The strength to survive concentration camps: „The importance of community and supportive relationships cannot be overstated.”

A couple of years ago, on a summer day, an intelligent-looking woman entered the Vilnius Pilgrim Center, smiling warmly, and asked in English how she could arrange for Mass at St. Casimir’s Chapel. Word by word, we got talking – and I was left speechless when this American woman I had just met immediately mentioned the Lithuanian priest Alfonsas Lipniūnas and accurately identified the craftsman who had made the items seen in a tiny photograph… Our conversation turned into a fascinating two-hour discussion. Building on that experience, I would like to share another conversation I had prepared for you with Professor Eileen Groth Lyon.

I know that one of your interests, as a historian, is Catholic religious life in concentration camps (please correct me, if that needs to be more exact). What led you to get interested in this topic (and when did that happen), especially having in mind your primary academic background of British history?

The evolution of my research interests relates in part to my teaching. In the American university system, students are required to take a broad range of courses outside of their primary area of study. Hence, from the beginning of my career, part of my teaching focused on an introductory survey of modern European history starting with the Enlightenment and continuing to the breakup of the Soviet Union. In addition to these survey courses, I also offered more specialized courses on Britain, the History of Christianity, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe.

I have always been interested in how people live their faith, how it provides a moral identity and framework, and inspires civic engagement. My doctoral work and early publications explored the religious motivations of many individuals who became involved in social and political reform movements in Britain. These individuals viewed the working and living conditions for workers during the early Industrial Revolution as antithetical to gospel teachings. Commitment to ameliorating these ills was seen in the light of a divine command. Considerations of living conditions and poverty also featured in fierce debates about eugenics in the early twentieth century. I researched Christian responses to these debates in Britain, which in turn led to an exploration of related questions on the continent.

In 1996, I was in Poland to present a paper at the Catholic University of Lublin. While in Lublin, I visited the State Museum at Majdanek – my first visit to a former concentration or extermination camp. This visit continues to have the deepest effect on me. Subsequently, I have spent a great deal of time doing research or volunteering in other camps, particularly Auschwitz-Birkenau and Ravensbrück. I visited Majdanek on a cold, drizzly day in September. I spotted only one or two other visitors during the many hours I spent there. There was so much evidence there in an excellent state of preservation. While much of the exhibition material focused on the brutality and extermination of prisoners, I kept returning to the question of how anyone found the strength to survive both physically and emotionally – a question that still forms a centerpiece of my work on these topics. When I returned from this trip to Lublin, I began to read a great deal of secondary literature, memoirs, and other materials with a view to incorporating more about the Holocaust in my general European survey courses. This led to my development of specialized courses on the Holocaust and Research Methodology related to the Holocaust.

In April 2016, I visited the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy in Łagiewniki for the first time. As I explored the chapels in the lower part of the basilica, I heard the start of a Mass beginning in English. I decided to join the pilgrim group for the Mass. In his homily, the priest referenced a book by fr. Manfred Deselaers (“And Your Conscience Never Haunted You?” The Life of Rudolf Höß, Commander of Auschwitz and the question of his responsibility before God and human beings). I became very interested in this book and purchased a copy of it the following day. I read it cover to cover almost immediately. It raised so many questions for me, not just about the perpetrators but also concerning the victims of Nazi crimes. How was it that the moral identity of some individuals became eroded, and in other cases, religious faith and moral identity became much stronger? 

In the extreme conditions of the camps, it was perhaps not surprising that some individuals questioned their faith and concluded that a good and merciful God would not have permitted such horrors. However, it is also clear that other prisoners experienced their faith in new and more profound ways. As I began to research these issues in more detail, I was struck by the ways that prisoners secretly continued to practice their faith and the centrality of these practices to the formation of small communities that provided not only emotional and spiritual support but also practical assistance that helped them survive.

What methods do you use for doing the research on this topic? Does the language barrier make some problem?

I use a wide variety of sources for this research including memoirs, testimonies, official documents, transcripts of post-war trials, and material culture (e.g. handwritten prayer books and holy cards, devotional objects like rosaries, small statues, and crosses secretly made in the camps). The items that prisoners created in the camps are especially interesting to me because they reflect authentic feelings at the time rather than later reflections on the experience. Often they reveal a willingness to sacrifice much-needed food for the body to feed the soul. It was often necessary to trade bread for the materials to make devotional objects. It was also common for Catholic prisoners from Slavic countries to craft rosaries out of their meager bread rations. 

In some cases, the language barrier can be challenging. I studied French and German at school and university. More recently, I have been learning Polish. I often use machine translation to get a sense of what needs to be more carefully translated. Fortunately, I usually can find native speakers of various languages at the university or the community at large to help with translation questions. 

Does your research involve a lot of traveling? What do you like about it (or does it bother you in some way)?

My research has involved a lot of traveling. This is an aspect of the research that I enjoy very much. The memorial sites are often emotionally very challenging especially when they are largely abandoned. However, I have also taken the opportunity to do some sightseeing in some of the most beautiful European cities and landscapes. Much of this travel has been in Eastern Europe and the places are new to me and full of surprises!

Is your research related to practical issues, like finding traces of relatives in concentration camps etc.?

Often when I speak to community groups, an individual will approach me to say that they had a relative who was in the camps, and they are eager to find out more about this relative and specific details about the camp(s) where their relative was held. In most cases, first-generation survivors did not share much about their experiences with their children. It was simply too painful to revisit this part of their lives. Second- and third-generation family members often have a great desire to learn much more about this part of their family history.

I have helped several individuals learn more about family members who suffered in the camps. Some information is available through the Arolsen Archives online. In other cases, letters of inquiry need to be made for a more extensive search of the materials held by the Arolsen Archive that are not yet available online or to the camp(s) where the prisoner was held if that information is known. 

The results of such research can bring a great deal of peace. For example, in the case of one prisoner who died in Auschwitz, the archivist was able to locate the results of a throat swab done in the camp infirmary. This lab work confirmed a diagnosis of diphtheria. This was consistent with the cause of death listed on the prisoner’s death certificate. It was also consistent with the details in the mortuary book indicating that the place of death was the infirmary. His granddaughter found solace in the assurance that her grandfather had not been murdered in the gas chamber. 

More typically, there is very limited information that can be found. For instance, in the case of Auschwitz-Birkenau, it is estimated that no more than 5% of the original records have survived. The Germans destroyed as much evidence as they could when they left the camp. The Soviets who liberated the camp shipped a large proportion of the remaining documents back to Moscow and the original copies of these documents have yet to be returned to the camp.

In the case of victims who were murdered at the extermination camps shortly after arrival, there were no registration documents prepared, so no information is available in camp archives.

I have met you at Vilnius Pilgrim Center and was impressed right away that you knew fr. Alfonsas Lipniūnas, fr. Stasys Yla. What other strong personalities have you discovered while doing your research? Were there some Lithuanian people among them? What made them special for you?

Many individuals in the camps became stronger in their faith and values. It would be hard to choose one or two individuals who were more impressive than others. The sacrifice of St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFM Conv. for another prisoner that he didn’t even know, of course, is well known, but there are other stories of a similar nature. The martyrdom of priests and religious has received more attention because of their prominence in the community and careful documentation of their lives. However, their ability to exercise ministry in the camp was almost always in collaboration with faithful laypeople. These laypeople protected the priests and were often instrumental in smuggling the requisite elements for secret celebrations of the Mass and arranging for contact with the priests for prisoners seeking sacraments or counsel. When no priests were available in the camp, lay leaders led regular prayers and found ways to facilitate contacts outside the camps who could provide consecrated hosts. I often think of the sacrifices that prisoners made for others that are known only to God. 

My first introduction to the sufferings of Lithuanian priests came from reading Stasys Yla’s memoir, A Priest in Stutthof. Human Experiences in the World of the Subhuman. Fr. Yla (1908-1983) emigrated to the United States in 1950 and the translation of his memoir into English has meant that the experiences of Lithuanians in Stutthof and the martyrdom of Fr. Alfonsas Lipniūnas (1908-1945) have reached a wider audience. Like many of the priests held in the camps, Fr. Yla and Fr. Lipniūnas continued their ministry, albeit clandestinely, with tremendous impact.

Beyond the camps, I came across several Lithuanian priests who offered various forms of assistance to Jews such as issuing fake baptismal certificates with which they could establish new identities and arranging hiding places. Fr. Bronislovas Paukštys, SDB (1897-1966) and his brother, Prof. Juozas Pauštys (1904-1999) are perhaps the best known for their efforts to save Jewish children. However, other Lithuanian priests have also been recognized by Yad Vashem for similar endeavors including Fr. Mykolas Karosas (1878-1955), Fr. Vytas Baltutis (1915-1969) [left the priesthood after the war, married and emigrated to Canada], Fr. Povilas Jakas (1908-1968), Fr. Juozas Inkratas (1894-1973), Fr. Antanas Skeltys (1884-1960), Fr. Polikarpas Macijauskas (1891-1965), Fr. Stanislovas Jokubauskis (1880-1947), Fr. Feliksas Ereminas (1890-1962).

I will also mention a Polish priest with a Vilnius connection – Fr. Władysław Klinicki, SDB (1914-2022). He was the last of the surviving priests from the German Nazi concentration camps passing in 2022 at the age of 107. He studied at the Major Diocesan Seminary in Vilnius until the professors and seminarians were arrested following a “visit” of the Gestapo to the seminary on 4 March 1942 and taken to Lukiszki Prison. When he and others were released from prison to be taken to Germany for forced labor, one of the German soldiers asked him for an image of Jesus to place in the transport. Fr. Klinicki shared an image of the Divine Mercy – a devotion that would remain very important to him throughout his life. Subsequently, Fr. Klinicki was arrested for a second time and taken to Pawiak Prison in Warsaw, and ultimately Gross Rosen Concentration Camp. After liberation, he served as a missionary priest in Ecuador and Brazil where he continued to be an active promoter of Divine Mercy.

When I visited Stutthof concentration camp this summer, it took me a while after the visit to come back to myself. If I may ask about heavy feelings related to your research topic: how do you face them and do you have ways of coping with them? Is the meaningfulness of your work helpful in that sense? What is the most rewarding in this work?

The feelings of sadness and anger that almost everyone feels when engaging with the reality of the evil of the camps must be turned into action. The cry of “Never Again” must be accompanied by practical action. For me, this comes through a commitment to teach and research these topics, particularly the dangers of antisemitism, racism, and similar aberrant ideologies. When I am working in archives at the camps, I try to channel my emotions into more determined work on ways to teach this material to the young people at my university and reveal more about the experience through my writing. I would also like to think that through my work, these individuals are not forgotten and their memory continues to inspire and motivate us in various ways.

In 2022, I became involved in a project at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum to restore the identities of those deported to and imprisoned in Auschwitz. Along with staff and other volunteers, we are working to “reconstruct” Auschwitz’s records through analysis of arrival documents at other camps to which prisoners were frequently transferred. Often the arrival records at other camps such as Buchenwald record the prisoner’s “old number,” that is their number at Auschwitz. This allows us to restore the name to the prisoner’s number. Knowing the Auschwitz number, we can use extant records to determine the date of arrival in Auschwitz and the place from which the transport came. This project is very important to me because as it progresses, it will become more and more possible to trace the journey of individual prisoners through the camps. Family members (often second, third, and fourth generation) are still seeking information about former prisoners. My understanding is that the Museum receives something like 7,000 such inquiries each year. Researchers will also be able to access this material very efficiently. It is nice to think that when my academic career has ended I will leave behind something likely to be much more widely consulted than my writings!

I do not often have the opportunity to see the personal impact of discovering new information in the documents. However, I can give you one example demonstrating how rewarding the work can be.  A friend of mine asked if I could help him find more information about his uncle who had been murdered in Auschwitz. In addition to several pieces of documentation that could be found in the Arolsen Archives related to this prisoner, it was possible to locate the camp photograph of his uncle via an inquiry made to the camp archives. This man was deported to Auschwitz a few months before his only child was born. After the war, there had been tension between older members of the family such that there had been a long period of silence, and contact between my friend and his cousin had lapsed for many years. The opportunity to share this photograph with the former prisoner’s daughter proved to be an opening for the cousins to reconnect.

What lessons for life do you bring out of this research?

I have been inspired by many survivors whom I have met. Their resilience, and in a few cases, forgiveness are incredible. I have found none who attribute their survival solely to their own efforts. They credit friends they made in the camp, chance circumstances, family and friends praying for them at home, or God’s providence for their survival. There are many challenges for all of us in life. The importance of community and mutually supportive relationships cannot be underestimated.

Often, I feel a deep connection, particularly to women prisoners whose children are murdered before their eyes, and mothers whose sons and daughters had been deported to the camps and later received the dreaded notification of their deaths. My husband and I lost our son in 2021. I believe that he died peacefully and now rests with God. I experience reassuring signs of this, even when not looking for them. Just as survivors and those who lost loved ones rebuilt their lives one step at a time, I have learned to be patient, trust more deeply, and cherish simple memories.

You are also a history professor at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Which activity is more entertaining and meaningful for you, doing research or teaching? Are your students also interested in concentration camp/holocaust studies?

The research and teaching components of my work are inextricably tied. I need to continually research and engage with current scholarship to teach effectively. Teaching allows me to share what I have learned and get feedback from the students. Their questions often spark new ideas to pursue in the research. 

Yes, my students are very interested in learning more about the concentration camps and this period of history more broadly. In New York State, Holocaust education is required in schools. Students usually have had some exposure to these topics, usually through reading The Diary of Anne Frank or Elie Wiesel’s Night. They are generally surprised to learn about the scale of the tragedy in eastern parts of Europe.

I know that you have visited Lithuania several times already. What places (or other things) were the most interesting for you? Have you noticed some changes occurring in Vilnius and other places in Lithuania over the time?

I visited Lithuania twice (June 2023 and September 2023) in conjunction with academic conferences. The first of these conferences was in Klaipėda. I was traveling from Riga to Klaipėda so I arranged my route so I could stop at the Hill of Crosses on the way. I remembered the pictures from Pope John Paul II’s visit to this place in 1993 and had put it on my “bucket list” of places that I hoped I could visit someday. It is an incredible site! I happened to be in Klaipėda at the time of the midsummer celebrations on Jonas Hill. It was interesting to experience Lithuanian folkloric dances, music, and a huge bonfire, and view the many woven wreaths, embroidery, and other handcrafted items for sale. After my presentation in Klaipėda, the conference organizers arranged a dinner on the Curonian Spit. This is a beautiful place to which I would like to return when I have more time. Additionally, I visited Kaunas and the Ninth Fort Memorial for more study and research during this trip.

My second trip to Lithuania was for a conference in Vilnius. I had been to Vilnius briefly on my first trip but was able to see much more on my second trip. Given my interests in religious history, I particularly enjoyed following some of the routes set out by Irena Vaišvilaitė’s book, Walks in Christian Vilnius, and those developed by the Pilgrim Center. I also learned a great deal from my visit to the Museum of the Occupations and Freedom Fights and the Memorial at Tuskulėnai. My research has also left me very aware of all that is missing because Vilnius was once a great center of Jewish spiritual and cultural life. The Green House (Holocaust Museum) exhibits just scratch the surface of the unfathomable losses.

After the conference, I spent a day visiting Šiluva and Tytuvėnai. My visit was just a few days before the “silines” so it was very quiet but the preparations were underway for the celebrations. Perhaps someday I will be able to visit again during the festivities.

What about your hobbies apart from your research? Do you have spare time for this yet?

I do not have a lot of “spare time” as such. My academic work and personal interests are very much intertwined. I enjoy the work I do immensely and devote a considerable part of my life to it. Of course, I also enjoy special times with family and friends, long walks, and following various sports, especially figure skating – something I participated in competitively in my younger days.