A memorial service took place on the March 25, in Poprad, marking 72 years since the first transport of Jews left Slovakia to concentration camps. On this day in 1942, the first train with 1,000 Jewish girls was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Poprad train station saw a ceremony take place to remember this event, where dozens of people were reminded of the event. “It’s very hard for me to say this, but mankind has still not learned. This horror should remind us of what people have done to other people, but still we witness such killings on a day-to-day basis. I believe it is very important to continually return to this event and explain this situation which could once again be repeated”, said the director of the Museum of Jewish Culture, Pavol Mešťan. Despite the tragedy, the memories also include stories of people helping people. “Even in those terrible times, there were people who rescued and helped Jews and this was evident in the way they lived. These memories of the killers are not just felt by those whom they hurt, but also directed to those who helped”, added Mešťan.
“Today we have dozens or hundreds of celebrities and we have no time to pause and think about what these people were doing”, said Mešťan. According to him, it is important to talk to young people, not only of the horrors but also about those people who were willing to risk their own lives in order to save others. During the Second World War, Poprad deported its own citizens to concentration camps. 600 Jews were living in the town in 1940 yet just months later the number had fallen to barely 100. A second wave of deportations occurred in 1944, where almost all remaining Jews were deported. After the war only a handful survived to return.
