On July 19, 2022, another group of youth from Germany visited the Treblinka Museum. The group, accompanied by Dr. Edward Sułek, consisted of 23 teenagers aged 16-18. Their study visit began at the Treblinka Memorial Site, where they met Dr. Edward Kopówka, the director of the Treblinka Museum. During the meeting, they had the opportunity to ask questions and share their reflections. The main topic of the visit to the museum was the Culture of Remembrance in Treblinka. On the first day, students from Germany learnt about the history of the former camps in Treblinka and the post-war commemoration of these areas. On the second day, the youth met with the witness of history Józef Maliński, whose family sheltered Jews during World War II. That day, the group also visited the Pilecki Family House Museum in Ostrów Mazowiecka and met with Grażyna Olton, the granddaughter of Marianna and Leon Lubkiewicz in Sadowne. The Lubkiewicz family members were murdered by the German Nazis for helping Jews. Last year, one of the German groups laid five “Stopersteinen” [trans. memorial stones] in front of the Lubkiewicz house dedicated to: Marianna, Leon and Stefan Lubkiewicz and Jewish women: Elizówna and Czapkiewiczówna. The originator of the commemorative project was Dr. Edward Sułek, who has been visiting the museum with German groups for many years. The youth also took part in a presentation entitled “JanuszKorczak in Wolfgang Hergeth’s painting”. On the fourth day of their stay, they went to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. An important part of the visit were personal reflections at the Treblinka Memorial Site and thematic workshops.
text by AR
translated byPM