A HOUSE TO LIVE
A PLACE TO LEARN

We are in the town of Oświęcim to remind about Auschwitz. To convince, that we must learn from the past. We show that Oświęcim can be a place of meetings, reconciliation, and understanding. We are in the town of Oświęcim so that Auschwitz will not be repeated.

Promotion of the book ‘When We Were Mayflies’

On 18 September 2025, the International Youth Meeting Centre in Oświęcim hosted the promotion of Christoph Heubner's book ‘When We Were Mayflies’.

The publication contains moving stories based on the memories of Auschwitz survivors, whom the author accompanied for over forty years. These are testimonies of people who believe that their stories can serve as a warning to the world and that a world free of hatred and anti-Semitism is possible. 

The meeting was opened with an introduction by Andrzej Kacorzyk, director of the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Excerpts from the texts were read by Małgorzata Gwóźdź and Lech Chodacki, and their interpretations were supplemented by the author's commentary.

Christoph Heubner, Bartosz Bartyzel, spokesperson and head of the Press Office of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, and Rafał Wędrychowski, translator of the Polish edition, took part in the discussion about the book, the work and relations with the Witnesses to History, and the challenges of education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The discussion was moderated by Joanna Klęczar-Déodat, director of the IYMC.

Rafał Wędrychowski aptly summed up the conversation by quoting Marian Turski's thought on the crucial importance of empathy, which is built in us by the individual and personal stories of the Witnesses.

The Polish edition of the book was published by Austeria.

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