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Belgian Prime Minister Opens New Exhibition at Auschwitz Museum
May 7 Oświęcim (PAP – Polish Press Agency) – Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on Sunday for the opening of an updated permanent exhibition dedicated to the fate of Belgian citizens, mostly Jews, who were deported to the camp. He was accompanied by Kazimierz Ujazdowski, the Polish Minister of Culture. The guests paid homage to the victims of Auschwitz and placed a wreath at the Death Wall in the courtyard of Block no. 11, known as the "Death Block."
Verhofstadt said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony that "the regime of hatred, nationalism, and racism" exceeded all bounds in Auschwitz and obliterated every trace of civilization. He described Auschwitz's Belgian victims as "men, women, and children, the majority of whom were gassed after arriving. The most elderly of the victims was 96 years old, and the youngest, 36 days old." He urged that the memory of them be conveyed to coming generations.
Polish Culture Minister Kazimierz Ujazdowski mentioned that very large numbers of Poles perished in Auschwitz. He stated that the Polish government is "deeply convinced that this was, above all, a site of the extermination of the Jews."
The original Belgian national exhibition at the Auschwitz Museum opened in the 1960s. The present design is by Paul Vandebotermet.
The exhibition concisely recounts the German attack on Belgium, the story of the country's resistance movement, and the issue of collaboration. The life of the Jews under occupation receives considerable space. Photographs, documents, and regulations on display illustrate the way that the Jews were progressively stripped of their rights.
The main part of the exhibition is dedicated to the transport of Jews to Auschwitz. Each information panel here presents a person, known by first and last name, who was deported to the German camp. Basic information on the number of Jews deported—and, on one panel, Roma as well—features, along with their fates after arrival in Auschwitz.
While touring the exhibition, Verhofstadt spoke with Roman Kwiatkowski, the head of the Association of Roma in Poland, who thanked the Belgian government for including in the exhibition the fate of the Roma deported from that country.
Before the opening ceremony, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and his wife toured the Museum at the site of Auschwitz, the German camp.
Verhofstadt arrived in Poland on Saturday, when he met with his Polish counterpart, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz.
About 90 thousand Jews lived in Belgium before World War II. Some 30 thousand of them fled from the Germans, who expelled another 8 thousand to France. The Germans deported about 25 thousand Jews from Belgium to Auschwitz during the war. The deportees passed through the collection camp at Malines (Mechelen), which the Nazis set up in 1942. Only 1,335 of the deportees survived.
The permanent exhibitions at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum are an initiative of former prisoners. The first one opened in 1960. In addition to the Belgian one, permanent exhibitions represent Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia (in preparation), and Yugoslavia. Other permanent exhibitions are dedicated to Jewish Resistance and Extermination 1933-1945, the Jews of Slovakia, Czech prisoners, and the Roma people. (PAP)
