News
Polish Death Camps or German Death Camps? On the need for learning history
03-08-2004
The Polish embassy in Ottawa has asked the Canadian government to counteract the slandering of Poland by the Canadian media. On April 30, the national news on CTV television carried a story on John Demaniuk’s being stripped of his US citizenship. The reporter referred to “the Polish camp in Treblinka.” As a result, the Polish embassy lodged a protest with CTV. On the part of the network, Robert Hurst replied that he did not regard the term as inappropriate and that it was used in a geographical sense, as it is used throughout North America.
Mauthausen Concentration Camp Records in the Auschwitz Museum Archives
16-07-2004
May 9 marked the 59th anniversary of the liberation of Mauthausen Concentration Camp by the US Army. About 200,000 people were imprisoned in Mauthausen and its several dozen sub-camps during the Second World War. Among them were some 50,000 Poles, mostly in Gusen, the largest of the sub-camps. The majority of them perished.
A Gallery of Camp Art in the Auschwitz Museum
14-07-2004
Preparatory work has begun on the adaptation of the Auschwitz kitchen building as a gallery of camp art. The building was not restored after the war and fell into ruin before being thoroughly renovated in 1961-1963. All those years ago, the work was justified on the grounds that “despite the high cost of the renovation, it would be inexcusable for this building to be lost, not only in view of its role in Auschwitz Concentration Camp, but also because it represents a huge exhibition space on one level.” After that renovation, however, the idea remained unrealized. The Museum adapted the building as workshops for carpenters, machinists, sheet-metal workers, and painters, and devoted part of it to facilities for renovation workers from the preservation department. The building has been empty since the opening in 2002 of the new preservation workshops in the visitor reception building.
