IAC Meetings

Four important resolutions resulted from the 20th session of the International Auschwitz Council, held at the Chancellery of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers in Warsaw on November 23. First, the members of the board heard a report by the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Dr. Piotr Cywiński, covering the period since the last session and including the issues of flood protection, the progress of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, and the increasing financial difficulties facing the Museum....

The International Auschwitz Council, which is convened by the Polish prime minister, met at the Center for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim on June 8-9, 2010. The Council heard a report from Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum director Piotr M. A. Cywiński on developments since the last session. In view of the threat of the total destruction of the original grounds and buildings by floodwaters at both Auschwitz I and Birkenau, the members of the Council unanimously approved a “Flood Appeal to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Poland.”...

The International Auschwitz Council met in the Chancellery of the Council of Ministers building in Warsaw on November 17. Participants in the session, chaired by Minister Władysław Bartoszewski, included Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, minister in the Chancellery of the President of the Polish Republic; Tomasz Merta, deputy minister of culture and national heritage; Krzysztof Stanowski, deputy minister of national education; Zvi Rav-Ner, the ambassador of Israel in Poland, and the members of the IAC.

The International Auschwitz Council convened by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland was in session in Oświęcim on June 15-16, 2009. Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski chaired the session. The members of the Council returned once again to the issue of the seven Roma portraits painted by Dina Gottlieb-Babbitt . The Council emphatically reiterated its previous determination that the transfer of the originals to Mrs. Gottlieb-Babbitt, as she demands, is out of the question.

The Subject of the session was, above all, the finances of the Memorial Site, as well as the definition of some conservation priorities. Those present held a minute of silence in memory of a former Auschwitz prisoner, a long-time member of the Council, and an internationally known artist—Professor Józef Szajna. Premier Donald Tusk nominated Dr. Piotr Trojański, a historian from the Pedagogical Academy in Cracow and the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, as well as a highly respected expert on the Holocaust, to fill the vacancy on the Council.

The International Auschwitz Council convened on January 24 at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland. The Council approved a report on the year 2007 by Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, who also informed the body about the evolution of plans and the schedule for overhauling the main exhibition, the progress of conservation, research, and educational work, and modifications to the Museum structure.