January 27th, 2012
Press Release

Auschwitz survivor Kazimierz Smolen is dead

Today, on January 27, 2012, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, one of the world's most well-known Auschwitz survivors Kazimierz Smolen died in Oswiecim/Auschwitz. He was 91 years old. In 1940 Mr Smolen was arrested as a 20-year-old law student and Polish resistance fighter. On July 6, 1940 he was taken to Auschwitz. His life as young man was shaped by his five-year imprisonment. His liberation finally came on May 6, 1945 in the Austrian concentration camp Ebensee. From 1955 until his retirement, he was the director of the State Memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mr Smolen was involved as a surviving witness and as a legal expert in numerous trials of Nazi perpetrators. As the long-standing Polish Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee he spoke with young people in many countries and deeply impressed them with his accounts of Auschwitz, his conscious objectivity, his interest in life and his gentle humour.

In Berlin, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee paid tribute: "On this day in particular, this profound loss shows us so clearly, that we will eventually have to remember without the help of the eye-witnesses. But they have passed on their memories to us. Kazimierz Smolen wanted to be a voice for the many who remained in Auschwitz. And he fulfilled this task until the end of his life with great determination and dignity, especially at the International Youth Meeting Centre in Auschwitz. Even as his strength and his eyesight began to wane, his words were still clear to be heard – words that will remain imprinted in the memories of many people. Thank you Kazimierz Smolen."

Christoph Heubner
Executive Vice President

For more information please contact: ++49 . 172 . 393 22 62

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