A cache of over 500 artifacts from Auschwitz has been revealed after spending 80 years hidden in an attic.
The vast collection including children's shoes, prisoner uniforms, suitcases of deported Jews, children's toys, and SS belongings were handed to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Subcamps Foundation (FPMP) by an elderly lady.
Meeting the woman at the FPMP’s headquarters in the building that housed the prisoners of the Penal Commando of KL Auschwitz-Bor/Budy, the foundation’s Dagmar Kopijasz said: “After the annual commemoration of the Death March victims an elderly lady approached us.
“She said that she would like to donate to our Foundation's collections the camp memorabilia that her father had collected over the years.
“After opening the side door of the bus, we couldn't believe what we saw.”
Meeting the woman at the FPMP’s headquarters in the building that housed the prisoners of the Penal Commando of KL Auschwitz-Bor/Budy, the foundation’s Dagmar Kopijasz said: “After the annual commemoration of the Death March victims an elderly lady approached us.
“She said that she would like to donate to our Foundation's collections the camp memorabilia that her father had collected over the years.
“After opening the side door of the bus, we couldn't believe what we saw.”
“When we began unloading the boxes we were shocked by the number... We’ve been collecting items from the camp for over 20 years but have never seen such a huge number of objects related to the history of the Auschwitz complex.”
Donating on the condition of anonymity, the woman said that she had chosen to gift the items to the foundation after “observing their activities” for years.
Donating on the condition of anonymity, the woman said that she had chosen to gift the items to the foundation after “observing their activities” for years.
“During her short visit, we learned that the elderly lady’s father often went to Auschwitz after it had been liberated to help clear it up,” wrote FPMP.
They added: “Some of the items were given to him as compensation for his own lost property. He later stored all the items in the attic of his house, in a section hidden by a partition.”
“Other objects were kept in a loft above a stable, and as a result these are in various states of preservation.”
They added: “Some of the items were given to him as compensation for his own lost property. He later stored all the items in the attic of his house, in a section hidden by a partition.”
“Other objects were kept in a loft above a stable, and as a result these are in various states of preservation.”
The curios include property confiscated from inmates on arrival such as Judaic religious objects, Hebrew scripts, dolls, spectacles and toiletries.
In one of the photographs released by the foundation, a striped inmate’s uniform can also be seen heaped next to cutlery and a suitcase filled with dog-eared documents.
Other items, such as gas masks and jerry cans, are believed to have belonged to the SS guards.
In one of the photographs released by the foundation, a striped inmate’s uniform can also be seen heaped next to cutlery and a suitcase filled with dog-eared documents.
Other items, such as gas masks and jerry cans, are believed to have belonged to the SS guards.
With the process of sorting through the donation still ongoing, the foundation say that they still do not know exactly what the collection contains—nor have they yet identified precisely how many artefacts have been donated.
“We estimate there could be around 500 items, but it could even be twice that number,” wrote FPMP.
While it is believed that the finds were made in Auschwitz, the woman insisted that the objects went into the care of the FPMP rather than the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
“We estimate there could be around 500 items, but it could even be twice that number,” wrote FPMP.
While it is believed that the finds were made in Auschwitz, the woman insisted that the objects went into the care of the FPMP rather than the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
“This answer worried us a bit, because the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is an extremely important institution for us and we often suggest to our donors that they first go to the museum,” wrote FPMP.
“All the more so because our Foundation operates under the patronage of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.”
“All the more so because our Foundation operates under the patronage of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.”
What was KL Auschwitz-Bor/Budy?
Auschwitz-Bor/Budy was one of the scores of subcamps set-up to operate under the Auschwitz umbrella. Located approximately five kilometers southwest of the main parent camp, Auschwitz I, it functioned as an agricultural labor camp where inmates worked the fields and raised pigs, cattle, horses and sheep.
Other tasks included dredging the swampy terrain, building dikes, laying roads, deepening fish ponds, and cutting trees. At times, human ash was used in compost.
Originally little more than farmland, the decision to open a sub-camp in Bor/Budy was taken in April 1942 in a bid to slash the time inmates would spend marching from the main camp to their work.
At first around 40 Polish male prisoners were billeted at the camp, but its expansion later saw the addition of Polish, Czech and Greek Jews. At its peak, the camp is thought to have housed 500 male inmates.
As the hour of liberation approached, 313 men answered the last roll call on January 17, 1945, before embarking on a ‘death march’ westwards. It is unclear how many survived.
The camp also saw a women’s section established in the spring of 1943. Reaching around 600, the inmate population included Poles, Jews, Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs and Yugoslavs.
As the hour of liberation approached, 313 men answered the last roll call on January 17, 1945, before embarking on a ‘death march’ westwards. It is unclear how many survived.
The camp also saw a women’s section established in the spring of 1943. Reaching around 600, the inmate population included Poles, Jews, Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs and Yugoslavs.
Among the female SS guards were Johanna Bormann, a short, mousey-looking sadist that became notorious for unleashing her German Shepherds on her helpless charges.
Known as “the weasel” and “the woman with the dogs,” Bormann was later sentenced to death at an Allied tribunal and executed by the British hangman Albert Pierrepoint.
In his memoirs, Pierrepoint wrote: “She limped down the corridor looking old and haggard... She was trembling as she was put on the scale. In German she said: ‘I have my feelings.’”
Known as “the weasel” and “the woman with the dogs,” Bormann was later sentenced to death at an Allied tribunal and executed by the British hangman Albert Pierrepoint.
In his memoirs, Pierrepoint wrote: “She limped down the corridor looking old and haggard... She was trembling as she was put on the scale. In German she said: ‘I have my feelings.’”
More In History MORE...
