News

The Council of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation held its session on 19 June in Warsaw. The main objective of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation is to finance the conservation of the authentic remains of the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. During the session, the members extended the term of office of Zbigniew Nosowski and Marek Zając, who was again elected as the Chairperson of the Council.

The Origins of the Birkenau Camp in the Light of the Source Materials—a new English-Polish publication of the Museum is an analysis of one hundred little-known German documents, the majority of them published for the first time, bearing on the origins of the Birkenau camp and the first phase of its operation. Authors of the analysis are historians of the Research Center of the Museum: Igor Bartosik, Łukasz Martyniak and Piotr Setkiewicz.

The State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau was awarded a Gold Medal of Honour for Contribution to the Małopolska (Lesser Poland) Province. The decision was unanimously adopted by the councillors of the Małopolska Regional Council. The ceremonial presentation of the medal of honour was held on 16 June during a gala at the Słowacki Theatre in Cracow.

“I survived the camp. Portraits of Stefan Hanke” is the title of a temporary exhibition featuring portraits of former prisoners of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz. The author is a German photographer Stefan Hanke.

On 14 June 1940, the Germans deported a group of 728 Poles from the prison in Tarnów to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Among the deportees were soldiers of the September 1939 campaign, members of the independence underground organizations, school pupils and students, as well as a small group of Polish Jews. This date is considered the onset of the camp’s operation. Subject to the Polish Parliament’s decision, 14 June is commemorated as the National Remembrance Day for Victims of the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camps.

The history of the deportation of the first transport of Poles to the German Nazi Auschwitz concentration camp is presented by a new online exhibition on the Google Cultural Institute created by the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.