Exhibition in Poland shows Auschwitz through inmates’ eyes

WARSAW, Poland – Historians say a new exhibition in southern Poland shows the brutality of the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz through the artistic work of its inmates. Some of the artworks are being shown publicly for the first time.

The “Face to Face: Art in Auschwitz” exhibition opened last week at the Kamienica Szolayskich (Szolayski Tenement House) in Krakow to mark 70 years of the Auschwitz Museum. The museum’s task is to preserve the site in the southern town of Oswiecim and to educate visitors about it.

The exhibition’s curator, Agnieszka Sieradzka, said Wednesday it includes clandestine as well as commissioned drawings and paintings by Jews, Poles and other citizens held at Auschwitz.

Also displayed is the “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Sets You Free) gate that was stolen and retrieved in 2009.