Kazimierz Smoleń letters

Identifier
irn593208
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1991.151
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Kazimierz Smoleń (1920-2012) was born on April 19, 1920 in Charzow, Poland. On April 15, 1940 he was arrested by the Gestapo. On July 6, 1940, he was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in one of the first transports of Polish political prisoners. Smoleń was assigned the number 1327 and worked in a construction work gang and later worked in the camp’s administration office. On January 18, 1945 he was sent on a death march to Loslau and the Ebensee concentration camp. He was liberated from the Ebensee concentration camp on May 6, 1945. He was one of the creators of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum which was established in 1947. He died on January 27, 2012 in Oswiecim, Poland.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Kazimierz Smoleń donated the Kazimierz Smoleń letters to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991.

Scope and Content

Consists of censored letters written by Kazimierz Smoleń to his mother, Helene Smolen, from the Auschwitz concentration camp. Smoleń was one of the earliest Polish political prisoners to arrive at Auschwitz, where he was given prisoner number 1327; he was later a co-founder and director of the Auschwitz State Museum.

System of Arrangement

The Kazimierz Smoleń letters are arranged in a single series.

People

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.