80th anniversary of the Death March. The related commemoration took place today at 10.00 in Brzeszcze at the municipal cemetery, where the first mass grave is located victims of this march. This is the first monument on the long evacuation route reaching as far as Wodzisław prisoners.
During today’s commemoration, they laid wreaths, bouquets and lit candles: in the name on behalf of the Voivode of Małopolska Mr. Krzysztof Jan Klęczara Mr. Mateusz Hałat, , on behalf of Office of the Marshal of the Małopolska Voivodeship Ms. Marshal of the Voivodeship Iwona Gibas , Mr. Jakub Przewoźnik, Head of the Office’s Branch Office Marshal of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in Oświęcim, Mr. Radosław Szot Mayor of Brzeszcz, Ms. Danuta Socha Chairman of the City Council in Brzeszcze together with Councilors Mr. Jacek Wawro Mr Jan Korczyk Mr Krzysztof Bielenin, Mr. Holger Mahnicke Consul General of Germany in Krakow, Mr. Martin Gärtner Consul General Austria in Krakow. Director of the Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance in Krakow, Mr dr. Filip Musiał, of the Oświęcim Commune Deputy Major Ms. Halina Musiał on behalf of the Military Recruitment Center in Oświęcim Captain Agnieszka Kierepka-Hoła and Corporal Natalia Herma, Mr. Gil Faran, Chairman of the Association of Israeli Guides in Poland, together with a delegation, Mrs. Dorota Mleczko Diretor of the Museum of Remembrance of the Inhabitants of the Oświęcim Land, representatives of social organizations, residents and representatives of the Foundation of Memory Sites Near Auschwitz-Birkenau The commemoration was organized by the Foundation of Memory Sites Near Auschwitz-Birkenau from Brzeszcze with the President, Agnieszka Molenda-Kopijasz, and the Mayor of Brzeszcze, Mr. Radosław Szot.
Seventy-nine years ago – on the evening of January 17, 1945, after the last camp appeal, the evacuation of prisoners from the KL Auschwitz camp complex began. 67 012 prisoners stood for the last evening roll
call. This is how the prisoner exodus of the difficult one began and in many cases the tragic route of the
Death March from the main camp and nearby sub-camps. SS men drove male and female prisoners on foot towards Gliwice through various evacuation routes and Wodzisław. From there they were transported by train to concentration camps further afield Reich.
Between January 17 and 21, approximately 25,000 prisoners passed through the main road through
Brzeszcze. This column also included prisoners from subcamps in our KL town Auschwitz-Bor/Budy and
KL Auschwitz-Jawischowitz. Many of this group of several ten thousand people prisoners, couldn’t stand
it at the beginning of this long, murderous and difficult walking route. They died they were from
exhaustion or SS bullets.
On January 19, 1945, the German Mayor of Brzeszcz ordered the residents to bury the bodies, dead
prisoners lying on the evacuation route, starting from Rajsko through Brzeszcze to end of Jawiszowice –
they collected 18 bodies of women and men. Brzeszcze became the burial place and the first mass grave
of the victims of the evacuation March Death. The next grave/commemoration is located in Miedzna.
174315 KOHN ALFRED Jewish prisoner
190325 SAUER BALTHASAR Catholic prisoner
190851 WERNER RICHARD Jewish prisoner
69959 GERST (no data) Jewish prisoner
16149 (male no data)
……… WEISS ANNA Jewish prisoner
A22322 (female, no data) Jewish prisoner
A26059 (female, no data) Jewish prisoner
A27174 (female, no data) Jewish prisoner
TWO UNIDENTIFIED PRISONERS SEVEN UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE PRISONERS HONOR THEIR MEMORY!
*quote in the title placed in three languages (Polish, Hebrew and English) on the graves of the victims The Death March at the cemetery in Brzeszcze comes from the Bible from the Book of Psalms
