The Oshpitzin Jewish Museum in Oświęcim, the town in southern Poland were the Nazis built the Auschwitz death camp, has launched a digital catalogue of its collection that makes information about its thousands of items available online.
The museum — which goes by the Yiddish name for the town — is part of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation (AJCF) education and religious complex, an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NY, which is anchored by the town’s one surviving synagogue and includes the house where Szymon Kluger, the town’s last Jewish resident, lived.
The digital catalogue project took 18 months to complete and entailed surveying and cataloguing 1,378 artefacts, 8,058 photographs, 18,165 documents, 744 multimedia pieces and 4,096 books, the museum told JHE. Among the material are pieces related to the town’s Jewish built heritage, including an 18th century matzevah and tiles, candlesticks and other relics from the Great Synagogue, destroyed by the Nazis.
So far, the vast majority of entries in the digital catalogue provide a catalogue number and basic information, but more than 100 selected items also include pictures.
Before the Holocaust, Oświęcim had a majority Jewish population, and Jews were involved in all spheres and levels of society. A major business was the award-winning Haberfeld distillery, which produced a variety of liquors.
As Szyndler noted, in contrast to the Auschwitz camp, a memorial museum that both commemorates Holocaust victims and details the murderous story of Jewish brutalization and death at the hands of the Nazis, the aim of the Oshpitzin museum is to promote knowledge and understanding of the rich and diverse Jewish life that flourished in Oświęcim for centuries, up until the eve of World War II.
The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation was established in 2000. In addition to the Oshpitzin Museum, it runs a variety of educational programs. In 2019, it inaugurated a memorial park on the site of the destroyed Great Synagogue.
Click to access the digital catalogue
Click to view an online exhibit prepared by the museum
2 comments on “Poland: Oshpitzin Jewish Museum in Oświęcim launches online digital catalogue of all of its holdings”
As may family was exterminated in Auschwitz I wold like to see any pictures from the camp, Maybe I can identify some of my family members.
Lot of thanks in advance
Andy
In the Digital Catalogue not all the images are available to view. I am particularly interested in MZ-702-F and MZ-370-F. Will they be available to view on-line?