News
Director of the Auschwitz Memorial Director of the Auschwitz Museum appointed Officer of the French Legion of Honour
Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz Memorial, has been awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honour in the rank of Officer. The Legion of Honour is the highest state distinction of the French Republic. The ceremony took place on 20 November at the Residence of the Ambassador of France in Warsaw.
“You are an outstanding francophone and francophile, and your promotion to the rank of Officer is a rightful recognition of your exceptional work, your courage in the face of contemporary challenges, and your unwavering commitment to remembrance, education, and human rights,” said the French Ambassador to Poland, Étienne de Poncins.
Dr. Cywiński had previously been awarded the Legion of Honour in the rank of Knight in 2019.
The Ambassador also highlighted the Director’s contribution to organising the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz: “This event was exceptional, as it was likely one of the last commemorations attended by the last Survivors of the Holocaust. It offered a profound opportunity to understand the terrible tragedy that occurred there. This unique commemoration underscores the central role you play in preserving memory in a world that needs the lessons of history more than ever.”
Receiving the recognition, Director Cywiński recalled his 2019 remarks, in which he reflected on the values of the Republic, liberty, equality, fraternity, as well as the Legion’s principles of honour and fatherland.
“Today the world has clearly changed, and on an international scale we are witnessing a politics stripped of any values. This is not something we can accept in Europe. I would therefore like to add a sixth value to those of the Republic and the Legion, a European value very close to my heart: the principle of subsidiarity. It is the principle that everything should be done at the level closest to the people. Every decision must be taken at the most local, human level possible. Nothing should be imposed over the heads of the people concerned.”
“I relate the value of subsidiarity to the question of Memory. I believe that Memory is always plural. There are memories, not one single memory. Every generation, every social group, every family has the right to its own Memory. It is important that Memory does not contradict historical facts, but Memory is always polyphonic. Such a healthy, polyphonic Memory is part of the fundamental rights of every human being.”
“We are reaching a moment when our states are beginning, or should begin, to understand that the principle of subsidiarity also applies to Memory, and that the role of the state is to support Memory as it grows in this polyphonic way, as it takes root and bears fruit… The role of the state is not to impose it by force, centrally, from above,” he concluded.
Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński studied partly in France. Since 2011 he has served on the board of the Maison d'Izieu Memorial. He has participated in numerous conferences in France and is the author of several publications released in the country.
In 2024, the Auschwitz Memorial was visited by over 44,000 visitors from France. France is also among the donor countries to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation’s Perpetual Fund, dedicated to preserving the authenticity of the remains of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp. French support amounts to 5 million euros.
The National Order of the Legion of Honour, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, is the highest French distinction awarded for services rendered to France in areas such as the military, culture, and science. Among the Polish recipients are Jacek Kuroń, Janina Ochojska, Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Seweryn, and Marek Edelman. In 2012, Jerzy Wróblewski, the longtime Director of the Auschwitz Museum, also received the rank of Knight. The motto of the order is Honneur et Patrie, Honour and Fatherland.
Director Piotr Cywiński has previously been honoured with numerous national and foreign distinctions. These include the Gold Cross of Merit (2006), the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2008), and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2010).
He has also received, among others, the Belgian Order of the Crown, the Monégasque Order of Saint-Charles, the Greek Order of the Phoenix, the French Order of Academic Palms, the papal Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, the Officer’s insignia of the French Order of Arts and Letters, and the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
