Danuta Czech | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1922 |
| Died | 2004 (aged 81–82) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Holocaust studies |
Danuta Czech (1922 – 4 April 2004) was a PolishHolocaust historian and deputy director of theAuschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, Poland.[1] She is known for her bookThe Auschwitz Chronicle: 1939–1945 (1990).[2]
Czech was born inHumniska, Poland. DuringWorld War II and theGerman occupation of Poland, her father, Stefan Czech, was a member of theHome Army who spent time in theAuschwitz,Buchenwald andDora-Mittelbau concentration camps. Czech attended the St. Kingagymnasium in Tarnów, graduating in 1939, then the commercial lyceum, also in Tarnów, in 1941. According to the museum, she became a member of thePolish resistance, along with her father. From 1946 to 1952, she studied sociology atJagiellonian University, Kraków, obtaining a master of philosophy degree. In 1955 she began work as a researcher with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, eventually becoming its deputy director.[1]
Almost 1,000 pages in length,The Auschwitz Chronicle is a meticulous chronicle of events in the Auschwitz concentration camp from construction to liberation. According to the Auschwitz museum, the book became Czech's life's work: "No serious scholarly work on Auschwitz could fail to cite her study."[1]
