr4EUtSQFrq5\n\n\n\n\n\nRachela Auer bach\n\n\n\nThere were approximately 70-80 people involved in various acti vities of the so-called Oneg Shabbat group (“The joy of Saturday” in Hebrew) which created the Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. We k now 35 people by name and last name\, including its founder\, Emanuel Rin gelblum (1900-1944). Among them were seven women: Rachela Auerbach (1903-1 976)\, Gustawa Jarecka (1908-1943)\, Henryka Łazowertówna (1909-1942)\, Salomea Ostrowska\, Gela Seksztajn (1907-1943)\, Cecylia Słapakowa (1900- 1943)\, Bluma Wasser (1912-1990).\n\n\n\nRachela Auerbach during the Eichm ann trial in Jerusalem\, 1960-61 (State Photo Archive of Israel)\n\n\n\nAl l of them came from similar environment – more or less assimilated Jewis h intelligentsia. They were well-educated humanists and tried to succeed ( with greater and lesser effect) in prewar Warsaw intellectual or artistic environment. Only Rachela Auerbach and Bluma Wasser survived the Holocaus t - together with another survivor\, Hersz Wasser (Bluma’s husband\, sec retary of Oneg Shabbath and Ringelblum’s right hand man)\, they played a  crucial role in finding valuable documents buried underground\, hidden i n ten metal boxes and two milk cans.\n\n\n\nRachel Auerbach and Hirsch Was ser in Warsaw in September 1946 in front of part of the Oneg Shabbat archi ve during the excavation\, Warsaw\, 18 September 1946\, (Yad Vashem ©)\n\ n\n\nWomen of the Oneg Shabbath played varied and important role in docum enting the ghetto’s daily life and alarming the world about the ongoi ng Holocaust. Rachela Auerbach managed the people’s kitchen at Leszno S treet 40 and kept a dairy in which she described her experiences\, inclu ding that responsible managerial function. Later she talked with an escape e from Treblinka camp\, Jakub Krzepicki\, wrote down and redacted his test imony. Gustawa Jarecka\, fluent in German\, worked for the Jewish Council (Judenrat)\, copied and then secretly passed multiple announcements made by the German occupation authorities. She wrote a shocking relation abou t the Great Liquidation Action (Grossaktion) of the Warsaw Ghetto (from July 22 till September 21\, 1942\, about 300\,000 people were deported an d killed in Treblinka) entitled “The Last Stage of Resettlement is Death ”. Salomea Ostrowska\, about whom we know very little\, worked in quaran tine facility\, where the refugees and deportees were temporarily isolate d before entering the ghetto. She also conducted several interviews with prisoners of the labor camp in Pomiechówek near Warsaw.  Gela Seksztajn was a painter before the war\, in the ghetto she devoted herself entir ely to teaching and taking care of her family\, about 300 of her sketches and watercolors have survived\, buried in one of the metal boxes.\n\n\n\ nThe first page of Auerbach's diary (Ringelblum Archive\, Warsaw)\n\n\n\nB efore the war and at the beginning of the occupation Cecylia Słapakowa ran a literary salon. In the ghetto she conducted research about the s ituation of Jewish women based on conversations with a dozen or so interl ocutors - females who had to radically change their lives\, adapt to the  brutal ghetto circumstances\, and take care for their own survival and the  survival of their loved ones. Bluma Wasser supported her husband in deal ing with the refugees and deportees\, they both interviewed them - most o f their testimonies were transcribed by her. We also should remember about the other women mentioned in the Underground Archive (and other sources ) - artists\, teachers\, prisoners\, liaison officers/fighters.\n\nAs demo nstrated by Słapakowa’s study it was easier for women to find their way in the ghetto\, they often became heads of families\, main or sole bread winners - in the absence of their husbands or partners\, who were often d eported to camps\, whose health was failing (physically and mentally)\, an d therefore were unable to cope with the radical deterioration of living conditions and the omnipresent death. Without women there would be no sec ret teaching or Jewish resistance.\n\n\n\nRachela Auerbach\, ‘Memories ‘ (Ringelblum Archive\, Warsaw)\n\n\n\nThey demonstrated the strongest will of survival. As stated by Rachela Auerbach\, with each surviving Jewi sh life the memory of a world that ceased to exist has been preserved\, hence the obligation to bear witness. This truth is well reflected in Rac hela’s post-war life – her efforts to save the Underground Archive an d later in Israel\, where she prepared witnesses for the Eichmann trial ( 1961) and came up with a methodology for conducting interviews with the  Survivors at Yad Vashem.\n\nSzymon Pietrzykowski – historian\, researc her and educator specializing in Jewish history\, with particular emphasis on the Provinz Posen / Warthegau / Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) region\ ; employee in Education Department at Jewish Historical Institute in Warsa w\; creator of “Wielkopolski Sztetl” (Greater Poland’s Shtetl) – P olish-language website on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WielkopolskiS ztetl).\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://forumdialog.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/0 8/ProjektXbezXnazwyXX21X.jpg CATEGORIES:Veranstaltungskalender END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Berlin X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/Berlin BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20240331T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR