Maria Aldona Kozłowska | Vilnius, Ponary

Maria Aldona Kozłowska (née Olszewska) was born in 1925 in Słonim. From her childhood in Vilnius, she remembers the local Jewish community – its customs, costumes, and the roles its members played in various social and economic spheres. She witnessed the death march of Vilnius Jews to Ponary. She heard the shots fired by the Shaulis at the Jews, she saw how the belongings of the Jews were sold. However, she does not accept the accusation of indifference to the events and emphasizes the powerlessness of the Polish neighbors: “It is not, as Miłosz wrote, that while people played others nearby died”.

We invite you to watch the next series of film interviews conducted as part of the multi-year program “Independent” for 2017–2022. This time, residents of Warsaw, Łódź, Vilnius, Nowogródek, Oświęcim, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Tykocin and Bliżyn shared their memories. They told about their Jewish neighbors, about the events of a common – and from a certain point of their own history, which remained in their memory.

The series of 10 interviews was prepared by the Education Department and is part of the activities of #MGWonline. The project was funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.