News

A precise definition of the faiths of the people deported to Auschwitz is no simple matter, mostly because of the lack of source materials. Most of the people deported to Auschwitz were never registered in the camp, and the Nazis destroyed most of the records containing information on prisoners before the Russians liberated the camp in January 1945.

Polish prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz attended the final session during the present term of office of the International Auschwitz Council on February 27, 2006. The meeting covered ongoing affairs at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and a summing-up of the Council’s six-year tenure. Marcinkiewicz thanked the current members and presented them with diplomas to mark their membership. “I am convinced that all the issues that are important for the International Council will continue to be handled in a way that prompts remembrance on the one hand, and that looks to the future on the other. Remembrance has tremendous significance in building a good future,” said the Prime Minister.

Jakob Silberstein traveled to the Museum several days ago. Born in Rypin in central Poland on November 15, 1924, he is a watchmaker and goldsmith by trade. During the war, the Nazis sent him to Nosarzewo (near Mława, Poland), where he performed compulsory labor on the construction of an airstrip.

The artistic collections of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum have added a painting by the contemporary Polish artist Maria Kantor-Lizuniec, a graduate of the Fine Arts Academy in Cracow who specializes in artistic weaving and easel painting. She has exhibited in Poland, Germany, Austria, France, Scandinavia, the USA, Canada, and many other countries.

“In writing my memoirs and reflections on the events that took place in the camp, I have presented what I experienced and saw,” said Andrzej Łępkowski, former Auschwitz prisoner number 95845, about the newest Publication by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.

Feb 26, Bielsko-Biała (PAP-Polish Press Agency) – On Sunday, February 26, officials from the Association of Roma in Poland commemorated the 63rd anniversary of the first deportation of Gypsies to Auschwitz and the creation of the so-called Zigeunerfamilienlager (Roma family camp) in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. They lighted candles and placed flowers at the monument at the site of the Birkenau Gypsy camp, and at the ruins of gas chamber no. V.