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Auschwitz Objects To Be Displayed in Washington
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Director Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Director Sara Bloomfield signed an agreement in Washington for the loan of about a thousand objects from the collections of the Auschwitz Memorial, which will go on display as part of the USHMM main exhibition. Most of the items are utensils and other everyday objects that belonged to Jewish families sent to their death at Auschwitz, the largest Nazi German death camp.
This is the first agreement on such a large scale since the Museum revised its loan regulations last year. The new rules are intended to improve protection and security for items loaned to countries around the world. All of the items loaned to the USHMM are also protected by a US government guarantee of immunity from any legal claims against them. “The excellent cooperation between our two institutions has made possible the harmonious and problem-free introduction of the new loan regulations,” said Cywiński. Items loaned to the USHMM in the 1990s are being returned to the Museum.
Before being sent out on loan, the objects will undergo conservation in the state-of-the-art workshops and laboratories at the museum in Oświęcim. The USHMM will pay for this work, and will insure the objects for a total of more than $1.2 million.
Before signing the loan agreement, conservation workshop head Jolanta Banaś and collections department conservationist Magdalena Emilewicz-Pióro inspected the atmospheric, lighting, and overall security conditions at the USHMM display site.
Conservationists from the USHMM also made it possible for the two visiting experts from the Auschwitz Museum to familiarize themselves with the technical, practical, and research aspects of the conservation work at such renowned institutions as the National Gallery of Art and the American Indian Museum. “Although we have one of the most modern workshops in Europe, we are always interested, during such trips, in the working methods and experience of our colleagues in various countries. All around the world, there are different approaches and schools of conservation. This makes it important to exchange ideas and best practice, especially when searching for innovative methods for conserving 20th-century objects,” said Banaś.
While he was in the USA, Director Cywiński also held a range of discussions and meetings about American support for the international fund being set up in Poland under the auspices of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, which will make possible a long-term comprehensive preservation program at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial.
