News

Feb. 15, Bielsko-Biała (PAP—Polish Press Agency) – Preservation specialists found several objects belonging to prisoners while carrying out renovation work at the site of Auschwitz, the German camp. They include a pair of earmuffs worn by prisoners during the winter, Museum collections department head Igor Bartosik said on Wednesday.

Feb. 13, Bielsko-Biała (PAP—Polish Press Agency) – February 15 is the 64th anniversary of the first deportation of Polish Jews to Auschwitz. A transport of Jews arrested by the Gestapo in Bytom arrived that day in 1942. They were all liquidated immediately after arriving.

Friday, January 27 marks the 61st anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi Concentration Camp. The main theme for this year’s observances is women and children Auschwitz prisoners.

After examining the condition of the original Arbeit macht frei gate, Museum preservation experts decided that it requires conservation. They identified superficial, isolated instances of damage resulting from chips in the layer of protective paint.

January 23, Bielsko-Biała (PAP) Thanks to the efforts of the local government in Goleszów, in the Cieszyń Silesia region of Poland, a memorial chamber dedicated to the prisoners of the Auschwitz-Golleschau sub-camp will be opened, along with an educational trail. Preliminary work is underway. PAP has learned from staff members at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the Goleszów local government that the opening is scheduled for May.

As is the case every year, this winter is a training period for over 170 Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum guides. Aimed at enhancing the guides’ qualifications, the program for this winter was developed by the staff of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, which opened in 2005.