Shimson Kleuger

Shimson Kleuger (also Szymon Klieger or Szymon Klüger) (19 January 1925 – 26 May 2000)[1] was a Polish Holocaust survivor and the last openly Jewish person to live in the town of Oświęcim, Poland, (German: Auschwitz) from 1962 until his death in 2000. Although Oświęcim had a Jewish community making up over half the town with 8,000 people before 1939,[2] all other known Jewish residents, including the rest of Kleuger's family, had either fled in the large-scale exodus shortly before the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany during World War II or were deported to concentration camps by Nazi authorities. Of the few survivors, Kluger was the only Jewish resident to return to Oświęcim, for which he became known as "The Last Jew in Auschwitz".[3] This was especially prominent due to the nearby presence of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp.

Shimson Kleuger
Szymon Kluger
Kluger in the 1950s
Born(1925-01-19)19 January 1925
Oświęcim, Małopolska, Second Polish Republic
Died26 May 2000(2000-05-26) (aged 75)
Oświęcim, Małopolska, Poland
Resting placeJewish Cemetery, Oświęcim
Known forLast known Jewish person in Oświęcim, Poland

Early life

Childhood and family

Kleuger came from a Hasidic Jewish family who lived in Oświęcim. Not much is known about his life. The family had a small house which was adjacent to the Oświęcim Synagogue. The house originally belonged to Shimson's maternal grandfather, Bernard Teichman and his daughter, Frymet. They bought it in 1928. Bernard Teichman was in the dry-goods trade in Oświęcim. He also owned a second hand goods shop in Bytom. Shimson's father, Symcha, was a melamed, or religious teacher – one of the eight religious teachers in Oświęcim.[4]

World War II
Shimson Kleuger's Auschwitz Cross

In 1939, when the World War II broke out, Szymon was 14 years old. He witnessed the gradual liquidation of the Jewish community in Oświęcim and probably saw the Nazis set fire to and destroy the Great Synagogue in September of 1939. In 1941, probably together with part of his family, he ended up in the ghetto in Będzin (Bendsburg). During the liquidation of the ghetto, he was first sent to the Blechhammer camp (Auschwitz-Birkenau sub-camp in Kędzierzyn-Koźle), and then to the Buchenwald and Gross Rosen camps. His KZ number was 179539.

Although it is not known where he was interned, the rabbi that prepared him for burial confirmed that he had a number used for identification of inmates in German concentration camps on his arm:

I can't say that means he was in Auschwitz, but he was in one of the camps, for sure.[5]

Of the nine Kleuger siblings, only three survived the Holocaust, his brother Mojżesz and sister Bronia.[4] After his camp was liberated, Shimson Kleuger went to Sweden. Mojżesz and Bronia emigrated to the United States.

Later life in Oświęcim
A tallit found at Kleuger House
Trousers from a concentration camp uniform owned by Shimson Kleuger, interned in three KZ camps

In 1962, despite the protests of his family, he returned to Oświęcim and lived on the ground floor of the family house (at that time 287 Podzamcze Street, now 2 ks. Jana Skarbka Square). On his return, he found that all the other surviving Jews had left for America or Israel.

In his 1994 book, From Oswiecim to Auschwitz,[6] Moshe Weiss writes of a meeting with him:

Upon leaving the death camp at Auschwitz/Birkenau, I stopped in the town to visit Shimek Kluger, the last remaining Jew in Oświęcim. He offered me refreshments and an hour of gentle conversation, in which he reiterated his hope to leave Poland soon and join his brother and his family in Brooklyn, New York. Before departing, I presented him with a talit, a mezuzah, and two yarmulkes.

He worked in the then Chemical Plant in Oświęcim (now Synthos), until he unexpectedly stopped showing up for work. Kleuger may have suffered from psychological effects of having gone through the trauma of three Nazi concentration camps. He began to lock himself in the house, which was increasingly falling into disrepair. Over time, Kleuger completely stopped going out.

Kleuger only left his house on Fridays in order to light Sabbath candles by the wall of the Lom'dei Mishnayos synagogue, which had been used as a carpet warehouse. Kleuger intended to restore the synagogue and to the few people with whom he had spoken, he said that he believed himself to be the synagogue's guardian. The renovation of the synagogue was finally possible due to the initiative of the Auschwitz Jewish Center. Today Kleuger's house is part of a museum devoted not to the Holocaust, but to the life of Jews from Oświęcim. In the former house of Szymon Kluger, a modern cafe has been set up.[7]

Death and burial
Kleuger's ohel at the Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim

Shimson Kleuger died on 26 May 2000, three months before the renovation of the Oświęcim Synagogue was completed. There were no Jews remaining in Oświęcim to prepare him for burial in the correct manner (Jewish law prescribes a ritual washing prior to burial). The closest rabbi, Rabbi Sacha Pecaric of Krakow, was summoned.[1][8] He went to the mortuary in Auschwitz to perform the taharah ceremony. A minyan, a quorum of 10 males over the age of 13, was also required – a busload of American Jewish students agreed to attend the funeral to make up this number.[8] Kleuger was the last person buried in the old Oświęcim Jewish cemetery which had been revived after the war.

Kleuger House
Kluger's house before renovation, where Kleuger increasingly isolated himself in, likely as a result of trauma left by the experiences of the Holocaust.

After Shimson Kleuger died, his siblings, Moshe and Bronia, donated the house to the Auschwitz Jewish Center,[9] which also runs the Oświęcim Synagogue and the adjacent Jewish museum. The house was converted into a cafe called Cafe Bergson with the help of a Kickstarter campaign in 2014.[10] The AJC carried out renovation work and converted the house to the Cafe Bergson museum café, along with educational and exhibition space. The original entrance door with a mark of a mezuzah has been preserved and the historical elements of the building inside have been exposed.

At Cafe Bergson, cultural and educational projects are organized: visitors learn about the past of Oświęcim and contemporary subjects such as human rights and the natural environment.[11][12] The Kleuger House is situated at Pl. ks. J. Skarbka 5, 32-600 Oświęcim. The cafe also hosts cultural events. It is open daily from 11 am–7 pm.

See also

References
  1. "Kluger Szymon | Wirtualny Sztetl". sztetl.org.pl. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. Wolnerman, Ch.; Burstin, A.; Geshuri, M.S. (eds.). "ספר אושפיצין" [Oświęcim Memorial Book]. Translated by Oshpitzin, Sefer. Israel: Oświęcim Descendant and Survivor Association.
  3. Kobylarczyk, Katarzyna. "Ostatni Żyd Oświęcimia". Małopolska TO GO. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  4. "What is the AJC?". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010.
  5. Grossman, Ron. "The Last Goodbye in Auschwitz". Chicago Tribune.
  6. Moshe Weiss, From Oswiecim to Auschwitz
  7. Kobylański, Tomasz (9 November 2020). "Wyjątkowa przemiana historycznego domu. Oto Café Bergson w Oświęcimiu". Magazyn WhiteMAD - moda, architektura, design w jednym miejscu (in Polish). Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  8. "The last Jew living in the city of Auschwitz dies at 72". Jewish News of Northern California. 23 June 2000. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  9. The Auschwitz Jewish Centre
  10. "Cafe Oshpitzin: Remember the Past, Feed the Future". Kickstarter.
  11. "Saving the last Jewish house near Auschwitz". NBC News. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  12. "Home of Auschwitz town's last Jew to become vegetarian cafe". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
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