White Oak Library District, Dr. Ewa K. Bacon Present Three-Part Talk Series on Auschwitz
Published: August 17, 2018.
A powerful look at a dark time in history entitled is the basis of a three-part book talk series offered by the White Oak Library District and Dr. Ewa Bacon, professor emerita at ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº.
This profound, true story is based on the life of Bacon’s father, Stefan Budziaszek, M.D. during the Holocaust. A new graduate of a medical school in Krakow, Budziaszek was incarcerated to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942 and became a “functionary prisoner” assigned to manage an on-site prisoner hospital.
He transformed the facility from just two barracks into a working hospital and outpatient facility that employed more than 40 prisoner doctors and served a population of 10,000 slave laborers.
The three-part series begins with Part 1: An Introduction to Saving Lives at Auschwitz, to be presented at 6:30 p.m. September 17 at the Romeoville Branch, 201 W. Normantown Road.
Part 2: How Did German Big Business Get Involved in Concentration Camp Business? will be presented at 6:30 p.m. November 28 at the Crest Hill Branch located at 20670 Len Kubinski Drive.
Part 3: The Story of Four Young Men Who Survived Auschwitz III will be presented at 6:30 p.m. on January 28, 2019, at the Lockport Branch located at 121 E. 8th Street.
Bacon, professor emerita at ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº, taught history courses, including classes on Holocaust and genocide, Russian history, Central European history and globalization issues. She has a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and holds a master’s and a doctorate degree from the University of Chicago.
ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº selected “Saving Lives in Auschwitz: The Prisoners’ Hospital in Buna-Monowitz” (Purdue University Press, 2017), as the First-Year Common Reader for the 2018-2019 academic year. A Common Reader is a book assigned to all first-year students to read before or shortly after they arrive on campus in the fall. The shared experience of reading the book engages students socially and academically both inside and outside of the classroom.
ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº is an innovative and entrepreneurial Catholic university offering market-relevant undergraduate and graduate programs to 6,500 students. Sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº is nationally recognized for preparing intellectually engaged, ethically grounded, globally connected and socially responsible graduates. Visit for further information.