Objects

A drawing showing the fence and watchtowers of the Auschwitz camp, from behind which the smoke coming out of the crematorium is visible. This is an unpublished illustration for the poem "Oświęcim" by Władysław Broniewski.

The poem's lyrical subject speaks of his wife, who died in Auschwitz and was burned there:

"I long to breathe Warsaw air,

In it, my wife, beyond compare,

Released with the wind's tender care.

She is the essence dwelling there.

In Oświęcim, a town profound,

Once a crematorium's ground,

Now sacred, saints forever crowned,

Above history, they're unbound ... ".

Right after the war, Broniewski believed that his wife had been murdered in Auschwitz.

The version of the drawing that was used in the volume "Ręka umarłej" (Hand of a Deceased) can be found in the book on page 78, below the poem.

The final version of the illustration differs from this one in several elements, the most important of which are: less smoke (only a trickle) and horizontal hatching throughout the composition.

The smoke, the perspective shot and the strong geometrisation of the camp space, emphasising its dehumanisation, are the leitmotif of the whole project.

Przemysław Kaniecki