Places of memory
Under the care of the Foundation of Memory Sites Near Auschwitz-Birkenau are not only symbolic artifacts but also objects that hold deep history and memory. The SS canteen, which witnessed the daily lives of officers, and the Women’s Penal Company, reflecting the harsh fate of women in the camp, are just part of the rich heritage preserved. Locations such as the Ziemniaczarki site, the Jawiszowice sub-camp, and the Jawiszowice coal mine are places where history intertwines with the hardship of labor and the immeasurable determination of those who lived through these events.
SS Canteen
The Camp Kitchen/Canteen is a wooden building with a barrack-like structure. It was built between 1941 and 1943 through the forced labor of prisoners at the German Nazi concentration camp KL Auschwitz.
Until the camp's liberation in January 1945, it served as a kitchen, canteen, and dining hall for SS enlisted men and officers
Food Warehouses
The Potato Peeling Building, or more precisely Fünf Kartoffellagerhallen, is a 250-meter-long food storage facility with a total area of over 8,000 square meters. It consists of 10 identical halls. The building was intended for storing agricultural produce from the surrounding SS farms, where prisoners were forced to work.
IG Farben Exhibition
The exhibition consists of several thematic panels that provide a cohesive and comprehensive presentation of the origins, history, and operation of the IG Farben Werk Auschwitz factory during the occupation period, located in what is now Monowice. The display features original artifacts (items and documents) related to the factory's operations.
Women's Penal Company
In June 1942, after the escape of two Polish female prisoners, a Women's Penal Company was established in the former pre-war school building in Bór. It housed 200 Polish women, and in the neighboring barrack, 200 Jewish women of other nationalities. Prisoners could be sent to the penal company even for the slightest offenses. On the night of October 5-6, 1942, a brutal tragedy occurred in the penal company.
Jawischowitz Subcamp
In order to increase coal production in the nearby mines, the Reichswerke Hermann Göring decided to hire a large number of workers. A camp for forced laborers was established on the rural fields of Jawiszowice. At the same time, the company and the SS-Wirtschafts-und-Verwaltungshauptamt signed a contract to supply 6,000 prisoners from the KL Auschwitz camp to work in the mines.
Jawiszowice Mine
During World War II, the mine became a site of forced labor for prisoners of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, who were subjected to hard and dangerous work. Children were also forced to work in the mine, depriving them of their childhood and future. Today, the mine is not only an industrial heritage site but also a symbolic place of remembrance for those who perished there.
