IAC Meetings

Meeting XXXIV: 7-8 May 2018

The summary of the 2012-2018 term of office of the International Auschwitz Council and the report on the work of the Auschwitz Museum in recent years, were some of the topics of the 34th session of the International Auschwitz Council, which was held in Auschwitz, 7 and 8 May 2018, chaired by Prof. Barbara Engelking. The meeting was attended by the deputy minister of culture and national heritage, Jarosław Sellin, who read a letter from Deputy Prime Minister Prof. Piotr Gliński addressed to members of the IAC.

“I ask all members of the International Auschwitz Council to accept the assurance of my highest consideration and recognition for their commitment in the accomplishment of the Council’s tasks throughout its entire term of office. Especially, in the area of protection and development of the sites of the former Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz and other Holocaust Memorials. For your concern and sensitivity to this painful legacy, for your uncompromising attitude, and for not allowing the problems of the Holocaust and martyrdom of the nations to become commonplace; for these wounds must be torn so that, as Stefan Żeromski said, ‘this memory is not forgotten, thank you very much” - wrote Prof. Piotr Gliński, the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

“I also wish to thank all the directors, employees of martyrdom museums, experts, social activists who work tirelessly with dedication to documenting and educating about the truth of the Holocaust. In February, the ministry of culture issued a statement in which it expressed its unequivocal opposition to the dissemination of slander, lies and hateful content addressed to persons committed to the care of Memorial Sites on the grounds of former concentration and extermination camps. I wish to strongly re-affirm that it is a position I still uphold” - Prof. Gliński stressed in his letter.

During the session, minister Sellin said that the concentration camps created by the Germans are located on the territories of five contemporary states, but the former extermination centres are located on the territory of the Polish state. 'These are places where every sensitive, young person may contemplate about what is good and what is evil - including personal evil - what is love and hate; if God exists or not. In these places, we ask these questions with particular intensity,' said Minister Jarosław Sellin

'I assure you that the Polish state will ensure that these places commemorate and induce not only historical reflection but also moral reflection on the human condition,' emphasized Minister Sellin, who also summed up the activities of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage related to preserving the Holocaust memory - not just at Memorial Sites on the grounds of former camps, but also through new institutions, such as the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, or financial support for the preservation of the Warsaw Jewish cemetery, among others.

During the meeting, the Museum director Piotr M.A. Cywiński, PhD summed up the most important activities in the Auschwitz Memorial, which had taken place since the last meeting of the Council

Attendance at the Memorial is still very high. In 2017, it was visited by 2.1 million people. 'The steady growth over the past dozen or so years is the result of an international consensus built around the significance and history of Auschwitz, as well as the role of Auschwitz in building a post-war Europe and the world. The majority of visitors are young people who visit as part of educational programs. It means that in several dozen countries, major educational programmes and travel subsidy programmes have been created in the last dozen or so years. These programmes would not have been created without a consensus as to the importance of the Memorial. It is worth emphasizing that these programmes were primarily created within the circles of the International Auschwitz Council,' said director Cywiński.

The director also spoke of the exhibition “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away” inaugurated in Madrid. It is the largest of such exhibitions devoted to the subject of Auschwitz and the Holocaust in history. Over 600 original objects are presented on an area of approximately 2,500 square meters, obtained mainly from the Auschwitz Museum Collections, and other museums and institutions, including the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, Holocaust museums in North America and Europe, as well as from private collections of Holocaust survivors.

Given that the session was the last meeting of the IAC in the 2012-2018 term of office, the Council members discussed recommendations for the successors regarding the general and detailed direction of actions for the IAC, as well as the fundamental principles and values that should guide the Council. The list of recommendations shall be forwarded to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, whose advisory body is the International Auschwitz Council.

Non-involvement in ongoing politics, knowledge and expertise, as well as the international authority of members of the council, independence and underlining the international importance of the IAC, readiness to conduct dialogue on difficult, complicated and inconvenient issues, but also the ability to seek compromise and understanding; preserving memory and representing all the victims of Auschwitz, the importance of looking at the issues of memory in a long term perspective, supporting the activities and development of all Memorial Sites in Poland and beyond, as well as developing good practices that could benefit other similar memorials - were some of the issues raised during the discussion on the tasks and recommendations for the International Auschwitz Council in the future.

The IAC members also discussed the amendment to the Act on National Memorial Institute, as well as plans for a museum dedicated to the residents of Oświęcim and the surrounding area who provided help to prisoners of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau during the war.