On January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated, which is one of the most poignant symbols of German crimes against humanity during the Second World War. On this occasion, the Polish Institute and the Austrian Cultural Forum invite you to the screening of two documentaries.
The films tell the story of another terrible site of destruction, which went down in history as "hell on earth". The "545 days. Then for a lifetime. A film against oblivion. Stanisław Zalewski and his long struggle for a worthy memorial in the area of the former Gusen concentration camp" and the films "Mauthausen - Two Lives" present the tragic fate of the prisoners of the Mauthausen-Gusen camp complex in Austria.
Stanisław Zalewski was 14 years old when the Second World War broke out on September 1, 1939. He was arrested in 1943 and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp and then to Mauthausen-Gusen. He spent 545 days in Gusen I. and II. in concentration camps, where he was abused and forced to do slave labor beyond his strength. He survived. He continues to fight tirelessly to create a worthy memorial on the site of the former Gusen concentration camp in Austria.
In the film, Stanislaw Zalewski, Joanna and Julia Ziemska - the daughter and granddaughter of former Sachsenhausen and Gusen concentration camp Jerzy Wandel, Jacek and Jan Tarasiewicz - the son and grandson of Jan Tarasiewicz, a former Auschwitz, Mauthausen and Gusen concentration camp prisoner, and representatives of local institutions include: Langenstein mayor Christian Aufreiter, Andrea Wahl (Gemeindeverband Bewusstseinsregion), Martha Gammer (Gedenkdienstkomitee Gusen) and Bernhard Mühleder (Mauthausen Memorial / KZ-Gedenkstätte).
The film was commissioned by the Polish Institute in Vienna and financed by the Department of Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, with the support of the Zukunftsfonds of the Republic of Austria.
The other film was born under the title "Mauthausen - Two Lives" and shows the tragic fate of the prisoners of the Mauthausen-Gusen camp complex in Austria. The documentary "Mauthausen - Two Lives" tells the story of two men whose fate was in World War II. during World War II, he was connected to Mauthausen - one of them, Stanisław Leszczyński, was a prisoner of the concentration camp and a victim of crimes against humanity, and the other was a resident of the settlement where hell on earth was created, he lived and worked among the perpetrators of the genocide.
Stanisław Leszczyński, who appears in the film, is the son of the legendary, heroic midwife Stanisława Leszczyńska. The movie "The Midwife" was about her.
Date of screenings: 26/01/2023 (Thursday), 6:00 p.m.
Location: Polish Institute – 1065 Budapest, Nagymező u. 15.
Participation in the event requires registration due to limited seats. Please indicate your intention to participate by filling out the questionnaire below:
https://forms.gle/QwrpieXtUU3DhKB6A
Source: Polish Institute
(Cover image: Nyugat.hu/Garai Antal Atom )
