IAC Meetings

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.

The International Auschwitz Council held its 14th session at the Center for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim on July 4-5. Director Piotr M. A. Cywiński opened the meeting with a report on the operations of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum from January to June 2007.

During a session in Warsaw on December 5, 2006, the International Auschwitz Council approved plans submitted by the new director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Piotr M. A. Cywiński. The Council unanimously passed a resolution expressing its satisfaction at the idea of creating a new main exhibition at the Museum, in the last row of buildings at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp site, while also maintaining and preserving the original camp relics. Details of the changes will be discussed with both the Council and other groups and institutions in Poland and abroad.

This council is international because memory, too, must be international. It must be a memory that belongs to all of us," said Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz during ceremonies marking the nomination of members of the International Auschwitz Council.

Polish prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz attended the final session during the present term of office of the International Auschwitz Council on February 27, 2006. The meeting covered ongoing affairs at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and a summing-up of the Council’s six-year tenure. Marcinkiewicz thanked the current members and presented them with diplomas to mark their membership.