On the 25th of November, on the Railway Workers’ Day, the Pilecki Institute commemorates Jan Maletka, a railwayman murdered by the Germans for giving water to Jews transported to the extermination camp of Treblinka. 

The Pilecki Institute unveiled a stone with a plaque commemorating the heroic Polish railway worker. The ceremony was attended among others by representatives of the Remembered Family, Magdalena Gawin, Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Anna Gutkowska, Deputy Director of the Pilecki Institute, Dr Edward Kopówka, Director of the Treblinka Museum and representatives of the PKP Group Foundation as well as local authorities.

Today, railway workers’ day, we join @fundacja_pkp, @PKP_SA, and Treblinka Museum to commemorate Jan Maletka, a railwayman murdered by the Germans for giving water to Jews being transported into the death camp. The commemoration will be part of the #CalledByName project. pic.twitter.com/8RlhVpOGX1

— Instytut Pileckiego (@InstPileckiego) November 25, 2021

Following the commemoration ceremony, participants paid tribute to all the victims of the Treblinka I and Treblinka II camps by laying flowers at the Holocaust Memorial, the labour camp memorial, and the Roma and Sinti memorial.

Thanks to the cooperation with the Polish railways’ PKP Group Foundation and the PKP Group, the event gained a special setting. The starting of the ceremony was characterized by locomotives passing nearby trains. An animation presenting the story of Jan Maletka was also displayed on advertising screens near the Central Railway Station in Warsaw and on its platforms throughout the day. 

Today advertisement screens and platforms at Warsaw’s Central Station will show an animation of the story of Jan Maletka, a railwayman killed in 1942 by the Germans for giving water to a transport of Jews waiting at Treblinka station before entering the death camp. #CalledByName pic.twitter.com/i6USDqe71X

— Instytut Pileckiego (@InstPileckiego) November 25, 2021

This initiative is part of the “Called by Name program” dedicated to people of Polish nationality murdered for helping Jews during the German occupation. It was initiated by the Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, prof. Magdalena Gawin, and is implemented by the Pilecki Institute. 

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen

Pictures: Twitter @InstPileckiego, British Poles

Udostępnij

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Print