529:" that teaches children how to organize and describe the world. It contains the simplest social categories that form the basis for relations between a human being and the world that surrounds him. A unique characteristic of "The Primer" lies in presenting a world without cruelty and evil. The children were "dragged out" from this simple and naive world of "The Primer" and forcibly thrown into the "Camp World". This world requires a completely different "Primer" – the
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195:. Henio and his parents lived at 3rd Szewska Street in Lublin. His grandparents, Chaya (née Melamed) and Ephraim Zytomirski, lived at 22nd Lubartowska Street. On 1 September 1937 Henio began attending "Trachter" kindergarten in Lublin. On 5 July 1939 he was photographed for the last time at the entrance to PKO Bank, located at 64 Krakowska Avenue (
404:, organizes this educational activity. According to the center's director, Tomasz Pietrasiewicz, the main idea of the project is as follows: "It is unacceptable to remember the faces and names of 40,000 people. Remember one. A shy smile, white shirt with a collar, colored shorts, side haircut, striped socks… Henio."
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does not inform the visitors and does not show them the lives of the children in the camp. It was hard for pupils who visited
Majdanek museum to identify themselves emotionally with the things which happened in Majdanek. Through this exhibition the Majdanek museum enables pupils to turn the knowledge
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On 14 April 1942 the transports ended. Henio and his father survived the selections of spring 1942, apparently thanks to a work permit (J-Ausweis) that his father had. Along with the rest of the Jews who stayed alive in Lublin, they were transferred to another smaller ghetto that was built in Majdan
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erected in the barrack symbolize the fate of each of the four children. The wells go through the floor down to the earth under the barrack. When one leans into the well, one can hear from the depths of the earth a story narrated by an adult about their stay in camp when they were children. The well
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and Henio
Zytomirski; a Belarusian child, Piotr Kiryszczenko; and a Polish girl, Janina Buczek. One of them was killed in the camp – Henio Zytomirski. The exhibition presents in a symbolic way also a fifth fate which was likely the fate of Jewish girls in the camp. We learn this only from what was
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i.e., "clean of Jews". Shmuel
Zytomirski survived this mass extermination. This is known because he sent a letter from Lublin by courier to the Jewish delegation in Istanbul on 6 January 1944. It is not clear where this letter was sent from. The city of Lublin was liberated by the Soviet
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authorities have to deal with full sacks of letters which are sent back to senders with the post seal: "Unknown
Addressee". Later in the day, participants follow a walking tour by foot and visit the addresses where Henio had lived at: 3 Szewska Street and 11 Kowalska Street (in the
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on 10 November 1941. Before his death he asked to be buried near the cemetery gate in order to be the first to witness the liberation of Lublin. The tombstone on his grave was smashed and destroyed in 1943 when the Nazis liquidated the new Jewish cemetery in Lublin.
561:. Four children's names are written in white chalk on the school board, those whose fates are presented in the exhibition. A hum of a school corridor is sounded in the room, and one can hear screams and pushing shouts of children during a school break.
441:. In 2007 the passengers by the bank were asked to write letters to Henio on the spot. The response was extraordinary. The national Polish press dedicates a lot of reportages to this project. Since 2005 Henio Zytomirski has become an
473:. This exhibition was created by Tomasz Pietrasiewicz, the director of The Grodzka Gate – Theater NN Center. The purpose of this educational project is to demonstrate the fate of the children who were imprisoned in the
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and exciting stories of 12- to 13-year-old children. At the entrance to the PKO Bank, the place where Henio's last picture was taken, a special mailbox is placed every year for sending the letters to Henio. Lublin
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boards. The boards are put on concrete plates. All texts (written and spoken) presented in this part of the exhibition are memories of the prisoners. There are no comments, historic studies, etc. There are only
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were exterminated during March and April 1942. Among them were Henio's mother and grandmother, as well as two of his aunts – Esther and Rachel – who were murdered in Belzec's gas chambers shortly after arrival.
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The "Camp World" that children were brought into was completely different from the world pictured in "The Primer". Camp life brought entirely new experiences, created new concepts for children such as: hunger,
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371:. On 3 November 1943 the massive extermination of all remaining Jewish prisoners in Majdanek and the other camps in Lublin District took place. This liquidation is known as "
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which is learnt in the general education system in Poland. School newspapers tell about him and try to understand the meaning of the
Holocaust through his short life story.
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movement in Lublin, was appointed by the
Judenrat to be the manager of the post office at 2nd Kowalska Street. This role allowed him, apparently, to make contact with the
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375:", which in German means "Harvest Festival". On that day 18,400 Jews were murdered in Majdanek. At the end of this killing operation, Lublin District was declared
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316:), which served as a gathering place for the deportees. Aged and sick people were shot on the spot. The rest were sent to the extermination camps, mainly to
580:. Each word is expressed by the memories of survivors. To emphasize the importance of the strength of these terms, the terms were written and burned out on
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addressed to Henio
Zytomirski at 11th Kowalska Street, the last known address of Henio in Lublin. Thousands of letters were sent to Henio, including
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Tatarski (a suburb of Lublin). Between 7,000 and 8,000 people entered this ghetto, although many of them did not have work permits. On 22 April the
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On 9 November 1942, the final liquidation of the Jewish Ghetto in Majdan
Tatarski occurred. About 3,000 people were sent to the extermination camp
225:(which delivered him forbidden information and news); to correspond with his young brother, Yehuda (Leon) Zytomirski, who had already emigrated to
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159:, not only in Lublin but all over Poland. His life story became a part of the curriculum taught in the general education system in
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The girl, Elżunia, who wrote the note was nine years old, and she was singing the song to herself to a melody of a famous Polish
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The "Letters to Henio" project began in the city of Lublin in 2005 as part of an activity to preserve and reconstruct the city's
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that was established in Lublin on 24 March 1941. In March 1941, the
Zytomirski family moved to 11th Kowalska Street in the
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of Jews took place in the square near the municipal slaughterhouse. The deportees were led on foot from the
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at the foot of a street lamp, which is the last remnant of the pre-war Jewish town of Lublin serving as a
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320:. Hundreds of Jews were shot dead in the woods on the outskirts of Lublin. A total of about 29,000 Lublin
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In "The Camp World" there is a symbolic "Camp Primer". The following words are described in it: appeal,
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of 24 members was set up in Lublin. Shmuel, Henio's father, a teacher by profession and
Chairman of the
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which is learnt in school into real education that concerns what had happened in "The Camp World".
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of the Holocaust, not only in Lublin but all over Poland. Today his life story is a part of the
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held another selection: about 2,500 to 3,000 people without work permits were taken first to
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The exhibition is divided into two parts: "The Primer World" and "The Camp World".
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written on a slip of paper which was found in Majdanek, hidden in a girl's shoe:
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Difficult Questions in Polish-Jewish Dialogue: How Poles and Jews see Each Other
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is exhibited in barrack 53, and it is dedicated to the children who were in the
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on 22 July 1944. It is known for certain that Shmuel Zytomirski did not survive
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forest which is about 15 km from Lublin. There they were shot to death.
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714:"Henio Żytomirski – The Project "Letters to Henio" - Lexicon - NN Theatre"
545:– as well as daily contact with evil and death. Living in the camp caused
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commemorating Henio Zytomirski is silent– he did not survive the camp.
519:"). In the exhibition the visitors can hear both versions of the song.
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outside Majdanek, where the prisoners built a sports stadium for the
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With the establishment of the German Nazi reign in Poland, a
635:. Jacek Santorski & Co Agencja Wydawnicza. p. 106.
296:". Every day about 1,400 people were sent to the camps. The
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in Poland, pupils and citizens of Lublin are asked to send
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Henio's father, Shmuel Zytomirski, was transferred to a
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in Poland, the firstborn son of Sara (née Oksman) and
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752:Letters from haluzim in occupied Poland, 1940–1944
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139:; 25 March 1933 – 9 November 1942) was a Polish
820:People who died in Majdanek concentration camp
352:. Nine-year-old Henio was also in this group.
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840:People killed by gas chamber by Nazi Germany
671:In my solitude I hang all my hopes in you...
171:" permanent exhibition at barrack 53 of the
125:הניו ז׳יטומירסקי \ הֶנְיוֹ זִ׳יטוֹמִירְסְקִי
775:TNN: Henio Zytomirski – A Story of one life
699:. "Voice of Lublin" Magazin no. 39, p. 5-6
517:Z popielnika na Wojtusia iskiereczka mruga
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845:Jewish children who died in the Holocaust
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264:By order of the Nazi German governor of
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765:Haaretz: Letters to a dead Jewish child
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489:in Majdanek Camp: two Jewish children,
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659:. The Ghetto Fighters' House. p. 147
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746:. "Voice of Lublin" Magazin no. 39
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780:Video: "Letters to Henio" project
407:Every year on 19 April, which is
367:and to the Zionist delegation in
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669:Milgram, Avraham (April 2007).
433:). The walk ends with a silent
229:in 1937; to be in contact with
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37:Henio Zytomirski on 5 July 1939
16:Polish Jew and Holocaust victim
507:And in Auschwitz was her mum".
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754:. The Ghetto Fighters' House.
673:. Moreshet. Broucure 83. p.94
187:Henio Zytomirski was born in
286:transports in freight trains
504:In Majdanek was her father,
400:. A local cultural center,
149:Majdanek concentration camp
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770:TNN: The Primer Exhibition
465:) permanent exhibition in
155:. Henio became an icon of
678:27 September 2011 at the
409:Holocaust Remembrance Day
402:Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre
153:Nazi occupation of Poland
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742:Kuwalek, Robert (2003).
695:Kuwalek, Robert (2003).
501:who was dying all alone,
498:"There was once Elżunia,
288:from Lublin District to
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90:Murdered in gas chamber
805:Child murder in Poland
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284:On 16 March 1942, the
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98:The addressee of the "
80:German-occupied Poland
830:Lublin Ghetto inmates
750:Zariz, Ruth (1994).
744:The Ghetto in Lublin
697:The Ghetto in Lublin
655:Zariz, Ruth (1994).
106:" exhibition at the
576:, camp, selection,
290:extermination camps
87:Cause of death
825:People from Lublin
589:of the witnesses.
294:Operation Reinhard
292:began as part of "
223:Polish underground
151:during the German
642:978-83-89763-95-2
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70:(1942-11-09)
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815:1942 deaths
810:1933 births
682:, in Hebrew
594:water wells
587:testimonies
574:crematorium
570:gas chamber
543:gas chamber
525:It is "The
419:, personal
350:gas chamber
145:gas chamber
789:Categories
718:teatrnn.pl
613:References
607:Anne Frank
555:Belarusian
547:distortion
531:Death camp
475:death camp
463:Elementarz
453:The Primer
447:curriculum
377:Judenrein,
245:people in
219:Poale Zion
169:The Primer
104:The Primer
49:1933-03-25
578:transport
539:selection
417:paintings
365:Palestine
314:Maharshal
306:Selection
241:and with
227:Palestine
183:Biography
723:5 August
676:Archived
629:(2006).
601:See also
533:Primer.
467:Majdanek
382:Red Army
369:Istanbul
346:Majdanek
335:Majdanek
255:Hehalutz
215:Judenrat
59:, Poland
566:barrack
421:letters
413:letters
339:Krepiec
247:Vilnius
163:. The "
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559:Hebrew
551:Polish
527:Primer
459:Polish
435:prayer
431:Ghetto
426:postal
318:Belzec
278:typhus
270:ghetto
259:Geneva
197:Polish
189:Lublin
161:Poland
133:Polish
121:Hebrew
57:Lublin
725:2019
637:ISBN
582:clay
557:and
471:camp
443:icon
322:Jews
300:and
233:and
177:camp
65:Died
43:Born
147:at
141:Jew
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