back...Agreement on cooperation of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism with the Salesian School Complex in Łódź

On October 13, 2022, a cooperation agreement between the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism and the Rev. John Bosco Salesian School Complex in Łódź was formally concluded in the Rev. John Bosco Salesian School Complex in Łódź on 34 Wodna Street.

In the auditorium of the Rev. John Bosco Salesian School Complex in Łódź, dr Ireneusz Piotr Maj, Director of the Museum, and Rev. Julian Dzierżak SDB, Director of the Salesian School Complex, signed a cooperation agreement.

The institutions will work together e.g. to shape historical sensitivity, deepen intergenerational ties, promote patriotic attitudes, and foster Christian values among the young generation.

The concluded agreement is intended to provide the conditions for lasting cooperation in the creation, development, and use of an educational base for the dissemination of knowledge about the recent history of Poland, in particular to commemorate the youngest victims of World War II, the ordeal of Polish children in Polish territories occupied by the Third Reich and the USSR.

With regard to the history of occupied Łódź, the institutions will work together to uncover the history ofNazi German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemysłowa Street in Łódź as well as other Nazi German camps including the “camp” – a vocational training centre for industrial work on 34/36 Wodna Street to which girls and boys aged 15 and above were sent by the German labour office (Arbeitsamt).

The practical dimension of the cooperation will consist of organizing historical lectures, educational excursions, as well as art workshops for pupils, which the Museum’s educators will inaugurate at the Salesian School Complex. Elementary school students will be targeted with an art project entitled “Oczy. Zwierciadło duszy” [Eyes. The Mirror of the Soul] and for secondary school students, the “Listy do Wolności” [Letters to Freedom] project will be aimed, being a combination of a radio play and literary workshop.

The cooperation will culminate in the Museum funding a scholarship for gifted studentsat the Salesian School Complex in the field of humanities.

Following the conclusion of the agreement, a lecture entitled “Niemiecki »obóz« dla młodzieży polskiej przy ul. Wodnej 34/36 (Askanierstraße)” [German ‘camp’ for Polish youth on 34/36 Wodna Street (Askanierstraße)] was given by dr Andrzej Janicki, historian of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism.