The Oswiecim Project

Munich Airport on the way to Krakow.

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:27:47 -0500

Munich Airport on the way to Krakow.

Oswiecim

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:54:01 -0500

Pronunciation: “osh-vee-cheem” (German Name: “Auschwitz”)

Images taken from a new series of photographs entitled Hoppla!...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:15:00 -0500

Joshua Schwartz - Sloppy Nazis

Joshua Schwartz - Sloppy Nazis

Joshua Schwartz - Sloppy Nazis

Joshua Schwartz - Sloppy Nazis

Images taken from a new series of photographs entitled Hoppla! (Sloppy Nazis)

Looking forward to coming back - Oswiecim, I will see you in...

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:44:42 -0500

Looking forward to coming back - Oswiecim, I will see you in January!

To thank those who have helped out with the project during my...

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:19:00 -0400

To thank those who have helped out with the project during my stay here in Poland
I have made a limited number of

‘dziękuję! the oświęcim project’

coffee mugs. While this small gesture hardly begins to express my deepest and most sincere gratitude, I hope it holds your coffee well and is part of many beautiful mornings.

Dziękuję Bardzo.

Joshua

Here are a few pictures from the last two days in Krakow. A...

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:46:00 -0400

Schwartz - Staged Photograph

Schwartz - Quarry

Schwartz - Landscape

Schwartz - Church

Schwartz - Sunbathing

Schwartz - Lights

Schwartz - Limo

Here are a few pictures from the last two days in Krakow. A heads up - the images might take a minute to load properly… More soon. An update, I promise!

My final drive around the outskirts of Oswiecim. Tomorrow I...

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:41:31 -0400

Schwartz_Dwory Station

Schwartz_Chemical Plant

Schwartz_Chemical Plant

Schwartz_Dwory

Schwartz_Dwory

My final drive around the outskirts of Oswiecim. Tomorrow I head back to Krakow.

Update post coming soon!

So. Got pulled over by the Polish Police in Oswiecim - First...

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:34:39 -0400

Poland Vs. France / August 30, 2011

Poland Vs. France / August 30, 2011

Poland Vs. France / August 30, 2011

Poland Vs. France / August 30, 2011

Poland Vs. France / August 30, 2011

So. Got pulled over by the Polish Police in Oswiecim - First place I saw to stop happened to be the ice hockey stadium… long story short - The police were incredibly nice, let me go, I walked up to the stadium to see what was cooking - got to the entrance which was guarded - asked, in Polish, if anyone spoke english - the guy looked at my camera and just pointed to the press section. Watched Poland kick Frances ass 2-1 and took some awesome shots along the way.

Me and my ride wrapping up a night shoot.

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:01:35 -0400

Me and my ride wrapping up a night shoot.

Day trip to Katowice.

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:12:41 -0400

Schwartz - Katowice

Schwartz - Katowice

Schwartz - Katowice

Schwartz - Katowice

Schwartz - Katowice

Day trip to Katowice.

Good Night from Oswiecim.

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:07:24 -0400

Good Night from Oswiecim.

Jody Russell Manning

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:43:52 -0400

Two days ago I met with Jody Russell Manning. Jody is currently working on his PHD, (“Living in the Shadows of Auschwitz and Dachau: Memorial, Community, Symbolism, and the Palimpsest of Memory”) at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University. He has been coming to Oswieicm since 2004 and has developed some extremely interesting ideas concerning the city and its inhabitants. I found Jody’s focus on memory and time to be directly in line with my ambitions for the Oswiecim Project. Aside from being knowledgable and talented, Jody is a great guy and I look forward to reading more of his work as well as continuing our dialogue long after we have both departed from Poland.

You can learn more about Jody and the Strassler Center by clicking the link below.

http://www.clarku.edu/departments/holocaust/phd/research.cfm

Dziękuję Bardzo Jody!

NIEZNANOWICE!

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:07:16 -0400

Last Friday I packed up the smart car and took a day trip to my grandfather’s town, a small village (Small is an understatement. I would estimate that 99% of people from Krakow, which is only 30km to the north east, don’t even know it exists…) called Niezanowice. The goal of this trip was to try and find some information on where his house used to be and see what resides there presently. It was a complete shot in the dark - many of the records from before and during the war have since been destroyed - but, I had to try.

We, Marta (my translator and now dear friend) and I started at the Municipal office. Jan The Lawyer thought it best - and I’m sure in most cases of determining land ownership he would have been right, but in this case we came up with nothing. So with no legal documentation to go off of the only thing left to do was drive over to the village and see if perhaps we could find someone (elderly) and ask if they knew anything about the old Blaufeder mill. My grandfather’s family owned the town mill (saw and flour).

About 30 seconds into Nieznanowice (another 30 and you are in the next village) we found a gentleman, looked like 80 something, riding his bike. Marta got out and spoke to him for a few minutes - I watched from the smart car as they exchanged smiles. The old man gestured down the road and Marta nodded in understanding. A thumbs up as she walked back towards the car let me know that perhaps this trip would end up much differently than I and everyone else who said it was pointless had thought.

“So, this old man remembers the mill that was owned by a Jewish family. It is no longer there but the land is easy to find. Just down the road, on the right, before the bridge.”

We spent the next 40 minutes driving up and down the same street, not finding the land, asking everyone over the age of 60 if they knew where the old mill once was - each responded with, “Of course. It is right down there, just before (after) the bridge.”

Finally after close to an hour, Marta met Mr. Bogota.

Mr. Bogota, like everyone else, remembered the mill. He also remember my grandfather. He also now owns the land where my grandfather’s entire family once lived. He bought it from a German man in 1956. Mr. Bogota spent the next two hours - giving us a tour of the land, remembering things about my family and having Marta translate them to me… My favorite was how he used to watch as they prayed in the cellar - he admits that as a kid he found it quite interesting and couldn’t understand what he was watching but wanted to participate. It was an amazing experience. I have it all on video and will share asap.

So after being introduced to his daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter, each more enthusiastic than the next about my interest in coming to Nieznanowice, we said our goodbyes. Mr. Bogota extended an open invitation for me to come back whenever I like - I am sure I will take him up on it.

Here is a link to the exact location of the land.

http://boulter.com/gps/#49.918321%2C20.273895

The dark spot is the foundation of my grandfather’s house. The house to the left is Mr. Bogota’s.

My Beloved Ride

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:26:06 -0400

My Beloved Ride

A much needed update on the Oswiecim Project progress...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:19:07 -0400

Ok - first of all I am writing to you from a picnic bench surrounded by seven Polish men who just finished what I can only assume was a long day of work. We have been talking for about an hour now - One of them, Bobi, speaks decent english and has been explaining what it is they do. Basically they go into places like WalMart and assemble the shelving. They move from one city to another, usually traveling for weeks on end, working pretty long hours and concluding each day by drinking plenty of beer.

(2 hours, 1 Tyskie and many ridiculous conversations both in English and Polish after I wrote the paragraph above…)

A lot has happened since I was able to make my last post. I have been running on fumes for the last three or four days but the progress has been unbelievable. I am going to keep it brief and try to hit on some of the key moments.

1. (08.20.11) Jan The Lawyer - I met with a lawyer Krakow who specializes in real estate and is very willing to help me out as I move forward with both the acquisition of property in Oswiecim as well as whatever it is I decide to do about my grandfather’s property in Nieznanowice - This deserves its own post… truly remarkable. I will recap at a later date.

2. (08.20/21.11) Met with Lukasz Surowiec and his close friend and talented critic/curator Aneta. Marcin Golebiewski (see #3) put us in contact and I am glad he did. The two of them are incredible and both had some wonderful insights on the Oswiecim Project. Lukasz is currently working on a project for the next Berlin Biennial involving Auschwitz. We exchanged ideas for over 2 hours and I look forward to meeting with him again soon. Possibly next week in Katowice, where he lives.

3. (08.21.11) Awesome meeting with Marcin Golebiewski, Co-Founder of ArtBoom. The guy is like a shinning star shedding light on contemporary art in Krakow and beyond. We will speak again soon so more on that at a later date.

4. (08.22.11) NIEZNANOWICE! - MORE SOON!

5. (08.23.11) Drove to Oswiecim / Brzezinka. Toured the towns in the smart car and met briefly with Lukas and Luisa, volunteers at the Oswiecim Jewish Center. Both Lukas (Austrian) and Luisa (German), non-jews who chose to come to the Oswiecim J.C. and volunteer in order to fulfill their civil service duties, were extremely enthusiastic about
being in Oswiecim and eager to be of assistance. I am looking forward to spending more time with them during the week.

6. (08.24.11) Spent the morning at the Auschwitz archives sifting through actual SS
architectural drawings created during the planning phases of Auschwitz I and Birkenau. The Director of Archives, Mr. Wojciech Płosa, is probably the nicest man alive. He has been welcoming from the first time I emailed four months ago and continues to outdo himself. I understand it is his ‘job’ to assist individuals searching for information but simply put, the man goes above and beyond his obligatory responsibilities and not only does he dig up incredible information but he does it with a smile. Mr. Płosa, if you are reading this, thank you. I am excited to go back to the museum tomorrow and continue my research.

7. Today. Finally, after months of emailing, I shake hands with Jacek Cyganik, a real estate agent I can get down with. Jacek is a stand up guy who understands the business and will, hopefully someday soon, find the Oswieicm Project a permanent home. Together, along with a local agent, we saw approximately seven properties. Much like looking for an apartment in New York, each came with a catch. There was one located just a few hundred meters from Birkenau. You could see almost the entire south side of the camp from the plot - breathtaking in so many ways… but it was in a residential area and interjecting this space into a tight knit community / neighborhood might not be what I am going for. Then we saw a beautiful plot in downtown Oswiecim. It will remain on the top of my ‘possible sites’ list - but it brings up the ongoing question of - Oswiecim or Brzezinka… Interestingly enough it happens to be around the corner from the Oswiecim J.C. - with plenty of parking and foot traffic it could be great (if that is the road we are going to take). Two other plots were basically perfect but literally just sold today. There were some others and will be more next week. I did stumble upon something rather interesting… an opportunity to get the word out about the project and also begin working with artists, locally and abroad… but will have to leave you with that for the time being.

So, while I am positive I left something out, there you have it. I will enjoy some juice and try streaming a movie while the gentleman downstairs enjoy some more Tyskie and listen to Kanye West.

Tomorrow I attend an event at the International Youth Meeting House in Oświęcim and speak with the Director, Leszek Szuster.

My friends,

Dobranoc

Joshua Eric Schwartz

The Jews of Oshpitzin, Poland from the Auschwitz Jewish...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:17:46 -0400

The Jews of Oshpitzin, Poland from the Auschwitz Jewish Center’s interactive project.

Brief history of Oswiecim

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:10:51 -0400

Oświęcim (German: Auschwitz, Yiddish Oshpitsin אָשפּיצין, Czech: Osvětim, Slovak: Osvienčim, Russian: Освенцим) is a town in the Lesser Poland province of southern Poland, situated 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła.

Throughout much of history, Germans and Poles lived together peacefully in the town. From 1315 the town was the capital of independent duchy. In the 14th century the population declined. The portion of ethnic Germans in the town shrank and in 1457 the Polish king Casimir IV bought the rights to the town, which was attached afterwards to the Cracow Voivodeship. Jews, invited by Polish kings to settle in the region, had already become the majority of the population in the 15th century. The town also became one of the centers of Protestant culture in Poland.

After World War I, the city became part of the Second Polish Republic. On the eve of World War II there were about 8,000 Jews in the city, over half the population.

World War II and post-war

In October 1939, Nazi Germany immediately annexed the area to Germany in the Gau of Upper Silesia, which became part of the “second Ruhr” by 1944. In 1940, Nazi Germany used forced labor to build a new subdivision to house Auschwitz guards and staff. After the territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II, new housing complexes in the town were developed with large buildings of rectangular and concrete constructions. The chemical industry became the main employer of the town and in later years, a service industry and trade were added. Tourism to the concentration camp sites is an important source of revenue for the town’s businesses.

In the mid-1990s following perestroika, employment at the chemical works (renamed Dwory S.A.) reduced from ~10,000 in the communist era to only 1,500 people.

Me and my grandfather’s neighbor standing where my...

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:56:00 -0400

Me and my grandfather’s neighbor standing where my grandfather’s house once stood. More to come.

"Jewrassic Park"

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:47:08 -0400

I can’t take credit for that… I can only attribute it to the one and only Jonathan Ornstein, Director of the JCC Krakow, referring to the ‘show’ that is Kazimierz, Krakow’s Jewish district. He recognizes what is happening but speaks highly of the current state of affairs. While many consider using the Holocaust to generate an income to be exploitative tourism Jonathan sees positive aspects to what is going on right outside the JCC’s door. He believes the popularity of all things Jewish in Krakow is a result of a thirst for knowledge amongst Europeans trying to connect with a part of history that is, for lack of a better word(s), mind boggling. And yes, people are capitalizing on that with capitalism but the pros, in his eyes, outweigh the cons. Walking around and paying attention, I see his point. I am still deciding if I agree.

Jonathan and I had our first meeting today to discuss the project. We also covered - Farming, basketball, art (Yael Bartana), London, racism, (Rabbis) laughing, Coke Zero, Etc. Jonathan had some great ideas and has already introduced me to an extremely talented real estate attorney who specializes in the area around Krakow. We will meet this weekend before I head to Nieznanowice on Monday to try and locate the well in which my grandfather buried his 38mm as the Nazis were taking over his property towards the start of the war. More on that soon.

I also had a truly excellent meeting with Maria Anna Potocka - Director of the newly constructed Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow. What a sophisticated and unique woman. First of all - she has curated a remarkable show entitled History In Art. Secondly - she has completed countless projects (shows, publications, etc.) a number of which focus on Auschwitz - the latest in collaboration with photographer Wilhelm Brasse (amazing story).

MAPotack was (surprisingly) interested in the project. I say surprisingly because I figured someone with her experience would be inclined to take a ‘been there done that’ stance. On the contrary she thought the project to be quite valuable - our meeting conclude with her writing a note, in Polish, on the back of a business card, telling me to find a particular director at the ABM and give him the card. I asked if she can tell me what it says… “Don’t worry, just give it to him. I think your project has value and he will help.”

Very Well. Off to find some dinner. Tomorrow - a few meetings and possibly a visit to the Wawel.

Dobranoc.

Krakow - 19th of August 2011

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:39:54 -0400

Family

Kocham Polske

Krakow - 19th of August 2011