The Gardener of Field III

In 2017, while preparing the reissue of “485 Days at Majdanek”, we never thought that it would be possible to learn more about the author’s identity. The results of the queries in Poland and in the United States were unexpected. The author’s manuscript from 1945, stored in the Hoover Institution Archives in Stanford, allowed for publication of the original version of the text in 2018, without the censorship and editorial interference. The materials collected since working on the book were used to create the exhibition.

16 panels with text and photographs explore the life of the Polish intellectual from the Eastern Borderlands of the Second Republic of Poland, recounting about his family home, his military and professional career during the interwar period, the occupation, and his emigration to Germany, and then to the United States of America. We use this backdrop to present the history of the camp memoirs, the long-standing efforts to get it published, and then to prepare its subsequent editions.

“Gardener of Field III” refers to the position that Kwiatkowski held the longest in KL Lublin. From his incarceration on 26 March  until 4 November 1943 , he was a gardener and led a kommando performing this type of duties. After the massacre of Jews during operation “Erntefest”, he was assigned to the office of field III. Until he contracted typhus, he kept prisoner records. In July 1944, he arrived in KL Auschwitz with the last evacuation transport; afterward he was imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He regained his freedom on 3 May 1945.

The exhibition consists of archival documents and photographs primarily from the collections of the Hoover Institution Library and Archives from the United States and the State Museum at Majdanek. Among the materials on display, there is a photograph album of the Kwiatkowski family, original documents from the camp, as well as family photographs and memorabilia stored by Kwiatkowski at his last apartment in New York. They were donated to the State Museum at Majdanek by Erich Schiele.

Additionally, Schiele donated an oil portrait of Kwiatkowski painted by Eduard Dussek in 1916, which adorns the title panel. We’ve also showcased several books from the personal library, which included dedications. A significant part of the exhibition consists of documents regarding the first 1966 edition of  “485 Days at Majdanek”, manuscripts, press reviews, and Jerzy’s private correspondence.