Fotografie z KL Plaszow

Abstract

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM KL PLASZOW

The paper is a pioneer attempt to systematize knowledge about the photographs that were taken in the years 1942–1943 in the Nazi German forced labour andconcentration camp in Plaszow. The author ventures to addressthe following questions: How many pictures were taken in the Plaszow camp during its existence? Who were the authors of the photographs? In which collections can these photographs be found today, and how did they reach the archives of their current administrators? Research methodology employed in the study was the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the surviving photographic material. Preliminary research was conducted in person, as well as remotely, and focused on the resources of a number of institutions, private collections, online sources and video material. The author analysed archival documents and publications connected with the subject of the study, as well as used information obtained in the course of interviews conducted especially for that purpose. As a result of the research process, the following information has been obtained: as of 2020, 249 photographs taken in the ZAL/KL Plaszow camp survive. The objects are located mainly in the collections of six administrators, namely the Institute of National Remembrance, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, Yad Vashem – the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, the Jewish Historical Institute, the Ghetto Fighters’ House, and Monika Hertwig (the daughter of the camp’s commandant). On the basis of the sources presently accessible it was assumed that the authors of the photographs could have been at least five different persons: Rajmund Titsch, Amon Göth, Ruth Kalder, and two members of camp personnel (an SS man and a Wachmann, or guard). The processes of obtaining the historical photographs by each of their present administrators have also been traced. The paper comprehensively organizes present-day knowledge about the photographs taken in theZAL/KL Plaszow camp. It also shows the directions for further research in this area.