Mirosław Obstarczyk
Historian, Museum curator at the Exhibition Department of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oswiecim (1993), licensed guide of the Museum (1991)
- My organization:
The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, International Centre of Education about Auschwitz and Holocaust, Exhibition Deartment. It was visited in the last year by more than 1.430.000 visitors, mainly from abroad.
- Examples of concrete activities I have organized/am organizing in the field of “dealing with the past”:
- Author and co-author of permanent historical exhibitions and several temporary exhibitions displayed in the Auschwitz Museum and in The Centre for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim “Signs of Memory”, and in The Jewish Refugees Museum in Shanghai, China “The Nazi German Death Camp Konzentrationslager Auschwitz.” Its mobile versions are presented in Poland and in Slovakia, Russia, Italy, Sweden, USA, and China.
- Author of articles, biographic notes and an exhibition catalogues as well as author and co-author of various educational materials of the ICEAH for guides, teachers and students from Poland and abroad.
- Coordinator and participant of a few conferences, seminaries or study tours for teachers and educators in Israel, Lithuania, USA, Germany in Czech Republic.
- Concrete challenges I am facing in my “dealing with the past”-related work:
There is not future without past. Forgotten past allows rebirth of the hatred and disgusting towards other human beings. For that reason commemorating of the victims of the biggest act of genocide, Holocaust and human martyrdom which took place on the area of the former Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz, has an exceptional meaning. I try do it by lectures workshop, training of the guides and first of all by teaching about tragic history of KL Auschwitz by means of the historical exhibitions. This is way of propagating moral values and positive attitudes in interpersonal relations between different societies, nations and minorities. The memory site Auschwitz is the best place for doing this.
- My personal link to/interest for the topic of “dealing with difficult pasts”:
The whole my professional activity concerns the past and history of KL Auschwitz. It includes various forms of activity like: creating of exhibitions and e-learning lessons, writing articles, curried out researches, lectures, workshops and other forms of education activity. Presently I prepare the scenario of the new Polish National Exhibition, which will replace the present one displaying in block 15 in the Museum. Currently I am also especially busy and interested in the issue of functionary prisoners (supervisors – capo) of KL Auschwitz, because it is topic of my PhD dissertation which will finalized the post graduated Doctoral Study. I am also interested in the topic of different forms and politics of commemoration of the historical evens concerning especially history of the Second World War.
Contact: