‘Mszana Survivors’. Meeting at the Municipal Library in Mszana Dolna

On 11.10.2024 in the Mszana Dolna Municipal Library, another meeting took place as part of this year's edition of ‘Story of the Bicultural, Pre-War Mszana Dolna’. It was devoted to the fate of Holocaust survivors originating from Mszana Dolna or connected with the town.

Thanks to the extensive factual material collected for many years by our Sztetl Mszana Dolna Foundation, the participants had the opportunity to learn about the complicated and sometimes even unbelievable ways of survival of several dozen people who managed to save themselves from the monstrous machine of the Holocaust.

The meeting began with Tadeusz Różewicz's poem ‘Survivor’, which could have been the message of many of the heroes whose stories were presented. However, despite their dramatic experiences, the fate of the survivors showed the victory of life over death. More than one rescued person became the beginning of a large family, even living to see dozens of grandchildren.

Of great value are also the bonds between the descendants of the survivors created thanks to the meetings in the town of the ancestors and the touching, friendly relations with those who care for the memory in Mszana Dolna, which were also presented during the meeting.

Mszana's survivors are primarily those families and individuals who managed to escape to the East. There, despite the terrible conditions, most of the exiles survived – only three people did not survive the hardships of life in the Siberian forests.

Another group of survivors were those who survived the camps and ghettos. Three children were saved by Kindertransports. One boy was among the so-called Teheran children.

Seventeen survived the massacre at Pańskie on 19.08.1942. – the largest mass execution, in which almost the entire population of the Mszana Jews and those deported here were exterminated. Those who survived were among the group left to continue forced labor. Many times through successive ghettos and camps, but they survived this terrible time.

And finally: a man saved thanks to the Mszana Righteous Among the Nations and a woman saved thanks to the love of her father and the determination of a family friend.

One of the Mszana survivors was saved, for example, by working in the workshops of Julius Madritsch, less well-known but no less distinguished than Oskar Schindler, also a Righteous Among the Nations.

There were also astonishing ways of being saved, such as being beaten by a Nazi, being ‘unnoticed’ during a brutal search or an illegal journey. Truly, ready material for a novel or action film. There was even a suggestion from the audience to collect all these plots in a book.

The meeting ended with wishes on the occasion of Yom Kippur to the descendants of Mszana Jews, together with a brief explanation of the essence of the holiday which was just beginning.

For those who would like to find out more, a recording of the meeting is available on the FB profile of Sztetl Mszana Dolna; it will also soon be available on the YouTube channel @sztetlmszanadolna.

We would like to thank the participants of the meeting, including those online, for their warm comments and supportive words.

The event was held under the Honorary Patronage of the Mayor Agnieszka Orzeł.

Co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage under the Programme of the National Centre for Culture EtnoPolska. Edition 2024

Subsidised by the Jewish Historical Institute Association in Poland