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A Gift from Volkswagen to the Museum
The Auschwitz Memorial has received a Caravelle T5 car from Volkswagen. This valuable support for the work of the Museum was made possible thanks to the help of the International Auschwitz Committee and the personal involvement of its deputy chairman, Christoph Heubner. It is also a continuation of many years of cooperation with Volkswagen AG.
"We would like to pass on the keys to the car," Christoph Heubner said during the ceremony of turning over the car. "Here it will be able to be used to care for former prisoners and the needs of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust," added Heubner.
"I would like to thank you for this gesture," said Piotr M. A. Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz Museum. "Of course the needs are enormous and this support is of the essence. You have to remember that we are an institution, away from big university centers, away from the airport. Arrivals of former prisoners, various experts and invited guests require logistical assistance. As this Place is growing and its importance in the world increases, this support, in the budgetary situation we all know, is really very serious help," noted Cywiński.
Emphasizing the uniqueness of over twenty years of collaboration between the Memorial and the Volkswagen company, including inter alia visits of youth groups that help with maintaining the Memorial and at the same time learn about its history. Director Cywiński, addressing high school students of the VW school, insisted: For us, your help is support for different sections of our hard work. I also believe that a deeper knowledge of this place will help you to settle different things in your minds. It is really good that VW has made this its policy, its clear will. Thank you for your presence and for your willingness to help. Each little bit of help contributes to securing the future of this place. We do this in part in memory of the victims, and in part for future generations.
"Our twenty years of cooperation means a lot for Volkswagen," said the representative of the VW company, Ines Doberanzke. "Young people who come here, take something back with them. Later they come back, and bring their family and friends. Youth work is a symbol, but also practical help. We also thank you heartily for your cooperation and for what the Museum does for us. Without this, our project would not be what it is today. Therefore, all the more I am glad that today we can give this car to the Museum," emphasized Ines Doberanzke.
