CASTELLAMONTE. «I will carry on my mission as long as I have life, addressing myself above all to young people, because it is their duty to prevent atrocities like the ones I have experienced from happening in the future».
the experience of the lager at 3 years
Lidia Maksymowicz articulates her words with a calmness that does not hide an indestructible firmness and an unshakable determination that are rooted in her childhood. The Nazi persecutions led her, at the age of only three, to the concentration camp of Auschwitz Birkenau, where she spent thirteen months becoming one of those thousands of girls and boys that Dr. Mengele used as guinea pigs for his experiments. Today Maksymowicz is a Witness of History at the Muzeum Galicja in Krakow, where people from all over the world come to hear the voice of Holocaust survivors, and last Friday he was at the castle of Castellamonte as a guest of the association La Memoria Viva to accompany his friend painter Renata Rychlik who inaugurated her personal exhibition in the welcoming rooms of the historic residence.
His return to Canavese was the first since the meeting last May with Pope Francis, during which the Holy Father had kissed the serial number that he still carries tattooed on his forearm. “It is an indelible memory, an unexpected gesture that immediately shocked me but which I then interpreted as a tribute to all the children who died during the Second World War, and in particular to those two hundred thousand perished in the concentration camp where I was interned – explains Maksymowicz -. In that instant I saw tears in the Pope’s eyes and since then everyone has been asking me about this incredible gesture. I was a three-year-old girl when I lived those terrible experiences and yet I remember a lot of those months: they have accompanied and influenced me throughout my life until today ».
the little girl he didn’t know how to hate
The meeting between the Polish survivor and some representatives of the Castellamontese association on a visit to the Krakow museum dates back to about two and a half years ago. Two and a half years in which Maksymowicz has consolidated friendships and ties with the Canavese. “In this land I spent wonderful moments in the company of friends visiting wonderful places: this is why I always return with great pleasure” he says. From her relationship with La Memoria Viva, the documentary “70072: The little girl who could not hate” was born, which tells her story. “A story that Lidia takes all over the world and that has made it an icon for us, here in Canavese” underlines Elso Merlo, the director.
the colors of memory
The inauguration of Rychlik’s exhibition, “The colors of memory: from Krakow to the castle of Castellamonte” was preceded by the arrival of a group of girls and boys who gave Lidia Maksymowicz some drawings made especially for her. After the ribbon was cut, the public was able to be captured by the intense lights which, now contrasting now merging with dark shadows, emanate the landscapes portrayed by the Polish artist; an impressionistic realism with which the painter made her love for her land and for Italy tangible on the canvas. The exhibition will remain open until 12 September. Those who come to Castellamonte for that of ceramics will have an extra opportunity, extraordinary.Paolo Airoldi