Kristina was an intern for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum during Fall 2024.
Briefly explain what you did and the result of your internship.
My internship was split between the Archives and the Collections Department. In the archives, I worked with the records of Auschwitz, and in Collections, I worked with the artifacts of the camp. Throughout my time, I was able to complete many tasks, which definitely improved my skills as a genealogist. In the archives, I extracted information from almost 2,500 records. In collections, I examined and extracted information from over 1,300 shoes. While there are many more records and shoes to work with, the work that I completed in the time that I was there was a large amount.
What did you learn in your internship that you were not expecting to learn?
Going into the internship, I provided the Museum with ideas of what I personally wanted to do for my internship. Upon hearing the skills I have, the Museum offered me more opportunities to learn, in more than just the area I wanted to work in. Because of this, I was able to have many hands on experiences in areas I would not have had otherwise. While I was expecting to work with records, I was also given the opportunity to work with artifacts, which is not something I was expecting to be able to do.
How have your future plans changed because of what you learned from your internship experience?
My internship introduced me to more non-traditional jobs that I could potentially have with a degree in Family History. While I have not necessarily picked a specific career path to take as of yet, learning of more career options has opened more doors for me.
Please share how your experience led to personal inspiration or insightful revelation.
As I went through this internship, I was given many ideas of things I can do for future careers. As I interacted with many people, I was able to see how much we as normal people can make a large impact on the world. Even though there is so much negative in the world, we, as individuals, can add light to the world, drop by drop, and can have a huge positive impact on those around us.
Would you recommend this internship to other students?
This is an internship that I would strongly suggest other students go on. Being able to work with the records and artifacts of Auschwitz at the Museum itself was an eye-opening experience. The Museum offers a variety of internship options for individuals with different interests, including archival work, preservation work, and other things. This internship is for anyone, especially if you appreciate history. This internship is extremely meaningful and helps memorialize important historical information.
Is there anything else you would like to say regarding your internship?
This internship was a life-changing experience for me. I learned so much through not only my internship but also through living in Poland. Being able to experience the culture, interact with the Polish people, and learn more about the history of the country and Auschwitz has given me a deeper level of understanding of the events that occurred. Every part of my internship helped me learn and grow as a historian and as an individual.
