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Former Auschwitz prisoner Henryk Mandelbaum, the last member of the camp Sonderkommando living in Poland, died on June 17 at the age of 85. The Sonderkommando was a group of prisoners forced by the Germans to work in the crematoria and gas chambers.

Volkswagen, thanks to help from Christoph Heubner, the Vice-Chairman of the International Auschwitz Committee, has donated a new T5 model van to the Museum. The Museum has cooperated with the German company for more than a decade, above all in educational ventures. Volkswagen trainees come to Oświęcim each year to learn about the history of the Memorial and also perform chores at the Auschwitz site.

The first seminar organized by the Raphael Lemkin Center for Genocide Prevention and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum will take place in Oświęcim from May 12 to 19. The participants from over a dozen states, including Argentina, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Latvia, and the USA will discuss about issues of genocide prevention. Lecturers will include some of the best-known researchers in the field of genocide and associated areas: Israel Charny, Barbara Harff, Ted Gurr, Gregory H. Stanton, and Philip Zimbardo. The seminar will be officially inaugurated by professor Władysław Bartoszewski, the chairman of the International Auschwitz Council.

A precise digital map of the sites of the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau camps is the result of two days of airborne laser imaging by a specially equipped helicopter. The measurements and images will be used to make an orthophotomap, or geo-referenced aerial photo, which yields data about the terrain within the Museum grounds.

On Thursday, nearly 6 thousand Jews from over 55 countries around the world were joined by 1,600 Poles in paying homage and commemorating the victims of the Holocaust in the 17th March of the Living.

Entries that won prizes and honorable mention in the art contest titled People Did This to Other People were shown for the tenth time at the Youth Culture House in Tychy. The honorary patron was Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which was a co-organizer. Interest in the 10th-anniversary contest was enormous; the jury reviewed no fewer than 998 entries by young artists from Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Russia.