Memoria [EN] No. 28 (1/2020) | Page 18

marian turski

My dear comrades of the camp misery, distinguished guests, esteemed participants, friends.

I am one of the few still alive of those who remained in this place almost until the very last moment before liberation. My so-called evacuation from the Auschwitz camp began on the 18th of January. Over the next six and a half days it would prove a death march for more than half of my fellow prisoners, with whom I marched in a column of six hundred.

In all likelihood, I will not make it to the next commemoration. Such are the laws of nature. Please then forgive me the emotion in what I will now say.

This is something I want to say above all to my daughter, my granddaughter, who I thank for being present here, to my grandson: it concerns mainly those who are the peers of my daughter, of my grandchildren; a new generation, particularly the youngest, those who are younger even than they are.