NEW YORK, NY – Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz- Birkenau State Memorial and Museum in Poland, will discuss his new book Auschwitz. A Monograph on the Human with journalist and author Andrea Pitzer. The event, hosted by the Kosciuszko Foundation, will take place at the Foundation’s House at 15 E 65th Street, New York, NY 10065, on Thursday, December 1, 2022, starting at 6:30 p.m. Q&A session and book signing will follow the discussion.
Considered by historians as a milestone in Holocaust studies, Auschwitz. A Monograph on the Human presents scores of crucial testimonies of survivors of the German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, painstakingly sourced, studied and compiled by Dr. Cywiński within a period of nearly a decade. In his reading of these rare, firsthand testimonies, Cywiński discovered connecting points and parallels that led him to group various quotes and excerpts under the headings that make up the chapters of this book, i.e., Hunger, Fear, Faith, Death, Children, Sex and Love, Birth, Hope, etc. Each of these chapters is also prefaced or supplemented with Cywiński’s comments and historical context, but the overarching messages are conveyed by and through the citations themselves.
Among others, the French historian Annette Wieviorka stated that this book “fills a void.” Auschwitz survivor Halina Birenbaum wrote that she felt that Cywiński was there with her in the camp, that with this book he broadened her remembrance and contextualized her personal experience of that terrible and chaotic time and place.
Cywiński stresses that a recurring concern of the survivors was that no one outside the camp world could remotely understand their testimonies, their words, and their messages. Cywiński’s intention, therefore, was to ensure that this book would be accessible to all readers, not primarily to historians or scholars in the field, precisely because that was the intention of these testimonies – not so much to become part of a distanced historical analysis as much as a desperate human need to convey to other human beings that the very existence of a separate, horrific world was, and is possible.
In Dr. Cywiński’s own words, taken from the last chapter of his book; “I hope that my attempt to restore the perspective about which the survivors had spoken, which we were unable to sufficiently comprehend, will fulfill my obligation to their words, memories and warnings, and with regard to them specifically. I also hope that it will serve as a proposal for a new approach in the historiography of concentration camps and extermination camps, as well as perhaps other studies of genocides—so that human experiences, studied in the polyphony of voices of memory, become the focal point of research. We owe it not to the survivors but to ourselves. And to future generations. This experience was too important, too severe, and too deadly to be expressed exclusively in numbers, dates, and facts. Analyses should focus on more important, far more important issues than strictly factual findings.”
Ms. Pitzer states, “When I was able to sit down with Auschwitz. A Monograph on the Human, it was clear immediately that it will be a useful conversation. When I wrote my concentration camp history, One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps I had some of the same priorities that Cywiński chose for this book…The lived experiences of those held in concentration camps seemed like the most important part of what I could gather and share. This, of course, revealed some of the commonalities of camp experiences around the world. And it also showed the ways in which Auschwitz took these horrors to new and unsurpassed extremes…I understand many of the choices Cywiński has made here and why he made them. I have questions about other aspects, which I think will also be of interest to the public.”
Marek Skulimowski, President and Executive Director of the Kosciuszko Foundation, states: “Seeing war images of unimaginable cruelty and human suffering, one may ask many questions about victims’ feelings and emotions. In his latest book, Piotr Cywiński uniquely attempts to explore the depth of prisoners’ experience during the darkest days of human history – the Holocaust. The human tragedy that unfolded at Auschwitz must always be memorialized, and vigilantly taught and discussed on a global scale. Education and dialogue are at the heart of the Kosciuszko Foundation’s mission, and therefore we regard this event as part of our mission. It is an honor for us to host this important discussion with Dr. Cywiński for our members and for the wider public.”
About Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński – a historian; Doctor of humanities; graduate of Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, the Catholic University of Lublin, and the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Science. Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Co-found and the president of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. Vice-President of the Warsaw Catholic Intelligentsia Club from 1996-2000 and President from 2000 to 2010. A participant in the Polish-Jewish, Christian-Jewish, and Ukrainian-Polish dialogue.
About Andrea Pitzer – the author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, which was named the best history book of 2017 by Smithsonian Magazine. In addition to One Long Night, Pitzer is the author of Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World and The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov, named a “best read” of 2013 by Foreign Policy magazine. Andrea has written for The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, Outside, GQ, Vox, Slate, and many other publications.
The event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, and registration is required. Books will be available for purchase at the place.
Auschwitz. A Monograph on the Human
Published by the Auschwitz State Memorial and Museum – in Polish, 2021; in English, 2022.
Founded in 1925, the Kosciuszko Foundation promotes closer ties between Poland and the United States through educational, scientific and cultural exchanges. It awards up to $1 million annually in fellowships and grants to graduate students, scholars, scientists, professionals, and artists, and promotes Polish culture in America. The Foundation has awarded scholarships and provided a forum to Poles who have changed history.
