As part of the commemorations of 78th anniversary of the establishment (i.e. beginning of the construction work) of the Treblinka German death camp on 1 June 1942, the Institute of National Remembrance would like to invite you to a virtual tour of "The Image of Treblinka in the Eyes of Samuel Willenberg" exhibition, which had been organized by the IPN and opened on 28 January 2020 at the Janusz Kurtyka "History Point" Educational Center in Warsaw.
The current version of the Virtual Tour has been supplemented by a voice-over both in Polish and English, as well as touching artistic photographs by Sławomir Kasper (IPN).
https://lastwitness.eu/
The exhibition "The Image of Treblinka in the Eyes of Samuel Willenberg", organized by the Institute of National Remembrance at the Janusz Kurtyka “History Point” Educational Center in Warsaw, presents fifteen bronze sculptures made in the years 1999-2003 depicting figures of prisoners and scenes from everyday life at the camp, which portray the Artist's painful memories of that time. Quotes from Samuel Willenberg's book Surviving Treblinka in English and Polish were used as descriptions of the exhibits. This has allowed the author’s voice to reverberate fully.
The exhibition together with the educational project on Willenberg's work was realized thanks to the kindness and great trust placed in the Institute of National Remembrance by the Widow of the Artist, Mrs. Ada Krystyna Willenberg, who has been tirelessly continuing her husband's work, aimed at preserving the memory of the Holocaust especially among young generations.
Samuel Willenberg was a soldier of the Polish Army and the Home Army as well as a participant of the Warsaw Uprising. Despite the traumatic war experiences in German-occupied Poland, until the end of his life in 2016, Samuel Willenberg had the courage to return to his native country. Since leaving for Israel in 1950, he and his wife Ada Krystyna have on numerous occasions traveled to Poland - either alone or as guides of Israeli youth.
Treblinka was closely associated with the Warsaw Ghetto, from which thousands of Jews were sent to the camp. Many Jews rounded up during the April 1943 fighting in the Ghetto were taken by the Germans to Treblinka.
It was among others their effort which was to have inspired the prisoners of the camp to rebel in August 1943. Samuel Willenberg immortalized this moment in one of his works.
For more information on the opening of the exhibition: