Page 18 - LOTN Autumn Issue 48 2021

WITNESS

Zdaniem o. Piotra przed pandemią ekspozycję odwiedzało pozostawiają mocny ślad w osobowości człowieka. Jest
rocznie do 8 tysięcy ludzi z całego świata. „Klisze” wciąż są to pewien świat, w który się wchodzi. Wiem, że to zabrzmi
otwarte dla wszelkiej publiczności, ale trzeba się najpierw dziwnie, ale wystawa jest mocniejsza, niż sam obóz. Świętej
umówić z harmęskim centrum na zwiedzanie wystawy pamięci ks. prof. Tischner po obejrzeniu tej wystawy napisał
telefonicznie lub mailowo. Franciszkanie oprowadzają po artykuł, w którym umieścił takie słowa: „Byłem wiele razy
ekspozycji w kilku językach - polskim, angielskim i włoskim. w Auschwitz, byłem wiele razy w Birkenau, ale nigdy nie
Jeżeli ktoś nie ma możliwości odwiedzenia Harmęży, może przeżyłem tam tego, co przeżyłem na tej wystawie. Moja
przeżyć tę wystawę online. Wystarczy kliknąć w link: http:// odpowiedź może być tylko jedna. Prawdziwy Oświęcim jest
wystawa.powiat.oswiecim.pl/. tutaj” - podsumowuje o. Cuber.
„Reakcje naszych zwiedzających są bardzo głębokie i
" Snapshots of Memory - Labyrinths"

August 2016 was the 75th anniversary of the martyrdom
of St Maximilian Kolbe. To mark this occasion the Franciscans He was also in five other concentration camps and was
liberated on May 6, 1945 from the Mauthausen camp. After
of the American Province of Our Lady of the Angels arranged the war he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in
a pilgrimage of the relics of the saint to monasteries of Kraków, specialising in stage design . He designed sets for
the province including Britain and Ireland. The relics were many plays and films and cooperated with such names as
accompanied by Fr Jobe Abbass from Canada, and Fr Różewicz, Wajda, Hanuszkiewicz,” explains Fr Piotr.
Piotr Cuber, from the St Maximilian Centre of Harmęże, It is worth adding that Marian Kołodziej was the author
Poland. Lidia Konar, a parishioner of St Mary's Cathedral, of two papal altars: in 1987, he built the Gdańsk "Ark for the
Aberdeen, interviewed Fr Piotr for Shmu Radio at the time Helmsman", and in 1999, the altar in Sopot.
and the following article is based on her recollection of her "Snapshots of Memory - Labyrinths" might never have
conversations with him.
been created by him if he had not suffered from a cerebral
LIDIA KONAR haemorrhage and been partially paralysed in 1992. In
an interview with the Kraków author, Bożena Grzebień,
he described how his doctor advised him to exercise his
n the occasion of the recent 80th anniversary
of St Maximilian Maria Kolbe's martyrdom paralyzed arm as part of his rehabilitation: "So I made these
and the 76th anniversary of the liberation of lines, and they formed into camp memories," said Kołodziej.
Othe Auschwitz camp, it is worth visiting either These "Snapshots of Memory" were a record of what the
in person or virtually Harmęże, a small village located artist experienced in Auschwitz.
In 1997, according to Fr Piotr, he brought that series of
near Auschwitz. There, until December 1941, the Nazis
dumped the ashes from the camp crematoria. There is a paintings to the Franciscans at Harmęże. The exhibition
high probability that the ashes of the Polish Franciscan was put together in the basement of the church and not
only serves as a testament to those who suffered and died
martyr, St Maxmilian Kolbe, whose body was cremated
in August 1941, were disposed of there. in the concentration camps but also as a testament to the
sacrifice of St. Maximilian Kolbe.
In 1989 the Conventual Franciscans of the Kraków
Province of St Anthony and the Blessed Jakub Strzemię In his interview with Bożena Grzebień, Kołodziej explains
established The St Maximilian Centre at Harmęże. The centre why he donated his works to the Centre: "At that roll call
Kolbe gave his life for an unknown man, a stranger, and
is composed of three buildings: the Church of Our Lady of
the Immaculate Conception, the Franciscan Monastery of thus for every other person."
But why did Marian Kołodziej come back to his memories
the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and
the St Maximilian Retreat and Educational House run by the from the camp after so many years of silence?: “I felt
Father Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata. obligated by my friends to tell the truth. However, I do not
think I would ever have returned to the topic of the camp if
Today, at the Centre, there is a special exhibition entitled
"Snapshots of Memory - Labyrinths", created by Marian it had not been for my illness."
Fr Piotr continues the story: "The exhibition was
Kołodziej (1921-2009). Marian Kołodziej was a witness of
the infamous roll call in the Auschwitz camp at which St completed in May 2009, a few months before the artist's
Maximilian Kolbe chose to go to his death in exchange for death. Every few months Kołodziej brought along new
works. The "labyrinth" eventually took up the entire surface
the life of Franciszek Gajowniczek, a fellow inmate. 2
Fr Piotr Cuber OFM Conv is currently the guardian of of our basement. Today it occupies over 700 m of exhibition
the St Maximilian Centre and as a former parish priest of space.”
the parish of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Kołodziej created over 250 compositions of various sizes.
Harmęże, he knows the story of Marian Kołodziej well: The exhibition also includes other elements, such as camp
bunk beds and a makeshift railway wagon, of the type used
"Kołodziej was a prisoner of the first (Tarnów) transport
to Auschwitz, which arrived on June 14, 1940. There were to transport prisoners.
According to Fr. Piotr, before the pandemic, the exhibition
728 prisoners in this transport. Only 239 prisoners survived
the war and the last of these survivors died a few years was visited by up to 8,000 people from all over the world
ago. Kołodziej was given the number 432 at Auschwitz. every year. The exhibition remains open but you must
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