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21st session of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Council

The 21st session of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Council was held on 25 June 2026 at the headquarters of BNP Paribas Bank Polska in Warsaw. The meeting was devoted to summarising the Foundation’s activities over the past year, discussing ongoing conservation and educational projects, and the challenges facing the protection of the memory of Auschwitz.

Participants in the meeting were welcomed by Przemysław Gdański, President of the Management Board of BNP Paribas Bank Polska, who emphasised the importance of the bank’s long-standing cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.

“We are proud to be able to cooperate with the Foundation. It is a great honour for us that we share the same values and can jointly support the memory of Auschwitz,” he said.

Opening the meeting, Marek Zając, Chairman of the Foundation Council, emphasised that the Foundation’s activities continue to develop thanks to the involvement of partners, donors, and countries supporting the Perpetual Fund. He also drew attention to the growing importance of educational projects carried out alongside the Foundation’s core mission, which remains financing the conservation of the authentic remains of the German Nazi camp Auschwitz.

“We must be aware of how important this Council has been and continues to be, operating above political divisions. In the coming years, its role and responsibility will only grow,” emphasised Marek Zając.

One of the most important points of the meeting was the unanimous adoption of a resolution appointing Bogdan Bartnikowski to the Council of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. He is an Auschwitz Survivor, a witness to history, and a long-standing ambassador of memory about the fate of children imprisoned in German Nazi concentration camps.

“It is extremely important that the voice of Auschwitz Survivors continues to resonate among us,” emphasised Marek Zając.

Thanking the Council for his appointment, Bogdan Bartnikowski said: “It is a great honour for me to have been accepted into such an important body. The Foundation Council is an institution of global significance, extremely important for the Memorial. I feel obliged to continue passing on knowledge about Auschwitz and about what happened to us. As long as I am able to help, I will do so.”

Bogdan Bartnikowski, born in 1932 in Warsaw, is one of the last living Auschwitz Survivors. After the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, as a twelve-year-old boy, he was deported with his mother to KL Auschwitz, where he received camp number 192731. After the war, he became a journalist and writer. He is the author of many books devoted to the experiences of children imprisoned in Auschwitz, including Childhood Behind Barbed Wire. For many years, he has met with young people and taken part in educational activities aimed at preserving the memory of the victims of German Nazi terror.

Foundation Director Wojciech Soczewica presented the most important initiatives carried out in recent months. In addition to conservation work, the Foundation is intensively developing educational projects and online visits used by schools and institutions around the world. Around 160 such remote visits took place over the past year. Members of the European Parliament took part in one of them.

Work is also continuing on a digital replica of Auschwitz, intended to serve filmmakers as a tool for faithfully recreating historical realities and reducing errors in audiovisual productions.

The Foundation also reported on the acquisition of historical documents connected with Auschwitz, which, thanks to an international fundraising campaign, did not enter the collectors’ market but are instead to be transferred to various memorial institutions. Particularly symbolic was the involvement of donors from Germany, who supported the initiative through a grassroots fundraising effort.

Preparations are also under way for the creation of a permanent exhibition of art by Auschwitz prisoners and survivors in the building of the camp kitchen in the former Auschwitz I camp. Two advisory committees have been established for the project, and the Foundation is conducting international fundraising for its implementation.

Finance Director Elwir Świętochowski presented the financial results for 2025. Income from investments from the Perpetual Fund exceeded PLN 20 million, which made it possible to allocate PLN 23.4 million to the Global Conservation Plan in 2025.

Agnieszka Tanistra-Różanowska, who heads the Master Plan for Preservation, presented information on the implementation of selected projects. In 2025, 1,927 objects underwent conservation, and more than 4,000 documents were digitised.

Work is continuing on the ruins of the crematoria, the securing of historic barracks in sector BI of the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp, and the conservation of wall paintings. Work has also been completed in the oldest bathhouse in Birkenau, which has been made available to visitors. At the same time, modern tools are being developed to support documentation and conservation management in historic buildings.

During the meeting, Łukasz Rozdeiczer-Kryszkowski, Vice-President of the Foundation, thanked the companies that have supported the Foundation’s activities for many years, including KPMG, Rymarz Zdort Maruta, Orange, Google, and PZU. The Council members also approved the substantive report on the Foundation’s work in 2025, as well as the annual action plans and financial plans. The Foundation Council also approved the Foundation’s financial statements for 2025.

“According to an independent audit conducted by KPMG, the financial statements raise no objections and present a reliable and clear picture of expenditure and cash flows. They comply in all respects with the law,” emphasised Rozdeiczer-Kryszkowski.