Kazimierz Smoleń (19 April 1920 – 27 January 2012) was a Polish political prisoner of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

KZ Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

(Auschwitz concentration camp), and later a long-term director of

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum ( pl, Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau) is a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim (German: ''Auschwitz''), Poland. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwitz ...

.''Washington Post'': "Kazimierz Smoleń, Auschwitz survivor, dies on anniversary of camp's liberation"
29 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.

Biography

Smoleń was a law student when he was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

on 15 April 1940 for his activity in the Polish conspiracy in Chorzow and an attempt to join the Polish army abroad. On 6 July 1940 he was transported to Auschwitz concentration camp with one of the first transports of Polish political prisoners to arrive from prison in Sosnowiec.Zmarł Kazimierz Smoleń
/ref> Smoleń was given the KZ Auschwitz number 1327, and at first was given work in the construction workgang; then he worked as a writer in the camp's administration office. Altogether Smoleń was an Auschwitz prisoner for almost five years. On 18 January 1945 Smoleń was deported in one of Auschwitz

death marches A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Conven ...

to Loslau and then to

Ebensee concentration camp Ebensee was a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp established by the SS to build tunnels for armaments storage near the town of Ebensee, Austria, in 1943. The camp held a total of 27,278 male inmates from 1943 until 1945. Between 8,500 and ...

, a subcamp of

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 further ...

. Smoleń was liberated in Ebensee concentration camp on 6 May 1945. Smoleń came back to Poland after the war and studied law at the

Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin ( pl, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, la, Universitas Catholica Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II, abbreviation KUL), established in 1918. It is the only private college in Poland with the s ...

. He was one of the creators of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, established in 1947. From 1955 till 1990 he served as the director of the Museum. After the war he worked on the ''Commission to Investigate Nazi Crimes in Poland'' and participated as a witness and expert in trials of SS staff of

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. After retirement, he was still devoted to education about Auschwitz, and worked witnessing about the camp's history to younger generations until his very last days. Smoleń died on 27 January 2012, aged 91, the day of the 67th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.Obituary on BBC Radio 4's Last Word http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bmq2z#p00p89ss

Bibliography

* Kazimierz Smoleń. ''Auschwitz, 1940-1945''. Route Sixty Six Publishing, 1995. * K. Smoleń, translated by Stephen Lee. ''Auschwitz-Birkenau, State Museum in Oswiecim, Guide Book''. Panstwowe Museum, 2007. * K. Smoleń. ''Selected Problems from the History of KL Auschwitz''. Panstwowe Museum, 1979.

References

External links

Jewish Guide: Kazmierz Smoleń, prisoner 1327

* Wikipedia.de (in German)
New York Times January 28, 2012

US Holocaust Memorial Museum: Kazimierz Smolen archive (statement on Operation Zeppelin)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smolen, Kazimierz 1920 births 2012 deaths Place of birth missing Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Mauthausen concentration camp survivors Polish activists