News

In April, a conference to summarize the seventh nation-wide edition of the educational project for middle and high school aged youth, Auschwitz — My Land. History and Remeberance After the Years, took place. Its main goal is to spread knowledge about the history of former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In April at the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust in the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, an educational session was held, entitled, The Mass Murder of European Jews at Auschwitz. More than 100 participants took part in the meeting, they were mainly high school students and teachers.

At the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau the first seminar for teachers and educators from Lithuania took place. It was organized under the auspices of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust as well as the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania.

The 21st March of the Living was held on April 19 at the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz–Birkenau. The sound of the shofar gave the signal to begin the March from the gate with the inscription "Arbeit macht frei". Participants walked in silence to Birkenau where the main ceremony was held near the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria.

Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, dr Piotr M.A. Cywiński, was appointed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bogdan Zdrojewski, to the Council for Museums at the Ministry of Culture. In April 16th nominations were officially presented by the Deputy Minister, Małgorzata Omilanowska.

The International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust has published the two new educational books for children in Polish language: Czika, the Dog in the Ghetto and If the Stars Could Only Speak. The books published in Polish are subsequent works written by Batsheva Dagan, a former Auschwitz prisoner. In 2010, through the cooperation with the ICEAH, a volume of the author’s poetry was released, entitled, Blessed Be, Cursed Be: Reminiscences from “There.”