News
26th Session of the International Auschwitz Council
Preparations for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, which will take place on 27 January 2015, were the main topic of the session of the International Auschwitz Council. The meeting, held in Oświęcim on 10 and 11 June, was chaired by Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski.
"Year 2014 is in fact a year of anniversaries that prepare us for the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. At the moment, we are commemorating the 70th anniversary of transports of Jews from Hungary. In August, there will be the 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the so-called Zigeunerfamilienlager, the 70th anniversary of transports of Jews from the liquidated Litzmanstadr ghetto, as well as the anniversary of the transports of Poles from uprising-stricken Warsaw. In October, it will be 70 years since the revolt of prisoners of the Sonderkommando. All these events are for us a symbolic path of preparations for the commemoration of 27 January 2015," said Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz Museum.
In his opinion, the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz will be a unique event, as it will be the last round anniversary celebrated in the presence of a still large group of survivors. "In 2005, approximately 1,500 former prisoners participated in the ceremonies and five years later, it was less than 200 people. That is why I would really like the commemoration in January to be attended by the greatest number of former Auschwitz prisoners," he added.
Director Cywiński emphasised the symbolic nature which is of utmost importance for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. "On 27 January 2015, we will have to answer a very important question: is the next generation ready to carry on the remembrance on behalf of the survivors. Therefore, I hope that during the anniversary we will be able to tell former prisoners that the place of their suffering, the today’s Memorial Site, is fully secured for future generations in terms of conservation and that the Perpetual Capital of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation accumulated with the support of the whole world is complete," said director Cywiński.
The meeting also summarised the activity which took place at the Auschwitz Memorial since the last meeting of the Council. One of the topics discussed was attendance and a noticeable decline in recent years in the number of visitors from Poland, especially young ones. "If some measure that would facilitate visits is not taken soon, the losses in the awareness among young people could be considerable. Poland is currently the only large country in Europe that does not have a programme for funding such trips. Unfortunately, due to changes in the Polish education system, this trend is probably here to stay," said director Cywiński.
In this case, members of the Council made the following resolution: "The International Auschwitz Council, having considered the dramatic decrease, even more significant for the last few years, in the number of visits of school groups from Poland to Memorial Sites at: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bełżec, Gross-Rosen, Kulmhof, Majdanek, Sobibór, Stutthof and Treblinka, and being aware of the negative impact of changes in the history curriculum in Polish schools, seeing as a cause for concern the fact that Poland is one of the few large countries in Europe that has no system of financing trips to Memorial Sites for the youth, expects the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Donald Tusk, to commission from the Ministry of Education, in agreement with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, a prompt and comprehensive analysis of the problem and the implementation of a permanent system for organising and funding trips to Memorial Sites so that the young Poles shall again be able to actively become familiar with the most atrocious crime of World War II."
The topics discussed also included investments performed in the Museum, for example the preparation of the new main exhibition, improvement of the condition of the Museum Archives, development of the fire system or preparations for construction of the new Visitors Centre, but also projects of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, both those implemented at the Memorial Site and those conducted virtually through e-learning and social websites. Moreover, publishing plans of the Museum were presented, those also being related to the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, when a very comprehensive illustrated catalogue of the Museum Collections is to be published.
The meeting also concerned conservation works, primarily those related to the security and preparation of the conservation plan for the brick barracks of the BI section in the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. What is more, the latest period of activity of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation was recapped, which goal is to collect Perpetual Capital intended for the preservation of the authenticity of the Memorial Site.
During the meeting, members of the Council also visited Block 2 at the former Auschwitz I camp. A three-year project of conservation of the historic building funded, among others, by the European Union, was recently completed.
The meeting talks also concerned the situation on the sites of the former German Nazi death camps in Kulmhof (Chełmno nad Nerem) and Sobibór.
Members of the Council also made a resolution relating to the increase in racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma sentiments in Europe. "Almost 70 years after the liberation of the last prisoners of the German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, extremist ideologies come back to life in many countries, both in the west and the east of Europe. The International Auschwitz Council, holding the meeting in a place that symbolises crimes of xenophobia, racial hatred, genocide and extermination, is alarmed to observe an escalation of ideologies referring to racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma slogans that are essentially anti-human. The Council calls on the nations and governments, especially in the countries where extremists succeeded in the recent elections to the European Parliament, to unequivocally condemn and effectively counter these alarming trends" - we read.
During the meeting, members of the Council honoured with a minute of silence the memory of Robert Kuwałek, a recently tragically deceased historian of the State Museum at Majdanek.
