Edyta Gawron: Never Too Late to Remember, Never Too Late for Justice!

In 1994, Simon Wiesenthal received a doctorate honoris causa from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow for his lifelong quest for justice – half a century after he had been, for a short time, prisoner of the local Nazi Concentration Camp (KL) Plaszow. The 1990s were the decade when the uncovering of formerly censored layers of history triggered a new approach in Holocaust research and commemoration in Poland: In a process both fascinating and painful, the Polish people became aware of aspects of the Holocaust and its aftermath that had not been discussed publicly before, including the involvement of the locals in the persecution of the Jews.

On 15 March 2024, the KL Plaszow Museum opened its outdoor exhibition “KL Plaszow. A Site After, a Site Without”, which uncovers the topography of the camp. Drawing on recent trends in Holocaust historiography in Poland, the lecture presents and analyses this exhibition proving that it is never too late to remember and bring justice to the victims.

Edyta Gawron is a historian in the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She specialises in the 20th century history of Jews in Poland, particularly in Krakow. Gawron is the co-author and co-editor of several books, including Nie tylko Kroke. Historia Żydów krakowskich (Kroke and Beyond. The History of Krakow’s Jews), Krakow 2022.

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